Living With Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a gynaecological condition whereby the lining of the womb grows outside the womb. The blood build up causes scar tissue, inflammation, and sometimes cysts. This causes me great pain, bowel issues, and can cause infertility as the tissue can block Fallopian tubes and other areas. There is no cure for endometriosis and despite being more common than breast cancer it is not known about by many people.

What saddens me is that the condition is for many ‘played down’, and attributed as just a ‘bad period’, when it is in fact much more than this. The pain can be debilitating, and it causes many secondary problems including mood swings, back pain, and a weakened immune systems which causes me to catch colds often.

Prior to conceiving baby H, my specialist had been encouraging me to have a laparoscopy, a surgical procedure that lasers away some of the tissue. However, the tissue grows back. As someone who feels we are too medicalised in Western society I thought long and hard about the cons of this surgery – hospital, recovery time, further pain, scarring – all for something that may only temporarily resolve the issue. As a result I turned into a bit of a health-hippie and began scouring the Internet and books for holistic treatments for endometriosis. It was whilst testing these that I actually conceived baby H, something I was unsure I would be able to do naturally. Whilst I cannot say whether or not any of these holistic approaches were responsible for my little blessing, a combination of them definitely did support my pain management.

1 Reflexology – this can help with stress relief and promote relaxation but also supports circulation, pain relief, and stimulation of hormones.

2 Bee Propolis supplements – this helps block the ‘bad oestrogen’ that causes inflammation.

3 Evening Primrose Oil – prevents inflammation, stops cells multiplying, and also prevents clotting

4 Using dioxin-free sanitary wear – products with dioxin in them promotes the growth of endometrial tissue (gross, right?)

5 Avoiding sugar – sugar causes acidity and acidity worsens inflammation.

6 Reducing dairy intake – these are said to increase the inflammation of endometriosis and therefore reducing (or cutting it out completely) is beneficial.

If you suffer from endometriosis I really do encourage you to do some reading around these. I’d love to hear from you and anything you’ve found helpful.