Nutritional Healing- Endometriosis part 3

The other night  my grandma called to share her experience with Endometriosis (and a funny line about a playground, thanks for that Grandma I've had a few good chuckles over that one!).  She reads my blog and therefore has read my other healing posts about Endo.  She basically said that Endo is a disease, you can't get rid of it and you can't heal it with food.  This is true so I thought I would expound a bit if anyone else is under the impression that you can cure yourself.

Endo is a disease that  most Dr.'s don't even understand . The nature of the disease is something that does not fit into a regular pattern as it varies drastically from woman to woman.  No one is sure why it happens to some and not to others even within the same family.  Because of the erratic nature of Endo, there isn't one thing that works 100% of the time for 100% of women.  Because Endo deals with an overgrowth of cells you can eradicate it or even guess where it will move next (some women have Endo on their lungs because it has traveled from the pelvis upward!).   When diagnosing Endo there are two main groups of advice you are given once you are diagnosed.  First, laproscopy or hysterectomy.  This advice is generally used for those who have severe Endo.  The second group (and one I belong in) is cope, get by as best you can for as long as you can.  This is what many women choose to do because they may want children or do not want to take hormone therapy. 
 
 For me the choice was a little trickier.  My choice is not as black and white (though I wish it were).  Unlike many other sufferers I do not have endo (that we know of) on my uterus, it is predominately on my left ovary and bowel.  They figure the Endo spread through one of my 4 c-section as I did not have issues prior to pregnancy (although that may not be the case, speculation at this point).  Anyway because it is not more contained to my reproductive organs a hysterectomy is not really a good idea.  If I were to remove my ovary, the Endo on my bowel would still spread, most likely the a wild fire, after the surgery.  At this point the coping option is my best option.  Because I am very against medicine, especially hormones, taking birth control to control my monthly cycles is out of the question.  I also am not a pain pill popper.  I do take it when absolutely necessary but I usually have to be crying before I resort to it.  I am a firm believer that if our bodies are in good condition, fed nutrient dense natural foods and if we exercise regularly, we can usually handle what comes our way.  This is why I have chosen to cope by being proactive in my diet and exercise.

For me this has been a great blessing.  This month is the first month since October that I have not been in horrible pain.  In fact this is the first month that I have not spent 2 days writhing in pain in bed.  This is the first month that I have been able to walk, laugh, cough, sneeze or bounce since last October.  I will carry this disease with me till the day I die but I refuse to let it control my life (even just couple days of the month!).

I attribute these changes to my diet and to chiropractics.   I have been going to the Chiropractor since the first of March, multiple times a week, and I feel incredible.  The normal pelvic pain is gone and cramps lasted 30 minutes!  I am not the only one who has had positive results with this treatment (although my treatment is for other issues).  Check out these links for more information.  I encourage anyone dealing with Endo to be proactive in their care.  If you are in the hysterectomy group, educate yourselves on the entire process and life afterward.  If you are in the cope group, educate yourself about all the options for leading a full, healthy and pain free life.  There are always other options than popping a Tylenol, check them out!  And if you are so inclined head to the Chiropractor, its amazing!

Nutritional Healing- Endometriosis Part 2

As I posted last month in this post I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do nutritionally for Endo.  I have continued to read medical journals, holistic information, and as much "been there done that" info as I can.
 Two weeks ago I was again laid up because of the Endo.  The great thing about it though? I was only down for 1 day, that's it!  I took pain killer that one day but after that nothing was needed.  The pain was still there but it was much more tolerable.  Even the kids mentioned how much better I was this time around.

So what have I done differently between January and February?  Vegetables. TONS of them.  With every single lunch and dinner I would pile on a plateful of salad, double up on carrot sticks, eat and apple and a half instead of just one (yes I know that example is a fruit), etc.  I ditched all dairy except an occasional piece of dye free cheese and Greek yogurt.  I stopped eating lunch meats completely and cut any meat portions in half with the exception of Salmon.  I made sure that every single morning started with a protein/fiber filled breakfast.  Fiber is essential, even more than normally recommended! (Even if you think you don't need more, you do!)
Now I am a vegetable lover and even at my lowest point of vegetable interest I still eat a lot more than the SAD (standard American diet).  I think it is important to make vegetables the key point in all meals.  Stuff an omelet with mushrooms, spinach, peppers and onions.  Eat a loaded veggie sandwich for lunch with vegetable sticks and a V-8 and then dine on a veggie taco instead of a shredded beef burrito.

Next step in healing endo?  I am adding chiropractic care this month and exercise.  Chiropractic care?  Yup.  I injured my back this last week and after 2 sessions symptoms like bloating disappeared.  Was it circumstantial? Could have been but if it is going to help then I am going to do it!  The back injury was partly caused by poor ab muscles.  This month is ab month at my house!  For the next 4 weeks I am going to be working on exercising every single day, twice a day.  In the morning will be a cardio workout to burn extra fat (which causes estrogen levels to rise) and night will be a Pilates stretch routine that will help keep muscles flexible and limber.  Exercising releases endorphins with act as natural pain killers, the more you exercise (within reason obviously) the happier you are and theoretically the less pain you should feel.  How that will equate with Endo I am not sure.

So until next month you know my plan.  I will post again in about 5 weeks and share with you any changes/ideas that have happened.  For those of you who have found your way to my blog because you are looking for nutritional healing please let a comment or become a follower.  The more information we can share regarding Endo and healing the better off we all will be.

Here's to a pain free week and lots of veggie love! :)

Nutritional Healing- Endometriosis

In October I spent some time in the hospital.  I woke one morning to have extreme pain on my left side over my ovary.  I couldn't stand up and honestly I had a hard time breathing because the pain was so intense.  At the time I had just started my period but the pain was much more than cramps.  I'll spare you all the details but in the end I was very worried I was having a miscarriage, something that should not be able to happen to me at this point.  The end result was Endometriosis.

Endo is not fun.  I am not sure how long I have had it.  It could have been there my own life or the endometrial cells could have been introduced outside of my uterus during one of my c-sections.  Who knows.  At this point I have to learn to live with it or get laproscopic surgery to have it removed, at which point it most likely grow back 5-10 years.  So because I love google and I hate doctors I started checking around to see what I could find about natural control methods.  There are a few conflicting things out there but in the end almost everyone agrees that a diet low in animal products and high in fiber are essential.

See Endo is greatly affected by estrogen, hence the reason it flares dramatically during your period, and because of the naturally occurring estrogen in animal products it can cause it to flare severely during times of peak estrogen production.  The extra estrogen can also cause greater pain at other times during the regular monthly cycle.  To say the pain is manageable is laughable for me at this time, controlling any outside factors are a must for me at this time.

I have spent hours upon hours going over websites and other information's.  I have read everything I can get my hands on regarding the Vegan health debate.  I have read everything I can about raw organic dairy products (to gage if they have lower estrogen levels).  I have searched high and low for organic, free range, hormone free meats.  In the end I have found little available in my little area.  My head is filled with WAYYY to much information.  The calendar is slowly going by and my next period is coming closer.  I have to say I am starting to shrink inside because I fear from the pain!  (It is unlike anything I have ever felt in my life!  And I have had 4 c-sections with a variety of  issues!)

We have been eating as healthy as possible when at home.  Things slip a little when we have been traveling recently.  I am trying to arm myself with a bunch of really healthy and nourishing recipes in preparation of next time.  I still need to look at different herbs that might help control/heal and I am trying to get in shape (more fat produces more estrogen in the body.  I don't want to loose weight just gain muscle.). 

This week is going to be filled cooking yummy meals.  After travelling this weekend I am in need of lots of vegetables and fruit.  I really want brown rice and bread for the first time in, well ever, does not sound good.  I think I am going to make a few soups and try out a couple new salads.  And while I am doing all that, I will be googling my little heart out trying to learn more about this crappy disease and what I can do to make it tolerable.

Have a happy  healthy week!