Endometriosis–the long-awaited answers

**Before you read this post, I want to say that I am not a doctor and I do not diagnose or treat illness.  Everything that I write here is free information about what I have done to help my body to heal.

*****2019 addition: it ends up that I had a rare version of a rare congenital back condition called Bertolotti’s Syndrome and probably most of my pain was from the back condition which was operated on in 2017. It explains why the doctor who did my endometriosis “emergency” surgery, when I asked him how bad it was on a scale of 1 to 10 and 10 being the worst, he said, “two,” and now I understand why.  I may have had some adhesions that needed to be removed but my case ended up being something different. I will keep the below story, I don’t take supplements  or prescriptions for the condition.

***What I write below is what alternative health products appear to help alleviate symptoms of endometriosis.  It is important to have the painful adhesions removed, which I did when I hit a pain crisis which led to my understanding that I had endometriosis.  The gold standard, as far as I’m concerned, for endometriosis treatment is this center in Atlanta:

http://www.centerforendo.com/

I advocate for the type of laser removal they offer for the best results and least amount of long-term pain if you have endometriosis.  Now, read on:

I had laparoscopy surgery –(where they go through your belly button to remove endothelial “adhesions” aka “implants” caused by endometriosis) in March of 2012.

If you’re reading this article, you probably already have the diagnosis. This is a good place to be ladies, now you have the information that you need to create an action plan!  Western medicine has certains things wrong about endometriosis and I am grateful that I knew enough to not take synthetic hormones as recommended by my regular western medicine doctors.  (See more on synthetic hormones under my post on birth control.)

I’m definitely acquiring more information, but I belive the LIVER is vital to addressing endometriosis.  This article is an excellent place to begin:

http://www.sensiblehealth.com/Journey-05.xhtml

I like how the article explains that endometriosis is the “career woman’s” disease; in other words, if one has a lot of stress, that can bring it on more.   I think diet is extremely important and people should check out the videos here from nutritionfacts.

“Prior to 1921, there were only 20 cases of endometriosis in the world wide medical literature.  Now, in the USA, 1 in 20 women have it.”*(Quote from “Progestelle” book by Peter Eckhart MD)

A lot of the chemicals in the make-up, soaps, and laundry detergents that women use have xenoestrogens that exacerbate endometriosis; if you have endo, I suggest that you try natural bathing products for 3-6 months and see if you notice a difference in your pain levels.  Do not use anything on your skin that has parabens or phenoxyethanol.  (Soap nuts is a good natural laundry detergent, you’d be surprised how many even “natural ones” still have unhelpful chemicals.) (For sunscreen, use products with primarily zinc oxide.) (Try some nice organic oil like almond or Young Living’s V-6 on your legs after shaving instead of using cheap lotions full of awful chemicals that you body will immediately absorb.)

I also recommend Young Living’s Progessence Plus, apply 7 drops on the neck once daily.  (My member# 977437, if you end up liking the product, you save 25% if you become a member.)  I had a 34 year-old female friend who was having sudden severe anxiety and insomnia who exercised a lot, (meaning she probably had more testosterone than a typical woman).  We talked and she started this product and couldn’t believe how much calmer she was within a few days.  Most women in modern society by the time the hit their mid-30s are deficient in progesterone.  Again, due to the over-dominance of estrogen in our foods, most women are estrogen dominant and deficient in progesterone.  Progessence Plus is the highest quality, most easily absorbed form of Progesterone that I know, plus it smells great and can be used as a perfume.   (Read what the doctors at www.centerforendo.com say about synthetic hormones and estrogen.)  What’s depressing is that the synthetic hormones that doctors prescribe for women once they have an endometriosis diagnosis can cause far worse and long-lasting problems than the original condition.  There’s actually a website for victims of the synthetic hormone shot “lupron” which is what the surgeon wanted to give me 5 days post-op,  website: http://lupronvictimshub.com/

To address the actual adhesions (or fibroids,)  nattokinase (from fermented soy bean) is said to help and I think a good product could be Arthur Andrew Medical, Neprinol AFD, Advanced Fibrin Defense.  This is a great enzyme product that breaks down fibrin, it also will thin the blood in general, (helps with plaque build-up).  Dr. Eckhart told me that nattokinase should break down any remaining adhesions within 6-9 months, (I spoke to him after I’d had my surgery).  Use coupon code: DIC339 to save you $10 and if you create an account on iherb.com (free) you’ll save an additional 4-12%.  Be sure to take this product on an empty stomach and pay attention to how you feel.  You can take two in the morning and two at night.  [ My recommendation is to have a professional like those at www.centerforendo.com properly remove the adhesions, then you don’t have to worry about finding a product that can dissolve them.  Others might have different opinions on this and I definitely would like to hear them.]

The final recommendation that I have used for endometriosis is to take a high-quality magnesium.  In the above recommended article, the author suggests calcium, too, so perhaps take a metagenics product with highly absorbable forms of both (e.g. here).  You might want to take just magnesium for three months, (CALM is a fantastic product,) THEN take a magnesium/calcium product.  Be sure that it is a high-quality, fresh, easily absorbed form and not something cheap that you got on-sale at a local store.