What to do for your Endometriosis, when nothing seems to be working!

Endometriosis can become a life sentence for so many women. It has the ability to leave you in permanent pain. Indescribable pain. It can strip you of your personality, turning you into a weak, depressed and highly emotional person. You become isolated, distant and your every waking day is spent worrying about the severity of your Endometriosis or what pain it is going to bring you on that day!

I know, because I was that person. I would wake each day, to the familiar feeling of pain in my abdominal area. Most days, would begin with a good dose of pain-killers, just to get me up and moving! If life’s stresses were too high, I would be sore. If I exercised too hard, I would be sore. If I had sex, I would be sore. It seemed that almost everything in my life would create pain.

I thought I had explored all my possible options to feel better. I went to the best specialist in Johannesburg for my Endometriosis. He was expensive and 90% of patients had Endometriosis …..so he must be good….right? We tried Danazol, Syndol, every possible contraceptive pill and hormone treatment you can think of and yet….the pain would still surface and appear. I went through a list of pain-killers, each one stronger than the next. My purse was a kaleidoscope of pills, for every side-effect and symptom I experienced with Endometriosis. I had drugs for nausea, for constipation, for diarrhea, for cystitis, for headaches, for inflammation, for eye strain and for every level of pain, there were a selection of drugs.

I felt lousy most days. I was always tired. Being tired made me irritated and emotional. I would get worked up about the smallest things. The only way I got through the day was with heaps of coffee, pain-killers, chocolate and every other day, a good shot of alcohol. I really didn’t think there was any other possible way as to be honest…. I believe my doctor. I thought he was an expert and he didn’t seem to think there was any massive benefit to changing my diet, or doing Yoga or incorporating any holistic/natural methods into my life. He didn’t seem to feel they would add a whole bunch of value to my health and though they may make me feel a little better, they were never going to be real “solutions” for my pain or my struggle with Endometriosis. He wanted to make sure the Endometriosis was kept under control. The only way he could see this happening, was to take a hormone treatment that would ensure a lack of hormones being produced by my body. That would stop the growth of the Endometriosis cells and yipee, it would all shrivel up and go away! The other stuff was peripheral, not tested and by no means a guarantee of Endometriosis ever being reduced.

I am here to tell you, that in my case this couldn’t have been further from the truth.

I got to a point where I just couldn’t live in a state of endless pain and in a dazzed and drug induced state any longer. My life had become Endometriosis and every decision I made about my life, involved the choice of how it would affect my Endometriosis. I hated everything about my life, my body and I especially hated Endometriosis. Thing is, I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand why I had it, what caused it, why it wouldn’t disappear as my doctor had promised me and how to move forward. Every time I got my hopes up and visited another specialist or doctor and they would give me the same choices – hormone treatments, laparoscopy and pain-killers. The road felt like a dead-end. No-one seemed to have any real answers….or shall I rephrase – answers I wanted to hear.

Eventually, after really believing that a hysterectomy was my only hope, I went to a Traditional Chinese Doctor in Melbourne. I remember thinking: “I know this is a long shot but if it doesn’t work, then I will have a hysterectomy and then it will be all done!”. I gave my healing 6months. I did everything properly because I really didn’t like the idea of having everything cut out. I changed my diet, incorporated 20minutes of exercise into each day, took up Yoga, took Aloe Vera and heaps of super-foods and stuck to my regiment of drinking weird tasting chinese herbs twice a day. I had acupuncture and plenty of rest and did a heap of work on my emotional healing too.

After 6months…iIt was gone. I had NO symptoms of Endometriosis. I had no pain. No period pain. No pain after sex. No exercise pain. Nothing. It was gone. You can read my full story here, to get why I am still writing this blog

Here’s the biggest thing I have learnt about Endometriosis. It will never be something that is cured with one tablet or a drug. They are right when they say there is no cure for Endometriosis. That is because there is not one thing that can ever cure it. It requires a full, rounded and holistic approach to heal it. Everything needs to happen, all together to make it work.

That is what holistic healing is all about. It is much like a massive big puzzle. The more pieces we add towards the bodies healing possibilities, the more it will form the perfect healing environment.

There are so many pieces we can add to the big puzzle, that we may not even realise how vast we can really take this whole healing thing!

• The perfect Endometriosis Diet. No bad fats, no sugar, no meats, no dairy and no preservatives.
• A solid and prolific approach to removing toxins from the body.
• The perfect super-foods. Incorporate the best foods you can find from around the globe. Things like Camu-Camu, Aloe Vera, Cocoa, Reishi Mushrooms, Goji Berries.
• The perfect supplements. Expand the horizons and incorporate the most powerful herbs from some of the oldest healing traditions like Ayurvedic and Chinese Medicine. Try Ashwaganda, Astragalus, Ginseng or many other well known Chinese healing herbs.
• The perfect life-style. Incorporate walking, swimming and Yoga to give you balance and get the lymphatic system moving.
• Heal emotionally. Every cell in our bodies works on a memory from the previous cell. Flush out the negative emotions causing you unnecessary stress.
• Create movement through the body with massage, acupuncture, energy healing and lymphatic drainage.

One of the key things I am realising is just how amazing our bodies are and that we should never be angry with it for the reaction it has taken. It does actually know what it is doing and is merely reacting to what it thinks it needs to survive.

What I really hope you do, before continuing down the path of endless pain is to explore more of what your bodies healing powers are. Give your body a real chance to heal. Give it everything and more and see what it can do for you!

There are more and more people turning towards holistic practitioners. There is a reason for it. There are more and more holistic practitioners available each and every day. There is clearly a new found demand. Check out this website for a list of holistic, registered and reputable practitioners: http://www.myhealthiestlife.com/

Hey, give it a go for 6months and just see what happens. The worst case scenario is that you go back to the original plan!