"My Endo Story": Kellie Shortridge and Kayla Collins
In this episode, I'm sharing the stories of two of my friends who also have Endometriosis. As they share their symptoms, experiences with various forms of treatment, and how their lives have been affected, you will hear many complexities of this common condition. #endometriosisawarenessmonth
March is Endometriosis Awareness Month and in this episode, I'm sharing the stories of two of my friends who also have Endometriosis. As they share their symptoms, experiences with various forms of treatment, and how their lives have been affected, you will hear many complexities of this common condition. Please help us in continuing to spread awareness by sharing this episode with your friends and family members who may also be affected by Endometriosis.
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Resources mentioned in this episode: Endometriosis episodes on the Health Forward Podcast; Nancy's Nook Education Facebook Page
Topics in this episode:
When did you first start experiencing symptoms and what were they?
In what way did these symptoms affect your life?
How did you realize it was endo?
What course of treatment did you decide to do?
Where are you on the journey now?
What do you wish more people knew about endo?
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What I've Learned about Body Image and Chronic Disease
In this episode, I’m sharing some things that I’ve learned recently about navigating body image while dealing with chronic disease and how it’s affecting me personally. My hope is that some of these things that I’ve learned will be helpful and encouraging for you too!
Hi friends! In this episode, I’m sharing some things that I’ve learned recently about navigating body image while dealing with chronic disease and how it’s affecting me personally. My hope is that some of these things that I’ve learned will be helpful and encouraging for you too!
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So if you’re thinking, “wow, Alaina - you’ve been talking an awful lot about body image lately…”, let me just say - you’re not wrong.
A couple of months ago, one of my favorite people to follow online - Jess Connolly - started promoting her new book “Breaking Free from Body Shame” that comes out this month, and instead of a launch team, she created a community called Good Body Gals - if you listen to me here, online, or in real life, you’ve definitely heard me talk about it. :) I joined it because 1) - I’m a Jess fan-girl and 2) because I wanted to learn more about struggles with body image and body shame - especially from a Christian perspective, not only for myself but for the women that I coach. I wanted to be better equipped on how to help them work through some of these issues as well.
What I did not anticipate is that right about that same time, I would start having Endo symptoms flare up and find out that I need to have another surgery soon. It’s been six years since my last surgery and when I had that last one I was in the thick of a long season with infertility, so I really wasn’t sure how the news would affect me this time around. I certainly wasn’t prepared for the way it would affect my body image.
Last time, I was so much younger and was so deeply wounded and hurting from the journey I had been on. I remember feeling like my body was broken or betraying me back then but this time, I expected it to be different, I guess. I’m older, I feel like I’ve healed a lot emotionally, I’ve grown a lot spiritually, and by God's sweet faithfulness and grace, I am a mom now! I even went back to school and learned how to help others with Endo and other health challenges… how am I struggling so much with this now?
But it wasn’t different. If anything, I think it hit me a little harder this time.
My thoughts quickly started spiraling - I thought I was done with this part of my life, you know - the “pain into purpose”, Cinderella story thing. A chapter in my story that I could look back on and credit with helping me know God more and finally figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
I’m a health coach now! I teach other people how to move through their own health challenges and support their bodies in functioning the best that they can! How can mine be struggling so much?
I felt frustrated. I felt a little ashamed. I felt like I didn’t do enough, didn’t know enough. That it was somehow my fault.
I know the reality. I know that Endo is never truly gone/cured (outside of something miraculous- which I do believe can happen but don’t believe that everyone’s story goes that way). If I hadn't learned and applied what I have to try and support my body, things would likely be much, much worse. I probably would’ve already needed surgery again long before now, but the thing is, logic doesn’t really have much of an effect on feelings, does it?
I’m so thankful that God allowed me to join the Good Body Gals community right at that same time. He knew that I would need to have some truth poured into me and spoken over me to fight these feelings. {Btw, this episode isn’t a plug for Jess or her community - although I highly recommend it to any woman, anywhere, any age}. My point in all of this is that this is a hard issue that so many of us deal with. Whether it’s as simple as feeling disappointed in yourself every time you look in the mirror, or something horrible and derogatory that someone has spoken over you that you’ve allowed to define you and still ring in your ears today, or if it’s some kind of brokenness and weakness that you are experiencing in your body - whatever the circumstance poor body image or body shame is a common struggle that when left unchecked or unmet with the truth, will start to affect the rest of your life and your health.
I want to share just a couple of the things that I’ve learned or been reminded of over the last few weeks that I hope will help you too.
My body is not a project
This one really got me. I didn’t realize it until I heard it specifically addressed and taught on, but this is something that I have subconsciously thought about myself at least since I received the #endo diagnosis, maybe before that. My body being able to function, be fertile, perform, look and act the way that I wanted it to is something I have been striving toward for the past 8 or so years. Don’t get me wrong, I 100% believe in supporting our bodies to be as healthy and functioning as they can be - but for me, especially while I was going through infertility, it crossed over into obsession and consumed me. This idea of always striving, always improving, always optimizing consumed more of my thoughts, time, money, and probably even my prayers than just about anything else during that time. When I realized that I was starting to be symptomatic again, it was so easy for all of those obsessive “need to fix it” type thoughts to start rolling in again and with it these fears and insecurities that maybe I wasn’t worthy enough or knowledgeable enough to do this - to keep teaching you how to support your own health.
My body is not a tool
Another lesson that was shared recently was the idea that not only is my body not a project, but it’s also not a tool. To be honest, I had some mental/emotional resistance to that one at first. I think I’ve always believed that my body or my health was a tool for me to turn around and use to serve others - and that sounds good, right? I mean, aren’t we supposed to be selfless and all about helping others?
Here’s the issue with both of these ideas: when we view our bodies, or even our health, as a continual project or as a tool only intended for other people, it can quickly lead us into shame and feelings of failure because the “project” will never be done or complete on this Earth - the goalposts will keep moving and we won’t ever catch them, and at some point, our bodies aren’t going to feel like a very useful tool anymore - they aren’t going to perform, look, act, or be able to be used the way that they once were. Both of these ways of thinking lead us to look at ourselves with shame, guilt, or disappointment. And the real, real issue is that they have us just looking at ourselves.
The actual beautiful truth that we can replace these false ideas with is that God created our bodies as a gift! He made them so that we would have a way to experience Him and worship Him while we are here on this earth and also be able to experience the rest of His creation. When we adopt this perspective instead, we find ourselves looking at God rather than ourselves and that’s the whole point. He made our bodies good and beautiful because they reflect Him.
God’s Glory
The last thought I want to leave you with today is something that was so, so convicting to me. God is God - and that means that He is always after His Glory. When we find ourselves getting caught up in how our bodies look, how they are performing, how healthy they are or aren’t - we need to think long and hard about our motives. Why do we want those things so badly? Is it so that other people will see how good we look, how hard we’ve worked, how healthy we are, how much weight we’ve lost or muscle we’ve gained? Do we want other people to see us? If it’s about that, if that’s where our motives are - then we are out for our own glory. If we find ourselves thinking “wow - look at her” or “wow - look what she’s been able to do” (and friends, let's be honest - we have all thought those things at some point), then we are trying to take God’s glory. As believers, as women who bear the image of God, our goals should be wrapped up in people looking at us and saying “wow - look at God”, “Wow - look what God has done.”
I know that is tough and kinda stings because it got me too. I’m still preaching it to myself as much as I am to you - but if we are going to experience true freedom in our health and our body image, we are going to have to align ourselves with the truth of what God says about it (He created us after all) and then we will be able to care for our health and our bodies as the gifts that they are.
Some exciting news…
Lastly, I want to share some exciting news with you today! As we are talking about aligning ourselves with truth and caring for our bodies as the gifts that they are - I have created something that I believe will help you do just that!
For a long time, I have been wanting to provide an option for women just like you who are wanting to support their bodies and improve certain areas of their health but want to do it in a way that actually moves their health forward with a real, lasting impact. I know how overwhelming it can be to try to figure out what to do first and which thing is best for you, specifically - and I want to make that easier for you than it was for me, which I why I started coaching - but I also know that not everyone has the budget or schedule margin for one-on-one coaching. So I’m so excited to share with you that I have created an eCourse! Hooray!
The Move Forward, Feel Better course is a 4-module course, in which you will learn the exact steps needed to:
Sustain your energy throughout the day, without the afternoon crash
Support a healthy weight that’s right for your body
Improve the clarity of your skin, from the inside out
Increase your mental clarity and ability to focus
Build a strong, well-functioning immune system
Stabilize your mood and reduce frustration with yourself
Foster a healthy body image that’s based on the truth of who you are
Support your gut health and overall function of your body
So now you’re thinking “sounds great… but what’s the price?” {See, I told you that I’ve been where you are. ;)}
While I’ve seen other courses similar to this one that retails anywhere from $300-$400 and I could easily charge that for this course, I want to make this as affordable and accessible to you as possible, which is why I’m offering this course for only $79.
And as a special gift, you can also get a follow-up, 1-hr, group-coaching session with me for absolutely FREE when you enroll in the course by next Thursday, June 17th (that’s one week from today).
Once you enroll in the course, you will have lifetime access to all the videos, course guides, a private FB community where you can be in community with other women, just like yourself so there is no better time to take advantage of this offer - start moving forward in your health journey, and caring for your body as the gift that it is. And don’t forget, when you enroll with the code HFpod you will also get a free group coaching session with me!
I’m so excited to be able to offer this course to you! You can get all the details, as well as enroll in the course by going to yourhealthforward.com/course.
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CBD: What You Need to Know
In today’s episode, we are talking about CBD. Some people have found it to be extremely helpful and rave about it, others are skeptical or downright condemning. I want you to be educated as to what it is, how it works in the body, and what the potential health benefits are so that you can make an informed decision.
Hi friends! In today’s episode, we are talking about CBD. CBD can be a controversial topic (what isn’t these days?🙃 ). Some people have found it to be extremely helpful and rave about it, others are skeptical or downright condemning of it. I’m not here to be a CBD pusher, but I do want you to be educated as to what it is, how it works in the body, and how it may be beneficial for your health so that you can make an informed decision.
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It’s common to think that CBD is a recent trend in the health/wellness world, but actually, various forms of the cannabis plant have been used for thousands and thousands of years. Chinese medicine textbooks, dating back to 2900 BC (like early Bible, pre-Abraham times) note its use for its healing properties, including pain relief, sleep aid, and anxiety reduction. Its use is also noted in medical texts from India and Greece dating back thousands of years ago. As a matter of fact, the cannabis plant was a commonly used medicine in the US in the 1800s (apparently they even prescribed it to help with baby’s teething pain) until fears about it began to circulate in the 1940s, and then it was actually banned in the US in 1970. CBD has now been made legal again at the federal level across the US and the FDA even approved its first CBD-derived medication in 2018. So even though it may feel new and trendy - it most certainly is not.
What is CBD?
CBD (cannabidiol) is a cannabinoid, which means it’s a therapeutic substance derived from part of the cannabis plant. There are actually lots of different kinds of cannabinoids, and CBD along with many others primarily comes from the leaves and flowers of the Hemp plant (which is a type of cannabis plant). Hemp is also used to make clothing, paper, etc.
Although CBD is the one we hear the most about, the hemp plant contains many different types of cannabinoids including CBG, CBN, and THC (which is likely what you know as the intoxicating component of hemp).
So, I think it's important to realize that these terms mean different things. CBD and hemp are not synonymous. CBD is one component of the hemp plant. CBD is not marijuana, although both can be derived from different parts of the hemp plant.
Each component has a different way that it affects systems in the body.
How does it work?
Our bodies actually house a system made up of neurotransmitters and receptors called the endocannabinoid system. These receptors are found all over the body (brain, skin, muscles, GI tract, immune cells, heart, and blood vessels - just to name a few) and respond to chemicals released by the endocannabinoid system naturally to help keep our bodies healthy. This system plays a part in regulating many different functions in the body, including mood, memory, gut health, hormone balance, pain, inflammation, immunity, and appetite. Its overall purpose is to keep our bodies in homeostasis- or a steady state of function.
The different types of cannabinoids from the hemp plant, actually connect to our internal endocannabinoid receptors and cause them to release healing effects on the body.
What are the health benefits of CBD?
When talking about CBD specifically, it connects to TR PV1 receptors in the body and can help in reducing anxiety, nausea, pain, and inflammation, it has also been reported to help with seizure disorders, improve sleep, aid digestion, and help with hormone balance.
It helps our bodies move out of the “fight or flight” (sympathetic) state and into a more relaxed, “rest and digest” (parasympathetic) state so it’s great for dealing with stress.
CBD is also an antioxidant that is believed to be more potent than even vitamin C and is protective of the brain as well.
So as you can see, there are a lot of possible health benefits from taking CBD. So maybe you’re wondering if it would be good for you. There aren’t any known serious adverse effects of taking a pure CBD oil, although some have experienced GI upset, some drowsiness, and fatigue - although in a lot of those instances, it’s possible that the dosages were too high.
Recommendations
It is recommended to take a full-spectrum CBD oil, that will include other types of cannabinoids (CBG, CBN) and terpenes, which all work together and each has receptors in the endocannabinoid system. This does mean that it will include THC, but only at or below the federally legal level of .3% - which means it will not cause any intoxication.
There are also brands that are completely THC-free, just be aware that you may not get quite as many benefits from it as you would a full-spectrum option, but it would still be beneficial.
For general wellness purposes, a daily dose of 10-50 mg is recommended. For dealing with chronic pain or inflammation, a daily dose of 10-100 mg is recommended. As with most herbal supplements, it’s best to start with a small dose and then work your way up until you feel it’s at a good level.
Personally, I’m a big fan of the Ancient Nutrition brand of CBD products. They have oil, capsules, and a powder option that is mixed with collagen peptides. All of their CBD products are organic and third-party tested, so you can trust that they are pure and completely safe to take. They are also full-spectrum CBD products that also include other inflammation-fighting ingredients like turmeric, black pepper, and MCT oil, so you get the maximum health benefits.
Q&A
On social media this week, I asked what questions you guys had about CBD, so I’m going to answer a few of those very quickly:
Will CBD show up on a drug test?
In order to be legal in this country, a CBD product must contain less than .3% THC, which means it should not show up on a drug test. However, I would think about a few things if this is something that concerns you or if you need to consider it for your job, etc.: A full-spectrum CBD product will contain THC, so there is always a small chance that it could show. If you are worried about that, I would just opt for the THC-free options, also known as a CBD isolate, which means that the whole hemp plant wasn’t used, only the Cannabidiol. Also, just be mindful of where you purchase CBD. Personally, I wouldn’t buy it from just any pop-up shop or tent on the side of the road :). I would only purchase for a source that I know does extensive third-party testing and guarantees a pure product.
Is it really beneficial to consume CBD orally?
I guess most of this episode has already answered this question but I also wanted to point out that there are also some brands that offer CBD-infused creams and lotions for topical pain relief. These can also be helpful, but you won’t get the systemic benefits that I mentioned before in just a topical product. Also, I would recommend opting for an organic option even in a topical option, because hemp plants can often be sprayed heavily with toxic chemicals, which then will be sitting on your skin.
Is CBD good for a sleep aid?
A great question! Overall, CBD is going to help your body be in a more relaxed state, which should naturally lend itself to better sleep. There is also specific research, a study done in 2020 by Digestive Disease and Sciences, that looked at people with a painful disease that caused insomnia who used CBD for relief and 87% of those participants said it improved their sleep. So I think the chances of it helping are pretty high.
So ultimately, you have to decide if you feel that CBD is right for you and would be helpful for you, but now I hope you can confidently say that you understand what it is and how it works. I personally do take it and have felt that it’s been beneficial for me with dealing with anxiety, as well as dealing with inflammation and pain.
Giveaway
This is the 60th episode of the #HFpodcast, which I think deserves a little celebration, so I am going to be giving away a bottle of the Ancient Nutrition brand CBD oil, along with a couple other of my favorite stress-relieving favs to one of you!
In order to be entered into the drawing, make sure you are following me on Instagram, like the post talking about this episode, and tag a friend in the comments who may need to learn more about CBD. For a bonus entry, leave a rating and review of the podcast and share it on social media. All the details of the giveaway will be in the Instagram post, as well and the giveaway will run through next Wednesday, 6/9/20.
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Alternative Treatment Options for Chronic Pain
Hey friends! Today’s episode is all about alternative treatment options for chronic pain management. It’s been estimated that chronic pain affects around 50-million Americans, often altering the way they live their lives, and unfortunately, some of our “go-to” pain relievers can bring unwanted side effects and new problems to address. This is an important conversation to have and one I hope you will find helpful!
Hey friends! Today’s episode is all about alternative treatment options for chronic pain management. As I mentioned in the last episode, March is Endometriosis Awareness Month and if you know anything about the disease, then you know that the most commonly associated symptom of Endo is chronic pain, often debilitating pain. So that’s what inspired the thought behind today’s episode, but these treatment options apply to all different types of chronic pain. It’s been estimated that chronic pain affects around 50 million Americans - 20 million of whom have such debilitating pain that it has altered their everyday lives. It has been linked to an increased risk of major mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. This is a topic that affects a lot of people and I think it’s important to talk about.
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What is pain? It’s your body communicating to you - trying to tell you that something isn’t right. Listen and treat the cause, don’t just silence the symptom. Often when the pain is chronic, the cause is inflammation of some sort. Other times it’s something like dehydration and occasionally something more serious. Whatever the cause, we want to actually address the root of the issue and not just slap a bandaid on it - especially when some of our most commonly used “bandaids” can end up causing more problems in the long term.
Some of our “go-to” pain relievers can have negative effects on the body, especially when used long-term. Tylenol or acetaminophen can be very hard on the liver because it reduces levels of glutathione in the body, which is the body’s master antioxidant and is very important for neutralizing harmful free radicals, which when left unchecked can cause inflammation and disease. In high doses or chronic use, it can also lead to increased intestinal permeability - which as we know leads to all kinds of other negative health issues, including increased inflammation (which usually equals more pain).
Other common pain relievers such as NSAIDs like ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin do actually help to reduce inflammation, but when used often can cause damage to the gut, including negatively affecting the microbiome and creating an imbalance of the good gut bugs vs the opportunistic ones, increasing intestinal permeability, and possibly leading to ulcers, GERD, and sometimes even IBD or colitis.
Opioids are also often prescribed for chronic pain, which in addition to all the same side effects just mentioned can lead to addiction (leading cause of death in people under 50 years old in the US) and major changes in brain chemistry and function. We are in a horrible opioid epidemic in this country and it’s absolutely ruining people’s lives and families. Things have got to change when it comes to first-line of defense when dealing with chronic pain!
So what are some alternative pain management techniques? Here are a few ideas that can not only help manage symptoms but often can help heal the root of the issue altogether. And even better, each of these options works with your body, helping it to function better as opposed to working against it and possibly creating unwanted side effects and new problems to address.
Hands-On Therapies
Acupuncture is great for treating chronic pain (especially Endometriosis - more on that here) by increasing circulation (faster healing) but also thought to stimulate nerves, muscles, and tissue which can help the body release its own pain-relieving hormones and neurotransmitters. It’s been proven effective for pain and general wellness for thousands of years.
Physical Therapy and Chiropractic Care can both help to correct structural issues and treat the root cause of chronic musculoskeletal pain. These modalities work great in conjunction with each other.
Essential Oils
Oils like peppermint, frankincense, lavender, and evening primrose oils all help to reduce inflammation and pain. Using these oils topically (with the proper dilution) can be greatly beneficial for healing and relief as well as diffusing, which can have similar effects, plus help with mental clarity and mood.
CBD
Cannabidiol is one type of cannabinoid from the cannabis (hemp) plant. It is non-psychoactive (it won’t get you high) but has been used (for thousands of years) to help a wide range of health issues, including chronic pain. It helps to reduce inflammation and put your body in a more relaxed state (rest and digest mode) so that it can heal more easily. CBD has also been shown to be a neuroprotective antioxidant - which means it helps to safeguard the health of your brain. It can help reduce anxiety, promote sleep, and even be beneficial for gut health. Do make sure that you get CBD oil from a trusted, verified source that isn’t loaded with additives and extras like sugar, dyes, etc.
Lifestyle changes
Ensuring that we are properly hydrated (water + optimal electrolytes), moving our bodies regularly (increases blood flow and healing), eating anti-inflammatory foods (some faves: leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, pumpkin, berries, bone broth, wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil/milk, walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, green tea, turmeric, ginger, garlic), and prioritizing good sleep (allows for repair and renewal of the body) will all reduce chronic inflammation and promote healing.
Supplements
One of my favorite supplements for pain and inflammation is PRANA by Leefy Organics. It’s a potent combination of turmeric, ginger, and black pepper formulated in a way that allows for max absorption into the bloodstream, making for quick-relief and benefit. It helps lower inflammation, reduces pain, helps with digestive health and brain function.
Another important supplement (food, really) when thinking about inflammation is Bone Broth and Collagen powder. Our health starts in the gut - we can’t ignore it! Bone broth helps to rebuild the gut lining which helps to lower inflammation but also to increase the body’s ability to absorb nutrients and antioxidants, which help your body to be able to optimally create and use pain-relieving neurotransmitters. Both bone broth and collagen can also help with joint health, which can be a common source of chronic pain.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids have also been shown to reduce inflammation, provide proper lubrication for joints, and increases blood flow allowing for faster healing.
Magnesium is an essential mineral that plays a lot of really important roles in the body including helping with circulation and blood pressure, immune system function, nerve and muscle function, and many more. A lot of people are deficient in magnesium, so taking a supplemental form of magnesium (specifically magnesium glycinate) can be really helpful for dealing with muscle soreness and cramps, menstrual cycle pain, headaches and migraines, and even neuropathy.
So as you can see there are a lot of alternatives when it comes to dealing with pain. Am I saying that we should never take an over-the-counter pain reliever ever again- especially for something acute? No! That’s just not realistic. However, what I am saying is that there are many safe and just-as-effective options that we can use as a first-line defense that will actually work with our bodies and help our bodies function optimally without causing negative side effects.
One thing that I try to help my clients think about is that everything we do in relation to our health - everything we eat, everything we take - has an effect on the body both short-term and long-term. Sometimes it’s just easier to look at the short-term because we are so wired for instant gratification, but we can’t forget that these things also affect our bodies long-term. So let’s educate ourselves and consider how something will affect us in 6 months, 1 year, or even 5 years, down the road. I think that principle especially applies when we are deciding how to deal with chronic pain.
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5 Tips for Managing Endometriosis
March is Endometriosis Awareness Month and as someone who has #endo, I am passionate about sharing my story, as well as encouragement and education around this topic. In today’s episode, I am sharing five practical tips that will help you manage endometriosis from all aspects of your health.
Endometriosis is an inflammatory hormonal condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (endometrium) is found in other parts of the body outside of the uterus. This tissue responds to hormonal shifts of the menstrual cycle (just the same as the tissue within the uterus) and as such causes inflammation, pain, and often scar tissue/adhesions. It is estimated that about 200 million women worldwide have endometriosis. It is a complex disorder, and because of the wide variety of symptoms that can be associated with it, it can often take several years and multiple providers to actually receive an endometriosis diagnosis.
If you want to know more about Endo including the symptoms, what we know (and don’t) about possible causes, and current treatment options, I recorded a podcast all about that last year - it is episode 30. I also have a few other endo-related episodes including more of my personal journey with it, as well as an episode all about acupuncture and helpful it can be for managing endo.
This leads me to the topic for today - 5 Tips for Managing Endometriosis. Whether you have already received an endo diagnosis or maybe just suspect that you have it, there are some things that you need to know that can help you along your journey.
Be an advocate for your health
Unfortunately, it can take multiple years, sometimes even a decade, and multiple doctors and providers to get a receive an Endo diagnosis. Sadly a lot of endo symptoms are often overlooked, downplayed, or even dismissed and labeled as just being tired, overwhelmed, or dramatic. Hopefully, this will not be your experience but know going in that you are going to need to be your own health advocate. Even with the most skilled and compassionate providers, no one knows your body or your symptoms the way that you do.
Make a list of questions before each appointment and be willing to voice your concerns if you aren’t comfortable with a particular treatment plan.
Remember that your provider is there to help you but they can’t read your mind - so you have to speak up, and they don’t have the final say about your care. If you feel uncomfortable or dismissed, find another provider.
When it comes to symptoms, deal with the root cause
There is not yet an agreed-upon root cause of Endo. There are several theories that are being researched but as of now, that is all that they are. What we do know is that women with endometriosis often also have poor gut health, stagnation within both the circulatory and lymphatic systems, and hormonal imbalances as well as chronic inflammation. So while we don’t know what thing/things triggered the condition, we can address these other issues.
Working on gut health by addressing leaky gut or any gut lining issues, as well as ensuring a good balance of gut flora, can be a great place to start as all other processes and systems of the body are affected by our microbiome.
Acupuncture can also be a great starting place as it can benefit stagnation, hormone imbalances, and inflammation.
Create a support system
A condition like Endometriosis affects your entire life, not just part of it, so you will likely need to address each area with multiple providers. Creating a care team may involve many different types of providers including a surgeon (this will often be someone like a Reproductive Endocrinologist that is specifically trained in excision surgery for Endo), acupuncturist, pelvic health physical therapist, health coach, or a nutritionist trained in hormone health, and often a mental health professional or licensed therapist. Your care team may have more or fewer providers, but it’s important to remember that this is a complex condition, so it’s good to support yourself in all of these different areas - it doesn’t make you extra.
In addition, to have different trained providers, it’s also important to surround yourself with friends and family that can support you along your journey. Endometriosis can be a lonely diagnosis because it’s still such a hush-hush topic. Some still think of it as a period problem when in reality it is so much more. When trying to manage a chronic condition of any kind, you will need an outlet. A small group of people that you can share your worries, struggles, and feelings with.
Design a plan that works for you
Similar to the last tip, you need to create a plan to deal with your specific symptoms that is helpful for you. Although there are many shared symptoms among those with Endo, every case is unique and individualized. No two women are exactly the same - they have different genetic makeups, different environmental factors, different lifestyles. So what may help one person may not be the golden ticket for another.
Pay attention to the signals (symptoms) that your body is giving you and do some research into what may help that also work with your phase of life, schedule, etc. For example, if you deal with chronic fatigue, waking up at 5 am and working out first thing in the morning may not be a good idea for you, even if it seems to be working just fine for your friend. We can always learn from other people, but be careful when comparing your journey with someone else.
Be gracious with yourself
As I mentioned before, apart from divine healing, there is currently no “cure” for Endo. However, that doesn’t mean that there can’t be relief or a reversal of symptoms, maybe even a state of remission, but it’s not something that is “cured” and you never have to think about it again.
So make sure to set realistic expectations for yourself when making changes to your lifestyle. Remember that healing isn’t linear. This is a common frustration for those with any chronic condition. Healing is a process of ups and downs. Doing really well for a while, having a setback, learning how things affect your body, adjusting, and on and on it goes. Try to remember this when you start to feel frustrated with your body.
Another common thought that those dealing with chronic pain or a condition can be the feeling that their body is betraying them. I just want to encourage you to really work on your mindset around this. You are not defective. Your body isn’t betraying you. You were fearfully and wonderfully made - just like everyone else. We just live in a fallen world where pain and disease still exist, and your body needs some extra support. Your journey isn’t going to be like someone else’s and that is a good thing! It’s uniquely yours. Be gracious with yourself and find gratitude in the ways that your body serves you every day.
I hope that this has helped to encourage you. If you know someone who has endometriosis, check on them and see how they’re doing. Send them this podcast - odds are that they probably need some encouragement too!
