Endo treatments-natural

[zanelee]

Anyone know of any natural treatments or anything that might help with endometriosis?
We've been trying to conceive again, and now are suspecting endo (all the lovely symptoms)
Any help?
TIA!

(X posted in health and healing)

[MommyHawk]

I have had endo since I was 15 and they said at 19 that I would never have kids. Around 25 I started to care and try to conceive and nothing worked. I had my last laporoscoy at 19 and the docs tried everything short of doing another surgery. The last fertility doctor I saw said that he wanted to try something new - new as in something that no other doctor had tried with me since I was 15. And that 'new' treatment was to 'go natural'. No doctor visits (because all they did was make me depressed about being 'broken'). No drugs. No hormone therapies. No stress. Eat healthy whole foods. No sugars (since endo feeds off of this and stress). And excercise regularly.

needless to say this was revolutionary to me! I had been a guinea pig for years and no one ever suggested that I try to do nothing but do healthy things for my body and mind. So as crazy as this sounded I tried it since the only other alternative was another surgery (and once they go in, you are never the same!)

I loved not having to visit the doctor every 2 weeks for a dose of 'your still broken' crap...and no meds! I felt great!!! and eating great food and walking and swimming and I felt great!

Well, 6 months later I couldn't get off of the couch I was in so much pain! And it was worse than endo pain and constant, so weird and painful...and I was tired, and nauseous, and my breasts hurt...well, I was sure I had uterine cancer or something everything hurt so bad and I was so sick...I was sure this is what I was getting from going against what my doctors wanted me to do (take more drugs, get more surgeries)

I went in for a pregnancy test just in case but I was sure I'd be disappointed again (just as I had been every month since we were trying) but I wanted to go in just in case I was dying! because that's what it felt like!

nurse came out and told me I was pregnant! I almost passed out! it worked!!!

and I've been 'going natural' ever since!

so in short: no sugar, no stress, exercise, organic foods, sleep well, and talk about it! talk to anyone who will listen and hear you and just let you talk.

come to find out I was in massive pain from all the adhesions that the endo had caused, and the growing baby was bursting through them all... well, the pregnancy 'cured' me and the endo didn't come back as bad after my menses returned (18 months after birth thanks to breastfeeding s and the second baby was totally accidental. So the pregnancy did cure my inability to conceive.

sorry for the long post - I've never told anyone the whole story before

[zanelee]

You know, your post just cements what I've been feeling I needed to do.
So, off I go to a healthier lifestyle.
Thanks so much for sharing your story! It really did help!

[MommyHawk]

great for you! I hope you never had to deal with Lupron, Depo, or any of that crap. Just doesn't work at all!

Also, do not use tampons that are bleached. If you use them at all, use natural ones that are unbleached. And there are some herbals that can help. I can't remember the book, but it was something like 'Womans Herbal Remidies' that had a whole section on herbs and natural treatments for endo...

and if you have time, try yoga for relaxation and good health. I did pilates back then, but now I think yoga would have been better...both if you can find a combination class!

[MommyHawk]

to expand on the tampon thing - try not to use anything that has been treated with chlorine because of the dioxins - dioxins cause endometriosis as far as I've researched. the carcinogen causes female disorders - so don't put your food in plastic containers, definitely don't reheat plastic in the microwave as it'll release estrogen into your food and can do bad things. Sorry, it's been a while and my brain can't remember the right jargon.

[zanelee]

Wow! Thanks for that info. I knew I didn't like tampons for some reason. And this last cycle I broke down and used some, as we were at the beach...and this cycle was THE WORST!
I think I have that book! Guess I need to go and dust it off again!
Thanks!

[Miguelsmomma]

Here's another story for you and book suggestion.

DH and I started ttc in 11/2002. It took 1 1/2 years to get pregnant, only to miscarry at 8 weeks. Grieved and was confused as to why it took so long to get pregnant and wondered why I lost it. Mom got cancer back, this time fatal. I only had 18-24 months until she died (or so we thought) so I finally went to the dr to find out what was going on. I thought, Well, if I get pregnant right now, she might be able to see my first child. First one was just an infertility specialist. He thought I wasn't ovulating. Put me on Clomid. Three months of that and the stress of my mom being sick, he told me, "Well, if that was your problem, you would have been pregnant by now," and took me off of it. I brought my mom home to take care of her, because the chemo wasn't doing anything and in Sept. of '04 was told she had about six months. We made an appointment to see an RE. They couldn't get us in until February. My mom died in January.

Went to appointment and RE said right after he walked in the door, before he even sat down that he thought I had endo. He wanted to do a laproscopy and put me on Lupron. I had the surgery in March of 2005, but I never got on the Lupron because of insurance and his office not working together. That's okay. I was never jazzed about being put into premenopause anyway. Went another two years and then, boom, I got pregnant again. Ha ha. I wasn't going to let endo get the better of me. I went all the way to 18 weeks and then woke up at 2 o'clock in the morning on July 14, 2006 knowing my baby had died. Ultrasound confirmed it. I had to be induced and delivered him on what would have been the beginning of my 19th week. I can't even begin to tell you the heartache.

I went back to the RE, who I hadn't seen in two years. I now wanted the Lupron. I just wanted this cr@p gone, gone from my body, gone from ever having to think about it. I thought with the benefit of being pregnant for 19 weeks and the Lupron, maybe that would do it, and I would finally have my baby that I so long for.

Well, while waiting to get on the Lupron I did some research on the net and found "Endometriosis: A key to fertility and healing through nutrition." (something like that. A friend has my copy) Interesting concept for this thing with no "cure." I couldn't find it at any store and had to buy in on Amazon.com. I got it in and started devouring it. It makes all the sense in the world, our bodies are sick but want to be well. We just have to give them the tools that they need to heal themselves! I was so excited I told DH I would be pregnant by X-mas.

It's a nutrition program, not a "diet". Many women with endo are lactose intolerant and may have a wheat and gluten sensitivity and it just goes into such detail about what you should and should not eat and what supplements to take. I started doing the program right away, which I have to tell you wasn't easy for me, being brought up on grilled cheese and mac and cheese and all the other good bad-for-you-stuff. When I looked back on it, both times I had gotten pregnant had been when I, like a lot of us, wanted to lose a few pounds and had started diets, meaning I was eating better. I started right when I was ovulating, had a wonderful, pain free period, ovulated and before I was even finished with the book, I was pregnant in October of '06. It took exactly one ovulation cycle. Yay! It really works. I want to shout it from the rooftops. I want to write a letter to my RE who I haven't seen again that this is the answer. This is the "cure." It will probably be met with skepticism and criticism, but for me I know.

Unfortunately, I lost that one also at about six weeks in November. So now I have something working against me at both ends: The endo makes it hard for me to get pregnant, and something (no one knows what) is keeping me from staying pregnant.

I have still stayed on all the supplements but having two miscarriages and a stillbirth all back to back with no babies has been too much for me emotionally and mentally. It sounds really stupid that I know what I want -- a healthy, live baby -- but can't seem to get myself back on the program to get one. I feel like a dog chasing its tail.

Anyway that is a very brief synopsis of my story of ttc and infertility and endo and good nutrition. It works. Get the book. It can change your life. Let me know how it works for you!

Best of luck to you.

[Miguelsmomma]

I forgot to put that the book was written by Dian Shepperson-Mills. She is from England so some of the words are different, but it's not like it's hard to understand or anything. You can order her book from her website, I think, but I think Amazon would be easier, but I don't know the difference, I only did it from Amazon

Liz

[bug2003]

I've gotten pg twice on my own. The first time, I was having endo symptoms, but couldn't get a doc to tell me that's what was going on. My MIL found info on it and passed it onto me. I was certain that's what it was. I had an appointment with a new OB/GYN to talk about it all. The wait to get in to see him was crazy long. In the meantime, I got pg and became an OB patient instead of just a GYN patient. My endo symptoms went away and stayed away until I stopped breastfeeding when my ds was about two months old. I went back to the OB/GYN, explained everything and he flat out told me he was 99.9% certain I had endo. Of course he couldn't confirm it without doing a lap. I decided not to have the lap done at that time. I went on bcp for a couple months and then we decided to ttc again.

I got pg again a second time without help. Unfortuneately, I miscarried at 8.5 weeks. The pain returned much worse after the miscarriage. After still not getting pg again, I scheduled a lap. I got pg with my youngest son the same cycle I had the lap. I had the lap done on cd 2, my doctor cauterized the endo and confirmed his diagnosis. I was healed enough by ovulation time, dtd, and conceived. I had no pain for a long time until my ds wasn't nursing much (only a couple times a day). The pain returned. We decided to ttc again when he was 10 months old. I continued to breastfeed him until he self weaned at almost 18 months. He is now almost 27 months old (in a little over a week) and I'm still not pg.

My previous OB/GYN closed his practice soon after I had my post-partum visit with him, so I had to find a new one. The new one that I went to, told me that he will actually cut out any endometriosis that he can when doing the lap instead of just cauterizing it. I was very happy to hear that since most docs just cauterize. I am now 5 days post-op, still recovering, but hoping to be able to dtd when ovulation approaches and to get pg.

I had changed my diet and all that jazz, for me, though, it didn't work. Yes, I felt better, didn't have as much pain and such, but I still did not get pg. If all else fails, I would go with the lap.

[japonica]

I've only ever tried natural approaches, aside form the initial lap that diagnosed me...

History: I was diagnosed in 2002. Had the lap/laser and I refused the danazol afterwards. Endo was found on abdominal walls, bladder, ligaments, outside of the uterus, in the cul-de-sac, ranging from old black lesions to active red and white stuff. The pain and other symptoms returned within one cycle of the lap, but fortunately I got pg the next cycle afterwards. We lost our daughter at term, not endo related...my symptoms and pain returned with my cycles soon afterwards.

By this time, I had read Shepperson Mills' book, among many others, and incorporated the nutritional approaches. I was also seeing a ND. We TTC'd for 5 months...I added a TCM doc/acupuncturist who prescribed herbs to help clear up the endo. I got pg on the second cycle of the chinese herbs and gave birth to our healthy DD who is almost 3 years old.

BFing kept the endo symptoms at bay for 16 months then my cycles came back and so did the pain. I managed to keep it manageable through diet, supplements, exercise...but I started getting new symptoms...in addition to the fatigue, pain with BDing, bloating, digestive issues etc. I started getting GI tract bleeding on cd1-2. A colonoscopy was negative, so I figured the endo must have started affecting my intestinal wall...

I started on acupuncture again in March of this year to control the pain and after I weaned my DD down to once a day nursing, I started the herbs. Within a cycle the GI bleeding was gone and I had so much energy and felt great. Plus, any residual pain from the endo also disappeared. I felt better than I had in ages. We started TTCing in August and got pg on the first cycle, not too bad for someone in her later thirties...

I really recommend the nutritional approach along with TCM. There's a great book that was a lifeline for me...Randine Lewis' the Infertility Cure. She has sections that outline how to deal with endo from a chinese medicine perpective and I incorporated most of her nutritional and herbal suggestions...

Hope this helps...good luck!

[MommyHawk]

come join this thread for those of us with Endometriosis

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=768875