Are you missing a piece in the endometriosis puzzle?
I often say to clients that managing conditions like endometriosis and adenomyosis is like doing a jigsaw puzzle. They are complex, chronic conditions and you need to get all the right pieces in place to have the best chance of managing the condition.
Having a few pieces of the puzzle in place might help you in the short term, but long term you get the best results with endometriosis and adenomyosis from working on all the potential causes of the conditions.
So, what are the pieces of the puzzle?
We are all different and so there will always be some pieces of the puzzle that are unique to you, but as a rule I’d say there are six main things you need to start getting in balance to manage endometriosis and adenomyosis.
- Reducing inflammation
These are inflammatory health conditions, and the inflammation contributes to pain levels. Getting inflammation down can therefore help with pain.
2. Supporting gut health
So many people with endometriosis or adenomyosis get gut symptoms, whether that’s bloating or IBS. There’s been a lot of research in recent years about women with endometriosis having different types of gut bacteria (more of the bad types of bacteria!) which can add to bloating and IBS. Our gut bacteria also influence hormone levels and how well are immune system works – both factors which we know can contribute to the development of endometriosis. So, supporting gut health has to be part of managing endometriosis and adenomyosis.
3. Regulating hormone levels
One of the drivers for endometriosis and adenomyosis is hormone imbalance and particularly oestrogen dominance. Regulating hormone levels is an important part of managing these conditions. Sometimes this is done through the use of the oral contraceptive pill or other hormonal medications, but without also working on some of the other pieces of the puzzle this may not alleviate all the symptoms of endometriosis or adenomyosis and may not always have a lasting long term impact.
4. Supporting the immune system
More recent research has highlighted the link between our immune system and the development of endometriosis. Some of the cells that make up the immune system don’t work as they should with endometriosis and so allow endometrial like tissue to grow in places it shouldn’t. Supporting our immune system is another thing we can do to help manage endometriosis.
5. Supporting the liver
The liver plays an important role in breaking down our used hormones, particularly oestrogen. We want our livers to be able to do this as safely and quickly as possible. But sometimes, our liver is breaking down oestrogen into a format that can contribute to cell growth and so conditions like endometriosis and adenomyosis. Helping our livers to break down oestrogen safely can help manage these conditions.
6. Reducing stress
Finally, stress is such a big part of living with conditions like endometriosis and adenomyosis. But stress can also make all the symptoms worse by increasing inflammation, hormone imbalances, reducing the strength of the immune system and worsening gut symptoms. Helping to manage the impact of stress on the body has to be part of managing endometriosis and adenomyosis.
The missing piece of my endometriosis puzzle
My own endometriosis story is a good example of not getting all the pieces of the puzzle in place. I worked with a nutritional therapist and through the use of foods and supplements worked on inflammation levels, hormone regulation, liver support, gut support and worked on my immune system. Over time I started to get improvements in my symptoms. But after a while my symptoms plateaued and whatever I did things didn’t seem to improve further. Although things were better than they had been, I got frustrated that I’d got stuck and couldn’t progress any further.
And then I started working on managing stress, and my symptoms improved, and this time kept improving. Stress really was the missing part of the puzzle for me in managing my endometriosis symptoms.
If you’d like some help in working out what the missing pieces of the puzzle are in with your endometriosis or adenomyosis, book in for a free chat to find out how nutritional therapy can help.