What is the best treatment for endometriosis? Your doctor may recommend drugs and surgery, which in extreme cases can offer relief and reduction in pain and other symptoms.
But those treatments are not going to prevent the symptoms from coming back and you will likely have to have the the same treatment again in not too distant future.
Get the Sense of Control and Empowerment Back
Endometriosis can make you feel disempowered. Each month the symptoms take over and you feel like you’ve got not control over them.
But you do!
You see, our body is one big chemistry lab. It can make just about any drug available on the market and more, providing it’s got the right ingredients.
If you keep giving your body ingredients to produce pain-inducing hormones and chemicals, that’s what it’ll make. On the other hand if you stop giving your body pain-inducing ingredients and start feeding it ingredients to make anti-inflammatories, feel-good hormones and detoxifying chemicals see what happens!
Before we look at the best complimentary treatment for endometriosis, let’s take a look at some of the contributing factors.
As an endo sufferer you may or may not have been informed about dietary and lifestyle factors which have been found to contribute to your condition due to their estrogen effects on the body. Endometriosis is a condition affected by excess estrogen in the body.
Contributing Factors – What are They?
- Dioxins – TCCD–2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzopara-dioxin – as painful as this word is for reading, this evil chemical is even more painful to the body, as only endometriosis sufferers will know. This environmental pollutant is found in: chlorine bleach (think household cleaning products), chlorine bleached paper, sanitary napkins, water and food (pesticide contamination), toilet paper, disposable diapers, coffee filters, tampons, pads etc…
- TCCD has been linked to development of implants (adhesions) even long time after exposure. Dioxins act as xenosetrogens in the body increasing your overall estrogen levels.
- Coffee - A study published in Fertility Sterility found that more than two cups of coffee a day significantly increased estrogen levels in the body predisposing you to endometriosis.
- Alcohol – Leaches B vitamins from the liver needed for estrogen removal, has an estrogenic effect on the body by increasing your body fat (more fat = more estrogen = more pain)
- Meat – A study published in Human Reproduction found that women who eat red meat, ham and beef on regular basis increase their risk of developing endometriosis by 80-100%.
- Wheat – Studies found that women with endometriosis tend to have wheat and gluten intolerance.
- Dairy – Increases promotes production of pain-inducing chemicals in the body – PGE2 (prostaglandin series 2 which increases pain during menstruation).
- Extra weight – Fat cells produce estrogen — more estrogen in the body = worse endo symptoms.
- Lack of exercise – Exercise boost production of our feel good hormones, anti-inflammatory chemicals (PGE1 series), improves estrogen metabolism and removal by the liver and burns fat (less fat = less estrogen = less pain).
- Lack of sleep – Less than 8 hours of regular sleep can contribute to hormonal chaos in the body.
All of the above factors burden four crucial systems to your overall health which are also implicated in endometriosis they are;
- Your Liver - Processes and metabolizes fat, sugar and hormones. When your liver lacks nutrients to do it’s work or is overburdened with toxins for your environment and diet it will not be able to regulate production of estrogen and prostaglandins among other millions of things it does.
- Your Endocrine System – Xenoestrogens from dioxins, pesticides and other endocrine disruptors behave like hormones in your body and contribute to estrogen excess and hormonal chaos.
- Your Reproductive System – Takes the brunt of the confused endocrine system and overworked liver by not ovulating, menstruating at the wrong times, menstruating for too long or not at all.
- Your Immune System – Your immune system plays a role in mopping up the toxic chemicals and neutralizing free radicals. When your body is constantly bombarded with toxic invaders your immune system (running on lack of nutrients) starts misbehaving and attacking your body tissue which contributes to conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Lupus and other autoimmune conditions and conditions with an autoimmune component such as endometriosis.
What is the best alternative treatment for endometriosis?
- Stop eating red meat, beef, ham, dairy and animal products high in saturated fat.
- Stop drinking coffee and alcohol.
- Stop eating food that’s been sprayed with pesticides (pesticides = dioxins = adhesions and implants = pain) — eat organically grown food only.
- Get a good quality water filer to filter out dioxins from tap water.
- Avoid plastic – leaches into water and behaves as xenoestrogens in the body
- Avoid gluten – eat gluten free grains and have a food intolerance test.
- Eat diet high in fibre, fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds.
- Use herbs to help you manage end symptoms – Milk Thistle for the liver, Cramp Bark and Feverfew for the pain.
- Get good quality supplements to support your liver, immune and endocrine system – get adequate zinc, selenium, B group vitamins, magnesium and calcium and omega 3 fatty acids for pain.
- Exercise every day – cycling, running, swimming in the sea, power walking, aerobics etc…
- Loose weight if appropriate – do a raw vegan detox for two weeks
- Do yoga and mediation
- Visualize your reproductive system endo free.
- Join support groups and empower other women.
- See a qualified therapist – Endometriosis is more common in women who’ve been sexually abused. See a qualified therapist to help you and join a support group.
- Get 8 hours of sleep daily – go to bed early, around 9pm.
- Avoid commercial cleaning products and cosmetics with dioxins.
- Get Acupuncture.
What are your thoughts? Do you have endometriosis? What treatments did you find are best for treating endometriosis? What do you think about the alternative treatment for endometriosis outlined above? I’d love to hear from you!
© 2010 Iva Keene and Natural Fertility Prescription
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this text with it: Leading Fertility Specialist, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and Award Winning Author Iva Keene publishes the ‘Baby Blossom’ ezine with tips to get you pregnant ASAP. Get you FREE Fertility Tips now at www.Natural-Fertility-Prescription.com
I got immediate relief by about 50% as soon as I stopped eating fast food and limited dairy and gluten and started cooking all my meals at home using whole foods. It kept improving every month. After I did my food intolerance panel (I used Alcat), I got about 80% improvement. And once I actually confirmed the endometriosis diagnosis through laparascopy a few months ago (no removal) and since started a new herb program with my Naturopath (a different set of herbs for each of the five phases of my cycle), I have 95% improvement. I no longer need to take any ibuprofen at all. I just get a little cramps that I would rate a 1/2 to 1 out of 10 for pain/discomfort. It’s like they are just talking to me. And the bleeding has lessened too. Pretty good when it used to be a 10 every month and in order to get by I had to take 3-4 ibuprofen every 4 hours on the dot, or else…and even then I could end up with those awful thrashing, throwing up, child-labor-like pains. I also use chlorine-free pads instead of tampons, drink reverse-osmosis water supplemented with minerals, and I do acupuncture every two weeks. It’s totally worth it. Just changing the diet alone would do wonders. And make you healthier overall.
That’s fantastic Melissa. Thanks for sharing this with us and thanks for your encouragement!
Keep up the great work!
Warm regards,
Iva
I’m a women at the age of 52, going through the change of life who wants to get pregnant for my husband of two years at the age of 42.
Hi Toni,
Thanks for your message.
If you are still ovulating and menstruating regularly there is a chance that you could get pregnant. If this is not the case you should look into donor eggs and surrogates.
If you’d like further information on this topic please refer to the NFP program here.
All the best,
Iva
Thank you for the great information!!
I love reading your articles- they are so helpful!!
I was diagnosed with endometriosis last year (laparoscopy) & have been trying to get pregnant (unsuccessfully) for 3 years. Atypical of endometriosis patients, I actually had (have?) low estrogen levels as well as low progesterone levels. I’m not sure what that means so I never know what advice to take! (so, if you have any advice about that I’d appreciate it!
Thanks!)
Also, I am so confused about the issue of red meat. I have read a lot about the differences between meat that comes from cows that were “corn-fed” versus cows that were “grass-fed.” It seems like cows that were “corn-fed” are never good to eat (because of the dioxins, chemicals, etc.), but cows that are “grass-fed” are actually healthy for you because they provide good sources of protein, saturated fat, omega 3s (in the right balance), etc. Do you know if any of the studies on endometriosis/red meat specified whether or not the cows were “corn-fed” or “grass-fed”?
Since I had low hormones I have especially been trying to incorporate more “healthy fats” into my diet & eliminating all unhealthy fats. I thought that saturated fat was good for women who want to get pregnant because hormones are made from cholesterol which is found in fat (healthy fats, that is, to be specific
) And I thought that red meat from “grass-fed” cows would be a good source of healthy fats.
Anyways, I’m sorry to type so much!
Please let me know if you have any advice or response to anything! Thanks so much!!
Hi Katie,
Endometriosis responds well to mainly vegan diet with some oily fish such as wild salmon and sardines.
Yes, it’s true that grass fed cows are better for you. But even so they are full of estrogens (their own) and if you are not eating organic meat then they will have been injected with additional hormones. It’s the hormones and not the fat that play primary issue here. Hope this answers your question, All the best, Iva.