Recently I wrote a post on “7 things you probably didn’t know about me.“ I didn’t add everything (gosh, I hope not, how boring) but one thing that I wanted to add but didn’t was that I have endometriosis. It’s not like I am the only one with it, around 90 million women globally will be affected in their lifetime, and certainly don’t feel sorry for myself, but it has had a major impact on my life.
I have had pretty painful menstrual cramps since puberty, and was tested for endometriosis years ago, but it wasn’t until last year that I was actually diagnosed with it. When the specialist showed me on the ultrasound that I had it, and that it was very advanced, I didn’t really understand the gravity of it until he added that it makes me infertile and I couldn’t have children without IVF treatments.
I am in my early thirties, and like most women my age I am thinking about children. I started researching IVF and talking to people that have gone through with it and I just can’t imagine doing it. Not only is it extremely expensive, its painful, lengthy and its not 100% guaranteed.
With this realization, I started talking to my friend Angela and she mentioned that there could be a natural way to combat my condition. I do have some friends that have battled unexplained infertility naturally with acupuncture, uterine massage, etc. and so I figured knowing what my problem is could be half the battle. Angela and I researched some mega vitamin and herb dosing which seemed pretty intense…100,000 UI of Vitamin D? I can’t even find a bottle that includes 10,000.
I did some more research and the easiest, healthiest and most consistent path that I have found is diet. Interestingly enough, the diet is basically vegan with a twist, no wheat and a reduction in soy. Luckily for me, my husband Sean is vegan and so I will have a coach. I am definitely freaked out that I am going to go crazy with a lack of food choices and that my friends will never want to eat with me again. It is going to be really really hard for me to give up dairy and milk chocolate anything…so I am easing in…but hopefully it will be worth it.
My goal is to combat my endometriosis in one year. I am going to go to the doctor and get a baseline on my condition and go from there. Even if I am never able to have children (yes, we can adopt, or have a million pets, etc.) I really want to see how a change in lifestyle can combat a condition. Au naturale over western medicine.
Would really really like to know that I’m not alone amongst my friends and I can use any support and advice that I can get.
Namaste
Filed under: life, diet, endometriosis, infertility, vegan
Comments