As a 40-year-old working mother of four children I know it is normal to struggle with priorities sometimes in order to maintain optimum health. But in my case, there is the added complication of living with endometriosis and adenomyosis for about 20 years. Living in NSW, Australia, I worked in hospitality for 15 years until I could no longer manage the pain caused by these conditions. It affected my work ethic because I had to call in sick or leave work. When I could no longer be active with my children and felt depressed and irritable with pain almost every day, I knew it was time to look at new treatment options. As you will see later, I could address my endometriosis condition through the use of naturopathy, a natural arm of medicine.
My first visit to a doctor when I was 18 years old led to a diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome; a common misperception with early signs of endometriosis. In the next decade I saw many doctors and had several emergency admissions with pain so severe I couldn’t walk. I spent many days partially hunched over, taking care of my three children at that stage. It became ‘normal’ to not stand fully upright or breathe as the pain throughout my pelvis was too much. It felt like shards of glass twisting suddenly, or a bone-deep ache I couldn’t apply enough pressure to get relief.
I had more misdiagnoses than I can recall. At one point, I got so many pain relief prescriptions that I had to take anti-nausea medication for how sick it all made me feel. I finally had surgery when I was 35 which finally gave me a diagnosis. This was 25 years after my first symptoms! By that time the disease was so advanced that my bowel, bladder, ovaries, and uterus were all affected. My prognosis was repeated excision surgeries like this first one or removal of my uterus and ovaries.
I am not someone who wants to have parts of myself cut out. At the very least I wanted to understand what things in my environment or lifestyle may be exacerbating the symptoms. If there was something I could do, I had to know if I could manage these chronic illnesses without surgery. As the inflammation returned over the next six months, I felt that my mental health declining with the pain. A friend suggested an integrative health clinic where I could consult with a general practitioner and a naturopath together. I had never heard of such a collaborative team, which really intrigued me.
Seeing the naturopath throughout the next few months my life drastically changed. He analised everything, leaving no stone unturned. My stress levels, diet, exercise, daily habits, sleep and even my personal history, including traumas. As part of the naturopathic consultation, I had blood tests that detected that showed deficiencies in many essential vitamins and minerals. Later, follow-up tests revealed that I was burning them up too fast with high stress in my daily life.
My naturopath then modified my treatment plan to incorporate an herbal tonic to alleviate anxiety and poor sleep. The restricted diet was basically gluten and dairy free with a few personalized modifications. I had not heard from any modern doctor in 20 years that there were specific foods that caused more inflammation to the disease process I was experiencing. Also, for the first time, I learned how crucial a healthy gut is to our mental health and overall wellbeing. I started to understand the impact of how naturopathy could finally help my endometriosis condition.
It took only two weeks to feel an improvement. My head felt like a fog had lifted, I had more vitality during the day and fell asleep more easily, I had less pain many days, even though it did not alleviate all the pain. This was mostly due to removing an inflammatory diet that was irritating my digestive system. I have learned so much about my health that I will continue to manage it with naturopathy. It was a long journey that led me to a see a naturopath, but I felt more understood and nurtured than I ever felt seeing a general practitioner. It was more expensive, but not in comparison to the time and money I had previously spent on the wrong paths with incorrect information.
In hindsight I wish I had known that I could have implemented all the wonderful advice earlier. I wish naturopathy would have been a concept I knew when I discovered I had endometriosis. I learned through seeing the naturopath alongside Western medicine that I could have felt better sooner. Perhaps even interrupted the disease process earlier to avoid surgery. It was not a cure for endometriosis, but it undoubtedly contributed to my wellbeing in the most significant way for many years.
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