More than a diagnosis…

It’s been soooo long since I’ve written a blog post, but I’m back after a long couple of months. I started a new job recently as well as doing my old job, but now that we’ve gone into lockdown I have a little more free time. In the past month, I have noticed that my endometriosis is getting worse, all the symptoms have seemed to be more intense than usual.

Endometriosis currently has no cure but there are plenty of treatments that can help the pain and other symptoms. For me it has been long journey to find what suits me for both my endometriosis and mental health.

I have been back and forth at the doctors and hospitals to find what can help minimise the symptoms I feel such as the pain I feel. I have trialled many contraceptive methods, which seems to be the most suggested pain relief for women with endometriosis. I have been on the pill, which for me did not suit me at all I tried 3 different types and they all seemed to have negative side effects such as weight gain, headaches, sickness, bloating and mental health increase such as with my anxiety and depression. I was on the contraceptive injection for 2 years, which at the time was great because I had no periods for nearly the whole 2 years, BUT afterwards I definitely felt the consequences as once my periods did return they were a lot more severe. Finally, I have now got the coil which has helped in a sense with the heaviness of periods as now I don’t go through 3/4 boxes of pads/tampons. But, even though the heaviness has decreased the pain, I still do suffer with a lot of pain symptoms such as back ache, leg throbbing, cramping, nausea and headaches. For anyone who has endometriosis I would suggest looking into different types of contraception as what suits one person may not suit another.

Recently, I have had had turn to stronger painkillers than just the ones that are easily accessible like ibuprofen and paracetamol that you can buy from any shop. My doctors recently have prescribed me Naproxen and Zapain again, which I haven’t had in over a year but because I am on the waiting list for another operation in order to help control my pain and other symptoms they have given me these medications. In the past when I have had these, they have really helped but because they contain codeine and other strong medications I do have to take them when it’s really bad as I don’t want to get addicted and suffer side effects from those as well as my endometriosis. I also don’t want my body to get so used to them that they then become ineffective.

Research has been done into the way diet impacts endometriosis, it has been suggested that red meat, dairy, spice and alcohol should be avoided as they act as triggers. For instance, I LOVE LOVE LOVE spicy food but after keeping a food diary I realised it really does effect endo pain and other symptoms. However, I couldn’t completely eliminate spice from my life, but I have minimised the amount of spice I intake and as a result my endo isn’t triggered as much as it used to be. Also, with alcohol I have reduced the amount I drink before I would enjoy drinking quite often especially during the university lifestyle and working in hospitality I would be drinking quite a bit. However, as times gone on I have reduced how much alcohol I drink. I now only try to drink once or twice a week and not only has it helped my endometriosis but definitely my mental health. For anyone that suffers with endometriosis I would suggest keeping a food and drink diary for a month and noting down how they make you feel and if any of your symptoms are intensified.

I have also found that for my endometriosis and mental health exercise does help with managing all symptoms. For myself anything that is too intense I have found can be exhausting for my body as the symptoms are triggered and then begin to escalate. However, light exercises such as walks, yoga and stretching really help as not only do they help moderate the pain but they do help with other symptoms such as the fatigue and mental health, which is currently soooo important especially during lockdown and COVID-19 times. Yoga and walks really help to relax not only my body but my mind and the stretching seems to ease the pain slowly making it more bearable especially when I practise this before going to bed.

There have been some more natural medicinal routes I have also tried, such as CBD oil and CBD tampons. The CBD oil I would put under my tongue each day that I felt I was suffering really badly, I would do a couple of drops at least 2/3 times a day. It seems to have eased and subsided most of the pains as it would allow my body to relax. The CBD tampons really impact the more physical side of my symptoms such as the intense cramping in my stomach. I would definitely recommend checking out Daye tampons at https://yourdaye.com/ as not only as they are all natural but organic too.

No matter what you do endometriosis is more than just a diagnosis and it is a long way to recovery as there are no cures just treatments to help minimise all symptoms felt. I hope that this post can help people find the right guidance for them and their symptoms. But as I said earlier, it won’t always be the same for every person as wer are all individuals and we all react diffently to different methods.

With love,

Nakeita xoxo