Having a host of hormonal conditions myself has led me to specialise in hormonal health. You can read more about these experiences within my personal story post.

Meanwhile, I can totally relate to dreading your monthly cycle because of the mood changes and excruciating pain. I clearly remember having to go home from school and work because the menstruation cramps were so severe that I was doubled over with pain, and vomiting – not a great visual!

A lot of the time women think this is normal; their lot in life. Well I am here to tell you it’s not, and there are strategies and lifestyle changes that can be made to help alleviate the symptoms and balance your hormones.

After all, we should welcome our monthly menstruation – it’s a natural cleansing time and a sign you are a functioning woman.

Let’s take a closer look at Endometriosis

Pronounced: en-dō-mē-trē-Ō-sis

Endo = within; metri = uterus; osis = condition 

Endometriosis is thought to be one of the most common gynaecological disorders affecting women today. Up to 15% of all menstruating women may be affected, and as many as half of these may become infertile.

The condition is characterised by growth of endometrial tissue – normally only found in the inner lining of the uterus (womb) – occurring outside the uterus. While many theoretical mechanisms exist to explain the cause of endometriosis, in reality the true cause remains unknown.

Ectopic endometrial growths most commonly develop around the ovaries, fallopian tubes, bowel, bladder, vagina and rectum. Less commonly, they have been known to migrate as far afield as the lungs, heart, eyes and nasal cavity.

As with normal endometrium, ectopic endometrial tissue responds to the hormonal fluctuations associated with the menstrual cycle. So, with each cycle, the ectopic tissue also proliferates and thickens, before finally breaking down and bleeding.

However, with there being no outlet for the bleed, the blood becomes trapped, irritating local tissue and causing pain and inflammation.

Symptoms

Symptoms of endometriosis vary considerably. While many women experience no problems at all, for others symptoms literally take over their lives.

Key symptoms include:

• Painful menstruation and intercourse
• Infertility or difficulty conceiving

Other symptoms include:

• Heavy and/or irregular periods
• Bleeding between periods
• Cyclical pain in the pelvic region
• Lower back pain, sometimes radiating down the legs
• Discomfort during urination and/or bowel movements
• Bleeding from nose, bladder and/or bowels
• Coughing
• Gastrointestinal disorders, including constipation, diarrhoea, bloating, abdominal cramp and nausea
• Fainting, lethargy and extreme tiredness

Symptoms may or may not be persistent throughout the menstrual cycle, with severity often increasing 5 to 7 days before a period, over 2 to 3 days during the period itself or during ovulation. Symptoms may also progressively worsen over a period of several months.

Your diagnosis

Endometriosis manifests in so many different ways that misdiagnosis is a common problem. Although blood tests can detect positive results, they cannot differentiate between other gynaecological disorders.

Ultrasound is a useful tool as a first screening to identify the presence of cysts and adhesions.

For a definitive diagnosis to be made, an abdominal laparoscopy (using a fibre optic viewing tube) and biopsy need to be carried out under general anaesthetic. This is most useful when performed just before the period when the ectopic tissue is at its most active.

Conventional Treatment

There is no known outright cure for endometriosis so conventional treatment is based around easing the symptoms; shrinking or slowing down the ectopic endometrial growth, preventing or delaying recurrence and where possible preserving or restoring fertility. This is achieved through a combination of treatment focused on anti-inflammatory pain relief, hormone treatment or surgery.

These treatments may offer initial relief of endometriosis, but all too often symptoms recur over time. This is possibly due to difficulty in removing all traces of ectopic tissue but also because causative nutritional/lifestyle factors are often overlooked.

Therapeutic Treatment Strategies

High levels of inflammation and oestrogen activity are associated with endometriosis and these are easily aggravated by common dietary and lifestyle factors associated with today’s fast paced lifestyle.

Nutritional protocols in the treatment of endometriosis are designed to help break or reduce this cycle of inflammation and oestrogen activity that exacerbates ectopic endometrial tissue, helping to alleviate symptoms and potentially inhibit the growth and proliferation of ectopic tissue.

6 STEPS TO RESTORING THE BALANCE!

1. Balance your blood sugar and help achieve or maintain an ideal body weight

Sugar and refined foods cause disruption to blood sugar levels. The hormone insulin that regulates blood sugar levels is a potent stimulator of the enzyme that produces oestrogen.

Energy dense diets and low activity levels increase levels of adipose (fat) tissue which is a potent stimulator of inflammatory and oestrogen activity.

2. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins

Environmental toxins and dioxins disrupt hormone activity in the body by mimicking oestrogen.

3. Support elimination of excess oestrogens from the body

Low fibre, high sugar and stimulants disrupt the balance of gut flora, reduce efficiency of liver detoxification and bowel elimination (all important for the safe elimination of excess oestrogen). In short you need to poo!

4. Adopt an anti-inflammatory lifestyle

High dairy and red meat intake contain high levels of arachidonic acid, which has pro-inflammatory properties and stimulates the enzymes that produce oestrogen. Nutrient poor diets low in essential fats and high in saturates can affect the availability and metabolism of essential fats that contain key anti-inflammatory properties. We live in a world were gluten is everywhere; gluten can lead to increased inflammation as well.

5. Help balance hormones

Excess oestrogen is a contributory factor in endometriosis.

6. Increase activity levels

To improve circulation to your pelvic region, which may help alleviate period pains, aid weight management, reduce stress, release feel-good endorphins and help improve your energy and self-esteem!

If you have endometriosis or a hormonal imbalance and would like to work together on feeling better – and welcoming your monthly menses! – please get in touch.

Nourishing well wishes,

Angelique

Consult your doctor or health care practitioner for any health problems, and before embarking on any new health regimes, using any supplements or before making any changes in prescribed medications or food programmes.

Fertility Hormones Menstruation Pregnancy

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We all have a story to tell and sometimes that story defines us, sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes we share our story so that one day we can hopefully help someone else who is going through the same. So yes this is an extremely personal story; one that I feel I need to share.

On the 3^rd of May 2014 we jumped for joy, I had my first ever positive pregnancy test. I was so excited, we did it – wow! We’d followed my fertility eating plan and it had worked.

I know it’s not the norm to tell too many people in the early days in case it goes wrong. I personally think I would rather people know so that I can have all the good energy vibes and, as a friend said, the support if anything happens. And boy did it…

On the 13^th of June 2014 we had the most painful and horrific experience to date. We had a miscarriage. I found out the day before and left my gynaecologist’s room feeling numb, not quite understanding. I think he noticed as he kept asking ‘do you understand you are losing your baby?’ I didn’t. Last week we saw the little heartbeat, this week there was nothing – how is that possible?

I went straight from his Harley Street office to an acupuncturist. I needed to know that my body was ready to handle this, my gynaecologist said it would take two weeks to happen, I felt it would be sooner. The acupuncturist said he couldn’t save the baby and I had to explain I wasn’t there for that, there was nothing left to save. I needed to know that my energy was flowing as my body had work to do.

Once back from my acupuncture I cried a sound that brought my mum and husband running with painkillers and concerned looks. But I wasn’t in physical pain, that sound was straight from my heart breaking. The promise of my baby had just been taken away from me.

My heart was breaking and I was racking my brain to find out what I had done wrong, even though the gynaecologist had told me several times that it was the embryo’s DNA and natural selection.

I knew this was nature’s way, I wanted a healthy baby and my amazing body was miscarrying at the time when the body scans the foetus for any DNA mutation.

That night the miscarriage was well underway, and by 1 am I was in a full miscarriage labour. 6 am and I could hardly breathe – the pain from the contractions came in 5 second apart waves of knock-your-breath-away pain.

My husband was incredible, opening windows, closing windows, switching on fans, switching off fans, and opening doors, as I paced saying ‘it’s not meant to be like this, I am not meant to be bleeding, I am pregnant’. But I no longer was.

At 2 pm on Friday the 13^th I passed the gestational sac. My mum was there to help and for the first time in over 13 hours the pain stopped. Well the pain in my abdomen at least.

When things like this happen there are two possibilities…

You either turn angry and downtrodden or you look at the situation and feel grateful. Grateful? Surely I have lost the plot now!

Well I am about to get all tree-huggy on you, but I am grateful! I am grateful that we work and, that with a past history of eating disorders, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), hypothyroidism and being 35-years-old, we are able to fall pregnant naturally. Grateful that my body knew what to do when something was wrong and that my body did an amazing job.

I am so grateful for all these things and a loving husband who is my rock, my amazing family – without them I wouldn’t be me – and super supportive friends who have walked this journey with me.

Let me explain why I feel such gratitude…

My journey into nutrition (and where I am today) wasn’t one of having been super healthy my whole life. No, on the contrary, it’s been a journey of self-sabotage, healing and discovery.

I am very fortunate I have a mum who has always been into health, naturopathy and nutrition, so from a young age I had a good foundation and always told my mum that I wanted to heal people.

From the age of about 18 it all went south! I ate badly, drank loads of alcohol and put on a lot of weight, and I’m sure I had insulin resistance. My periods, which had never been regular, were now really out of whack.

By 20 I was the heaviest I had been and decided to lose weight, but not in a healthy way! I developed bulimia and anorexia, exercised twice a day and lost so much weight my periods stopped for 6 months. I weighed around 45kg and I was ill. I didn’t feel or look good and was once even likened to a cartoon – big platform shoes, tiny body and a big head!

Have you heard the saying ‘your genes load the gun but your environment pulls the trigger?’ Well my genes meant I was predisposed to hypothyroidism (a family condition) and my environment – with my totally unhealthy relationship with food, over-exercising and stress & strain on my adrenal glands – pulled that trigger. My thyroid attacked itself and I developed autoimmune hypothyroidism.

It didn’t end there though, I decided to start eating again and I didn’t know when to stop and I once again put on a tremendous amount of weight. I overate and overate but I carried on exercising obsessively. Thinking back to what I put my body through – the stress of it all – I marvel at its resilience!

My parents took me to a nutritionist, which reignited a passion in me, I wanted to do what she did, I wanted to help people heal.

By the age of 27 I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, about 20kgs over weight, and only then, I finally took control. This included baby steps in changing my habits and beliefs around food, and big steps in enrolling with the Institute of Optimum Nutrition to embark on a four year study journey. This is where I discovered that mood swings and not menstruating for 90 days at a time were not ‘normal for some girls’ as one doctor had said. That it was actually totally abnormal.

I ran further tests and I was eventually given the diagnosis of PCOS. I learnt how stress and digestive well-being are major players in thyroid health and that our health begins in the colon.

Only I could make these changes, I needed to make them and I did. I lost 18kg and started menstruating every 30 to 35 days – a massive improvement.

It wasn’t easy but I haven’t looked back and I draw on my own life experience when working with my clients. Really you can tell me anything – it’s okay, I won’t judge you, I have probably done similar myself! However, I will guide you to make better choices for your health while I investigate the underlying causes of your symptoms.

Fast forward to today and yes I am grateful for so many things…

My healing journey is not over, I am not perfect and I don’t claim to be, but I have so many blessings to be grateful for. I know we will fall pregnant again and we will meet our healthy happy baby. This was just the practice run! And, in light of all my personal experiences and the many lessons I’ve learned along the way, I would absolutely love to support those of you going through any of the same, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Nourishing well wishes

Angelique

Consult your doctor or health care practitioner for any health problems, before embarking on any new health regimes, using any supplements or before making any changes in prescribed medications or food programmes.

Conception Fertility Hormones Menstruation PCOS

The post Eating disorders, hypothyroidism, PCOS, fertility, conception & miscarriage appeared first on London Nutritionist - Angelique Panagos, DipION FdSc mBANT CNHC.