Well, if you couldn't tell from the title - and I probably haven't made it incredibly clear, this blog is all about my journey with Endometriosis. Now I know from other blogs that I don't have it as severely as some, but it still effects me on a regular basis - to the extent that I felt it would be nice to have this blog as almost an online journal.
My approach to my condition is not standard. I am trying my best to avoid surgeries, and where possible, medication. I used to rattle with the amount of pain killers I took and very soon realised that something had to change. I am not at all qualified to dispense advice, and my journey is purely personal. What may suit me could well not suit another. I do not share my ideas because I believe them to be superior to those of others. They are just what suit me in the now.
I have spoken to 2 Doctors on the National Health Service, visited 3 different Private Specialist Gynecologists, and even consulted an alternative Therapist in fertility. They were all of the same opinion that it would not be sensible to perform a surgery until I had attempted to try for a family naturally, and this is not a stage that I and my partner are at right now. In the meantime I started looking into alternative ways to manage the pain I feel on a monthly basis, from the moment I ovulate, finally crescendoing at 'that time of the month'.
By pure coincidence a nice local lady was starting out her own business as a Reflexologist. Now I don't want this post to become an enormous essay, so to keep it short I will say that I am now visiting this lovely lady twice a month as I noticed a dramatic improvement in my symptoms almost right away. I don't know enough about reflexology to explain why or how it works, I know for certain there is no placebo effect in play, it just works. It doesn't eliminate the pain entirely, but after my first session I didn't even look at the drug cupboard that month. I will probably elaborate on this in a separate post another day.
I also started researching 'the endo diet' and read 'Skinny Bitch', 'Dr Joshi's 21 Day Detox' as well as Kim Snyders 'The Beauty Detox Solution' all on the recommendation of others. Now anyone who knows me well will know my partner and I are the biggest foodies, so any food elimination decisions were not taken lightly, and admittedly, were not adhered to stringently for a good while. In fact, my desire to still eat interesting dishes while adhering to a diet that looks after me at the same time is a major driving force behind the creation of this blog. I thought, if I find delicious meals which suit the endo diet, it's only nice to share this knowledge!
I am a Baker by profession, and am quite devastated that as a result of having cut out gluten for the last three weeks - when I sneakily attempted to try one of my signature cookies this afternoon I ended up very sick for the rest of the afternoon. I've started off on this road, and it looks like I am going to have to follow it. I will be attempting to eat less sugar, but I do have a big sweet tooth and I love baking so I imagine there will be more than a few sweet dishes shared on this blog.
This is a rather massive introduction, but I guess it gives you a good idea of where I am at. If you read this and would like to share your endo experience with me, I would be interested to hear it, but predominantly, I would love to know any gluten free dairy free vegetarian dishes you know that will rock my world!
Until next time. x
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