My Organic Thanksgiving

This year, I decided that I wanted to keep with my endo diet and cook an all organic Thanksgiving meal. I have never cooked such a large meal for Thanksgiving before. I was so nervous that the food wouldn't turn out that good, but I was so shocked! It tasted great! I prepped all the food the night before because I felt a terrible endo flare coming on. By the end of cooking the meal on Thanksgiving, I was bed ridden. But it was worth it. 

Starting from the top left, I made organic red potato salad, next to that I made gluten free southern- style dressing, below that is organic green bean and ruby red grapefruit salad, next to that is organic brined turkey breast (I couldn't see myself cooking a whole turkey, let alone eating it all), under that is gluten free macaroni with organic cheese, and at the bottom right is organic brussels sprouts and left over organic green beans from the green bean salad. 

Some things that surprised me when I brought home the organic food was that organic sour cream is the same consistency of mayonnaise, the organic cheese stuck to itself when I tried to make the cheese sauce to pour over the noodles. My organic journey has been so much fun because I've been able to create different recipes in the kitchen. It's not easy always eating organic because it can get to be very expensive, but I am managing with Trader Joe's. It's a grocery store with all organic and all natural foods. You have to really read the label because some items do contain wheat and soy. Some of the food there is wayy cheaper than regular grocery stores. 

Another way that i keep costs down is by going to the farmer's market and trying to catch sales at coop stores. I had so much fun making this meal, I hope you had fun for Thanksgiving as well. I will update you with my Christmas and New years plans. 

Asana supplement shake mix by ladies balance

A couple weeks ago a received a message from one of my lovely Twitter followers. She told me that she really liked my blog and that she had a company that made hormonal balance supplements. I was soo honored that she took time to read my blog, that I immediately went to her website; http://www.ladiesbalance.com. There was so much information on hormonal balance. To every woman out there that struggles with endometriosis or PCOS or any fertility issue for that matter should really look into this (and consult your dr. or specialist before you try anything). Today, I made a fruit and veggie smoothie. Here is the recipe:

In the juicer:

-1 small organic carrot

-1 large organic honey crisp apple

Combined juice with 20 frozen organic hand picked raspberries, 1 organic peach and organic juice

After I made the smoothie in the blender, I mixed in 2 tbs of asana ladies balance supplement. The taste of the supplement compliments this smoothie really well. A lot of supplements out there don't taste very well, but I can honestly say that asana is pretty good. Even though it is my first day taking it,  I can already see a difference. I have a little more energy since i've been fatigued all week. I will be posting more recipes with the asana supplement mix. I love how it is gluten free, dairy free, soy free and wheat free. This supplement mix goes so well with the endo diet because it's vegan. My system is very sensitive to new things and if something irritates my endo, trust me my body with let me know with bloating. If you have the time please check out +Ladies Balance on Twitter and please go to the website, it will be worth your while. Thank you to Ladies Balance for sending me this supplement mix, I am very pleased with it.

Vegetarianism

So….

For the past month I have been a vegetarian and I am not going to lie, it's been really hard. I have been eating nothing but dark green vegetables like red and green swiss chard, collard greens, mustard greens, kale, arugula… the list goes not. I have allowed myself to eat eggs so that I can add a little more protein to my diet. I do eat beans for some protein, but it doesn't compare to the taste and the feeling of eating eggs. The reason that I am a vegetarian (or a oovotarian) is for health reasons. I still wear fur and leather  (I know Peta is frowning upon me) and if I need a small portion of meat, I buy organic. The thing about organic meat is that it is soo expensive, I cannot afford to pay 40 something dollars just on meat every couple days. Don't get me wrong, organic veggies aren't cheap either but I manage from going to the farmers market for now. I do have a plan to build an indoor greenhouse starting in September. I have some ideas from pinterest, if you would like to take a look by all means follow me on pinterest to see what I am doing. http://www.pinterest.com/ameriej/

Let me get back on topic, so I have not had meat in a month and I do not feel like it's working. I have had zoo much pain the past couple of days that I even had to suck it up and take a controlled substance and I hate that! On top of it, I had the worst depression spell of my life. I am always hungry, I have to eat like 8 times a day (small meals of course). The benefits of being a vegetarian with endo is that I don't get bloated, no matter how much I eat. That's the only result that I can see so far. I think it might take two to four months for it to start effecting my hormones and the pain. I do admit that I need to exercise more (because I don't at all) to minimize the anxiety and the depression (endorphins and all). I have an idea for Thanksgiving, I want to go turkey hunting with my fiancé and his brother and donate the money that I would save from buying an organic turkey to a local food bank. I think I would save approximately 50-100 dollars on a turkey and I would donate all of it. 

I am going to the NYS fair this summer and I don't know how well I am going to do with being a vegetarian and being tempted with meat. I usually have to have a pulled pork sandwich, sausage sandwich, tullys tenders, hot dog, hamburger etc etc… I think that I will focus on eating more of the crazier things at the fair that aren't meat like fried pickles, roasted corn, fried oreos, funnel cake, fried dough. Stuff like that. A couple of things that i noticed while being a vegetarian is that I cannot stay away from carbs and dairy. I really want to switch to healthier carb and dairy alternatives eventually because I really think it would help my pain. 

Eating Habits

Soo…
Today I was contemplating on becoming a Vegetarian. At this point, I'm starting to think that I'm allergic to all types of meat. I remember when I was younger I had such an amazing digestive system. I could eat Chinese food, pizza, and ice cream in one sitting and feel fine the next day. And on top of that, I wouldn't gain any weight! Now I'm 15 lbs heavier (not saying it's a lot) and I feel miserable. I know that in the past, I have felt so much more happier weighing 100-105lbs. I know I know… seems vain, but to each his own. Being that I'm 5'3 inches tall I just feel more comfortable at that weight. My endo belly is less noticeable as well when I'm that size.
One thing that I like to do when I've been good with eating the right foods is rewarding myself with something that tastes great. Well… That's exactly what I did last week, I rewarded myself with 3 slices of pepperoni pizza because I didn't eat meat for a month and here's what happened…

My stomach swelled to the size of a basketball. I look like I'm about 5 months pregnant. It became soo uncomfortable that I had to lay on on my side the whole night. I'm sure you all know exactly what I'm talking about. When I look at this picture, it makes me sad because I work so hard to eat the right things and sometimes eating junk makes me happy. When I started college, I became an emotional eater. When I eat comfort foods… you know the kind… deep fried and smothered in chocolate :) I feel 1000 times happier and it makes me feel better, but my body responds negatively with bloating and pain.
So it had me thinking that maybe I should become a vegetarian. I thought about veganism, but I love dairy. Avoiding meat seems to be like a more realistic goal. I have fallen off the endo diet ban wagon soooo many times because it's just not realistic. At least for me it's not. Being on the endo diet feels like veganism and that's the hardest thing possible, especially when starting out because you're so used to eating certain things that when you stop it makes you feel soo unhappy… at least that's they way that I feel. I hope my Vegetarian journey is an easy one… I will keep you updated with what I eat :) 

Interesting

Hello Endo followers, 

I am so happy to back and feel much better. I haven't blogged in a while because I've been going through a lot with my health, which many of you understand. 

So.. I saw this picture on Facebook and I just had to post it here and talk about how I feel about it. Underneath the photo it said… "Endometriosis is known as an "invisible disease" because we look just fine on the outside and are experts at smiling. This is what's going on inside. The pic on the right is during a laparoscopy (a surgery us Endo Sisters have been through often more than once or twice to look around and remove scar tissue and separate organs again). This appears to be stage IV Endo. Fact: Even stage I Endo could hurt worse than than stage IV. Some women with late stages are not even aware they have Endo until they have some of kind of surgery and it is found." When I saw this photo, it made me happy because finally people were keeping it real about this disease. A lot of people talk about how they have endometriosis and then they took some bc or had a shot and are fine now. Okay, that's fine and dandy for you, but all women aren't the same. The fact is that SOME women who have stage IV endometriosis don't experience any pain, and SOME women who have stage can experience a lot of pain. When I was first diagnosed with endo I was stage I now I am stage II  and from the start of adolescence I had very bad, debilitating cramps. I still have bad cramps and they seem to get worse every month. Lately, I have been experiencing a lot of back pain. My surgical incision near my inguinal canal is larger than before so any attempts of waxing is very painful. It's very hard for me to wear jeans now even without the bloating because my right inguinal area is always swollen days after my period. 

I want people to walk away from this blog with a better understanding of what women like me go through every day. Having endo sisters is a big help to me because I don't feel alone in a world full of judgmental people. 

I always try to wake up early so that I can acclimate myself to it. but halfway through the day I get so tired, I'm sure you all can relate. People make judgements about me and say that I'm lazy, but if they were going through the same pain that I did, they would feel like they ran a marathon too. Also when I have mood swings, people make judgements that I'm bipolar when it's just the fact that my hormones are out of wack. The more that I talk to my endo sisters, and the more that I blog I feel better and better. 

Supplements Video

I know you all have been waiting for this video and I finally made it. I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday and I just mustered up the courage to post it. I hope you like it. Please subscribe if you like what you see and give me any feedback you can, positive and negative. Please consult a professional (dr, nurse, nutritionist, etc) before you take any of these supplements. Thank you. Enjoy!
http://youtu.be/8803ZyGmhwY

Second Topic of the year

Hello again,
First, I'd like to say that I hope everyone is starting 2014 off pain free. I can say that the pain this month was semi-effortless for me, but the bleeding wasn't. Gotta love endo. I created this blog because I have a lot to say about how I feel about living with endometriosis. Like all of you I didn't wish this on myself and I'm hear to share all of my experiences with you. I like how I am free to say what ever I want to online, and yet there are some things that are too taboo to say in public. Which leads me to the 2nd topic of the year, it may not be as endo related as my other posts, but it's necessary to talk about. One of my endo readers gave me a topic to address today. The topic is the way in which society views talking about menstruation. I think this is a great topic because sometimes people make you feel like you're gross or weird for talking about something that is absolutely natural. I remember being taught about menstruation in sex education and everyone would laugh and get so embarrassed. I was also one of those people, but then when I went to high school I felt more secure with myself and it didn't bother me anymore. Also, by then all the girls had their periods. Although all the girls were going through the same things with me I was the only girl in my school who was the one screaming her head off because of cramping. (I'll leave that story for next time) The only people who were still embarrassed in high school about menstruation were the boys…
 Even though sexism between men and women has evolved, I still think that some men think menstruation is something that makes women weaker. I won't make this out to be a man vs woman feminism speech but in my opinion if a woman is acting like b*tch (excuse my French) one day then "she's on her period. Let me give you all a quick story. I was taking a science course when I was in college which had a lab. In the lab, I had an annoying partner who was always hovering over me (in my personal space), talking about how smart he was and he was always double checking my answers (even though they were right). Finally, I just got so irritated that I started ignoring him. So he told one of his friends "I think she's on her period". I over heard him and said, no I'm not on my period, I'm just allergic to rude people lol. I hear about professional women not getting promoted because they want a family or have a family, and honestly that goes wayyyyy beyond menstruation prejudice. I'm not saying that women can do everything a man can do or that women are super heroes and can juggle everything, but we shouldn't be seen as lepers either just because we bleed once a month.
Lets get back to the topic, I think that the reasons behind society's issue with menstruation is deep rooted from way back in ancient times. Ughhhhh more history I know…. I know that Cherokee Native Americans would put women in huts when they started their periods because they thought that they had  powers. In ancient Egypt, menstrual blood was used in different medicines, and they even invented tampons from soft papyrus. In Britain in the 1800's period blood was thought to spoil food so women weren't allowed to work in food packaging factories when they were on their periods. Talking about periods is very natural and I don't see anything wrong with it, it's all about how you view the subject. If you see menstruation as something that's gross and dirty well just remember that about 50% of the population goes through it every single month. It's natural and shouldn't be taboo. Look for my video tomorrow on youtube. I would like to know what you think about my blog and if you have any topics. You can e-mail me at annie.knight18@gmail.com
Can't wait to hear from you xxxxxx Yellow Hugs xxxxxxx

Happy New Year!!!! 1st topic of the season

Hello Endo readers,

Happy New Year!!! I hope that everyone has had a pain free new years eve and a pain free new years day! As promised I am kicking the year off with plenty of endo love and positivity. I received a topic from one of my readers and I will start with that. So, here goes... The history of Endo, just so this doesn't sound like a history lesson I'll try to make it fun :). I went searching on the net and here's what I found. According to the Endometriosis foundation of America, endometriosis an ancient disease. Women who displayed symptoms of endo dated back to Sigmund Freud (1856-1939 and even further back) . He was a well known neurologist, psychoanalyst, and psychotherapist, who failed to properly diagnose women. Most of his diagnoses were hysteria. We've all heard of hysteria (aka a woman's disease), physicians diagnosed women with hysteria when there was nothing externally that could show the doctor why a woman would be in agony. Since Endo is an internal disease, it looked like a woman was possessed or crazy. In the article, a physician from the 21st century took a look at Freud's notes and found that the symptoms the women had suggested that women were reacting severely to pain caused by endometriosis. During the middle ages in Europe, women were ostracized, tortured, and hanged for being in pain. Let me explain, in history women were seen as witches or even possessed if they acted uncontrollably in public. Think about being an undiagnosed woman back then with no heating pad, no prescription painkillers, and no sanitary napkins or tampons. Sounds like HELL!!! No wonder why men thought women were crazy. I would be crazy too. Anyways, back to the subject. I found an ancient treatment for endometriosis, it kind of scared me when I read it because it shows how barbaric these means of curing people were. "Uterine suffocation, vaginal prolapse, and other gynecologic conditions were sometimes treated with succussion, the ancient Greek practice in which patients are bound to a ladder, turned upside down, and shaken vigorously, with the idea being that the uterus would be shaken back into its proper position." 

I found another article where a Scottish physician in 1774 said "in its worst stages, this disease affects the well-being of the female patient totally and adversely, her whole spirit is broken, and yet she lives in fear of still more symptoms such as further pain, the loss of consciousness and convulsions." Reading this statement made me feel validated because this statement sums the disease up. This is a little bit of history for you guys. I hope that you look this up for yourselves and even find things that I haven't found and please post them under this post I would like to know more about the history of this disease. Also you can e-mail me with any topics that you want me to address. annie.knight18@gmail.com 

Can't wait to hear from you.

xxxxxx Yellow Hugs xxxxxxx

New Year 2014

Hello Endo readers,
I have come to a realization that I haven't been doing all I can do to get the word out about this debilitating disease. I really need your support and help to get the word out. All you have to do is follow me on my blogspot page. A couple months ago I sent an e-mail to Ellen degeneres and I haven't heard anything back yet but I am optimistic. I wrote to her telling her about endometriosis and I even told her about some celebrities that have/ had it. I will write her as many times as i can in thehopes of being on her show to spread the awaeness. I am so proud and honored to be apart of something larger than myself. On that note, my new year's resolution is to post to my page every single day of 2014 (sometimes twice a day). I really need your help with some ideas for topics that I can post about. I will also publish a youtube video twice a week about my endo journey, how to videos, and topics that my readers want to share with me. I would like to keep my page and my videos as interactive as possible because I am not the only one with endometriosis. 
I have recently been okay with the state of my health other than minor fatigue, depression and anxiety. I feel as though my pain is not as bad as it used to be. I still have months that are worse than others, but I am still able to function. I want everyone to know that your life is not over, yes it is painful and no I am not saying that you should suck it up. All I am saying is that the pain can be better (not completely eliminated). Here's a story that I think you endo fighters may appreciate. One day in my junior year of college I was bent over the toilet, vomiting, screaming in agony, and everything else. I was having the worst endo flare of my exsistance. I got off the toilet and went back to my dorm and passed out in my bed. When I woke up the next morning I looked at myself in the mirror and hated what I felt and said to myself  "I cannot live the rest of my life this way". I had my mom drive me to my local natural food store and talked with a woman who specializes in wholistic remedies that help to heal female issues. The more I talked with her, the more I felt like she understood me. Then she out right told me that she has endometriosis and my jaw dropped. I asked her what she did and she told me that she used to be as bad as I was as far as the pain, but she took supplements that made the endo "lie dormant". She told me that it never really goes away but having pain every day isn't normal. This woman was not a doctor (eventhough I think she should be) but she was a woman that's been there and done that and fought. I bought the supplements that day and she told me as I was leaving that it takes at least three months to see results. I immediately felt discouraged. the first supplement she told me to take is called estrosense. It really does balance the estrogen levels in your body. When i started taking the pills my bra size was a 32AA and now I am a 32A. No I am not saying it makes your boobs grow lol. I am saying that my estrogen levels were clearly not balanced. 
The next supplement she told me about was evening primrose oil, and it calms your pelvic muscles during mensuration and it's also beneficial for symptoms of PMS. The third one she told me about was scudders, it's not a pill, it's actually a liquid that has a dropper. It tastes horrible but it really works, I put 50 drops into a shot glass and add some water to it and chase it with juice. It aids in cellular function (makes it better), it also removes bad tissues from the body. I saw a changes in my behavior the first month, I was calmer and didn't have bad PMDD, my bust size grew as previously stated, and my complexion was a little better. I still had pain, but my bleeding wasn't as heavy. Each month the pain lessened and lessened until the fourth month I was taking advil and in class during the start of my period which was extremely rare. I didn't have the pain leading up to my period. The only thing I didn't like was loosing weight. During the start of the supplements I was 110lbs and I dropped down to 100lbs (I am 5'3). I am used to having some curves and it scared me a a little bit but I wouldn't trade how I felt for the world. I get that everyone is different and it may not work for you, but I want to give you ladies a less invasive option than conventional hormones or surgeries because the natural wau really did help me, but I had to work for it. The supplements really helped when I was doing the endo diet combined with it. I have stopped both and the pain is starting to come back (not nearly as severe) but I went back to buy some more and I am back on my journey to wellness. Well I want to share the name of the woman who has helped me so much in the hopes of helping more women. Her name is Laurel Sterling http://www.natur-tyme.com/our-family.html she's on this website. Yellow hugs to all of you beautiful endo sisters. Merry Christmas and I'll see you all after the new year.       

Having a positive attitude WARNING READ WITH CAUTION

I would like to talk about keeping a positive outlook on life while having endometriosis. WARNING I KNOW THIS BLOG POST MIGHT IRRITATE SOME PEOPLE BUT I HAVE TO SPEAK MY MIND... Isn't that what freedom of speech is all about anyways? I have noticed that when ever I go into any endometriosis forum for some insight into something that I'm going through, it always seems like there's another person or people who always try to make their situation sound worse that yours (which may be the case), but sometimes all I'm trying to look for is a little encouragement not a game of "Who has endometriosis the worst". I completely get that sometimes you are deeply involved with pain, work, being a parent, and the list goes on, but we should try going outside of ourselves and try to help other people besides ourselves. Honestly, having endo isn't the worst thing you can possibly have. Yes the pain is crippling, yes my moods are all over the place but when I go into work at the hospital I am surrounded by people that need help and that wakes me up a little bit.
I am in no way insinuating that having endometriosis is easy, or that you ALWAYS have to be positive, but excluding men from the endometriosis forums, as well as attacking other women who don't have the same symptoms as you gives women with this disease a bad reputation for being bitchy. There are somedays that I cannot move or even get out of bed, but to be honest I can't let endometriosis take over my life because I know that if I do, the disease will win. I think that talking about endo online is very inspirational to me and I admire it. I just wish that if a woman expresses the way she feels about a certain topic or asks for advice, that women don't all respond trying to top their endo symptoms. Just because everyone doesn't experience endometriosis the same way, doesn't mean that one person has it worse than the next. This disease is very unique to every single woman and it effects men just as much as it effects women.
I am going to leave you with a story that I heard the a couple years ago...... There was a girl who was very depressed, she walked into a store and bought some gum. Meanwhile, the store clerk had a bad day because she was dealing with health issues, a baby at home, and she didn't feel like working that day. The store clerk looked the girl up and down and gave her a mean scowl. The store clerk then yelled at the girl and told her that she wouldn't ring her out because the girl only had a pack of gum to buy. The girl left the store in tears, went home and took her own life. When the store clerk came back to work 3 days later she read the newspaper and saw that the girl had taken her own life. The store clerk found out that the girl had cancer and that she had had 4 weeks to live. The store clerk felt bad and wished that she hadn't been mean to the girl, but she was having a bad day. My point is that we never know what  person is going through, so we should try to think about that when responding to people online or even when we deal with people in real life. Yes, your situation might seem bad, but someone else might be going through a lot too.

From a man's perspective

Hello all,
It's been a while since I have written due to my surgery. I was in a lot of pain but, I want to do something a little bit different. Most of you have heard of what endometriosis has done to women. My fiancé and I have been together for 2 1/2 years and he has seen the good, the bad and the ugliness of what endometriosis has done to my life. I want him to write to you all about what he has seen.....


Hello everyone, 
To tell you the truth I didn't even know that Endometriosis existed when I met Annie, but I made sure that I read up everything I could find on it after she mentioned it to me. I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to better her condition or maybe even something she could do that she wasn't already aware of.  A lot of what she had to do to better her condition was eating right (organic, gluten free)and some moderate exercise.  What I came to experience in the 2 1/2 years that we've been together has shown me the emotional toll that endometriosis can take on a person and a relationship.  A lot of times the minor arguments that a couple will experience will be magnified because of the way endometriosis effects their hormones.  She tended to have really bad sudden mood swings and I have learned and grown to be patient. I have always questioned whether it was me or if maybe it was just her personality, but I have seen that Annie has a constant struggle to deal with Endometriosis and I've grown to be even more understanding.  This experience has been very difficult for me, but I can say that ultimately it has strengthened and matured me as a man.  Through the process we have both grown and endometriosis is hardly a determining factor in our relationship the way it used to be.  It used to be something we struggled with, now it's just something we've learned to conquer.

Endometriosis Youtube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4i7HXO_SKU


I will be posting more videos documenting my journey to healing... Stay tuned

Laparoscopic Surgery

Hello,
 I am going in for my third laparoscopic surgery on Tuesday September 17th. I will be making a youtube video to document my surgery. This will be my 3rd surgery within 6 years. This past month was extremely painful and I experienced a lot of bleeding which is abnormal for me at least. All I could think about was how I was feeling, the pain and bloating that I was experiencing, and the massive blood loss. I was trying to get opinions from my co-workers at the hospital and one of them told me "well you're not that bad off, just take a look at some of the patients on the floor". My first instinct was to get mad at him for saying that, but then I thought about it and I talk a lot about myself and my condition instead of branching out and helping others through my pain. I want to help people, especially since my goal is to become an OB/GYN specializing in Endometriosis.
Working around so many sick people, I feel guilty and selfish at times for thinking negatively about my condition when people are sitting in beds with cancer or heart attacks. Some times it's hard not to be a little selfish when you think that the pain is only happening to you and that's normal. But sometimes I get so absorbed in my symptoms that it's hard for me not to think negatively. My goal is to think more positive about the situation that I am in. Instead of saying "Why me? Why am I in all of this pain?" I can say "How can I help someone else with their pain?"I always try my hardest not to judge other people because I don't know what their going through in their lives. Going into this surgery on Tuesday I am a little apprehensive though I know it is for the best. I will let you guys know how it went. Have an awesome day!!

Mental issues associated with Endometriosis

Hello again,
People know that pain is generally associated with endometriosis as well as infertility issues. A huge misconception about endometriosis is that pain and infertility issues are the only issues that result from the condition. Mental health issues are very common in women with endometriosis. It's hard not to have mental issues due to unbalanced hormone levels. Endometriosis is responsible for issues like depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, anxiety, and etc... I can always feel when my period is about to start because I feel like the whole world is crumbling down on my life. I am not pleasant to be around, I feel bad because I can't help it and no one understands. It's especially hard when my friends want to go out somewhere but I can't go because I can't even get out of bed because I'm crying my eyes out and don't know why.
Even after my period I am still very sensitive and I always feel anxious like something is going to happen, but nothing ever does. Growing up I was always tired, I just thought that I was just a lazy teenager, but I was doing gymnastics, cheerleading and working out 6 days a week. All I would ever do is sleep and I never knew why, but being depressed due to unbalanced hormone levels makes me very tired and thinking about the pain makes me very stressed out so all I would want to do is to sleep and hope that my condition would go away. I had always felt like no one understood me or that I was going crazy. It's so hard for me to be in a relationship because my hormones make me feel so wishy washy towards my significant other. I am still trying to find something that calms my moods down. I have been trying tension tea, you can buy it at any grocery store it hasn't worked yet but I'm still drinking it. It's pretty good. Any suggestions?

Supplements

Hello All,
I know that I just posted about the endo diet, but the reason that it has worked for me is because I combine it with supplements. I couldn't just do the diet alone honestly because I don't think that it can work without me clearing my system out first. First, I take a daily supplement called estrosense and it literally balances out my estrogen levels immediately. I have to take 2 pills a day and drink this stuff called scutters. It's the nastiest thing you will ever taste in your life, but honestly for me, it works! What it does is it cleans your body out and rids of any bad tissues. Then I take 1capsule of evening primrose oil a day and it calms my nerves and soothes the pain away. Has anyone else tried this? I swear it's a savior, but it's pretty expensive for all three. Please consult a professional (dr, nurse, nutritionist, etc) before you take any of these!

Endo diet

Yes, yes, yes!!! I know that you've heard it a million times that you should eat right because you have endo but a lot of women don't know exactly WHAT to eat. I have tried it and personally I feel like it has helped me tremendously!!!! No, it didn't work the first month, but I saw a difference as far as bloating, pain, and depression. Here's what to do:
These are the foods to abstain from:
-Caffeine
-Processed sugars
-Wheat
-Red Meat
-Gluten
-Soy
-chocolate
-processed dairy
-eggs
-fried foods
-saturated fats
-additives and preservatives
-alcohol
The reasons that you should abstain from these foods is because most of them when digested, act as pseudo (false) estrogens in your body and as most of you may no, that's a big negative when it comes to endometriosis. The scar tissue thrives and grows from estrogen that we have in our bodies. Think of it like this, the endometrium that is supposed to be lining our uteruses thickens and grows due to increasing estrogen levels in our bodies, and then sheds when the estrogen levels fall during menstruation. That same endometrium that is lining the outside of your colon or even your small intestine for example grows and sheds the exact same way! So it's our job to slow down the growth of endometrium by abstaining from these estrogen rich foods.
If you can, organic fruits and vegetables are the way to go. You can actually replace most of the bad foods with foods you'll love. I know for me, I am obsessed with almond milk and almond cheese it tastes just like the real thing. Anyone else try the endo diet and would like to share their experiences please let me know. :) Also, speak with a professional to see if the endo diet is something that would work for you.

Endometriosis

Hello Everyone,
My name is Annie and I have Endometriosis. As most of you may already know, it's a very painful and debilitating disease. When I first experienced my period I thought like most women, I had cramps. As I got older they got worse and I noticed that I wasn't just cramping on my period but I was hurting even when I wasn't bleeding. I had suspicions that it was this because I had researched it years before I was actually diagnosed, but it was such a relief for me to know that I couldn't help the fact that I was in agony. I created this blog so that women can be aware that there are things you can do in order to decrease or even eliminate the pain, I am a living testament to that. I hope that you ladies can give me proper feedback and also give me some insight into what helped you and what didn't help you.