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This interview with Kerry from Emotional Autoimmunity is my very personal take (so personal I’m very nervous about sharing it!) on being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and Endometriosis and my subsequent experience with infertilty and IVF.
I also discuss how I manage autoimmunity whilst raising a child, why I don’t beat myself up about what I can’t do and why we should cut mums a bit more slack! Continue Reading
Read Part 1 in this series here – The Symptoms and Causes of Endometriosis
Read Part 2 in the series here – The Immune and Digestive Systems with Endometriosis
This final part in the Endometriosis series discusses how to manage endometriosis through diet and lifestyle modifications, primarily by reducing inflammation and inflammatory processes. This enables the gut to start healing and our body systems to function more efficiently. Bearing in mind that here is no “one size fits all” answer when it comes to diet and lifestyle, and what works for one individual may not work for another. For this reason it is best to work with a professional trained in nutritional medicine who can provide a tailored approach. Continue Reading
The immune system has 2 main parts – Innate and Adaptive.
Innate immune cells should be cleaning up the misplaced endometrial cells, but with endometriosis this isn’t happening, allowing lesions (tissue damage) to develop.
Adaptive immune cells are “overactive” in women with endometriosis, creating an inflammatory state.
Regulatory T-cells (part of the adaptive immune system) that regulate the development of autoimmunity and dampen down an overactive immune response are reduced in women with endometriosis. Continue Reading
As I’m writing this, today is national Women’s Day, which somehow seems ironic when we’re so often treated like second class citizens. March is also Endometriosis Awareness month, which is one reason why the subject has been on my mind. This morning I was having a chat with a friend about contraception and it made me really angry that its so normal for women to be prescribed synthetic hormones to mask or interrupt their own hormonal cycles. This may be for birth control, or to “regulate” periods and PMS symptoms, or to “ease” the pain of endometriosis, or to “help” PCOS, or to get rid of acne, etc. And this is often without exploration of the underlying cause of these diseases or symptoms, and without explaining the impact on our bodies of the cessation of our natural hormonal cycle.
It also amazes and frightens me how many women think it is “normal” to have painful periods, heavy bleeding, clots, etc. This is not normal. Yes it is common, and it is often dismissed as “normal”, but it is a sign that our body has underlying problems that need to be addressed. Continue Reading