endometriosis questions about natural treatments:)

A&S,

I'm interested to see what kind of responses you get to this, as endometriosis is also an issue for me. The only thing I'm doing right now, that probably you've already tried, is to have my hormone level monitored and to make sure estrogen and progesterone levels are balanced. I use natural plant-derived hormones, not prescription animal products.

Rose

A&S - I think I read somewhere in that link I sent you that yeast overgrowth may play a role in endometriosis. I'll try to find it.

Thank you everyone. I know this isn't an endometriosis forum, so it kinda isn't in the right place to begin with:) But, I appreciate your responses. I have had 1 laproscopy and I felt better the very next day. But, they irritated my bladder while in there, so it felt like I had a UTI for almost 2 months. Now I can actually feel where it is growing back and it hurts. I really would just deal with the pain at this point. What's one more thing that hurts? But, my hormones are out of control and I can't stand it. Dangerously out of control.
When you had the depo lupron..did you gain weight? And did you have horrible side effects at all? I am just curious, because I am really nervous. Of course, my health insurance company still hasn't approved it, so I may not have to worry about it anyway. Anyway, this post will bump this topic up. Maybe we can all get some natural relief!
Oh, and thanks Jenn! It would be great if that improved too. I can't wait until I get my shipment of all that stuff to start it. But, I may have to wait until after December 10th. I am hostessing a table at my church's Christmas dinner and I can't miss it. I cannot stand detoxing and that is extreme detoxing, so I am sure I will be miserable...
God Bless you all! You are all so helpful and and sweet:)

Please do a lot of research before you consent to taking Lupron. I know some people that had terrible side effects that never went away. They ended up with chronic pain, bone loss, even tooth loss. Lupron does not cure endo and does not even always reduce pain. My doc does not use Lupron in his practice because he says you are just replacing one set of awful symptoms for another and you are doing nothing to treat the underlying disease. If your hormones are out of control now, I'm not sure how Lupron will help. You'll probably have hot flashes, mood swings, weight gain, headaches, and other lovely symptoms.

I have found that changing my diet has helped my endo pain and evened out my hormones, not a lot but enough to notice. I've reduced my carbs and cut my junk food intake by a lot. There is a book called "Endometriosis: A Key to Healing Through Nutrition" by Dian Shepperson Mills is supposed to be very helpful. A few of my endo friends swear by it.

The only natural remedy that I have heard really positive things about is Pycnogenol. There have been some studies on it that have shown it helps some women. It is rather expensive and some less expensive brands don't work as well.

"Pycnogenol is a natural plant extract originating from the bark of the maritime pine that grows along the coast of southwest France and is found to contain a unique combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids, which offer extensive natural health benefits. The extract has been widely studied for the past 35 years and has more than 220 published studies and review articles ensuring safety and efficacy as an ingredient."

A really knowledgeable surgeon is your best option. Unfortunately, many docs claim to be experts but don't remove all the endo causing you to need more surgery. The Endometriosis Research Center is a good resource for finding info on this disease and helping you choose the best treatment for yourself.

Good luck. ( I wish we had an endo forum here!)

I wonder how many interested people it would take for them to start an endo forum.

about surgery; I'd be careful. If you had several months of bladder pain after a laproscopy, it may be worse if you actually have surgery. IC (bladder inflammation and pain without an infection) can be a result of abdominal surgery. It doesn't mean anyone hit your bladder, it just happens. After my hysterectomy, I had 6 months of terrible bladder pain. Recovering from the surgery was nothing compared to the agony of having such intense pain in my bladder. Endometriosis is still a problem for me, causes pain, has caused adhesions that cause pain, but now that the IC pain is finally under control nothing short of a life/death situation could get me to consent to abdominal surgery again. And even then I'd have to think about it. I also think we're at a disadvantage because Lyme can cause IC, too. Having two risk factors seems ill advised to me if there is any way to avoid it. That's just my opinion.

I copied down what Dagger said. The book sounds like a great resource; can't wait to read it. The Pycnogenol sounds interesting, too. I hope you find a solution that works for you.

Rose

Hi A&S,

I didn't even know what endometriosis was until I saw your post!  Duh!  Anyway, I did a quick google search for natural treatments and so far I found this.   Yeah, I became curious, what else is new?  LOL!

http://www.endo-resolved.com/alternative.html

http://www.holisticonline.com/remedies/endometriosis/endometriosis.htm

http://www.womens-health.co.uk/endo7.html

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/healthconditionsdisease/a/endometriosis.htm

I finally hit menopause (yeah!) and I have been using a natural cream called Emerita Pro-Gest Natural Progesterone Cream (bought it from Amazon) but I forget to apply it twice a day so I can't say anything about this product just yet...

Hope this helps,

Denise