How the Christmas, New Year & Easter Festive Seasons Can Affect a Woman’s Menstrual Cycle

Posted on January 5, 2017February 6, 2023 by Andrew Orr

We have not long gotten over the Christmas and New Year period and we are about to embark on the fast train into Easter holiday and festive season.

While many are getting ready for the sugar fest ahead, with Easter eggs and hot cross buns galore, we need to take the time to understand how this may affect our bodies afterwards, especially for women and their menstrual cycles.

Worse still it could even affect pre-existing gynaecological conditions that women live with on a day to day basis, some of which impact women’s day life terribly.

Christmas and Easter times always pose great problems for women and their menstrual cycle, and year after year many women never make the correlation why.

Year after year I see women coming back to see me, after Christmas and Easter, scratching their heads as to why all of a sudden their menstrual cycle has gone haywire and they are getting the worst PMS symptoms they’ve had since they can remember.

So why do so many women have problems with their menstrual cycle after Christmas and Easter?

The answer is blatantly obvious. Stress, Poor diet and Lifestyle factors!

The lead up to Christmas and Easter, is always a busy time and no matter how much people try to deny it, it is very stressful. People are rushing madly to meet deadlines before everyone goes on holidays and then the mad Christmas and Easter shopping rush that follows.

Then there is the stress of what to buy everyone, followed by the mad catering panic. People literally go mad and one would think the end of the world is imminent, with supermarkets being emptied by the marketing hype of these two festive seasons.

Then the big day arrives. Everyone forgets the basic principles of a healthy diet and engorge themselves on any food they can lay their hands on. Basically it is a licence to eat as much bad food as we can put in our mouths, and then use the basic excuse of “Its Christmas” or “It’s Easter” and “It is only just one day and it won’t really matter and I had to do it”.

Then one day leads into two, and then this leads into a week and then before we know it, it has been more than just one day of bad eating, or drinking alcohol. The sad fact of that statement is that some people eat and drink alcohol like it’s Christmas and Easter every day.

With Christmas we can have many portions of baked dinner, crackling, seafood, Christmas pudding, chocolate and any other sugar substance that can be consumed it all had to be washed down with a nice alcoholic beverage, or two. Many bottles of bubbly, or choice of poison later, and we now have a stomach full of sugar, fat, cholesterol and alcohol all churning quite nicely. Diabetes and heart disease here we come.

Then approximately 1 week later it is New Years Eve and the license, to drink like fish and eat like a ravenous bear, is pulled from the pocket and waived around once more. “But it’s Ok”, we say.

The New Year’s resolution will be to not do it again, until next year when all resolutions are forgotten. Meanwhile the system had short circuited, the gut has gone into melt down, the cholesterol levels are rising, the sugar levels have reached diabetes status and the brain cells have been reduced yet again.

Several months later when the system has started to recover, Easter arrives and the sugar binge begins; with Easter eggs and all manner of chocolate, sugar laden delight. Let’s not forget the alcohol added to the mix, that we used to self medicate from the stress of the lead up to the Easter break. The body short circuits itself again and will take until Christmas to recover and then it starts all over again.

Now, I wonder why the menstrual cycle would be affected?

Hmmm, I wonder?

There are only a few things that will affect a menstrual cycle and cause PMS, irregularities and pain. The trouble is many of them can be unknowingly self- inflicted. Yes, many monthly menstrual related problems can be unknowingly self- inflicted.

Let’s not forget that many people do have gynaecological issues that they suffer on a daily basis though. But even still, this high amount of burden on the system will exacerbate these pre-existing conditions and make them worse, due to the resulting high levels of inflammation.

What I am trying to do is just make people aware of how conditions can be worsened and how these high levels of inflammation, from high levels of sugars etc, can cause havoc with a woman’s cycle. This is not about blame. It is about education and prevention. I am here to help, not hinder. Please remember this.

As I said there are only a few things that affect, or exacerbate, a woman’s menstrual cycle and I’m going to list them below. So that way if you are wondering why you can’t get enough Naprogesic into your body, when you get your cycle, please remember the list below.

Please also read my article on “What a proper Menstrual Cycle Should Be Like”. If it isn’t like the one I describe you better book in to see me soon.

What Affects a Menstrual Cycle

Poor diet – Foods such as high sugars and junk foods all cause inflammation in the body and lead to hormonal irregularities and pain with the menses
Alcohol – Most alcohols contain high sugars and they also cause inflammation in the body. It also interferes with your hormones and affects the liver too. In Chinese medicine the Liver governs the menstrual cycle. Excess alcohol leads to SOL ( Shit on Liver)
Poor Sleep– Sleep deprivation leads to reduction in hormones such as serotonin and then effect the moods etc. Lack of sleep also stops the body from repairing and can lead to other health issues
Trauma – Things such as surgery, a virus, cold/flu etc, or where the body has to repair, can lead to menstrual irregularities. The body shuts down the menses so that it can repair itself first
Weight gain or weight loss– It is a well known fact that many athletes do not get a menstrual cycle because of lack of body fat. The same goes for people who are overweight too. Too much, or too little, body fat interferes with your fertility. All your hormones are made from fats and protein.
Emotional Issues– Bottled up emotions such as anger & frustration cause blockages in the system & then cause pain. Emotional issues, such as anxiety also cause problems with hormones and lead to further pain and inflammation. Emotions can be a major issue in any health condition, or can affect hormones.

What a proper menstrual cycle should be like

A proper menstrual cycle should be 26 –32 days in it’s length. It should be 4 days flow, 5 at the most. Any shorter than 4 days is too short and any longer than 5 days is too long. This isn’t good.

You shouldn’t get any pain at all, you shouldn’t get clotting, spotting, breast tenderness, bloating, fluid retention or changes to the moods such as teariness or irritability. These are all signs of irregularities that may need to be addressed.

Some of the things that exacerbate menstrual issues are listed above.

Lastly, please know that Period Pain IS NOT Normal and neither are some of the other irregularities women have. If you are suffering pain, or irregular cycles, or any other issue that doesn’t seem right to you, you need to get it checked out.

If you would like to book in a consultation with me, please call my friendly staff, or using the automated emails system on the website.

Regards

Andrew Orr

-Master of Women’s Health Medicine

-“Leaving No Stone Left Unturned”

-“Period Pain IS NOT Normal”

-The Women’s Health Experts

-The Experts Program

What Affects a Menstrual Cycle – Part 2 (Common Gynaecological Factors)

Posted on September 10, 2016August 22, 2019 by Andrew Orr

There are many things that can cause disturbances to a woman’s menstrual cycle and on my previous post I discussed how Non-Gynaecological factors, such as diet, lifestyle etc, can be contributing.

In this post I will discuss some of the common gynaecological conditions that can cause problems with women’s menstrual cycles.

The sad thing is that many of these are often overlooked and often masked by putting women on the contraception pill. The other issue is that many are led to believe that the pill is the answer to their issues, when sadly it isn’t.

Many of these common gynaecological conditions continue to become worse while having their symptoms masked and exacerbated by these hormones.

Even more disturbing is that many women are not heard when speaking about menstrual issues, menstrual pain and other factors that do in fact interfere with their daily life on both a physical and emotional level.

Lets look at the common gynaecological factors that can affect a woman’s cycle.

Endometriosis – is one of the most common causes of period pain and it caused by abnormal growth of endometrial cells both inside the uterus and outside the uterine lining. The exact cause is not known.While period pain, clotting, ovulation pain, pain with sex, pain on bowel movement, IBS like symptoms etc are commonly talked about, many women with endometriosis are asymptomatic and would not even know they had it.It is commonly missed, misdiagnosed and overlooked by healthcare practitioners and is why it often takes up to 10 years for the definitive diagnosis to be made. There is no cure and now it is thought that genetic factors and parental mode of inheritance is a predominant part of this disease. We do know that estrogens drive the disease and make it worse also.
Endometriosis can only be diagnosed by surgical intervention. For more information please read my posts on endometriosis and also visit the Endometriosis Australia website.
PCO/PCOS – Polycystic Ovaries/Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is one of the most common caused of menstrual cycle irregularities, or ceasing of the menstrual cycle.It is mainly caused by insulin resistance and it also runs in families. There are two types of presentation with this condition. One is just having the cysts on the ovaries and the other is just the syndrome without the cysts.These days it is common lobbed under the one condition called PCOS.Along with menstrual cycle disturbances, it can also cause mood swings, hair growth/hair loss, acne, ovulation pain, infertility, anovulation, weight gain/weight loss, pot belly, fluid retention and much more.
Diet and lifestyle changes are the number one treatment for this condition. Scans can pick this condition up, but can also miss it too.

It can be diagnosed via surgical intervention and sometimes-extreme forms of this do need surgical intervention known as “Ovarian Drilling”
Fibroids – Also known as myomas are benign growths that can occur inside and outside the uterus. Up to 40% of women over 40 years old have fibroids.They can cause problems with irregular uterine bleeding, heavy long bleeding, bleeding in between cycles, anaemia, pain with sex, problems with urinating and back pain.They can also cause infertility and miscarriage.There are 3 types of fibroids (intramural, submucosal & subserosal). They are thought to be caused by excess estrogens and problems in hormone metabolism.
They can be removed surgically and some small ones embolised.
Polyps – Are benign overgrowths, or bulges, of the normal tissue lining the uterus into the uterine cavity.They can cause irregular bleeding, heavy bleeding, bleeding after intercourse and infertility. Some women have not symptoms at all.Polyps may also be found in the uterine cervix. Polyps are usually attached to the underlying tissue by a base or stalk, and they vary in size.They can basically act like an IUD and stop implantation and therefore need to be removed in order for a woman to fall pregnant.
Polyps only rarely contain cancerous cells
Adenomyosis– Is very similar to endometriosis by the fact that it causes pain, irregular bleeding, heavy bleeding, bloating, lower abdomen pain and can affect the day to day functioning of woman all over this world.Adenomyosis growth penetrates deeply into the uterine lining and also inflames the nerves inside the lining. It cannot be seen visually and some special high contrast scans and MRI can pick it up, but not always.Usually a biopsy is needed to diagnose it. Medically the only way to properly get rid of Adenomyosis is via a hysterectomy.In the meantime, mostly anti-inflammatories, some hormones and other forms of pain management are given to provide symptomatic relief.
Thrush– Vaginal thrush is a common infection caused by an overgrowth of Candida albicans yeast.This yeast lives naturally in the bowel and in small numbers in the vagina. It is mostly harmless, but symptoms can develop if yeast numbers increase.Symptoms you may experience if you develop vaginal thrush include vaginal discomfort – itching or burning, a thick, white discharge with a ‘cottage cheese’ appearance and yeasty smell, redness or swelling of the vagina or vulva, stinging or burning while urinating or during sex, splits in the genital skin that can cause bleeding and irritation.The condition is mainly treated with antifungal creams, pessaries and probiotics.
Cancers – In 2008, a total of 4,534 new gynaecological cancers were diagnosed in Australia; this equates to an average of 12 females being diagnosed with this disease every day.On average 4 females in Australia die each day from a gynaecological cancer each day.The most commonly diagnosed gynaecological cancers are uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, vulval cancer, cancers of other female organ and placenta and vaginal cancer.All can cause irregular bleeding, but some may not present with any symptoms at all.
Proper diagnosis and early intervention is the key to any gynaecological cancers. For more information on diagnosis, symptoms and treatment please refer to the cancer council website.

There are other conditions that I haven’t discussed because of focusing on the main gynaecological conditions that can affect a woman’s cycle. I haven’t gone into the treatments of these disease states and will go into this at a later date.

What I will say it that early intervention is the key to any disease state in the body and seeing the right people is paramount too. Please know that many of these disease states will require a multimodality approach and please remember that there is always help out there.

Never put up with period pain, or menstrual irregularities, or be told the symptoms many women face daily are normal. The value of a second, or third, or tenth opinion is crucial for some people to get help and to find the right person to help.

Please remember that period pain IS NOT normal and neither are many of the menstrual irregularities that many of you face daily. There are always treatments and help out there too.

Take care

Regards

Andrew Orr

-Leaving No Stone Left Unturned

-Women’s and Men’s Health Crusader

What Affects a Menstrual Cycle – Part 1 (Non Gynaecological Factors)

Posted on September 10, 2016August 22, 2019 by Andrew Orr

After my post on “What a Proper Menstrual Cycle Should Be Like”, I always have lots of people asking what the cause of their menstrual irregularities are.

Most of the causes can be broken into two causes being:

Non Gynaecological Factors– Meaning things you do, or may have done to exacerbate current conditions, or throw your cycles out of balance

Gynaecological Factors– Disease states such as Endometriosis, PCOS, Fibroids, Polyps, Adenomyosis, Cancers and other causes.

I’ll talk about the factors (Non-Gynaecological Factors) in people’s control so that they may be able to identify some of those things they may be doing on a daily basis to exacerbate current underlying issues, or just interfere with their hormones and lead to problems with their menstrual cycle.

These ones you can work on and be aware of in case your cycle isn’t regular, or your pain is worse in a month. This way you can look back and go “Oh….. Now I know why my cycles wasn’t so good this month”

I’ll talk about the Gynaecological Causes of irregular, or painful cycles in my next post. For now here are the Non-Gynaecological causes.

What Affects a Menstrual Cycle- Non-Gynaecological Factors.

Poor diet – Foods such as high sugars and junk foods all cause inflammation in the body and lead to hormonal irregularities and can exacerbate, or cause pain with the menses

Alcohol – Most alcohols contain high sugars and they also cause inflammation in the body. It also interferes with your hormones and affects the liver too. In Traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed the Liver governs the menstrual cycle and the Live also controls the emotions. Excess alcohol leads to SOL ( Shit on Liver) and thus the moods and cycle get affected.

Poor Sleep– Sleep deprivation leads to reduction in hormones such as melatonin, which is a precursor to serotonin and then effect the moods etc. Lack of sleep also interferes with the other hormones in our body too. Lack of sleep also stops the body from repairing and can lead to other health issues. We know that shift works do have a lot more disturbances with their cycles and also have lower fertility rates.

Trauma – Things such as surgery, a virus, cold/flu etc, or where the body has to repair, can lead to menstrual irregularities. The body shuts down the menses so that it can repair itself first. Emotional trauma can also cause the menses to shut down, or become irregular too.

Weight gain, or weight loss– It is a well known fact that many athletes do not get a menstrual cycle because of lack of body fat. The same goes for people who are over-weight too. Eating disorders can also cause irregularities and infertility. Too much or too little body fat interferes with your fertility. All your hormones are made from fats and protein.

Emotional Issues– Bottled up emotions such as anger & frustration cause blockages in the system & then cause pain. Emotional issues also cause problems with hormones. Emotions and stress are a major cause of menstrual irregularities. Bottled up emotions can cause SOL too ☺

Drugs/Hormones– Both pharmaceutical and recreational drugs can also cause menstrual irregularities and can stop the menses completely. Recreational drugs can also lead to permanent infertility.

Travel– Travelling over time lines and even just interstate can cause issues with your cycle too. The body has to cope with adjusting to different times zones, different foods and water etc and the pressures from flying can also throw the cycle out.

Hope this help explain a little bit more about how our diets and lifestyle can affect your cycles each month too.

If you would like to book in a consultation with me, please call my friendly staff, or using the automated emails system on the website.

There are options for online consultation for those that are interstate, not local, or those that live overseas. My friendly staff will be able to sort this out for you.

Next I will talk about the gynaecological conditions which can causes issues with your cycle. Stay tuned 🙂

Take care

Regards

Andrew Orr

-“Leaving No Stone Unturned”

-Women’s and Men’s Health Advocate

-The Endometriosis and PCOS Experts

What a Proper Menstrual Cycle Should Be Like

Posted on September 10, 2016January 6, 2022 by Andrew Orr

I have travelled around this country presenting to both healthcare practitioners and as part of women’s health work shops and I am still amazed that many healthcare practitioners and the general public alike, still do not know what a proper menstrual cycle should be like.

So many women still believe that many of the abnormal symptoms they put up with daily are actually normal and believe that they just have to put up with them. There are many healthcare providers reinforcing this too.

OMG, if the healthcare providers have no idea, then how to we expect everyone else to know. This is why we are seeing so many women put up with gynaecological conditions such as Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, PCOS and many other symptoms they face on daily basis.

Every day I get emails and Facebook messages from women, or see them in clinic, asking me “What Should a Proper Menstrual Cycle Should Be Like?”

I also get asked if PMS, menstrual irregularities and period pain is normal and I have to tell them it is not. To put it bluntly, PMS, severe PMS (known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder-PMDD), irregular cycles and period pain IS NOT normal.

Women should not experience pain during their menstrual flow, and they shouldn’t have to put up with all the horrible symptoms leading up to their menstrual cycle either.

A slight bit of discomfort may be considered normal, but pain and having to take pain killers for that pain, is not normal at all.

The fact is that only 20-25% of women actually get menstrual pain and severe symptoms of PMS. Once there are a greater number of people with a condition, medically the condition is then classed as normal, meaning that a portion of the population get it.

But the problem is menstrual pain and irregularities are not normal and these are signs of problems in the body that need to be checked out by a gynaecologist, reproductive medicine, or a women’s health specialist.

The sad thing is even then, some women are being missed, or offered the supposed quick fix, or patch, that will not fix their issues. The worse things is, in my line of work is that when these things are missed and masked and left for too long, women wake up one day and want babies, and can’t have them, or struggle to have them.

Once again menstrual pain and irregularities are not normal and no matter what mum, your best friend, or you GP says, women should not have to put up with these issues. Period pain and menstrual irregularities are not normal.

Going on the oral contraceptive pill (OCP) will not fix the cause of the issue either. Sure, it can offer some symptomatic relief for some, but it usually just masks a condition and this is why women need to see a gynaecologist or a women’s health specialist for any gynaecology issue.

Masking an issue over the long term can not only make a condition becomes worse, it can also have an impact on future fertility and chances of conception, and this is what many seem to be forgetting. Masking symptoms is not the answer and women need to be informed of all their choices and the consequences of masking a gynaecological issue.

I also need women to know that the contraceptive pill does not regulate a normal menstrual cycle. It causes a withdrawal bleed and does not regulate a normal menstrual bleed. That is a fact. The withdrawal of hormones causes the bleed. The is not a normal period by any means.

So, I am going to tell you what a proper a menstrual cycle should be like and I’m going list what it should be like below. So that way if you are wondering why your menstrual cycle has gone crazy and you cant get enough Ibuprofen, or naprogesics, into your body when you get your cycle, then please remember the list below.

It is so important that I tell everyone what a proper menstrual cycle should be like. If it isn’t like the one I describe you better book in to see me soon.

But, for those who may be trying to have babies, or think that all is OK, don’t be fooled into think that you don’t have a gynaecological issue because you don’t have pain, or irregularities either.

A significant portion of women with endometriosis are asymptomatic (Meaning no symptoms). Many women with PCOS also have regular cycles and all body types can have this disease, not just overweight women.

It is so important for all women to get regular gynaecological check ups by a gynaecologist, a women’s health specialist, or a reproductive medicine specialist, especially if you are trying to have babies and nothing is happening.

What a proper menstrual cycle should be like

A proper menstrual cycle should be 26 –32 days in it’s length.
It should be 4 days flow, 5 at the most. Any shorter than 4 days is too short and any longer than 5 days is too long. This isn’t good.
You”Should Not” get any pain at all. Maybe a slight bit of discomfort is normal, but pain is not normal.
You “Should Not” get clotting, spotting, etc.
You “Should Not” get heavy bleeding, or abnormal bleeding in between cycles.
You “Should Not” get severe breast tenderness, lots of bloating, increased fluid retention, erratic changes to the moods, such as lots of tears or irritability.

These are all signs of irregularities and need to be addressed and many of the causes are above.

Just remember that if you do get bad period pain, or your periods are irregular there is a good chance you may have a gynaecological condition and this need to be investigated.

Don’t let people keep fobbing you off, or keep telling you that the contraceptive pill will “fix” these issues, because that is not entirely true. If there is pain, or irregularities, it means that something is wrong, or out of balance, and it needs to be investigated and managed properly.

If you need help with a women’s health issue, please call my friendly staff and find out how I may be able to assist you.

Take Care

Regards

Andrew Orr

-Master of Women’s Health

-Women’s and Men’s Health Advocate

-No Stone Left Unturned

-The Endometriosis and PCOS Experts

Follow-Up Reply To Rust Never Sleeps & Neither Does Endometriosis

Posted on September 10, 2016August 22, 2019 by Andrew Orr

After my post on “Rust Never Sleeps and Neither Does Endometriosis” I was overwhelmed with such lovely messages from some amazing people

Wow, there really is so many people out there suffering this horrible disease. As I said, I had someone very special and dear to me that was riddled with Endometriosis and put up with it for 20-30 odd years. It was so bad and luckily I was able to help her get it sorted properly.

I help people with endometriosis everyday. I know how it effects you physically, emotionally and on every level possible. It is such a terrible disease to have. I also know many people who have it don’t know they do have it until that start to try and have a baby. Then they come and see me and we find it. Many people are asymptomatic (no symptoms).

Unfortunately when it comes to endometriosis we really only hear about those who have the really have the bad pain. Unfortunately so many of you who have read this, or have contacted me about this, have the pain side of it.

But please take heart, you can get your life back with the right treatment. I do know many of you aren’t seeing the right people, or not getting the right treatment for this. So many of you get overlooked, or passed over, or misdiagnosed, or even just plain old ignored. It is disgusting and should never happen

Endometriosis really does require a multi modality approach to treat it and help manage it properly though. There really isn’t one thing, or a magic pill. I wish there was. I wish I could give you all that.

Through many years of studying this, years of treating this and just knowing what to do and what works and what doesn’t, is why I know this disease well. Endometriosis needs a multimodality/team approach to manage it effectively.

There is no magic pill. You really do need to look at the individual, assess that individual and then use a multi modality approach with everything from diet changes, lifestyle changes, help with emotions, help with the acute pain etc and really look at what is fuelling the pain and fuelling the endometriosis. The number one diagnostic and investigation for endometriosis and to help with acute pain will always be a laparoscopy too.

I do know it is hard for you all. I really do. Not everyone knows how to treat this properly and manage the symptoms properly as well. I wish they did. I really do. I know many of you have said you have tried everything and many times I find out your haven’t, or may have only just tried a few things in combination. You need to do it all properly and at the same time.

Some of you have really just seen the wrong people, been given the wrong advice and really just seen a crappy specialist, or surgeon. It really saddens me. So sorry for you that have. I really wish I could help all of you.

I do know many women who say they got relief from the hysterectomy and I have to say I sometimes have to tell people that only they can make this decision, if it is really affecting your life. But I do need to let women know that hysterectomy ‘Does Not’ cure endometriosis. It will cure adenomyosis, but not endometriosis. Endometriosis is not in the uterus, so taking out the uterus is only going to help adenomyosis and also stop period related symptoms.

But if you are going to have a hysterectomy you need to know the facts and know that endometriosis will still be there.Sometimes the endo has really spread to other parts of the body so hysterectomy really doesn’t solve that at all.

If you are going to do any surgical intervention, it needs to be done by a good surgeon who is an advanced trained laparoscopic excision surgeon. It also needs to be done intravaginallly and via laparoscopy. That is how I make sure my patients get it done. Sometimes that is not always possible, but when it is, that is the better option.The recovery is much better and there is less impact on them and their body. It is hard to make those decisions though.

It is hard to help from afar, but if you do want my help, I do online consults so I could help you. I do help and assist people all over the world and online platforms (zoom, skype) now offers a medium to do that.

I can’t give advice over the internet because of legal and professional ethical reasons, so I do need to see people, or at least Skype them to be able to give advice. It needs to involve a consultation.

It is so much easier if I can see you in person, especially those that live here in Australia. Flights are cheap these days and I have the best surgeons and team working with me. I really do have the best endometriosis surgeons as part of the team I work with.

I know how hard this must be for you, a very special loved one had very bad endometriosis as well. Luckily now, with the right treatment and after 30 odd years of getting nowhere, she is finally feeling better.

If you would like to book in a consultation with me, please call my friendly staff, or using the automated emails system on the website. Let me hold your hand and care for you and assist you in every step of the way to better health and a better way to live daily.

Please take heart. Know that you are not alone.Know that there really is help out there. I know this disease can be beat with the right treatment. Know that I hear you and what you are going through and will always be here to help educate people about this disease and hopefully find a cure to this horrible disease one day.

Looking forward to helping you if you need my help and pointing you in the right direction

Regards

Andrew Orr

-No Stone Left Unturned

-Women’s and Men’s Health Advocate

Rust Never Sleeps And Neither Does Endometriosis

Posted on September 10, 2016August 22, 2019 by Andrew Orr

Rust never sleeps and neither does endometriosis. When rust gets into a piece of metal, it starts to slowly eat away and corrode its unsuspecting host. Nobody really knows where it will pop up next. At first the tiny implants of rust cannot be seen, but underneath the layer of metal, the rust is at work, slowly devouring and eating away at the core of this metal piece.

It is like a weed. You can cut it out, poison it, and do what ever you can to prevent its return, but once it is there and those minute little seeds have shed and spread, not matter what you seem to do, it seems to just keep popping up everywhere. I have explained this in another post called “Weeding Out Endometriosis”

It is silent and can often take years to take full affect and be visualised, but once it is there and it full swing, it causes weakness, corrosion, toxicity and all manner of havoc for the piece of metal it has now invaded. Just because you cannot see it, doesn’t mean it is not there either. It is the master of stealth, but eventually is will rear its ugly head everywhere, all the while it is has been working its way underneath the surface and its endless tentacles and teeth reaching out and eating at the very core of its host. As the famous musician Neil Young once said “Rust Never Sleeps”. It is perfect assassin for it needs no sleep, and it has a mission of destruction and chaos to anyone who stands in its way.

While rust may never sleep, neither does Endometriosis. Endometriosis is just like rust. It is also like a pesky weed, with a never-ending lifecycle. It spreads; it drops seeds (implants) everywhere it goes. It causes pain, it can be silent and with stealth and at the same time, spreading without causing a single ounce of pain for a significant portion of the population. All the while it is causing havoc in other parts of the body, creating the illusion that there must be something else there.

It is the master of illusion. It makes many think it is something else (IBS, Bladder issues, UTI etc). It invades without a trace and can even be the master of disguise, evading even the most notable physician, but all the while it is feasting and causing chaos under the surface, just as rust does.

Just like rust, sometimes you can cut out a small piece of it and get every single minute part of it at the same time. Other times you can cut it out, and then underneath the microscopic, undetectable implants just pop up somewhere else and starts its vicious lifecycle in another location. Some times it can hide altogether, yet still be there under the surface causing havoc. Other times it will present itself to be seen everywhere and scatter itself so far and wide, you will never ever catch up with all of it.

While sometimes the smallest amount of it can cause immeasurable pain, sometimes the largest amounts of it will go undetected and cause no pain at all.

Actually, a significant portion of women affected with Endometriosis will have no pain at all. We only hear of the women with pain and this is totally understandable. But we also need to let people know, many have no pain at all. It isn’t until the person is investigated properly (via a laparoscopy), that they find that they may be riddled with it.

Endometriosis just isn’t in the endometrial lining. It is most outside the uterus, or embedded deep into the endometrium. It can get on your tubes, in your vagina, on your bowel, into your intestines, up into your lung, around your pericardium and heart, into your brain and they have even found it in people’s fingers. It is truly like a weed, like the rust we started talking about. It can spread everywhere and as said before, can evade even the most noted medical mind. If you don’t know what you are looking for, it will try and evade you forever.

But like rust, with the right treatment, Endometriosis can be found, captured, seen for what it is, have its true colour exposed, have its weakness exploited and have its symptoms vanquished to the nether regions of the destructive world it appeared from. Yet, many fail to explore, or implement the right treatment, choosing to mask it, or pretend it has gone, and all the while it is being allowed to inflame, fatigue, cause pain, play with your emotions and basically wish that life as you know it would magically just end. This can be the life of many who unknowingly trust that just cutting out the rust, or trying to mask the symptoms of it, without destroying and preventing the tiny implants of it underneath the surface from appearing and taking hold again.

Like any disease, prevention is the key to treatment. You cannot prevent endometriosis (not yet anyway) but you can prevent the things that can make it flare, or make it grow, or make it worse. Take away the fuel, and the fire can never take hold. The same goes for endometriosis. You need to take away the foods and substances (alcohol, smoking, chemicals is the environment) that are fuelling the endometriosis to grow in the first place.

If the endometriosis has taken hold and is causing issues, you need to then have it cut out and removed. There is a point where no matter what medications etc you take, nothing is going to settle that inflammation and pain down and well and corrective and investigative surgery. The only way you can diagnose endometriosis is through a laparoscopy. Scans and blood test do not diagnose it.

Even sometimes with surgery, endometriosis can be invisible to the naked eye, but make no mistake, it can still be there. This is why biopsies are taken to see if the microscopic implants are there causing pain and havoc, underneath he surface. But even then, it can infiltrate deep into the muscles and around the nerves to remain undetectable, even via a biopsy. But make no mistake, at some stage, it will rear its ugly head to be seen and to be heard. For those that know the symptoms, they will know it is there, when all other measures of investigations fail.

Once the visible disease is found, it needs to be removed and then you need to try and prevent its return. The only way you can do this is suppress the microscopic implants and the very thing they feed off. Never make the mistake of thinking that surgery is where all your treatment ends. It isn’t. This is where the real work begins.

While estrogenic response is a know factor and the main driver, we also know that insulin feeds inflammation and also causes problems with estrogen and hormone metabolism and distribution. If you get the diet under control, reduce the inflammation through lack of insulin and sugars, then you also help regulate the hormones and this will help with the symptoms and growth of endometriosis. You need to eat as clean as possible and this no refined foods at all. Lots of proteins, nuts and seeds, fresh fruit and vegetables, good oils, pre and probiotics and water.

Herbal medicines may assist and also help control with the control of the microscopic implants of endometriosis and also help symptoms. They can also assist and help with hormone regulation and help with insulin resistance and also help with reducing inflammation. This is why the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommend women explore the use of herbal medicines and acupuncture and part of the overall treatment plan for the guidelines of treatment of endometriosis.

You also need to look at stress and emotional factors that are driving the inflammation in the first place. Learn some coping skills, learn to relax, find that quiet time, do some yoga, or some form of relaxation. Do whatever it takes to find that stillness in your daily life. You can’t treat and manage a disease without looking at the emotional and lifestyle component of it as well.

So, before you go and try and mask the symptoms of endometriosis and the actual diseases itself, with the pill, mirena, or other current medical approach, ask yourself this. What are you doing to prevent the drivers of the disease in the first place?

Endometriosis requires and multi-modality approach to treat and manage it effectively. If you don’t take this approach, then it will nearly always come back. Yes, you need to surgery, but, you still also need to prevent and treat the actual cause of the disease in the first place. This will then treat the microscopic implants from ever coming to life and causing more misery for everyone concerned.

Having a loved one riddled with endometriosis, I am going to do everything possible I can to help prevent the return of symptoms of this horrible disease for this most cherished and loved individual. A multimodality approach will be used and I hope that one day we can eventually take control and assist in vanquishing the symptoms of this disease into oblivion where they belong, like I have done for so many other people in my years of practice. But, with any disease it also requires compliance of the patient too.

There is no cure for endometriosis, but with proper assistance and the right treatments and health management, women can become asymptomatic (no symptoms) and live a normal life away from the symptoms of this horrible disease.

What are you doing to control your endometriosis?

Do you want to just mask it, or get proper help in managing it?

If so, you need to implement a multimodality approach that I mentioned above and help with having a normal life and hopefully be symptom free. I will mention some of the multimodality treatments in future posts.

Just remember, rust never sleeps and neither does endometriosis.

Take care

Regards

Andrew Orr

-No Stone Left Unturned

-Women’s and Men’s Health Crusader