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The Top 23 Things That Will Cause A Flare In What You Thought Was Endometriosis Adenomyosis Symptoms But Maybe Isnt 13 23 webpage

The Top 24 Things That Will Cause A Flare In What You Thought Was Endometriosis & Adenomyosis Symptoms, But Maybe Isn’t (13-24)

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In the second part of my posts about the top 24 things that will cause a flare in what you thought was endometriosis and adenomyosis symptoms, but may isn’t, I continue with the next 12 causes of what you think is endometriosis, or adenomyosis symptoms, may just be caused by something else?

In this post I continue to bring awareness to the fact that sometimes it is not always Endometriosis, or Adenomyosis causing your current symptoms. It may be one of the following facts only, or in combination. What we need to remember is that many women with endometriosis, and adenomyosis, often have other issues that are flaring their current symptoms, and often present the same as endometriosis and adenomyosis, in their symptomology.

We also know that many other causes of flares of symptoms are often overlooked, and even dismissed, just as endometriosis and adenomyosis is often missed and dismissed.

Many women may have other issues going on at the same time as having endometriosis, or adenomyosis, and it is possible to have both endometriosis and adenomyosis combined and well as having other health issues in combination as well. Just remember that not all your symptoms may be endometriosis, or adenomyosis, and why it is so important to see and expert in these conditions.

If you do need and expert and need help with endometriosis and adenomyosis, please give my friendly staff a call and find out how I may be able to assist you.

 

Let’s have a look at the next 12 causes of “What You Thought Was Endometriosis and Adenomyosis Symptoms, But Maybe Isn’t”

 

Causes of a Flare of What You Thought Was Endometriosis and Adenomyosis Symptoms, But Maybe Isn’t ( 13-24)

13.Tight pelvic floor muscles – Pelvic floor hypertonus occurs when the muscles in the pelvic floor become too tight and are unable to relax. Many women with an overly tight and non-relaxing pelvic floor experience pelvic health issues such as constipation, painful sex, urinary urgency, bladder issues and pelvic pain. Women with pelvic floor hypertonus may also have musculoskeletal issues that cause tightness and tension in surrounding hip, sacrum and pelvic muscles. Have a read on my previous post about this. (Click here to read)

14.Interstitial cystitis– Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic inflammatory bladder condition in which there is persisting chronic pelvic pain, urinary frequency and urgency, bladder pain or pressure, and it can also resemble the symptoms of a urinary tract infection, but there will be no infection present. The pain can range from being mild to severe. Women with interstitial cystitis may experience many of the same symptoms as those with endometriosis. Women can have both Interstitial Cystitis and endometriosis at the same time. Some people with IC may also have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Fibromyalgia and other pain syndromes. This is why proper differential diagnosis is very important as this can be missed very often, or completely overlooked. Have a read of my previous post about IC (Click here to read)

15.Pelvic Congestion Syndrome– Pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) is a chronic condition that occurs in women when varicose veins form below the abdomen within the pelvic region. Pelvic congestion is just like the varicose veins that some women have in their legs, but it affects the veins of the pelvis. Blood backs up in the veins, making them become enlarged and engorged. Pelvic congestion can also cause chronic pelvic pain in some women. Pelvic congestion syndrome does share many of the same symptoms of endometriosis and adenomyosis and it important to have proper differential diagnosis and rule other causes of pelvic pain out first. Sometimes the varicose veins that cause pelvic congestion syndrome can be present alongside endometriosis and adenomyosis, or other pelvic issues. Have a read of my previous post about PCS (Click here to read)

16.Constipation and full bowel- A common cause of pelvic pain and abdominal pain and bloating and caused by constipation and a full bowel that is slowly backing up and starting to compact. In serious cases, the bowel can compact and even perforate if not addressed soon enough. When the bowel is not fully voided, it can lead to backing up of the bowel. Many people are still moving their bowel each day, but just do not realise, it is not being voided properly. This can lead to pain, gastrointestinal issues and also feeling unwell, due to not voiding waste from the body. It is a very commonly overlooked issue. This is why women need look at restoring the microbiome properly and also drinking enough water, eating enough fibre and also creating good bowel habits and not holding on too long at work.

17.Lack of sleep – Lack of quality sleep is a major issue for many women and is a common cause of their fatigue, increased pain, and exacerbation of symptoms, interference of moods, and a whole range of health issues physically and mentally. Sleep deprivation leads to reduction in hormones such as melatonin, which is a precursor to serotonin and then affect 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 increased inflammation within the body. We know that shift works do have a lot more disturbances with their menstrual cycles and also have lower fertility rates.

18.Over-exercising– Over-exercise can lead to tight pelvic floor muscles and hypertonus, but it can also lead to decrease body fats as well. Body fat plays a regulatory process with hormones and fertility. A significant decrease in body fact (10-15%) can lead to decreased hormone production and actually stop the menses and interfere with fertility. Over exercise can also cause stress and inflammation in the body and can also lead to adrenal exhaustion and fatigue. It is all about balance.

19.Lack of exercise– Lack of exercise if a big factor in a lot of people’s health issues. Lack of blood flow and lack of circulation to muscles and tissues, especially the uterus and vagina, can have some serious consequences for women’s health and gynaecological conditions. Without proper microcirculation into the uterus, and vagina and reproductive organs, these areas can become highly stressed, lack vital nutrients and then leads to inflammation, pain and other irregularities. It is a catch 22 situation. Too much exercise is not good, but similarly, not enough exercise is just as bad for us. While sometimes we may not feel like exercising, the fact is, research has shown that regular exercise can, and does help with pain, and other symptoms of endometriosis and adenomyosis.

20.Environmental Estrogens– According to a landmark US study published by the US department of environmental health, there are 87,000 plus environmental estrogens we are exposed to in all countries around the world, some being worse than others. These can be anything from plastics, detergents, petroleum products, chemicals and even the contraceptive pill ending up in our water ways. These endocrine disruptors (AKA as environmental estrogens) can interfere with hormones within our body and also lead to inflammation and many health issues. They have also been linked to the increase in lower fertility rates and the increase in expression of genetic mutations within the body. Endometriosis and adenomyosis is driven by estrogen and this may be a big factor in the increase in women with endometriosis and adenomyosis.

21.Lack of blood/increase of blood circulation– The microcirculation of the uterus, vagina and reproductive organs is a very important one and one of the reasons getting proper blood flow and improving microcirculation into these areas is important. I talked about this in the lack of exercise part. It is also important to check women for hereditary blood clotting and also bleeding disorders. All women with gynaecological and fertility issues should be screened for blood clotting disorders via prothrombotic studies and also bleeding disorders such as Von Willebrands Disease, when suspected.

22.Musculoskeletal issues– Women with postural issues, or their spine out of alignment can also experience referral pain, and pelvic pain due. It is important to have musculoskeletal causes of pain assessed by a qualified healthcare professional (physio/chiropractor/osteopath). When muscles are too tight, it can cause sublaxations, which can then impinge on nerves and also cause referral pain and other health issues within the body. Damage to nerves and tissue, such as pudendal nerve neuralgia can also cause pain and referral pain in the lower abdomen, pelvis and vagina.

23.Excess weight and body fat– At present up to 70% (or more) of Australians, and Americans, are either overweight, or obese, so we can no longer ignore what the consequences of these statistics mean. We know that excess weight and excess body fat is linked to serious health consequences. Excess body fat in men and women leads to higher levels of the hormone leptin. Excess body fat is also now referred to as obestrogens, as they cause the same health consequences as environmental estrogens (known as endocrine disruptors). These excess body fats and higher levels of leptin do impair production of sex hormones and also reduces fertility. It can also lead to poorer sperm quality, poorer egg quality and can also increase the risk of miscarriage. Excess body fat, especially excess abdominal fat, is also linked to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and other health issues. It also interferes with the regulation of sex hormones and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG).  This can then increase the risk of irregular cycles, PCOS, endometriosis, adenomyosis, miscarriage and other factors affecting fertility. Excess body fat can also be a major driving factor of endometriosis and adenomyosis, due to the estrogenic effects it has. This is why reduction in body fat and a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle is imperative in the management of women’s health and fertility.

24. Iron Deficiency– Iron deficiency can be a very serious issues, and many women do not realise the health risk associated with it, and how often it goes undiagnosed. It can lead to disruption of hormones, and can lead to fatigue and exacerbation of pain and emotionally generated symptoms. Let’s face it, without iron, you aren’t going to be transporting oxygen around your body and then your muscles, brain, hormones and circulation suffer as a result of this. Women with endometriosis and adenomyosis are nearly always iron deficient from the heavy blood losses they suffer, or the internal bleeds they get from flares of endometriosis lesions. Have a look at my previous past on the serious consequences of low iron and why managing iron levels is so important (Click here to read)

 

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What The Hell is Pelvic Floor Hypertonus?

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Pelvic floor hypertonus is a condition that not many people hear about, or even know about. Often when we talk about pelvic floor dysfunction many people will automatically think of weak pelvic floor muscles often created from having children, or part of the aging process. This is where the pelvic floor muscles are too relaxing and need tightening and strengthening.

However more and more we are now seeing women, especially young women, with pelvic floor muscles that are too tight and non-relaxed and this is leading to chronic pelvic pain and other pelvic health and sexual health issues. This is called Pelvic Floor Hypertonus. For this article I will be talking about how Pelvic Floor Hypertonus affects women, even though men can have this as well.

What is Pelvic Floor Hypertonus?

Pelvic floor hypertonus occurs when the muscles in the pelvic floor become too tight and are unable to relax. Many women with an overly tight and non-relaxing pelvic floor experience pelvic health issues such as constipation, painful sex, urinary urgency, bladder issues and pelvic pain. Women with pelvic floor hypertonus may also have musculoskeletal issues that cause tightness and tension in surrounding hip, sacrum and pelvic muscles.

Pelvic floor hypertonus is not widely recognized and can often go on undiagnosed. It is certainly on the missed and dismissed list. Unlike in pelvic floor disorders caused by muscles too relaxed and are easily identified (such as pelvic organ prolapse or urinary incontinence etc), women affected by pelvic floor hypertonus may present with a broad range of nonspecific symptoms mentioned previously and below. All these related symptoms require relaxation and coordination of pelvic floor muscles and urinary and anal sphincters. Many of these symptoms can really affect the quality of woman’s life.

The signs and symptoms of pelvic floor hypertonus

The main and typical symptom of pelvic floor hypertonus is pelvic pain, or pelvic muscular pain. There can be a wide range of other symptoms including the following:

  • Urinary issues such as urge frequency, frequent urination or painful urination
  • Incontinence
  • Slow flow, hesitancy, or delayed start of urination
  • Constipation and straining when emptying the bowels.
  • incomplete emptying of the bowels
  • pressure feeling in the pelvis and rectum
  • pain in the pelvis, genitals or rectum
  • chronic pelvic pain
  • muscles spasms in the pelvis, or pelvic floor
  • low back pain
  • hip pain
  • coccyx pain
  • painful sex
  • vaginismus

If left untreated pelvic floor hypertonus can lead to long term health issues, colon and bladder damage and can also cause infection.

What causes pelvic floor hypertonus?

There is no one defining cause of pelvic floor hypertonus. Many things can cause non-relaxing pelvic floor muscles ranging from sitting too much, exercising too much, obesity, stress and also chronic inflammatory disease states. Here are some of the causes of pelvic floor hypertonus:

  • Endometriosis
  • Adenomyosis
  • Interstitial cystitis
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  • Pudendal Neuralgia
  • Vulvodynia
  • History of holding onto the bowels, or bladder too long
  • Over exercising and over exercising the core muscles
  • Being sedentary, or over-sitting too long
  • High levels of stress, fear and anxiety
  • Obesity or being overweight
  • Child Birth, or Birth Trauma
  • Injury to the pelvic floor
  • Sexual and emotional abuse
  • Surgery
  • Nerve Damage

It is very important to identify the cause of pelvic floor hypertonus individually and why it is so important to see a healthcare expert, or pelvic floor specialist that specialises in this area. As with many other inflammatory conditions, a multimodality treatments approach is needed and may involved several modalities, or practitioners working together to help the individual. A pelvic floor physiotherapist may also be needed to help with exercises to relax the pelvic floor along with other modalities such as acupuncture to help with pain, relaxation and stress relief.

What are some of the things that can benefit pelvic floor hypertonus?

As mentioned before, it is important to see a healthcare expert who can identify what the cause of the pelvic floor hypertonus is and recommend a management and treatment plan moving forward. This will usually require a multimodality treatment approach, which could involve the following:

  • Pelvic floor muscle relaxation techniques
  • Mindfulness and meditation techniques
  • Breathing techniques
  • Pilates and yoga to help with stretching
  • Advice on better bladder and bowel habits
  • Pelvic floor and core muscle releasing abdominal massage
  • Specific stretches for the pelvis, hips and sacrum
  • The use of vaginal dilators, and/or vaginal eggs to help with relaxing and stretching the pelvic floor muscles
  • Acupuncture to help with pain, stress and relaxation, alongside medical interventions.
  • Massage to help with internal scar tissue (done by a pelvic floor physiotherapist)
  • Warm baths and self care
  • Use of TENS and electro-neuro stimulators to help with pain
  • Biofeedback therapy
  • Pain medications and muscles relaxants
  • Complementary medicines (prescribed by a qualified healthcare professional)
  • Surgery

Outlook and importance of seeing an expert

The main goal of treating and managing pelvic floor hypertonus is to relax the muscles of the pelvic floor to relieve pain and other associated symptoms.

Although living with pelvic floor hypertonus embarrassing or sometimes painful, non relaxing pelvic floor dysfunction is a highly treatable condition. It is important that you talk to a healthcare expert in this area, or a pelvic floor specialist. It’s important not to self-diagnose your symptoms, or try to Dr Google your symptoms, because left untreated pelvic floor hypertonus can lead to long term pain and health issues and also irreparable damage.

There are many conservative management approaches that can be used before resorting to hard-core pain medications, muscle relaxants and surgery. Your healthcare expert will be able to discuss all these options and ongoing healthcare management and treatments with you. The main thing is booking a consultation with a proper healthcare expert to get a proper diagnosis.

If you need help and assistance with pelvic floor hypertonus, or pelvic pain, please give my friendly staff a call and find out how I can assist you.

Regards

Andrew Orr

-No Stone Left Unturned

-Master of Women’s Health Medicine

-The Women’s Health Experts

 

 

serious complications of low iron

The Serious Health Complications Of Low Iron

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In the last couple of weeks I have been talking about the serious complications of people not having their health managed properly. It seems to be a big issue and with my latest post, the issue of unmanaged, or undiagnosed low iron is also becoming a very serious issue indeed. So for this post I will be talking about the serious health complications of low iron.

Two thirds of body iron is present in circulating red blood cells known as haemoglobin. Each gram of haemoglobin contains about 4gms of iron and each ml of blood lost from the body results in a loss of about half a milligram of iron.

Bleeding is the most common cause of iron deficiency.  This could be from either a diagnosed, or undiagnosed gynaecological issues (endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, polyps, other) or it could be from a parasite infection. It could also be from bleeding as part of a gastrointestinal issue, or part of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBS, Crohn’s Coeliac disease).

There could be other reasons for blood loss in the body, or reduction of iron and many of these conditions, and the conditions above, can go unrecognised and then cause iron deficiency anaemia. Some of these issues can be very serious, or even fatal.

Excessive menstrual losses are often overlooked with many women. This is something that should not happen and should be part of the questioning with any low iron status. The problem is, unless the menstrual flow changes, patients typically do not seek medical attention for heavy menstrual bleeding. Sometimes when a healthcare practitioner asks, these patients generally report that their menses are normal. It may be normal to them, but we need to educate women that heavy blood loss is not normal and can lead to anaemia.

Because of the marked differences among women with regard to menstrual blood loss (10-250 mL per menses), patients meed to be asked about their menstrual history and about a specific history of bleeding, blood flow, abnormal bleeding in between cycles,  clots, cramps, and the use of multiple tampons and pads. These are very important questions to ask and sadly many women are not being asked these questions, or having further questioning about their menstrual, or overall health, including dietary intake etc.

What is iron deficiency anemia?

Anaemia occurs when you have a decreased level of haemoglobin in your red blood cells (RBCs). Haemoglobin is the protein in your red blood cells that is responsible for carrying oxygen to your tissues.

Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common type of anaemia that women present with, and it occurs when your body doesn’t have enough iron. Your body needs iron to make haemoglobin. When there isn’t enough iron in your blood stream, the rest of your body can’t get the amount of oxygen it needs. Today in a recent post I talked about iron being like trucks, or the transporters of oxygen around the body.

While iron deficiency may be common, many people don’t know they have iron deficiency anemia. It’s possible to experience the symptoms for years without ever having it diagnosed, or the cause of the iron deficiency diagnosed either. It is a very serious issue that needs some serious attention.

In women of childbearing age, the most common cause of iron deficiency anemia is a loss of iron in the blood due to heavy menstruation or pregnancy. A poor diet or certain intestinal diseases that affect how the body absorbs iron can also cause iron deficiency anemia. Women who adopt a vegan diet will also be prone to being iron deficient and vitamin B12 deficient.

Disruption to the microbiome and leaky gut syndrome can also cause iron deficient anaemia too.

One of the best ways to treat the condition is through iron infusion, and also with iron supplements, or changes to diet. We also need to make sure the cause of the iron deficiency is addressed as well.

Symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia

The symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia can be mild at first, and some people may not even notice them. Many people are completely unaware that they may be low in iron, or are actually iron deficient.

The symptoms of moderate to severe iron deficiency anaemia include:

  • general fatigue
  • weakness
  • pale skin
  • Bruising easy
  • shortness of breath
  • Palpitations
  • dizziness
  • Strange cravings to eat items that aren’t food, such as dirt, ice, or clay
  • Tingling or crawling feeling in the legs
  • Tongue swelling or soreness
  • Cold hands and feet
  • Tachycardia
  • Brittle nails
  • Headaches and migraines
  • Sore joints
  • Brain fog and lack of concentration.

The serious complications of unmanaged iron deficiency.

Undiagnosed, or unmanaged iron-deficiency may cause the following severe complications:

  • Heart problems.If you do not have enough hemoglobin-carrying red blood cells, your heart has to work harder to move oxygen-rich blood through your body. When your heart has to work harder, this can lead to several conditions: irregular heartbeats called arrhythmias, a heart murmur, an enlarged heart, or even heart failure.
    Severe anemia due to any cause may produce hypoxemia and enhance the occurrence of coronary insufficiency and myocardial ischemia.
  • Increased risk of infections- Research has shown that iron deficiency anaemia can affect your immune system (the body’s natural defence system), making you more susceptible to illness and infection.
  • Motor or cognitivedevelopment delays- This mainly occurs in children. Children deficient in iron may exhibit behavioral disturbances.
  • Behaviour issues and mood disorders- Behavioral disturbances may manifest as an attention deficit disorder, or mood disorder such as : Depression Unipolar depressive disorder, Bipolar disorder, Anxiety disorder, Autism spectrum disorder, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Tic disorder, Delayed development and other some other psychiatric issues.
  • Pregnancy complications- Iron deficiency can lead to preterm delivery or giving birth to a baby with low birth weight.
    The neurologic damage to an iron-deficient foetus results in permanent neurologic injury and typically does not resolve on its own, or by supplementation.
  • Chronic Health Conditions worsened- In people with chronic conditions, iron-deficiency anaemia can make their condition worse or result in treatments not working as well.
  • Dysphagia (Difficulty swallowing)- This may occur with foods due to abnormal muscle and nerve control. This could result in choking. It can also lead to throat cancers.
  • Atrophic gastritis – This occurs in iron deficiency with progressive loss of acid secretion, and causes inflammation of the gastric mucosa with loss of the gastric glandular cells and replacement by intestinal-type epithelium, and fibrous tissue
  • Tiredness- As iron deficiency anaemia can leave you tired and lethargic (lacking in energy), you may be less productive and active at work. Your ability to stay awake and focus can be reduced, and you may not feel able to exercise regularly.
  • Fainting– Low iron can cause fainting and this could be dangerous in many situations, especially at work places, or working on machinery, or driving a car.
  • Cold Intolerance– Cold intolerance develops in one fifth of patients with chronic iron deficiency anaemia and is manifested by neurologic pain, vasomotor disturbances, or numbness and tingling.
  • Issues with Brain and Optic Nerve– Rarely, severe iron deficiency anaemia is associated with papilledema (optic disc swelling), increased intracranial pressure, and the clinical picture of pseudotumor cerebri. These manifestations are all corrected with iron therapy.
  • Migraines– Research has now shown that there are certain types of migraines caused by iron deficiency
  • Death – Caused by some of the issues mentioned above

The importance of proper management

Hopefully now everyone can see why iron is so important and that people with iron deficiency need to see their healthcare practitioner for proper help and proper management .  Iron deficiency anemia isn’t something to self-diagnose or treat. It needs to be diagnosed, treated and managed properly. In many cases an iron infusion is the best and quickest way to get iron levels back up. Have a read of my post about iron infusions. Click here

Iron infusions are the quickest way of getting iron levels back up

In the case of low, or severely low iron, supplements just are not enough. They take too long to get levels up and the damage to your body in waiting too long can also be serious.  Always see your healthcare practitioner, or specialist, for a diagnosis rather than trying to manage low iron on your own, or just taking iron supplements on your own. Overloading the body with too much iron can be dangerous too, because excess iron accumulation can damage your liver and cause other complications.

Final Word

This is why everyone needs to be managed by a properly trained healthcare professional with any health issue, especially low iron. If your practitioner is not able to assist you, please make sure you get a second or third opinion. Some practitioners may not be well versed in the serious complications of low iron, or know much about iron infusions etc.

If you do need help with managing the symptoms of low iron, you can call my friendly staff and find out how I can assist you. For more information please call +61 07 38328369 or email info@drandreworr.com.au

Regards

Andrew Orr

-No Stone Left Unturned

-Master of Women’s Health Medicince

-Master of Reproductive Medicine

-Women’s and Men’s Health Advocate

 

 

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The Importance of Following Through With Advice, Treatments & Change

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I see so many people who have been ‘missed’ and ‘dismissed’ and who have suffered in silence with their disease state.

But the biggest shame is when those that are offered real help, then do nothing with that advice and continue on the vicious, merry-go-round cycle of their disease.

My motto is “No Stone Left Unturned” and I apply that to every patient that I see. My initial consults are usually 1-2 hours in length and I also do lots of preliminary work prior to see a patient as well. I make sure all my patients are now only sent health appraisal questionnaires, but are also evaluated with mood and stress questionnaires for their mental health too.

I really want to delve into every fine detail of a persons life to see what may be driving their disease state and symptoms. It is to also help with diagnosing those that have not been properly diagnosed either. I then write up a comprehensive report for all my patients, with everything they need to do, the changes they need to make, the medicines they need to take, the investigations and testing they need to have and all their step by step health management moving forward. It really is a matter of ‘No Stone Is Left Unturned’ as I mentioned before.

As I mention in this video blog is that the greatest shame is those that come to get the advice and help and then do nothing with it. Just remember that if you do not change anything, or do the work needed, then nothing changes. The key to real change is actually within you.

If you so need help with a particular health issue, or you just aren’t getting the right answers and care, then please book in a time to see me and let me be your guide to better health and getting your life back to normal.

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Endometriosis a burden on women’s lives

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Research published in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care found that endometriosis affects women’s sex lives, personal relationships, work life, and emotional well-being.

Endometriosis often takes a long time to be diagnosed and affects all areas of a women’s life, a study has found. Endometriosis is a chronic, recurring disease that is experienced by approximately 10 per cent of women worldwide. This number could be greatly understated as many women have not being diagnosed properly and many women still think period pain is normal.

But, while period pain is part of endometriosis, a significant portion of women with endometriosis are asymptomatic (meaning no symptoms) and only get diagnosed when there is a need for fertility treatment.

Common symptoms include of Endometriosis
• Painful menstruation,
• Heavy menstrual bleeding,
• Painful sex
• IBS like symptoms
• Bladder issues (UTI like symptoms)
• Ovulation Pain
• Pain with bowel movement
• Chronic Fatigue
• Infertility

The Research Unit at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, reviewed a number of papers that documented women’s experiences of endometriosis. The most common theme was that women had experienced delays in diagnosis.

Many women feel they are being dismissed and this is evident in the fact that it often takes up to “10 years, or more” for women to be diagnosed properly.

The study found that women were more likely to be diagnosed sooner when they approached their doctor describing symptoms as fertility-related rather than a menstrual issue.

The study showed that some women initially delayed seeking help for their symptoms because they believed all women had painful periods. When women revealed their symptoms to a family member, friend or medical professional their experiences were typically normalised as being what all women must endure. Period pain is not normal and all women need to know this.

The study also found that women often felt frustrated and angry at unsatisfactory experiences with healthcare providers, and had concerns about the effectiveness and side effects of treatments.

Women want their doctors to really listen to their experience and concerns. They want to explain the true impact of the condition on their lives, rather than simply rank their pain on a scale from one to 10, or be dismissed each time they try to have their doctor listen to what they are going through on a daily basis.

The study found that further research was needed to gain a comprehensive understanding of endometriosis as experienced by diverse groups of women.

This research will contribute to the improved health care of women with endometriosis in Australia, and around the world.

Too many women being ‘missed’ and ‘dismissed’

I see so many women who have been misdiagnosed, had symptoms missed and been dismissed for years and seen multiple healthcare practitioners, both medical and complementary.

There are clear-cut signs and symptoms that point to endometriosis and we need for healthcare practitioners to start to know this. We also need for practitioners and the public to know that endometriosis can only be diagnosed by a laparoscopy (surgical intervention) and that scans and blood tests, do not diagnose endometriosis.

Lastly, my message to all women is ….. “Period Pain IS NOT Normal” and people need to stop telling women it is.

There is too much BS out there about endometriosis and we need all women and all healthcare practitioners to start knowing the facts. 10 years, or more, to a diagnosis is unacceptable for any health condition. It means many women are being ‘missed’ and ‘dismissed’ along the way.  Let’s put an end to Endometriosis.

If you do need help with period pain, or help managing endometriosis properly, then please call my friendly clinic staff and find out how I may be able to assist you.

Regards

Andrew Orr

-The Endometriosis Experts

-The Women’s Health Experts

-No Stone Left Unturned

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Alternative Ways to Assist Pain and Help with Pain Management

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After my recent posts of the management of pain, pain medications and how pain affects so many people lives daily, it is pretty clear that there are lots of people out there in pain.

Worst still it highlights what I have known for many years, is that many people who are in pain, or have inflammatory pain conditions, are not being managed really well.

Unfortunately many are also trying to manage their own pain conditions and may even be dependent on pain medications. Some of these medications taken long term may in fact be exacerbating their current symptoms, or actually making their pain and inflammation worse. Some of the medications may in fact by shutting off the body’s ability to know that it isn’t actually in pain anymore, but the body actually thinks it is.

It is such vicious never ending cycle for many people and there seems to be no long-term, or short term, solutions for many who have to endure the physical and emotional consequences of all these things combined.

The one thing for sure, is that pain often isn’t managed well and there need to be more done to help those in pain. But, it also requires those in pain to seek proper help too. Again it is a bit of complex issue and many in pain often get dismissed initially as well, or are looked at as people who are dependent on pain medications just seeking more pain meds.

Pain does need proper management and if pain is not managed properly, it can do more damage than the medications health professionals, and the person in pain, are worrying about. But sometimes the blanket pain medication treatments don’t work, or they just aren’t enough, and this is why when it comes to pain, it need to be managed with a multi-modality approach.

It really cannot just be all about taking medication, or telling people to just go and learn to live with their pain and all will be OK. It won’t be OK and we need to start to educate all concerned that there other options that may assist the current medical treatments and management strategies.

Let’s look at some of the alternatives to pain medications and how these things can help assist those in pain and can be used alongside medications to give better control of pain and also help in reducing dependency of pain medications.

1.Watch your diet

Eating the right foods may provide some protection from the symptoms of pain and the disease state that you may have. The role of diet in inflammatory conditions has been investigated in recent years due to the influence of diet on some of the processes linked to certain disease states that are causing pain and inflammation on a daily basis. Many of the so called anti-inflammatory diets out there are now outdated and have outdated nutritional and dietary advice that don’t really help much at all.

Adopting a low GI and anti-inflammatory diet may help  to assist with settling any inflammation and pain in the body and also help the immune system.  A healthy diet also needs to include prebiotic and probiotic bacteria to help with digestive function, immunity and gut health. Regulation and restoration of gut function and the microbiome is so important and assisting with pain and inflammatory conditions.

Excess bad carbohydrates increase insulin response and this then causes the body to store fats and stops the burning of fat. This also leads to inflammatory conditions and more inflammation in the body. Excess body fat, now known as obestrogens (because it is estrogenic) needs to be controlled and managed through diet and exercise too. Excess fat and excess weight all lead to inflammation and stress on the body and this can also exacerbate pain and pain pathway.

Certain environmental estrogens, known as endocrine disruptors,  such as preservatives, plastics, pesticides and insecticides that can be ingested through certain nutrients have been suggested as risk factors for exacerbating pain and creating inflammation in the body too

2.Try complementary medicine and complementary therapies

Many people with pain and inflammatory disease states find symptom relief from using a range of different complementary and alternative medicines. There is some good solid research to show that some natural medicines may help with the management of pain and inflammatory disease states and the associated symptoms.

There is now some good research to support many natural medicines treatments such as Acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, vitamins, omega 3 oils, probiotics, chiropractic/osteopathy, Yoga, Pilates and more. (1)

When it comes to assisting pain, Acupuncture and Chinese medicines has been one of the most researched complementary medicines. There is some good research and evidence to shown that acupuncture and Chinese medicine may assist those suffering pain and chronic inflammatory disease and their associated symptoms, alongside medical interventions. (1,2,3,4)

Acupuncture has been widely researched to assist with many pain conditions and is now even used in some emergency departments around the world, for acute and chronic pain. (4)

Certain strains of prebiotics and probiotics have also been shown to help with the immune system, microbiome, bowel, and digestive associated symptoms of some pain conditions. Probiotics have also been shown to not only help with digestive and immune function, but also with the psychological function as well. It does need to be specific strains of probiotics though. Correction of the microbiome, but using pre and probiotics may assist in reduction of inflammation in the body and thus assist with pain and painful disease states.

There are also western herbal medicines and naturopathic herbal formulations that can assist with pain and assist with pain management. There are also certain amino acids and nutritional medicine supplements that have been shown to assist with managing pain and inflammatory conditions. Like any conditions, management need to be done on an individualised approach and what works for one person, may not work for another.

Chiropractic and Osteopathy have been used for centuries to assist with pain and pain conditions. By correction of the sublaxations and correction of posture, this can assist in better nerve functioning, better blood flow to muscles and also help with pain reduction and reducing inflammation.

Just like with medical treatments, when it comes to complementary medicines, it is important to find someone who is a qualified practitioner and who specialises in pain management. Just like in the medical model, this can also be hard to find. Please find someone who is a registered healthcare practitioner, or part of an association for qualified healthcare practitioners.

3.Boost intake of omega-3 fatty acids

The is lots of research on the health benefits of taking Omega 3 fatty acids and a diet high in these healthy fats. Omega 3 fatty acids may assist many inflammatory conditions such as depression, cardiovascular disease, arthritic conditions and many conditions where inflammatory processes are then leading to pain.

Researchers have also found that the type of fat included in your diet makes a difference in your risk factors for inflammation and pain conditions. Studies have shown that people whose diets were heavily laden with trans fats increased their risk of the expression of inflammatory disease by 48 % when compared with individuals who ate the least of these. By comparison, women whose diets were rich in omega-3 oils lowered their risk of inflammatory conditions by 22 % compared with those who consumed the least amount.

Eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, flaxseeds, almonds, and walnuts, may be helpful for pain and inflammatory conditions. Another way to get Omega 3 fatty acids is through supplementation, but please make sure you are using a practitioner only grade omega 3 supplement to ensure higher potency and better quality control.  Just remember, it is all about reducing inflammation.

4.Exercise

Often, people who experience pain fear exercising, in case it causes more problems for them. But over time, regular physical activity may decrease the pain and discomfort that you feel. High-intensity exercise and resistance training may assist in helping to reduce the reducing the symptoms of pain and reducing inflammation in the body.

While resistance training and high intensity interval training may assist in pain management and reducing inflammation in the body, some of the more gentle forms of exercise, such as Yoga and Pilates, may also assist in reducing pain and inflammatory response in the body too.

Yoga and Pilates can stretch and strengthen your muscles, help with core strength, help with circulation, which all may be beneficial for pelvic pain management and stress reduction.There has been lots of research into the benefits of Yoga and Pilates and how it can assist pain and inflammation.

No matter what exercise, you choose, exercise may help those with pain and inflammation in many ways, including:

  • encouraging the circulation of blood to your organs
  • maintaining nutrients and oxygen flow to all your body systems
  • assist with decreasing pain and inflammatory response
  • assist with reducing stress
  • releasing endorphins in the brain, which are pain-relieving, “feel good” chemicals

Research has shown that those who engage in some sort of regular exercise have fewer symptoms of pain and less inflammation that those people who do not participate in regular exercise.

5.Managing Stress Levels

Stress and emotional factors are probably one of the most under rated causes of pain and inflammatory response. Stress and emotional factors, such as anxiety, are big factors in any disease and can make any disease worse. Have a read of my post all about anxiety exacerbating pain.
Not only can stress and emotional disorders be exacerbated by pain and inflammation, but so can pain and inflammatory symptoms be exacerbated by stress and emotional disorders, in a never-ending cycle.

Pain and inflammation could contribute to making your stress levels, or emotion issues worse, due to the impact that the associated symptoms have on all aspects of your life, including family and personal relationships and work.

Stress management, Counselling, Mindfulness and Relaxation techniques may all assist in reducing stress and emotional disturbances that exacerbates inflammation and pain pathways and painful conditions.

People with pain and chronic pain and inflammation need to manage stress and anxiety by using mindfulness and relaxation techniques. These can help you to increase your awareness of your body, refocus on something calming, and reduce the activity of stress hormones and inflammation in the body. It is all about learning coping mechanisms and what works best for you, not what works best for others.

6.TENS and Neuromodulators

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is an inexpensive nonpharmacological intervention used in the treatment of acute and chronic pain conditions. These small battery-powered devices deliver alternating current via cutaneous electrodes positioned near the painful area. The parameters of pulse frequency, and pulse intensity are adjustable and linked to TENS efficacy. TENS activates a complex neuronal network to result in a reduction in pain

Neuromodulation is the process by which nervous activity is regulated by way of controlling the physiological levels of several classes of neurotransmitters. Many pain management specialist now use a common form of neuromodulation involves using a device to deliver electrical current in therapeutic doses to the spinal cord to disrupt pain signals from the spinal cord to the brain, converting them to a more pleasant tingling sensation. This has been proven a safe and effective therapeutic approach for managing chronic pain of the arms and legs, neck and back often after spine surgery, or for other neuropathic conditions.

In Summary

It is important to know that people with pain and disease states that are causing chronic pain, will need a multi-modality, or team approach to deal with this disease.

The team you need and modalities that you will need will be dependent on your individual symptoms. This will mean finding practitioners who will listen to you and also be open to trying some of the alternatives to some of the pain medications and opiates alongside pharmaceutical medications.

As I said before, these alternatives may assist in treating your pain and managing your pain long term and also help with reducing some of the pain medications you may have been dependent on. Try and find healthcare professionals that can offer you a multi-modality approach for ongoing care and support and who also have a team of other people who specialise in the disease you are suffering from too. Again, the approach that you and your pain management specialist, or healthcare provider, choose to take will vary depending on your signs and symptoms.

Before starting any pain management, or new treatment, it is important to know all of your options and the potential outcomes of all of them and to know that the people that you are seeing are specialists in your condition and know how to manage the disease properly. That can often be the hardest thing to find and why you need to do your homework and see people who are specialists in this area of medicine. Too many people are missed and dismissed purely because they are just seeing the wrong people in the first place.

Lastly, if you are in pain and have a pain condition, please do not try and keep managing it yourself, or try to self-medicate. You need to be managed properly and should be getting the advice of a professional, not your friends, family or social media buddies.

Pain needs to be managed and it needs to be managed properly and this also goes for pain medications as well. If you are still in pain and pain symptoms are getting worse, this means that you need to get something done about it because your disease may in fact be getting worse, or your body may not be responding to medication any longer.

Take care

Regards

Andrew Orr

-No Stone Left Unturned

-Women’s and Men’s Health Advocate

References

1.Xue CCL, Zhang TL, Lin V, Myers R, Polus B, Story DF. Acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy use in Australia: a national population survey. BMC Public Health. 2008;8:105–112. [PMC free article][PubMed] []

2. Zhu X, Hamilton KD, McNicol ED. Acupuncture for pain in endometriosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011;9:CD007864. [PubMed] []

3.Zheng Z, Xue CL. Pain research in complementary and alternative medicine in Australia: a critical review. J Altern Complement Med. 2012;19:81–91. [PMC free article] [PubMed] []

4.Zhang AL, Parker SJ, Smit DV, Taylor DM, Xue CCL. Acupuncture and standard emergency department care for pain and/or nausea and its impact on emergency care delivery: a feasibility study. Acupunct Med. 2014;32:250–256. [PubMed] []

Early Intervention & Early Management Is Vital For Gynaecological Conditions & Menstrual Issues

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By now many of you would know my stance on Period Pain not being normal and that the sooner you get the cause treated and managed the better one is going to be in their day to day life.

Unfortunately not everyone knows that Period Pain is not normal and neither are some of the other symptoms women get each month with the onset of their menstrual cycle. Having heavy bleeding, bleeding in between cycles, menstrual cramps, severe pain, irritable bowel like symptoms, dark clotting, ovulation pain, bowel and bladder pain and urgency etc, are all not normal symptoms that a woman should endure with her cycle. Getting these symptoms at any time of your cycle is not normal either.

Early intervention and early management is the key to any disease state in the body and this definitely applies to menstrual issues and gynaecological disorders. Once a disease is expressed into the body, it can be very hard to treat, especially if it is left a long time and then inflammation spreads to other parts of the body, or in close proximity to where the initial disease was first expressed.

One of the reasons that prompted me to do this post was after a young woman, now in her 30’s, had contacted me and thanked me for helping her back when she was in high school. Since then I have known all of her family well and helped with maintaining their health. At the time she was about 14 years old and showed all the signs and symptoms of endometriosis. She was in so much pain each month, when her cycle came, and she was often curled up on the floor with nausea and vomiting from the pain. Everyone, including GP’s etc, had told her this is normal and that she needed to get used to it. They also told her that she is too young to have endometriosis, or any major gynaecological condition.

That is so bad. Please, please know that period pain IS NOT normal and that teenagers are not too young to have endometriosis. To be honest, they are now finding endometriosis in young girls under 10 years old. Many gynaecological issues can start very early on in a woman’s life, especially if there are hereditary factors involved.  Gynaecological and menstrual issues can be passed from generation to generation, so if mum, or your grandmother, or someone in your family tree had menstrual issues, or a gynaecological condition, there is a good chance that you may inherit this as well.

The long and short of it all was that her mother was also getting frustrated at everyone not helping and somehow ended up finding out about me and ended up in my clinic. From there I got her into one of the advanced trained laparoscopic surgeons I work closely with as soon as possible and this is where stage 4 endometriosis was found and excised properly.  Without coming to see me, this poor girl would never have found the cause of her menstrual pain and associated symptoms. I then did all her management of her disease moving forward. The main thing that this young girl and her mother were worried about was how this was affecting her education and daily life, but how this could also affect her future fertility.

The one thing I know is that the sooner there is intervention and treatment, the better the prognosis for a woman’s future fertility is. The one thing I do know is that endometriosis doesn’t always cause infertility, but it can make it harder to fall pregnant, if it isn’t managed early enough. The longer you leave a disease in the body untreated, the worse it gets, and then the symptoms get worse and the worse the future outcomes may be.

Lucky for this young lady is that she did have early intervention and management and she has proudly messaged me to tell me that she has had her 3rd child and that she puts it all down to me helping her when she was younger. I have many women message me and tell me much the same thing. It is so important not to leave these things just because you are being told it is normal. What the hell is normal about being in so much pain that you feel like you could die?

All too often I see women having gynaecological conditions, like endometriosis, missed and dismissed and that the longer that the disease has been dismissed, the harder it is going to be to treat. That is a sad fact for many women and some will have to endure repeated surgeries due to being missed and dismissed and have a life of issues, if their issue isn’t managed properly either. Many have not seen the right healthcare professionals, or the right surgeon either.

I have discussed in many of my previous posts.  Please have a read of my previous posts about this subject and the seeing the right team of people. This is why it is so important to have early intervention and also see a proper advanced trained laparoscopic surgeon who specialises in the excision of disease states like endometriosis. Then there needs to be proper management and treatments and lifestyle changes administered to help with suppression of the disease state, helping with inflammation and improving quality of day to day life.

There needs to be a multimodality/team like approach to the management of women with gynaecological issues, as there is no one single fixes all approach, with any medicine. While surgery may be a necessary part of the overall management of disease states such as endometriosis, it isn’t the saviour that many perceive it to be. Surgery does not sure endometriosis and there is no cure for the disease at present time. Once you have it, it is there for good.

Surgery is a necessary but small part of the overall picture that needs to combine many other treatments and modalities to give the best outcome for a woman overall. Once the surgery is done you need to look at managing and suppressing the disease and this is done by lifestyle changes, dietary changes, acupuncture, physio, herbal medicines, hormone therapies, pilates, yoga, pelvic floor and core exercises and many other modalities depending on one’s individual symptoms.

When I treat women with gynaecological conditions, or menstrual issues, I make sure they all get an individualised, person centred, caring approach tailored to how they are presenting rather than a one treatment for all approach that many seem to get. You won’t get the results you need that way because we are all individuals with different needs and different symptoms overall.

Lastly, please remember that period pain and menstrual irregularities are not normal and that the earlier you get onto it and get it treated and managed, the better your future outcomes will be.

Regards

Dr Andrew Orr

-No Stone Left Unturned

-Period Pain IS NOT Normal

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Stop Telling Women That Period Pain is Normal

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After seeing my 10th case of misdiagnosed Endometriosis this week, and goodness knows what else, I can say that I am well and truly over it and about to scream.

I am about to scream if I hear that one more woman, young or old, is told by their healthcare professional, GP, specialist, best friend, mother, facebook buddy etc, that period pain is normal.

Period pain IS NOT normal. It is far from normal and we all need to stop telling our daughters, sisters and women of this world that it is.

I think that anyone that says that need to come and work with me for a day and see the ramifications of women believing that period pain is normal, just because their doctor, healthcare professional, friend, or mother told them that it is.

I think I should post up some rather gruesome pics of women’s reproductive organs stuck together, their insides bleeding, and their pelvis completely obliterated. Yes, obliterated. That was the words that one of the surgeons used today to explain the insides of a woman that had been told that there is nothing wrong, just suck it up, scans haven’t found anything and just go on the pill and btw, period pain is normal.

No it bloody well isn’t (sorry for swearing but time for diplomacy is over). Women need a voice and need to be heard. Some of these poor women may not be able to have children, or have a healthy sex life, or be able to feel the pleasure of wonderful sex without pain, or ever hold their own baby, because they have been told to suck it up and be told that period pain is normal.

Period pain IS NOT normal and the sooner we get everyone to know this important fact the better. Sure, a little bit of discomfort can be normal. By that I mean just a tiny bit of pressure and basically knowing your period is about to come. But pain…. That is not normal. If you, your friend, your daughter, your sister, your wife, or any other woman you know, has to have days off work, days of school, is laying on the floor in pain, taking pain killers to get through the day, or beginning of their period, then that IS NOT normal.

Please get them to get a referral and see a good specialist who will listen to them and not dismiss them and may miss a gynaecological issue that could affect them for the rest of their lives. No… scans and blood test etc, do not always find the cause of period pain. Have a read on my other posts about this.

If you cant find someone that will listen and help, then book in a consult with me and I will assist you in getting you properly investigated and properly managed moving forward

My motto is “No Stone Left Unturned”and my other motto is “Period pain IS NOT normal”. If you are in pain with your menses, or even any any other time during your cycle, or having pain with sex, or pain with ovulation, pain with bowel movements, pain for no known reason at all, then you need to get something done about it.

I think if I hear one more poor woman get told that Period Pain is normal, I am going to start sending those people gruesome pics of all the insides of women who have been told that period pain is normal, only to find out that it isn’t and all the reasons why.

Sorry for the rant, but our daughters, our sisters, our wives, our female partners and women all over this world deserve better.

Regards

Dr Andrew Orr

-No Stone Left Unturned

-Period Pain IS NOT Normal

-The Endometriosis Experts

How to deal with endometriosis

How to cope with endometriosis and manage it moving forward

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Endometriosis can be a challenging condition to deal with, both physically and emotionally. But with proper interventions and proper management and treatments after diagnosis, you can be shown how to deal with the associated symptoms of endometriosis and improve your quality of life. Please have a read of some of the best ways to cope with endometriosis.

What is Endometriosis?

Endometriosis can be painful disorder that is characterized by tissue that behaves like the lining of the uterus but that grows outside the uterus. Endometriosis is really normal tissue growing in abnormal places. This tissue can be found in various places, such as the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and pelvic lining, and even in or around the bladder and bowel.

Endometriosis affects around 1 in 10 women and girls and those are only the ones diagnosed. This mean these figures are grossly under-diagnosed and downplayed with many women not being diagnosed properly and those that do not even know they have the disease. Endometriosis can cause symptoms during the reproductive years, between the ages of 12 and 60, but it can show up in young girls under 10 years old too.  Many people with the condition remain undiagnosed and many more and missed and dismissed with many taking up to ten years or more to be diagnosed.

What are the symptoms of Endometriosis?

The main symptom of the condition is usually pelvic pain typically associated with the menstrual period. While women can experience some discomfort during their menstrual period, some of those with endometriosis describe pain that is worse than usual. For some it is actually unbearable.

There are also other symptoms such as painful periods, pelvic pain, ovulation pain, pain with sex, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel like symptoms, bladder issues and pain and bleeding on bowel movement. This is why all women need to know that period pain is not normal, because many times, period pain can actually be a sign that a woman has an underlining gynaecological conditions such as endometriosis.

We also need for everyone to know that endometriosis is not just about period pain. There are many other symptoms women face when dealing with endometriosis.

There is no cure, but there ways to manage Endometriosis

There is no cure for endometriosis (not yet anyway), but there are treatment options and lifestyle changes that can ease your symptoms so that the condition does not interfere with your day-to-day life.

The main thing with endometriosis is to manage the disease and try and create a quality of life moving forward. While there is no cure for endometriosis, it is possible for women to become asymptomatic (meaning having no symptoms) and this requires the right treatments and management of the disease and to see the right people from the beginning.

Again, it all gets back to who you are seeing and their experience with knowing about endometriosis. This is one the biggest issues women face when trying to get treatment. Many just do not know much about the disease at all and why women are left to deal with the horrible symptoms. But with the right treatment and management, women can have a better life and be able to cope with this horrible disease.

Before we look at proper management for women with endometriosis, it is important that all understand the facts because there is so much misinformation out there and this is part of the bigger issue for women with this disease.

Surgical intervention and medications alone are not enough

While surgical interventions are hormones/medications are needed for women with endometriosis, alone, or in combination are not enough. We know that despite the best surgical and medical intervention that women are still in pain and still having the associated symptoms of endometriosis. This is why women do need a multimodality/team approach, and a combination of different modalities to effectively manage endometriosis.

The problem for many is that once they have the surgery, they believe their endometriosis is gone, or that they don’t have to do anything else. This is where many go wrong and why they end up having to have multiples surgeries. Women need proper ongoing management after surgery, which includes medications, hormones, other therapies, counselling, physiotherapy, mindfulness, exercise, diet and lifestyle interventions and so much more. Without this, endometriosis cannot be effectively managed.

The Facts About Endometriosis

  1. Period Pain IS NOT Normal
  2. A significant portion of women with Endometriosis are asymptomatic
  3. Symptoms DO NOT correlate to the extent of the disease
  4. The only way to diagnose Endometriosis definitely is via surgical intervention
  5. There is NO cure for Endometriosis
  6. Having a baby will not cure endometriosis
  7. Endometriosis does not always cause infertility
  8. Endometriosis is Estrogen Driven and is not caused by Estrogen dominance
  9. The Pill, or Contraceptives DO NOT fix endometriosis
  10. You can have Endometriosis at a Young, or Older Age
  11. Hysterectomy does not cure endometriosis
  12. Endometriosis requires a multi-modality approach to be managed properly. You need a team for proper management
  13. Endometriosis IS NOT an autoimmune disease
  14. There Are Hereditary and Genetic links
  15. Endometriosis can cause many other issues in the body
  16. The first line approach for hormone therapy should be the use of progesterone only options
  17. Endometriosis needs to be excised (cut out) by an advanced laparoscopic surgeon, who has had extra years of specialised surgical training, and who specialised in the excision of the disease and specialised in the disease itself. Surgery should be performed by anyone other than an advanced laparoscopic surgeon and not by just a regular gynaecologist
  18. Not all women with endometriosis have suffered sexual abuse
What Women Can Do To Help Manage Endometriosis

1.Seeing the Right Specialist & Surgeon

First and foremost make sure you have seen someone who specialises in endometriosis and the management and treatments moving forward. You also need to make sure that your first surgery is your best surgery and that you have seen an advanced laparoscopic surgeon to ensure you have had the proper surgical intervention. This is many women’s biggest issue as they have not seen the proper surgeon initially and they aren’t seeing someone who specialises in the management of the disease moving forward.

2.Watch your diet

Eating the right foods may provide some protection from the symptoms of endometriosis. The role of diet in endometriosis has been investigated in recent years due to the influence of diet on some of the processes linked to the disease, such as inflammation, prostaglandin metabolism, and estrogen activity. Many of the so called endometriosis diets out there are now outdated and have outdated nutritional and dietary advice that don’t really help much at all. Women need to adopt an anti-inflammatory diet (grain free, non-refined food ) to help with settling any inflammation in the body and also helping the immune system. This also needs to include prebiotic and probiotic bacteria to help with digestive function, immunity and gut health.

Certain environmental estrogens such as preservatives, plastics, pesticides and insecticides that can be ingested through certain nutrients have been suggested as risk factors for exacerbating endometriosis too.

Excess body fat, now known as obestrogens (because it is estrogenic) needs to be controlled and managed through diet and exercise too. We know that estrogen drive endometriosis and that any estrogens (dietary, body fats, environmental etc) needs to be regulated and controlled.

3.Boost intake of omega-3 fatty acids

Researchers have also found that the type of fat included in your diet makes a difference in your risk of endometriosis. Studies have shown that people whose diets were heavily laden with trans fats increased their risk of the expression of endometriosis by 48 % when compared with individuals who ate the least of these. By comparison, women whose diets were rich in omega-3 oils lowered their risk of endometriosis by 22 % compared with those who consumed the least amount.

Eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, flaxseeds, almonds, and walnuts, may be helpful for endometriosis. Women should also be supplementing with Omega 3 oils too. Just remember, it is all about reducing inflammation.

4.Exercise

Often, people who experience pain fear exercising, in case it causes more problems for them. But over time, regular physical activity may decrease the pain and discomfort that you feel. High-intensity exercise and resistance training can help to reduce the symptoms of endometriosis.

Exercise may help those with endometriosis in many ways, including:

  • encouraging the circulation of blood to your organs
  • maintaining nutrients and oxygen flow to all your body systems
  • decreasing estrogen production
  • reducing stress
  • releasing endorphins in the brain, which are pain-relieving, “feel good” chemicals

Women who regularly exercise may be likely to have the symptoms associated with endometriosis. Research has shown that those who engage in frequent high-intensity physical activity have fewer symptoms of  endometriosis than women who do not participate in regular exercise. High-intensity physical activity, such as running, swimming, weight training etc, may be beneficial for reducing your symptoms.

Low-intensity exercise, including Yoga and Pilates may provide some relief in endometriosis, too. Yoga and Pilates can stretch and strengthen your muscles, help with core strength, help with circulation, which all may be beneficial for pelvic pain management and stress reduction.

5.Managing Stress Levels

Stress is a big factor in any disease and can make any disease worse. Not only can stress be exacerbated by endometriosis, but so can endometriosis symptoms be exacerbated by stress, in a never-ending cycle. Endometriosis could contribute to making your stress levels worse, due to the impact that the associated symptoms have on all aspects of your life, including family and personal relationships and work.

Stress management, Counselling, Mindfulness and Relaxation techniques can help to reduce stress that exacerbates endometriosis-related symptoms and pain.

Women with endometriosis need to manage stress by using mindfulness and relaxation techniques. These can help you to increase your awareness of your body, refocus on something calming, and reduce the activity of stress hormones and inflammation in the body. It is all about learning coping mechanisms and what works best for you, not what works best for others.

6.Try complementary medicine and therapies

Many women with Endometriosis find symptom relief from using a range of different complementary and alternative medicines. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists also recommends that women try natural medicines to help with the management of endometriosis and the associated symptoms. There is now some good research to support many natural medicines treatments such as acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, vitamins, omega 3 oils, probiotics, chiropractic/osteopathy, yoga, pilates and more, alongside medical interventions.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicines has some good research around period pain and pelvic pain and may be beneficial to those suffering this disease and its associated symptoms, alongside medical interventions.

Certain strains of prebiotics and probiotics have also been shown to help with the immune system, microbiome, bowel, and digestive associated symptoms of endometriosis. Probiotics have also been shown to not only help with digestive and immune function, but also with the psychological function as well. It does need to be specific strains of probiotics though.

Just like with medical treatments, when it comes to complementary medicines, it is important to find someone who is a qualified practitioner and who specialises in endometriosis. Just like in the medical model, this can also be hard to find.

7.Medications

Your endometriosis specialist can provide you with a list of treatment options for endometriosis and outline the risks and benefits of each. They will take into account your age, your symptoms, whether you want to become pregnant, and any treatments that you have had previously. It is important to manage pain and inflammation so that you can have a life and to be able to function daily.

You may need to use different forms of pain medications on script, as well as those that can be purchased over the counter. Please ensure you speak to your healthcare provider about setting up a pain management plan when using medications

You will also need to look at hormone therapy to help slow down the growth and expression of the disease and microscopic implants and also help with the associated symptoms of the disease. Hormones will usually be in the form of progesterone only medications and gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists and agonists. You may be prescribed other hormones depending on your individual case and symptoms.

Although all of these hormone therapies are effective at treating endometriosis, but,  they all have different side effects. You need to talk to your doctor and pharmacists about the side effects and risk factors of any medications and hormones that you are taking.

In Summary

It is important to know that women with endometriosis will need a multi-modality, or team approach to deal with this disease. The team you need and modalities that you will need will be dependent on your individual symptoms.

Try and find healthcare professionals that can offer you a multi-modality approach for ongoing care and support and who also have a team of other people who are experts in the disease too. Again, the approach that you and your healthcare profession choose to take will vary depending on your signs and symptoms, and whether or not you would like to become pregnant in the future.

Before starting any treatment, it is important to know all of your options and the potential outcomes of all of them and to know that the people that you are seeing are and expert in endometriosis and know how to manage the disease properly. That can often be the hardest thing to find and why you need to do your homework and see people who are experts in this area of medicine.

Regards

Andrew Orr

-No Stone Left Unturned

-Period Pain IS NOT Normal

-The Endometriosis Experts

The world needs to know that period pain is not normal

Period Pain “Is Not” Normal and Doctors in Australia and The Rest of The World Need to Start Listening

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Millions of women around the world are told that period pain is normal and then go on to endure years of suffering and even infertility because it. Some women have endured so much pain and been “missed” and “dismissed” by so many healthcare professionals so many times that they have taken their own life because of it. It just should not happen and it needs to stop.

One of the major causes of period pain is Endometriosis, or its sister disease Adenomyosis. This crippling disease can cause period pain, pelvic pain, joint pain, pain with bowel movement, irritable bowel syndrome, pain with ovulation, swollen painful belly (known as endo belly), chronic fatigue, anaemia, heavy painful menstrual flow and can lead to infertility. Some women will quite literally not even be able to work due to debilitating symptoms of this disease.

It is estimated to affect 176 million worldwide and affect one in ten women, but that is only the ones diagnosed, so those figures are grossly understated. The facts around the disease are also grossly understated and poorly understood by many and why so many women are “missed” and “dismissed” by all the so called healthcare professionals they have seen.

The other issue for a significant portion of women with the disease, is that they are asymptomatic (meaning no symptoms) and do not even know that have it. Many of them may never be diagnosed unless they are having problems falling pregnant, and even then many of them are not investigated properly to see if endometriosis is the cause of their long-term struggle to have a baby. It really is disgusting on so many levels. There is no other way to put it.

Of those one in ten women actually diagnosed many of them have taken up to ten years, or more, to be diagnosed and have their disease “missed” and been “dismissed” by multiple healthcare professional during their debilitating journey to find an answer for their sufferings. It is a nightmare of epic proportion for women world wide and the nightmare needs to end and healthcare professionals and everyone else needs to become educated and start listening to women and getting the message out there that “Period Pain IS NOT normal”.

So many women worldwide are suffering from period pain, pelvic pain, pain during sex, or infertility and endometriosis is the first thing that needs to be ruled out.

Young women in particular have trouble convincing people they are having more than just bad period pain. So many young women (and older ones) are told just to “Suck it Up”, or “Deal with it”. Many mothers will even tell their daughters “This is just normal”, or “This is just what happens”, or “I have to put up with this, so you need to as well”, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Teenagers are not too young to have the disease and have it diagnosed and investigated either.

Early intervention, diagnosis and management is crucial when it comes to endometriosis. The longer the disease is left, the harder it is to treat and manage, and left untreated can cause a woman years of debilitation and misery in every aspect of her life, years of surgery, years of pain killers and opiates, even after the best medical treatment.

Healthcare providers and women around the world need to know that the longer it takes to diagnose, the longer the disease is there and the more damage it can do inside the body. Some women will have their lives crippled by not having early intervention. Some women have got to the point that they can no longer put up with the disease and being dismissed and have either attempted taking their own life, or have succeeded in doing so. It is just so wrong that women get to this point.

The other issue that women face, once they are diagnosed, is that many of them end up seeing the wrong specialist to do their surgery. While most gynaecologists can do investigative surgery, many of them are ill-equipped to surgically remove the disease and actually do not specialise in the disease, or the excision of the disease properly. Many women are under managed surgically, which then leads to further complications and the need for multiple surgeries later on.

So many women have not seen the right specialist, who has not investigated and managed the disease properly and then left women to deal with the consequences of this inadequacy in their scope of practice.

Women and healthcare providers need to be educated that women who potentially have endometriosis, or have a high likelihood of the disease, need to see an Advanced Trained Laparoscopic Surgeon, who has had extra specialised training in the excision of the disease and who has had extra specialised training in the management and treatment of the disease as well.

Just because someone is a gynaecologist, or specialist, does not mean they are a specialist in the disease. This is also a huge misunderstanding when women require diagnosis and management of the disease and why so many are still left with crippling pain and symptoms, even after medical intervention. Quite simply, they have just seen the wrong person for the job and this also needs to be addressed in education and training around this disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England has released the first ever guidance on managing this horrible disease that affects millions of women worldwide. They are hoping it will not only help GP’s and healthcare providers in the UK, but also GP’s and healthcare providers here and around the rest of the world too.

NICE is calling for GP’s in Australia and the rest of the world to stop overlooking symptoms of this disease, such as bad period pain, so that women are not “missed” and “dismissed” for up to a decade or more. NICE are asking for endometriosis to be taken more seriously than it presently is and while that is starting happen here in Australia and the rest of the world, the changes have still been too slow. It really is just not good enough given that so many women are suffering from this debilitating disease worldwide. The Australian government is listening, and much has been achieved, but the action plan has been slow to implement and there needs to be more done. Other countries need to follow suit too.

One of my motto’s is that “Period Pain IS NOT Normal” and I will continue to say this forever and a day and it is great to see national health care bodies like NICE actually backing that up and trying to get healthcare providers to do the same. While others are slow on the uptake, I will never stop in my quest to get women the help they need for this disease and will do my best to stop women being “missed” and “dismissed” and get them the help, care and attention they need and hopefully be a part of one day bringing an end to this debilitating disease.

Let’s hope governments and all healthcare providers finally start listening to the facts about endometriosis too. Let’s end the silence and get this information out there to everyone.

If you do want to find out more about the facts about period pain and this disease, you can visit my webpage, or you can also visit Endometriosis Australia at www.endometriosisaustralia.org.

I have a special interest in the treatment and management of this disease and spend countless hours researching and presenting education to both practitioners and public alike. I also see the consequences of this disease in my practice daily and have been assisting women with endometriosis for many years. I want every woman on the planet to know that Period IS NOT Normal and that there is help out there too.

Take care

Regards

Andrew Orr

-“No Stone Left Unturned”

-“Period Pain IS NOT Normal”

-The Endometriosis Experts