Full Body Approach
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Remember, the information on my website, podcast, Instagram, and any other ways I communicate and/or produce content is educational information only and not medical advice. Always check with your qualified medical professional before making any changes to your treatment plan for endometriosis or any other health problems. See my full disclaimer here.
Endometriosis is a full body disease
Too often people think that endometriosis is just a bad period, but it’s so much more than that. Apart from endometriosis being found in 11 different body systems, endometriosis can cause symptoms throughout the entire body. It’s not a menstrual disease, but rather a complex inflammatory condition. Because of this, patients typically see the best improvements to their quality of life when taking a full body approach.
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The endometriosis domino effect
At the Endometriosis Summit 2021, Dr Iris Orbuch (excision surgeon and co-author of the book Beating Endo: How to Reclaim Your Life from Endometriosis), gave a presentation about the endometriosis domino effect. The first domino is endometriosis, but as we go for years with untreated disease in our bodies, there are more cytokines and chronic inflammation, more structural changes pulling on our anatomy and fascia, more pain modulations, and more nerve fibers can go from endometriosis lesions to the central nervous system.
We may start with endometriosis, and over the years the dominoes fall and we then have multiple more diagnoses and symptoms because of endometriosis’s direct or indirect effects on the body:
- pelvic floor dysfunction
- SIBO
- fibromyalgia
- interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome
- central sensitization
- and more.
Not to mention the impact that having endometriosis and any other co-conditions has on our mental health! We may also have several number of co-conditions causing us symptoms that now need treating.
Additionally, we may have iatrogenic effects from previous surgeries or medications
Unwanted consequences from treatments can negatively affect our health outcomes and quality of life.
GnRh agonists
Drugs like Lupron and Zoladex has caused some people serious, long term side effects for years after stopping the medication.
Ablation surgery
Ablation surgery can trap endometriosis under scar tissue, making excision surgery even more difficult.
Surgical complications
These may have caused nerve damage, organ dysfunction, or the need for a catheter or a colostomy bag.
Early menopause
A hysterectomy or oophorectomy may have put us into early menopause or have caused low hormone output which now needs hormone replacement therapy to help alleviate those symptoms.
Misdiagnosis
We may have had a misdiagnosis which resulted in us taking medications or doing treatments (and unfortunately experiencing those side effects) for a disease we don’t even have.