Lupron Depot

A GnRH agonist that may help manage the symptoms of Endometriosis, but can only be used for a limited time. Manufactured by Abbvie.

Endometriosis & Wine

| Bloomin' Uterus
A spilling glass of red wine

So, we’ve all heard that a glass of wine can be good for you.  Healthy, actually.  Then we’ve all heard that it can be harmful.  Throw in the mix that some of us suffer from Endometriosis…and that many people try to cut alcohol out of their lifestyle to prevent flare-ups and symptoms.  Alcohol is not only harmful to our bodies and livers, but contains a lot of sugar, as well as wreaks havoc on our system.  But I like me some vino!

Cutting out alcohol all together is likely your safest bet if you’re wanting to live cleaner and healthier.  The liver filters out toxins, as well as estrogen, from the body.  As you may have read elsewhere, Endometriosis is an estrogen-fed and reliant disease.  If our livers cannot properly filter out estrogen, we are simply empowering our illness.  Alcohol is also high in sugar…and we’ve previously discussed how sugar may increase your Endometriosis pain and flare-ups.  Studies have shown that alcohol may also increase estrogen levels due to phytoestrogens in alcohol…plant estrogens that  mimic human estrogen (…wait…I didn’t know that. Crap.)

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Share your Story : Alex

| Bloomin' Uterus
blond woman smiling in a gray scarf and black jacket

Alex lives in New Zealand and was diagnosed with Endometriosis when she was 14.

Alex’s Journey:  Well at the age of 14 I was seen by my specialist after going into hospital 2 with in a few weeks with abdo pain… She said I’ll see you for surgery so she did! Adhesions, endo and appendix.

By the time I was 18 I was back to square 1, pain killers are useless to this day. I have seen specialists around the country for other opinions…

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Inflammation & Endo

| Bloomin' Uterus
Inflamed Bloomin' Uterus logo. It looks bloated and swollen

The Oxford Dictionary defines inflammation as, “a localized physical condition in which part of the body becomes reddened, swollen, hot, and often painful, especially as a reaction to injury and infection.”

An article which is slated to be published in June 2016’s Frontiers in Bioscience reviews previous studies and literature which discuss how inflammation may cause Endometriosis to develop.  It states, “…inflammation is crucial in the pathogenesis of endometriosis…” Pathogenesis is the development of a disease; the cellular events and mechanisms that lead to a disease.

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Reader’s Choice : Endometriosis & Bipolar Disorder

| Bloomin' Uterus
Drama masks

I was contacted by one of our readers who shall remain anonymous.  She suffers from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and Bipolar Disorder.  Her OBGYN suspects she has Endometriosis; however, she had to return to college out-of-state and wasn’t able to have her diagnostic surgery.  In the meantime, her physician is encouraging her to remain on birth control pills to suppress the possible Endo symptoms.  Her symptoms are worsening…

She had heard that there may be a link between Endometriosis and Bipolar Disorder, and that it may be difficult to treat both at the same time due to complications with the medications interacting with each other, or even cancelling the medicinal effects of the pills.

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Adenomyosis

| Bloomin' Uterus
The word Adenomyosis covered in little spots and lesions

April is Adenomyosis Awareness Month.  Ado-what-o?  A disease, similar to Endo; some say Ado is the cousin to Endometriosis.  And many people with Endo also suffer with Adenomyosis.  So, I figured I’d spread a bit of awareness of Ado during this month and learn something in the process.

A few folks who attended our Endo walk suffer also from Adeno.  And one who showed up to our last Endo support group meeting suffers from Ado (but not Endo).  It’s a term I’m beginning to hear a lot more about.  But, what is it?

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Share Your Story : Hailey

| Bloomin' Uterus
A husband, wife, and two sons standing in a doorway

Hailey lives in Okalahoma.  When she was 22 years old, she received her Endometriosis diagnosis.  Now, over a decade later, she offers some stellar words of advice!!

Hailey’s Journey: I am going to call this the short version because we all know too well that listing every ounce of our story would be more like a novel than a blog post! Looking back I think it’s something I have had issues with for much much longer than my diagnosis.

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Peggy, Roy, & The Endo Inn

| Bloomin' Uterus
Husband and wife cutting a cake together
Peggy & Roy cutting their birthday cake –  July 2015

You may have heard about Peggy Santa Maria on CBS-TV, LA or read about her in the Contra Costa Times or various online blogs.  I bumped into the CBS-TV LA link, which was aired on their 5pm news on December 25, 2015, and just had to know more about her.  The e-mail address on their site didn’t work, so I reached out to my friend, Margaret, at The Vital Health Institute, who got us in touch.

If you don’t know about Peggy and her husband Roy, they host The Endo Inn.  The what?  As Roy says, “Stay at the Endo Inn while you have your Endo taken out.”  They have converted their guest bedroom into The Endo Inn, a room where a woman and her guest can stay while she recovers from surgery for her Endometriosis, free of charge and for several weeks, if needed.  This includes access to all of the house for cooking, doing laundry, entailing everything that covers “living,” and The Endo Inn becomes “their home.”  Roy and Peggy have been doing this since January 18, 2000.

More about The Endo Inn shortly…but right now I want to focus on the beautiful people behind it:  Peggy and Roy.  I had the pleasure of speaking with Peggy several days ago, spending over an hour on the phone with this purely delightful woman.

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It hurts to have sex…

| Bloomin' Uterus
A bed with the blankets drawn back revealing the sheets and four pillows

So this entry’s going to get a bit personal.  And possibly full of Too Much Information.  But it is a topic that needs to be addressed.  Not only for myself, but for countless otherssuffering from the same issues.

One of the symptoms of Endometriosis for a lot of EndoWarriors is painful sex (either during, after, or both), and it’s estimated that more than half of the people with Endo suffer from it.  The fancy name for pelvic pain during or after sex is Dyspareunia. It’s common and it could have a myriad of causes and factors.  Some of those factors can be vaginal dryness, herpes, Endometriosis, ovarian cysts, fibroids, Adenomyosis, uterine tilt, bowel tenderness or fullness, pelvic inflammatory disease, infections, or bladder issues.  The pain can be limited to the vaginal opening or canal, or it can extend deeper into the pelvic region and thighs.  This pain can stop as soon as sexual activity is stopped, or can last for hours, or even days afterward.  It can be a dull ache, a sharp pain, stabbing sensations, and can range from barely there to excruciating.

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Frozen Embryo Transfers & Endometriosis

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Frozen embryo transfer medical tubes

A lot of people have trouble becoming pregnant, whether or not they have Endometriosis.  The question has been raised : if you have Endometriosis and are undergoing frozen embryo transfer (FET), which treatment regimens and protocols have the highest successful pregnancy rate?

I myself have never considered IVF and had to do a bit of initial research on the differences between fresh and frozen embryos, IVF, etc.  I am so grateful an EndoWarrior asked this question; brought this struggle to my attention.  So if you already know about these, please bear with me as I learn.  Otherwise, skip passed these first few categories to the knitty gritty below 🙂

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