breathe

How to you manage? Endometriosis fears, doubts, and uncertainty

| Bloomin' Uterus
Bloomin' Uterus logo surrounded by question marks

So, my last period was severely painful (the worst since my 2016 surgery), but I’m trying to remain positive about it.  I missed a day from work, stayed in bed, and popped NSAIDs.  I suffered through another two days at work, still on NSAIDs.  The rest of my bleeding days were maintained by Ibuprofen.  It may have been stress-related: walk planning; wedding planning.  You know: stressful things were afoot in March and April.

But what do you do when the doubts creep in?  When symptoms begin to rear their ugly heads?  When your back begins to ache.  It hurts to poop again.  Or worse: pee.  When the cramps set in – when they force you to the floor, squeezing your stomach tightly – hugging yourself to death.  When you’re forced to take a day off of work or cancel plans to lie in bed, medicated and useless.  When you dread the start of your next period…mine is supposedly gonna show up sometime next week.

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Nostrils are for breathing

| Bloomin' Uterus
illustration of a human nose

My Mum often sends me neat tips and tricks that may help with my Endometriosis, or overall health.  She knows how excited I was to learn and practice mindful diaphragmatic breathing in November and forwarded me something I may want to try to add onto the benefits of breathing.

Have you heard of alternatively breathing through your nostrils?  This was a new one for me.  And it’s said to bring a bit of peace of mind.  Seeing as how much diaphragmatic breathing has helped with my focus, my stress, those GRRRRR-I’m-So-Worked-Up moments, and my pain, I look forward to incorporating a bit of this nostril breathing into my daily routine.

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Stress levels may affect Endo

| Bloomin' Uterus
Graph of how stress affects body mind emotions and behavior

So after a particularly stressful day at the office, I decided to do some writing and soul searching and (of course) research.  In all of the books and articles I’ve read, there has been a comment or chapter stating that stress may worsen Endometriosis.  But why?

How Stress Affects the Body:

Stress may trigger adrenal stress hormones, which may alter heart rates and blood flow.  It may also impair our white blood cell count, which can lower the body’s chances of fighting infection, reduce inflammation or even prevent/limit scarring. Gals with Endo know that inflammation and scarring are two critical components of a painful Endo day.  Stress may also cause or exacerbate problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, stroke, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression, and anxiety.

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