A Tale of Two Periods

Since I was diagnosed with endometriosis 15 years ago, I can’t recall a single time a doctor recommended managing my symptoms with diet. Instead, every doctor I saw recommended surgery and progestin heavy birth control. Eventually I got sick of feeling like my endo symptoms were not adequately managed plus suffering from the additional side effects from birth controls, so I decided to look for a more holistic approach to treating my Stage IV Endometriosis.

In my search for holistic treatment methods I came across several books, articles, and journals discussing utilizing diet to manage symptoms. When I told my doctor that I planned to stop taking birth control and to just use diet to manage my endo, he looked at me like I was crazy. I decided to try it anyways.

I started following an anti-inflammatory and low estrogen diet. Translation — I was eating a low carb, high protein, good fats diet most of the time. After several months, I felt like I was managing my endo symptoms pretty well and was relieved to be free of the side effects from the progestin birth controls I had been on for years.

I told my mom, who also suffers from endometriosis, about my decision and she questioned how I knew the diet change was working versus my endo symptoms just not being that bad. After getting over being a bit offended, I got to thinking she was right. I had been treating my endo for so long that I didn’t really know what my baseline was anymore so I decided to find out.

The Experiment

For the first part of my experiment I decided I would follow my low carb, high protein, good fats diet perfectly for the week prior to and the week during my period. For the second part of the experiment, I would eat whatever I wanted with no restrictions for the week prior to and the week during my period. At the end of the second part, I would compare results and determine whether following a diet effectively managed my symptoms.

The First Period

The week prior to my first period I went to the grocery store and bought only endo diet friendly foods — lots of leafy greens, berries, low fat proteins, and good fats. I meal prepped so I would have food on hand in case I got hungry to avoid cheating.

During the week I followed my meal plan perfectly and drank plenty of water while skipping my morning coffee. I made sure to do the same the following week.

The results? I felt great! I noticed very little cramping or bloating. I didn’t need to take any OTC pain medication. I didn’t experience a break out. My flow was lighter than it had been the previous month and I felt like I had more energy.

The Second Period

The week prior to my second period, I let my husband do the grocery shopping. I didn’t meal prep and I didn’t make sure we had endo diet friendly snacks on hand. During the week I ate whatever without paying attention to the carb, sugar, or fat content of what I was eating. I went back to drinking my morning coffee. I felt bloated and started to break out.

During the second week we were visiting my family for my dad’s 60th birthday. They tend to eat a lot of carbs, sugars, and starches that are often fried. Their food tastes great but is about as far from endo diet friendly as you can get!

The results? I felt awful! I was incredibly bloated and had stabbing cramps that stopped me dead in my tracks! I was popping Ibuprofen like they were Tic Tacs! My flow was super heavy, my skin looked terrible, and I felt super tired.

Conclusion

After the conclusion of my second period it was clear that my diet had a major impact on my endo symptoms. Now I am not saying that you can or should 2completely manage your endometriosis with diet alone! I am just saying that for me, diet was the difference between feeling relatively normal during my period and feeling like curling up in a ball and crying.

If you suffer from endometriosis and want to learn more about the endo diet, check out Eating for Endometriosis.