No more endometriosis pain!!!

by Leslie
(Chicago)

I started having very painful periods at around 12/13 years old. They would be so bad on several occasions I passed out a few times at school, and once even in the shower. As I got older, they became worse, but I got better at managing the pain with massive doses of advil.

After I had my son at 25, the pain began to change. My ovaries would feel like two burning hot coals, and having a bowel movement during my period was so painful I can't even describe it.

I would see my doctor, and she would say the two options were surgery, or going on a pill that would completely stop my period.
Hormone pills would trigger my migraines, so that was out, and she said surgery didn't necessarily mean pain relief. I got very depressed for a while, at the thought of having to spend a week out of every month feeling so terrible.

I've always had a healthy diet and weight, but three months ago I decided to go wheat-free after reading about it on an endo board. I've had three periods now since the diet change, and I am freaking thrilled!! Each one has been better than the last. I actually went for a run on the FIRST day of my period this month, a day I normally spent writhing in bed in terrible pain.

My pain this month never went above a 2 on the pain scale, even through the night. The nights were always the worst, because at some point the advil would wear off, the pain would wake me up, and I would have 30-45 horrible minutes waiting for new advil to kick in. I can't believe it, but for three months I've taken no advil at all! I have NEVER had a not horribly painful period, so three in a row is definitely not a fluke.

I can't say it will work for everyone, but you couldn't pay me to take another bite of bread in my life! When I think of the 20 years of pain I've endured, I still can't believe that I've had three months pain free. It feels like a dream. My whole life revolved around planning around my period, I even work from home so I could work from bed when I needed to. I feel free! I've started wearing tampons again, something I had given up since for some reason the pain was worse with them.

I'm just so happy, and I hope others can find a path to healing through diet change and exercise. I know the pain is terrible, but keep trying and don't give up!