Hi Liss,

First of all...heavy, painful periods are NOT normal...especially when you're also passing clots...and don't let any doctor tell you otherwise! I made this mistake for many years and probably could have spared myself a lot of agony if I had started approaching it with natural measures a lot sooner than I did. Actually, if you're quite healthy and your hormones are well-balanced your periods should only last a few days with very little if any discomfort. Clotting can accompany endo, but is more common with uterine fibroids...and these often go hand-in-hand....both are the influenced by estrogen-dominance.

I'll cut to the chase...

Eliminate all sugars from your diet...follow a stricter candida diet if you need to in order to help with the candida. You may also need to use anti-fungals...garlic, oil of oregano, caprylic acid...different things work for different people. Probiotics are also necessary. Read about candida and check the Candidiasis forum.

Do a thorough colon cleanse! This will unload a lot of toxins from your body and clear out a lot of congestion in the pelvic area. See the Bowel Cleanse Forum for more info...the psyllium and Bentonite cleanse is very effective. Add a parasite cleanse to so that you can prepare for a series of liver flushes. One function of the liver is to process/clear hormones and a congested liver can contribute to estrogen-dominance. The Liver Flushes will also result in passing any gallstones. See the Liver Flush Forum .

These cleanses will all help to clear toxins out of your body and allow it to heal.

There are also some specific things you can do to address the symptoms you are having. Castor oil packs are great for breaking up congestion and adhesions...I believe the directions are available on this site or you can run a general search for them. Natural progesterone cream applied to the lower abdomen supplies additional progesterone which helps to balance the estrogen. It may take a couple of months to start seeing results, but it can help considerably. Emerita natural progesterone cream is available in most health food stores and you can read more about it by searcing Transitions for Health. Douching with diluted tea tree oil (make sure it is the water-soluble kind) may help with the discharge...some people also use a garlic clove suppository. The herb vitex...aka chasteberry...is also very good for helping to re-establish normal hormonal balance. Make sure that any tampons or pads that you are using are cotton and not bleached with chlorine. Some research has suggested that dioxins released in the bleaching of paper products...including feminine hygiene products!...may contribute to endo.

I also found acupuncture and Chinese herbs to be quite helpful... you may be able to find someone very good with Traditional Chinese Medicine in Thailand...lucky you!

You didn't mention how old you are or if you're using any synthetic hormones...or if fertility is an issue for you. These factors can all change the picture somewhat. You're wise in avoiding more convetional approaches, though...many women have undergone hysterectomies only to discover that they continue to suffer with pain from endometriosis and then have a whole set of new problems to contend with! There are situations where it improves the quality of one's life...but it should be the very last resort.

Your description of your periods sounds a lot like mine. 7 days and a lot of pain, terrible crumps. I am the same age as you.

Since I started new healthy life style, eating foods that heal, cleansing my liver, getting my candida under control etc., my periods are not as bad anymore. Before I could not possibly go through them without pain killers.

I do have pains sometimes, my colon is slightly prolapsed, I was born like that, so it presses on my uteris and causes pain during periods.

I have the same concernes about pregnacy as you do. I was careful but did not use protection and never been pregnant yet. Let's hope we have been just too careful.

Recently I have been reading about herbal curing of the problem and found out that raspberry leaf is a great thing.
There are some articles about raspberry on this site as well. Check them.

So, I got myself a lot of dry raspberry leaves and I make a great tea from them. Tastes good and contains no cofein. I also purchased Raspberry leaf tincture with homeopathic strength (made of freshly juiced leaves and alcohol). It is my best pain killer. As soon as I get crumps I just take 1 table spoon of the tincture and the crumps are gone after 3-5 minutes.
Try it, maybe it'll work on you also.