Endo success

Where do I begin? 

 

This journey to good health, and my quest for knowledge and well being, began in 2001 when I suffered from a high blood pressure crisis.

 

I was driving ironically, past a hospital when I felt a wave of lightheadedness.  I felt my body want to shut down while feeling beside myself.  I convinced myself to continue to my home, rather then stop at the hospital emergency room. 

 

As I climbed the stairs to second level of the house I blacked out, falling into the bathroom which is at the top of the stairs.  I don’t have any idea how long I lay there, nor do I have any memory of falling and hitting my head.  Once I came around, I crawled into bed.

 

I slept in that next morning.  I slept without hearing the alarm clock go off at 6.00 a.m..  By 10:00 a.m. I rushed off to work in a panic.  That day at work felt surreal.  I was living outside myself and not functioning at all.  I was irritable and by 11:30 a.m. I was on my way back home. 

 

Instead of going home I want straight to my doctors office with the hope of getting a last minute appointment.  My family doctor was not in, so I saw another physician. 

 

He ran an initial battery of general tests and asked the necessary questions.  Once he took my blood pressure he paused, and looked me dead in my eyes with the most serious look.  Without saying a word, he proceeded to take my blood pressure again.

 

He quickly scratched something on a RX pad and instructed me to go across the hall and have the prescription filled right away.  He debated with himself to call an ambulance and have me transported to the nearest hospital.  My blood pressure was recorded at a dangerously high reading.

 

Rather then go to the hospital, I filled the prescription and made a follow up appointment for the following day. 

In the course of the next few weeks I was sent to a number of specialists and underwent several tests.  It was identified at this time that I had cysts on my right ovary.  I was told this would go away on it’s own and not to worry about it.

 

Not long after that episode, I began to bleed outside of my menstrual cycle.  I made an appointment with my OBGYN to discuss this and for my annual check up.  She took the information and recommended I return to taking the pill.  Well I had stopped taking the pill once I had the high blood pressure episode, primarily because the pill should not be used by people with blood pressure issues.  So I chose not to return to the pill.  My instincts told me to stay away from the pill and I blamed the pill for my current health concerns.  Little did I know at the time, how true that was.

 

This all began in 2001.  By 2003 my complaints increased.  I felt I was not getting the support I was in need of from my long time family doctor, so I went off in search for a new doctor.  A doctor,  that would appreciate my desire not to be medicated. A doctor that would help me find the cause of my issues.  I didn’t know that this was not possible.

 

I had, had enough of the medical profession not taking a complete picture.  I found a naturopathic doctor to discuss my issues with.  She had several options to work towards whole health.

 

I started going to a medical doctor that was fresh out of school in a new practice.  He listened to my complaints and made medically educated suggestions.  He also appeared to appreciate the fact that I was also seeing a naturopath.

 

I walked into the emergency room in 2004 with severe pain on my right side.  Prior to this visit, I had a romantic encounter with my boyfriend which caused extreme pain and bleeding.  My body was constipated and so I performed my first enema, thinking this was the cause of my pain and bleeding.

 

The emergency doctors confirmed I had polycystic ovarian cysts.  I asked why  the bleeding increased, when I moved my bowels.  The uninformed doctor stated that the colon was no where near the ovary and one had nothing to do with the other.

 

With this information gathered from my trip to the emergency room my new doctor felt that endometriosis was my issue and proceeded to make referrals to determine if this was the case.

 

His medical intervention lead to getting appointments with top notch specialists.  It was identified that I had ascites.  Ascites is the accumulation of fluid in the abdomen.  I noticed my belly was growing large when I went to the emergency in severe pain.  At the time, I assumed I just needed some dedicated time on a treadmill.

 

Typically with the presence of ascites, individuals suffer from liver disease or cancer.  Liver disease was ruled out early on.  As a result, I was referred to a specialist at a leading cancer hospital in Toronto . 

 

I experienced two biopsies and several tests.  None produced results which confirmed cancer.  However, the doctors still continued to operate under the assumption that cancer was lurking somewhere. 

 

I had no symptoms outside of the mentioned presence of ascites and constant bleeding. In my own logic, I concluded that the cysts were releasing their contents into my abdomen.  I suggesting this to one of the several attending doctors I was seeing and was told, that they have never seen endometriosis cause ascites, so that could not be the case. 

 

A laparoscopy was performed in February 2006.  Doctors removed over 5 liters of chocolate brown fluid from my abdomen.  They discovered endo cells matted to my intestines.  They were unable to see my ovaries due to the extreme amount of endo cells “gluing” them in place beyond their view.

The specialists told me it was highly unlikely that I could have children without medical intervention.  I was advised to return to taking the pill, to control the endometriosis until menopause.   All this coming from people who didn’t think it was possible for cysts to cause ascites.

 

Well this advice was unacceptable to me.  I pride myself in paying close attention to what goes into my body.  I have adopted nutrient rich diet.  I have eliminated any substance that has been altered by man, including milk, inorganic vegetables, white flour, sugar or salt.  I avoid farmed meats, artificial sweeteners and hydrogenated oils.

 

I went off in search of a solution to my issues.  My naturopath recommended homeopathic remedies which I have taken religiously.  I came across a website (www.sensiblehealth.com) which spoke about a natural solution to endometriosis.  The products are offered on-line, however, I am one person who is not interested in making on-line purchase on items I am not familiar with.  To my surprise the location of the store was in my city and easily accessible.

 

I paid Julia Chang of www.sensiblehealth.com a visit.  We spoke for about an hour as she shared her story with me.  I have been taking the Chinese bitters formulated by Ms. Chang.   In two months my bleeding has stopped!!  After 5 years of consistent spotting I have experienced a reprieve.  My blood pressure is within normal range; my skin (which has always been prone to breakouts) has cleared up.

 

My plan is to continue to follow my diet paying close attention to also eliminating plant estrogens and taking the Chinese bitters for the next several months.  I am so pleased with the outcome so far.  I suspect if I choose to have a child in the future, I will be able to.

 

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