Perth Endometriosis & Adenomyosis Naturopath

Endometriosis is a condition where endometrial tissue grows outside of the uterus, forming lesions on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, pelvic ligaments, bladder, and bowels.

Endometriosis is driven by oestrogen which causes these lesions to become inflamed and bleed during your period, forming scar tissue that can fuse organs together.

Symptoms of endometriosis include:

• severe period pain that makes you vomit, doesn’t respond to painkillers and/or prevents all normal activity

• heavy periods with large clots and/or flooding

• bleeding between periods

• prolonged periods lasting more than seven days

• painful bloating causing abdominal distension known as ‘endo belly’

• other IBS symptoms including constipation and diarrhoea

• pain with urination, moving your bowels and/or intercourse

• difficulty falling pregnant.

It is important to diagnose and treat endometriosis as early as possible

Unmanaged endometriosis can cause other health issues including fertility problems and chronic pelvic, bowel and bladder pain.

Adenomyosis is a condition where endometrial tissue grows within the muscle wall of the uterus.

It can cause some or all the symptoms of endometriosis plus an enlarged ‘bulky’ uterus.

Risk factors for adenomyosis include being over forty, giving birth and/or a history of uterine surgery (e.g. caesareans).

Endometriosis and adenomyosis commonly occur together with endometriosis often being diagnosed in your younger years and adenomyosis often detected around 35-50 years old.

The main symptom for endometriosis is pain whilst the main symptom for adenomyosis is heavy periods.

Unfortunately, it takes an average of seven years for an endometriosis diagnosis. In the case of adenomyosis, many women don’t realise they have it until they have a hysterectomy for heavy periods.

Endometriosis and adenomyosis symptoms of painful and heavy periods are frequently dismissed, often by the sufferers themselves. If you grew up around women that also have these symptoms, it is easy to mistakenly believe your painful and heavy periods are ‘something you just have to put up with’. 

Period pain that makes you faint and/or vomit, doesn’t respond to painkillers, and/or prevents your daily activity should not have to be endured. Periods lasting more than seven days and/or any bleeding outside of your menstrual cycle are not ‘normal’ and require medical assessment to rule out rarer but more sinister causes such as endometrial and ovarian cancer.

Periods that cause you to change a tampon or pad within 1-2 hours are abnormally heavy. Normal blood loss is around 3-5 tablespoons over the whole period, with any more considered heavy. Heavy periods can lead to severely low iron levels that cause many adverse symptoms, including extreme fatigue.

Conventional treatments include laparoscopy, oral contraceptive pills, Mirena IUD and, if symptoms are severe and don’t respond to other treatments, a partial or full hysterectomy.

Unfortunately, each of these treatments can have potential side effects and limited effectiveness.

As a naturopath, I can recommend natural treatment options that can, either be an alternative to or work alongside, conventional treatment for adenomyosis and endometriosis.

Naturopathy aims to treat the cause of adenomyosis and endometriosis to help ease your symptoms and improve your overall health.

Endometriosis and adenomyosis are not actually caused by hormonal imbalance. Even though most conventional pharmaceutical treatments suppress oestrogen, it is a driver but not the cause of these two conditions. Also, oestrogen is important for your overall health, which is why these drugs often cause adverse side effects.

The cause of endometriosis is now thought to be immune dysfunction. Research shows endometriosis shares features of autoimmune disease. Your immune system produces molecules that trigger inflammation and antibodies that attack your endometrial tissue.

The immune system of a woman without endometriosis can remove endometrial lesions and prevent their reoccurrence. The dysfunctional immune system of a women with endometriosis appears to inflame these lesions and promote their growth.

To treat immune dysfunction, you need to treat your gut, where 70% of your immune system is based.

As an inflammatory health condition with a strong immune component, adenomyosis also responds well to this type of treatment.