13 Tips for living with endometriosis

What is endometriosis?

Endometriosis is a chronic illness/disease that affects 1 in 10 who are born female. It is when the lining similar to the uterus grows outside of the womb. During a normal Endometriosis is a chronic illness/disease that affects 1 in 10 who are born female.

It is when the lining similar to the uterus grows outside of the womb. During a normal period, these cells build up and break down during your period, but the endometriosis cells build up and have nowhere to go. This causes endometriosis pain through inflammation, pain, and scarring.

The symptoms are fatigue, painful periods/bowel movements/sex, infertility issues, and difficulty doing everyday tasks. It is worth saying that not everyone has all these symptoms, and the pain you get doesn’t equal the stage of the illness.

There isn’t any cure for it, but there are ways to manage this disease with a treatment plan. There is lots of information on the internet if you want to find out more or get help. Be sure to speak to your healthcare provider about your health and endometriosis symptoms.

Image from Endometriosis UK

My essentials for coping with endometriosis

Guest Post – Enviroline Blog. Different coping methods work for different people, and for some, it’s a combination of all of these things. Below are 13 things that can be helpful for living with endometriosis. Below you’ll find relaxation techniques, lifestyle changes but you won’t find medical treatments as it’s recommended to talk to a health care provider about these options. 

My tips for living with endometriosis

Heat patches

As much as I try to not leave the house when I am on my period, sometimes I have to One of the most common treatment options for endometriosis pain can be utilizing heat patches and heating pads. You can use them to help with regular menstrual cycle pain, as well as endo pain. You can use heat therapy for about 10-20 minutes at a time. It’s recommended a bean bag or microwavable pad as the heat sinks in further than a plug-in heating pad. 

You can buy them from a local pharmacy or purchase single-use patches to help with pain relief. Ensure you are mindful of heat and do not burn yourself. 

Exercise

Exercise is good for our overall health but it can have positive impacts on your menstrual period pain as well.

Low intensity exercise such as walking, yoga, and stretching can all help reduce menstural pain incorporating it into your daily life.

These activities are great alternative treatments to medication for endo pain, and can help with increasing energy levels, maintain a healthy weight, over all helping your emotional well-being and mental health.

Regular physical activity doesn’t have to be strenuous and I don’t encourage that during painful periods, but incorporating gentle exercise into your day-to-day life can help. 

Electric blanket

While we are on the topic of heat, another essential of mine is an electric blanket. They are about £50 but they last for so many years and are so worthwhile. I have mine on practically all the time, even in summer. It is so soothing on my lower back and legs which are often aching. When I’m on my period, it is on almost all day. This is probably my number 1 recommendation for endometriosis.

Meal planning

Meal planning might seem like an odd thing, but it is such a lifesaver when you are too fatigued to think. One of my favourite tips for living with endometriosis is I try to plan my week in advance of my lunches and dinners.

Something that I think a lot of people forget about when they are in a flare-up is snacks. You need something very easy, but also nutritious and encourages a healthy diet. This can also help reduce stress levels on those higher or severe pain days by having meals already made or prepared ahead of time. 

It’s helpful to include some helpful endo foods and one of the best ways is to plan ahead – be sure to include seafood, seeds, whole wheat bread, nuts, eggs as examples. As well foods high vitamin D such as cod, salmon, milk, tuna, orange juice to help with your reductive specific needs. 

Meal prep

This is a bit of a continuation of my previous point. Meal prep before my period comes is absolutely essential to me. I try to do this the day before my period arrives, but sometimes it comes early/late. I like to buy lots of food so that I don’t need to go out shopping. When this happens I basically stay in bed for 4 days straight, until the pain eases to be more manageable. I like to have chopped broccoli in one Tupperware box, and carrots, cucumber and pepper in another. I try to get in things like sausage rolls for lunch and tend to make a mushroom, feta and pasta dish for dinner. Then I can easily grab some veg sticks for lunch, and cook broccoli with the pasta. It seems a bit silly, but cutting up veg the day before is one of the best things for me to cope with endometriosis.

Tips for living with endometriosis continued

Keep your medicine on your bedside table

This tip probably seems a bit obvious. But there was one time when I couldn’t find my medicine and found myself crawling around my bedroom searching for it. I now keep it in two places in the hopes that this won’t happen again. Something else I have found useful is writing down what time you take painkillers, and what the dose is. Again it seems a bit silly, but during my period I feel totally out of it and have memory issues.

Do your laundry the day before

Along with doing your meal prep the day before, I like to change my bed sheets and do the laundry. Nothing feels better than getting into a freshly made bed with new sheets! I used to change them after I had my period, but I was still far too fatigued. And fresh sheets during a flare-up are definitely somewhat comforting.

Wash your hair the day before

So maybe you are reading this in disgust by the fact that I don’t wash my hair during my period. But I can barely leave my bed, so having a shower would undoubtedly cause me to pass out. Once I had day 5, if I’m not too fatigued I will try to have a shower. But I don’t mind admitting that sometimes this is too much and I have to wait until day 6 or 7. That is the reality of having a chronic illness. 

Use minimal kitchenware to cook with

Something else that is useful for me during a flare-up is minimal kitchenware. What you may not know about me is that I am a student, so you would think that having a load of washing up to do is normal. But I hate the kitchen being untidy, so having a stack of washing up waiting for me is not normal. During a flare-up, I do not want to be standing up to wash up. I want to be back in my cosy bed with a wheat pillow. In some instances, I just can’t do the washing up and then I leave it for 2 days.

Cut out caffeine

For me, caffeine isn’t something I have ever really relied on to wake me up. Reducing caffeine can help with reducing pain, as it can be a trigger for flares. As well it’s important to stay well hydrated and caffeine can be very dehydrating.

Caffeine affects everyone differently and there are different factors that impact ones health so speak to a doctor if you have questions about next steps of reducing your caffeine intake. 

It wasn’t too hard for me to switch to decaf tea because it tastes practically the same. Occasionally in the summer, I will have an iced coffee, but it does make me feel all funny. In the evenings, I have been drinking more herbal teas with my current favourite being turmeric. 

Incorporate anti-inflammatory foods into your diet

Another way to cope with endometriosis is to eat naturally anti-inflammatory foods. I have tried to incorporate a few of the suggested ones into my diet.

Turmeric is a spice that I have read a lot about recently! My dad makes a delicious paella which has turmeric in it, so I knew that I liked it. But having paella once or twice a month wasn’t really enough. I decided to start adding it to most of my meals that had rice or couscous in. Turmeric tea is something else I tried, and I do enjoy drinking it now. I try to drink it a few times a week. I’m not entirely sure if it helps, but it’s certainly not doing any harm.

Dark chocolate is another natural anti-inflammatory. A lot of people on their period seem to go for processed food, but for me, I cannot stand the thought. It’s quite lucky that I only crave healthy food on my period haha! Dark chocolate is the only sweet food I can tolerate, so I always stock up on it.

I eat broccoli with most meals because it is so easy to cook, but it also reduces inflammation! During your period you lose a lot of iron, so it is essential to eat foods that naturally contain lots of iron. Most leafy green vegetables like broccoli and kale contain it, as well as red meat. 

Tips for living with endometriosis ensure that you eat enough

This point is linked to my previous points, but one of the most important things is to ensure that you are eating enough.

Quite often when I get up I feel faint (not related to hunger), but during your period it is especially important to eat. These can be often forgotten tips for living with endometriosis when you’re living with chronic pain.

You really don’t want to get into a cycle of not eating because you are too fatigued or in pain. I don’t like ordering takeaways, but when you physically can’t cook, it doesn’t matter what you eat as long as you do!

Rest as much as you can

Sometimes it can be hard to rest when you have a chronic illness, even if you are constantly fatigued. But during my period, I allow myself to stay in bed and rest as much as I can. I have lots of naps throughout the day, and then a long night’s sleep and it still doesn’t feel enough. But it is just what I need to recharge. If you don’t want to nap during the day, even lying in bed can help recharge. I also tend to read lots during a flare-up.

How do you cope with endometriosis?

Thank you so much to Alex for letting me guest post on her blog with these 13 tips for living with endometriosis! You can find my blog over at Enviroline Blog, where I talk about all things sustainability and nature related. On my Instagram, I tend to (over)share life with endometriosis so make sure you follow me!