Changed My Lifestyle and It Changed My Life

by Michelle
(Dallas, Texas, USA)

Hello everyone! My name is Michelle and I am 24 years old. I have always had heavier periods, but throughout the years the period cramps have grown increasingly worse.

I remember the day that it was at its worst. I had remembered my sister telling me that a hot bath can alleviate cramps, so I thought I might as well try that. I got in the bathtub and within 5-10 minutes the pain was so intense I did not know how to get out of the bathtub!

My mind was going crazy, I thought for sure, that I would die in the bathtub, my family would call the ambulance and the paramedics would have to fish me out! How embarrassing!!! I literally crawled out of that tub and somehow made it back to my room.

I was so sick. My mother told me about percogesics. It is like an ibuprofen, but MUCH BETTER. It has antihistamine in it, so once kicks into your blood stream, it completely relaxes your body and makes you fall asleep. That was the only way I could survive my period. I used to take 2 of those pills, fall asleep for about 2-3 hours, wake up and feel much better.

However, over time, 2 pills weren't enough. The pain increased up to the point where I was taking 7 pills in 24 hours just to be able to make it through (The maximum dosage per day is 8). Somedays, if I did not take a pill before I had pain, it would take too long for it to kick in and I would be sick to my stomach (literally, and from both ends).

My stomach was in knots. I could not eat anything for the day before my period and nothing for the next 2-3 days as I would get sick. During my period, I was losing about 3 days per month where I was in bed and could not move, only sleep. 3 days * 12 months = 36 days. I was losing over a month of my life each year because of my period! This is insane I said! Keep in mind, I thought this was normal, but mine is just worse that other people's periods. WRONG!

One day, I met a friend for lunch and this topic came up and she said she had the exact same problem about 20 years ago. She said one day she was in so much pain, she was on the floor in her home and called her brother-in-law who is a doctor to come give her something so the pain would subside. She also was unable to have children. She said it's called endometriosis.

She went to her gynecologist in Mexico City who was very famous and she related to him her symptoms and he told her immediately that it was endometriosis. He did the laparoscopy and removed it from her body. Shortly thereafter, she conceived her first and only son.

I began to research "endometriosis" and of course began to self-diagnose myself and I don't trust doctors. Hah! It seemed I had many of the symptoms: extreme period pain, heavy flow, chronic back pain, blood clots, etc. (I am not trying to conceive, so I wouldn't know about that problem).

I finally went to the gynecologist and she immediately confirmed my diagnosis by hearing my symptoms. But, she said the only way to know for sure is to do the surgery. I did not know when to do it, as she was going out of town and I was leaving in one month. She was anxious to put it on the schedule and I did not like the pressure I felt by her. I told her I would speak with my family.

That day, my mother, sister and I began researching and the more we researched, the more we said absolutely NO to the surgery! I watched YouTube videos of girls giving their testimonials of after-surgery. I read blogs where women said the symptoms came back. Then I happened upon this site and a few others like Dr. Axe that said to change your diet.

Eliminate inflammatory foods. I was willing to try anything, but surgery. So the very next day (exactly 30 days from today, August 27th), I became sugar-free, Gluten/Wheat free, caffeine free, and dairy free. I thought I would just go all the way, so I began taking Omega-3 fish oil, vitex, magnesium with b6, and progesterone cream every day as well.

I began my cycle a few days ago and it was amazing. I had barely any cramps! I survived the first day with only 1 1/2 percogesic pills. The second day, which was normally the worst for me, I had ZERO pills - I felt AMAZING!! I am on day 3 now and I don't even feel like I am on my period.

THIS LIFESTYLE CHANGE WILL TRULY CHANGE YOUR LIFE! I recommend it to all women who are battling with endometriosis! The results are worth what you think you will have lost in eating foods, believe me. I feel like I gained life back! In fact, I did! I gained back that month that I was losing every year due to my period pain being so severe! All I can say is THANK YOU LORD.

I can't wait to see further results as I am only on day 30 of this new lifestyle change.