Endo Fertility

In today's episode I talk about nutrition. This is a huge topic, but I wanted to introduce the general nutrition principles related to 1) improving your Endometriosis symptoms and 2) optimising your body so you are ready to get pregnant and then sustain a healthy pregnancy. There are a lot of similarities between these two objectives, but also there can be some conflicting ways of approaching nutrition, meaning that many women with Endometriosis can follow the 'Endo-diet' to reduce inflammation but end up under-nourished or further under-nourished, which will not help you in getting pregnant.

So, here are some of the things I talk about are:

• What is a 'diet' and what is the 'endo-diet'?
• What foods could actually be an issue and why?
• Six key principles I recommend to clients to follow

PLUS, three things I always do when working with my Endo Fertility coaching clients

Mentioned links

• Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity: piecing the puzzle together: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4406911/

Endo Fertility links and resources:

• Join my Endo Fertility community! Find us in the Thrive and Conceive with Endometriosis Facebook Group.
• Follow me on Instagram and Facebook

• Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Optimistic Future

Relevant blogs:

• Environmental Working Group Dirty Dozen: https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php
• Trying to Conceive with Low Iron and Endometriosis: https://www.endofertilityspecialist.com/trying-to-conceive-with-low-iron-and-endometriosis/
• Nourishing Endo Fertility Recipes: https://www.endofertilityspecialist.com/recipes/

This episode is sponsored by the Endo Fertility Resource Library where you can get your 3 amazing freebies: E-Book: 5 Things I Learnt to Drop My Pain & Optimise My Fertility, Your Guide to Super Sperm, and 88 Ways I Dropped My Pain and Got Pregnant.

Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss out on any future episodes – which will be out weekly on Wednesdays!

And, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a rating and a review? Thanks!

If you want to be on the podcast or have feedback please email: [email protected]

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.

Your gut health is literally one of the most important systems in your body, especially combined with the actions of the liver. In this episode, we talk about the "gut-liver axis" as my guest Christine Garvin refers to it. This relationship is so important for the balance of our hormones, which has a strong effect on the symptoms of Endometriosis and the ability of the reproductive system to work optimally.

The digestive system has until the last few decades been relatively understudied - research is now showing how fundamental it is to so many other systems within our body. It affects our immune system, mental health, hormonal health, detoxification of the body, energy levels and so much more!

In this episode, my guest is Christine Garvin, MA, NE, RWS, a Functional Health Coach based in Asheville, North Carolina, in the US. She weaves together her personal health journey - including a fibroid surgery that nearly killed her - with her training in functional health, nutrition, and hormones to help women heal their gut and achieve hormonal balance. She is the host of the great podcast, Hormonally Speaking. Christine sees clients from all over the world via Zoom and offers self-guided healing programs on her website. You can find out more about Christine on her website at https://christinegarvin.com, on Instagram (@Christine Garvin) and her YouTube channel (@Christine Garvin).

We had a fantastic conversation and covered so many topics, some of which follow on very nicely from Episode 4 about stress and the adrenals. So here are some of the topics we discussed:

• Her experience with a 6cm fibroid that resulted in her losing some of her intestines and getting sepsis
• What fibroids are, the symptoms and how you find out you have them
• Laparoscopic myomectomy vs. hysterectomy
• Understanding what the root causes behind fibroids
• Antibiotics, stress and poor gut health
• Stress response and hormones
• Diagnostic tools such as DUTCH for hormones, and GI-map to help diagnose gut health issues
• Setting personal boundaries
• Liver detoxification
• Estrogen dominance
• Surgery risks of intestinal damage and what to ask your doctor

PLUS, supplements, probiotics and other solutions to improve gut and liver health!

Links and resources mentioned:

• Ready-made castor oil packs for liver detoxing
• DUTCH test
• GI Map
• Hormonally Speaking podcast

Further Endo Fertility links and resources:

• Join my Endo Fertility community! Find us in the Thrive and Conceive with Endometriosis Facebook Group.
• The Endo Fertility Specialist website for details on how to work with me: https://www.endofertilityspecialist.com
• Follow me on Instagram (@endofertilityspecialist) and Facebook (@endofertilityspecialist)
• Intro/Outro Music Credits: Optimistic Future

This episode is sponsored by the Endo Fertility Resource Library where you can get your 3 amazing freebies: E-Book: 5 Things I Learnt to Drop My Pain & Optimise My Fertility, Your Guide to Super Sperm, and 88 Ways I Dropped My Pain and Got Pregnant.

Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss out on any future episodes – which will be out weekly on Wednesdays!

And, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a rating and a review, it will help it reach many more that need help on their Endometriosis and fertility journeys. Thank you!

If you want to be on the podcast or have feedback please email: [email protected]

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.

So today I wanted to share with you information about stress and how this affects your delicately balanced hormones, which are so important for fertility. I also go into how this can affect your endometriosis, and even how your endometriosis affects your stress response. Stress is something that I have experienced many many times in my life for a variety of reasons. I have had chronic fatigue in my 20's and now, unfortunately, have low cortisol and DHEA, what is now called "HPA axis dysfunction" and it is something that I am having to deal with as otherwise, it will prevent me from getting pregnant.

So, some of the things I talk about are:

• What stress is – physical, emotional, internal and external?
• The endocrine system and some of the important glands and hormones associated with stress, endometriosis and fertility
• What our stress response actually is
• How stress and cortisol affect fertility
• How endometriosis is affected by stress and how it affects our stress response
• Chronic fatigue and the different types and potential reasons
• My personal experience with stress and trying to get pregnant, its effect on my endometriosis symptoms

PLUS, four ways you can manage stress and how to support your body's response to stress!!

Mentioned links

• Ari Whitten – The Energy Blue Print: https://www.theenergyblueprint.com

Endo Fertility links and resources:

• Join my Endo Fertility community! Find us in the Thrive and Conceive with Endometriosis Facebook Group.
• Follow me on Instagram and Facebook

• Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Optimistic Future

Relevant blogs:

• 5 ways to reduce inflammation and improve fertility and endometriosis

This episode is sponsored by the Endo Fertility Resource Library where you can get your 3 amazing freebies: E-Book: 5 Things I Learnt to Drop My Pain & Optimise My Fertility, Your Guide to Super Sperm, and 88 Ways I Dropped My Pain and Got Pregnant.

Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss out on any future episodes – which will be out weekly on Wednesdays!

And, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a rating and a review? Thanks!

If you want to be on the podcast or have feedback please email: [email protected]

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.

Too many women are told their bodies are broken because they are struggling to get pregnant, that their eggs are too old, their Endometriosis is or could be stopping them getting pregnant, and they should go straight for IVF, when the truth is their bodies are not broken. What does broken even mean?! Have you been told negative things like this, has this made you feel disempowered? Well you should know that there are things you can do to help your fertility. Yes certainly Endometriosis does make things harder, I am certainly not disputing that, but there are a lot of things that you can do and control, that will improve your fertility and chances of getting pregnant either naturally or through assisted means.

In today’s episode I chat to Rachel Bolton from Plan Yourself Pregnant. We talk about how you can take control and improve your own fertility, even if you have Endometriosis. Rachel’s mission is to empower women to become more fertile, get pregnant and have healthy babies. The topics we discussed were:

• Rachel’s personal fertility journey and painful periods
• How Rachel’s preconception actions got her pregnant so quickly
• Chronic fatigue, perfectionism and high achievers
• Chinese medicine, acupuncture, acupressure
• “Perfect Periods” and “Conceivable Cycles”
• Charting you cycle
• Mindset and Stress
• Male fertility and sperm quality
• Preconception care

Rachel and her team get to the root cause of fertility issues and create customised plans for couples to get pregnant.They help women understand their fertile signs and take the right steps for their body to improve egg quality, balance hormones, get a Perfect Period and a Conceivable Cycle. Rachel’s clients are inspiring! They are doing the impossible, getting pregnant and having healthy babies, even when doctors have told them there’s a 0% chance.

Rachel is an international fertility coach, teacher and speaker and helps thousands of women around the world on their path to pregnancy. You can connect with her on Facebook, through her website or joining her Facebook Group: Fertility Heroes.

Resources Mentioned:

• Website: https://planyourselfpregnant.com
• Fertility Heroes Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/planyourselfpregnantprivategroup/

Further Endo Fertility links and resources:

• Join my Endo Fertility community! Find us in the Thrive and Conceive with Endometriosis Facebook Group.

• Follow me on Instagram and Facebook: @endofertilityspecialist

• Intro/Outro Music Credits: Optimistic Future

This episode is sponsored by the Endo Fertility Resource Library where you can get your 3 amazing freebies: E-Book: 5 Things I Learnt to Drop My Pain & Optimise My Fertility, Your Guide to Super Sperm, and 88 Ways I Dropped My Pain and Got Pregnant.

 Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss out on any future episodes – which will be out weekly on Wednesdays!

And, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a rating and a review? Thanks! 

If you want to be on the podcast or have feedback please email: [email protected]

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.

You might not know it but there is hope after you Endometriosis diagnosis and there are other options beside hormone treatments and surgeries to manage your pain. Were you diagnosed early in your menstrual life and had enough of your endless surgeries? Or has it taken forever to get a diagnosis and only because you are now struggling with getting pregnant?

In this episode, my first guest is Melissa Turner, a stage 4 Endo warrior, who explains how she dealt with her Endometriosis after a diagnosis at 19 years old and seven surgeries. Through her own experimentation and further education as a Naturopathic Doctor she learnt how to manage the pain naturally, which allowed her body to heal itself of the Endometriosis. She developed the REACH Technique Programme so she could help empower women to realise there is hope and alternative possibilities to surgery and hormone treatment.

Melissa Turner has created an online platform for women who wish to better manage their endometriosis through natural and holistic methods. After her own experience and suffering through 7 surgeries, she found a way forward and wants other women to know that there is hope and there is a way to live pain and symptom-free.

You can read more about Melissa and her journey on her website at http://www.endoempowered.com/. Melissa has also created an incredible resource for women with endometriosis through her Endo Empowered Academy. Members gain the specific strategies that address endometriosis at the root cause and help the body heal. You can read more about it here: https://www.endoempowered.com/endo-empowered-academy/

The topics we discussed were:

• Melissa' journey with Endometriosis and her seven surgeries.
• How Melissa found natural practices such as nutrition significantly reduced her pain.
• The need for hope when being diagnosed with Endometriosis.
• The role of the Mind-Body Connection / Mindset and how a woman's negative. thoughts associated with pain can drive and manifest further pain and infertility.
• Different culture's shame vs celebration of periods and menstruation.
• Becoming a Naturopathic Doctor so Melissa could delve deep into the anatomy, physiology and biology behind the body's ability to heal itself and then relate this to Endo.
• Why Melissa is so passionate in supporting women through her REACH Technique Program and coaching.
• Melissa's cyst reduction course.

Resources Mentioned:

• Website: endoempowered.com
• Endo Empowered Academy https://www.endoempowered.com/endo-empowered-academy/

Further Endo Fertility links and resources:

• Join my Endo Fertility community! Find us in the Thrive and Conceive with Endometriosis Facebook Group.

• Follow me on Instagram and Facebook: @endofertilityspecialist
• Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Optimistic Future

This episode is sponsored by the Endo Fertility Resource Library where you can get your 3 amazing freebies: E-Book: 5 Things I Learnt to Drop My Pain & Optimise My Fertility, Your Guide to Super Sperm, and 88 Ways I Dropped My Pain and Got Pregnant.

Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss out on any future episodes – which will be out weekly on Wednesdays!

And, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a rating and a review? Thanks!

If you want to be on the podcast or have feedback please email: [email protected]

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.

In this debut episode, I wanted to share a bit about myself and my personal journey with Endometriosis, which took 25 years to get a diagnosis, my struggle to get pregnant, and how I finally became pregnant and gave birth at 39 to our miracle baby. There is too much to tell in one episode, but I give you the basics, and other bits will come out during future episodes I am sure.

I wanted to tell you my story, as I want you to understand why I understand how you are feeling, the frustration, fear, anger, sadness, pain and so much more. I want to give you hope and empowerment that you can make changes to your health and increase your chances of getting pregnant as you increase your fertility. I have learnt so much about myself on my healing journey. I want to share how my diagnosis has since changed my life, how it helped me heal so many of my symptoms, and how I then decided I wanted to change my career to become a nutrition and health coach and help other women with their own Endo Fertility struggle.

Some of the things I mention are:

• My unexplained fertility diagnosis and persistence to find out more
• Finally finding out I had endometriosis
• Finding my fertility and endometriosis coaches
• Learning what Endo symptoms mean
• Understanding the need to nourish my body
• Gut health / liver issues
• Mindset changes
• Quitting my career as a marine environmental consultant
• Lifestyle changes
• How much you had learnt on this journey/ Health coach course
• Retraining as an Integrative Nutrition and Health Coach
• Realising I wanted to help other women like me.
• Learning what I need to do now we are trying for baby no. 2, especially knowing what I know now!

Endo Fertility links and resources:

• Join my Endo Fertility community! Find us in the Thrive and Conceive with Endometriosis Facebook Group.
• Follow me on Instagram and Facebook

• Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Optimistic Future

Relevant blogs:

• How Fertility Coaching Changed My Life
• Endometriosis made me cry with relief

This episode is sponsored by the Endo Fertility Resource Library where you can get your 3 amazing freebies: E-Book: 5 Things I Learnt to Drop My Pain & Optimise My Fertility, Your Guide to Super Sperm, and 88 Ways I Dropped My Pain and Got Pregnant.

Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss out on any future episodes – which will be out weekly on Wednesdays!

And, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a rating and a review? Thanks!

If you want to be on the podcast or have feedback please email: [email protected]

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.