Stress and Endometriosis
I believe one of the biggest factors in my endo pain is stress. Every time something stresses me out, pain is sure to follow. I learned more about the correlation between hormonal balance and stress in Dr. Claudia Welch’s book, Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life (a recommended read).
She talks a great deal about the effects of cortisol in the body. Cortisol is released from the adrenal glands when the body is stressed, and since the body uses this hormone along with adrenaline in life or death situations, this hormone essentially trumps all others.
So…In order to find true hormonal balance to naturally treat endometriosis, stress must be lessened and/or we must learn to handle stress effectively.
A Healthy Happy Home
To help unwind from daily stressors, its important to have a safe haven to come home to. Your home should be your sanctuary – a place to aid in your healing. Unfortunately this is not always the case, especially if there are stresses at home from an abusive relationship.
In one of my endometriosis support groups, a gal mentioned that her endometriosis pain was eliminated when she finally left a relationship she was unhappy with for many years. I know that when I am stressed and fighting with someone close to me, that the endo pain is awful, flared by strong emotions tied to love and hurt.
After eight long years, fortunately my husband and I rarely fight. I am blessed to be in the presence of true love that makes me smile and offers support on my pain days, or days where I just don’t feel “up” 🙂
While we have little stress between us, unfortunately we have stress at home coming from the darkness below…
We own a condo in a two story building and we have a “crazy” neighbor that lives below us. He’s been quite abusive to us for over three years. He bangs violently on our ceiling and walls, screams at us, beckoning a fight with harsh words – “I’m going to kill you!” He also has a very loud bass system that he turns onto club levels, literally shaking the dishes in our cupboards…We have resorted to calling the police several times.
He sporadically freaks out, often when things are quiet, or when we are in a happy mood. Usually it is unexpected. When he does freak out – I stress out. My heart rate rises, my body gets freezing cold and shaky. I don’t want to do anything. It sucks the happiness out of me.
And pain usually follows.
Why am I writing about all of this? (Besides the fact that it rages in my mind most of the time). Because I’ve made a decision to make a change – to move – to get away from the negative energy surrounding our home. It’s not healthy and in no way helping with my healing.
So I’ve been packing and prepping the place to sell, in hopes of moving into a new home close by 🙂
The first step to making a change in your life is making the decision to do so – then taking action. I’ve sat and stressed about this crazy neighbor for years. The time has come to break away. This is not to say that I think it right to run away when anything gets stressful, but there comes a point when enough is enough.
Things Don’t Change Unless You Change Them
When I was first diagnosed with endometriosis and offered the limited treatment options I fell into a depression. I had something that doctors said could not be healed, that may compromise my fertility.
Then I came across a load of natural healing sources and inspiring stories of women who healed themselves naturally through diet and lifestyle and I made an important decision to change, then took action.
I eliminated gluten, dairy, soy and caffeine from my diet, as these are all things said to aggravate endo. This was hard. This is what I ate all the time, everyday. I started introducing more fruits and vegetables. I switched to organic. I eliminated as many chemicals from my life as possible. I started checking labels and changed the products I used to use. These changes positively effected my health.
I feel better since I made the decision to do so. I made the decision to change.
Taking control of my health has empowered me. I will not let endo control my life, and I will not allow a creepy neighbor to get in the way of my pain free days. The time is now. Why wait?
On the Positive Side?
I’ve searched for the positives in our stressful home environment, in hopes of remaining somewhat sane, but admittedly I struggle with this. The only solace I’ve been able to provide is that the negativity living below us is a test. A test of patience and of being able to find peace regardless of the stressful situation.
Truth is, the stresses in our lives are not going to go away. We have to learn how to deal with them. I find my breath to be a strong guiding force to calming my body and mind. I also find relief from stress from my wonderful morning Yoga 🙂
I pray each day for peace. For myself and for the darkness below.
And Peace to you Dear Reader 🙂
