A glimmer of hope (again)!

A glimmer of hope (again)!

The nutritionist

Rosie and I went to see another nutritionist. We had hoped to stick with the same one we had back in October, but it was not to be. She did manage to send through some recommendations though and last Sunday evening I went through the options. Unfortunately, (and for various reasons) none were suitable, so the search continued with that multi-coloured search engine. I came across someone in Fife who seemed reasonable in price and whose biography was enough to catch the eye. I wasn’t convinced about the situation and thought it was be another dead end, but we needed an option and there it was.

But…!!!

It wasn’t. We were at the nutritionist’s house for around an hour and a half. In that time, we had answers to all the questions we had, another direction to try and a second appointment in a months’ time.

Auto-immune condition

Apparently, Endometriosis is similar to an auto-immune disorder. This means that the body gets confused and starts attacking the healthy cells. Endometriosis is also an inflammatory condition which is why it is likened to an auto-immune disorder. For me there is inflammation around the ovaries and the womb and that is where half of my problems lie. There is still a lot of research being done on this particular idea but I am sure in time there will be more information. In the short term we know what I have just said.

What does that mean?

In simple terms it means I have a ten foot fire inside of me. Eating the current foods that I eat means the fire goes up to twenty or thirty foot. This in turn inflames the body which does not help the body recover. However, and here is the good news. If I change the food, I eat I can bring down this fire to one foot. Just by eating a different diet I can make the change so the fire burns at one foot rather than thirty feet. Now that is a brain puzzle!

What do I have to do (dairy and gluten)?

There are several things that I need to do. The first is give up dairy which I have already started to do. This in turn has already started to bring down the inflammation markers in my body. The second thing is to go gluten free (again). I know I tried it and didn’t get on with it but I need to give it a longer time to work.

However…

However, the nutritionist has said that I have not only to go gluten free, but I must avoid gluten and gluten contaminates. Even a crumb is enough to make my bodies inflammation markers rise. Let me explain: I can eat gluten free porridge oats, but I cannot have normal porridge oats. The normal porridge oats are in themselves gluten free, but they hang out in a field where wheat could have been and hey presto, they get contaminated. This means they are no good for someone like me.  

What do I have to do (the rest)?

I also must make sure that I finish eating by 1900 in the evening and have a better bedtime routine involving Epsom salts. The Epsom salts will help take the toxins out of my body which is good, and I will also feel sleepy after doing this. I have also to eat lots more fruit and vegetables to make sure I am getting the right vitamins and nutrients. Along with that I must eat flaxseed everyday and add to smoothies all anti-inflammatory foods like ginger, garlic and turmeric. All of this will help bring down the inflammation surrounding my insides. Drinking more water is on the cards as well. Eating pork and any processed foods is out. So, no more bacon, sausages and ham sandwiches.

The sugar and the protein monsters

Taking out a lot of processed foods means there will be a lot less sugar that goes through me. I am allowed dark chocolate still, but I have to keep an eye on my proteins. From what I understood the sugar monster runs around the body causing havoc. Once protein has been consumed they eat the sugar monsters. The body will then have to find other sources to snack on, i.e. fat. This will in turn make me lose weight.

Inflammation surrounding the ovaries

Oestrogen at the minute in my body is being a bully and it is inflaming the ovaries and womb. Now here is the good news. If I can change my diet it will start to bring down the inflammation surrounding my ovaries. This means they will cope a lot better. There is some suggestion I will reduce the need for another emergency surgery to deal with the ovarian cysts too. There is also some hope that if there is a good egg in one of the ovaries then it will be looked after by the oestrogen. They will become friends rather than enemies. This in turn could be the egg that allows us to have a child.

Hard work

Yes, it will be very hard work. My diet needs another re-vamp, I will need to be a lot more organised with making food and I will need to keep track on what is being eaten. However, the good news is there could be weight loss, a lot less inflammation both on the inside and outside of my body and even better is there could be a golden egg in there with the start of our dream on it.

Jaded

After seeing out NHS consultant last September I became very jaded by the whole experience. I am now known to judge medical professionals and “size them up” before I let them in on who Helen is. Today I still have my moments when I am more negative than positive about the situation as well. I am sure time will help sort some of this as well.

Lucky

I am just very glad and very lucky that we could have the opportunity to consult with private IVF consultants and nutritionists so we have the answers to some of these questions. Had we not done this then we would have got around to August and still not been ready for the IVF waiting list. This would have meant we would have been kicked out of the service to “sort it out” then would have had to go back to our GP to start the whole process again. I am aware there is a long way to go still but we have a glimmer of hope that will take Rosie and me to the next point or decision. Hopefully in the next few months we will be ready for the next step. What we do know is that there are now people around helping us to get there.

IVF update

We have had another visit to our IVF consultant over the last few days. The basics are we need to keep losing weight to get into the service. The good side is we have made a good start. The bad news is that instead of 90kg which was originally stated we need to get to 88kg. The 90kg was for all the tests for further investigations. As we have skipped that step now (having had it completed in December during the surgery) we now have a slightly different goal.

The injection

The other downside is that I was apparently meant to keep having the injections to shut down my ovaries and pop me into a menopause. Doing this allows the body the best chance of getting into the IVF procedure. I also now have to start taking H.R.T to make sure my symptoms from the injection don’t cause me too many issues. The joys of it all!!!

The nutritionist’s information

If anyone is in a similar boat we recommend the Food Physio who is based in Fife. Details can be found here.

-Helen

2spuds

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