Endometriosis is a hard disease to live with and, since there isn’t a cure yet, sufferers must learn to live with it.
If you’re an endometriosis patient, here are some tips that can help you manage your symptoms and improve your day-to-day life:
1. Acceptance
For many women, endometriosis goes undiagnosed for a very long time. Symptoms can often mimic regular period pains and doctors don’t always take them seriously. When the condition does get diagnosed, patients have to learn how to cope with everything this “invisible” disease brings with it.
Accepting things like chronic pain, infertility and not being able to find a treatment or cure can be incredibly difficult but it’s a key element. Only by accepting what’s happening can you go on to find new ways to cope.
2. Change your diet
Your dietary habits can and will have an effect on your daily life and they’re even more important when you suffer from a disease.
Although it’s rarely discussed, there is such a thing as the endometriosis diet. This diet can help you improve your estrogen levels, balance your hormones, relieve your pain and cramps, and help with other symptoms. This diet is fairly simple as it focuses on lowering your estrogen levels by providing you with more “good” fiber like whole grains, fruits and vegetables and on creating more “good” prostaglandins (PGE1) by adding foods that contain omega-3s. Its good to remember that dairy and meat products have a lot of “bad” prostaglandins and will need to be mostly cut from your diet and replaced with healthier alternatives.
MORE: Best therapy for endometriosis might be a healthy and nutritious diet
3. Dealing with pain
One of the hardest things that people suffering with endometriosis have to accept is living with and handling chronic pain and its effects on their life.
Do things when you feel well enough to do them, call a friend and chat if you don’t feel well enough to go out. Sleep the required hours for your age group and take a few naps throughout the day if you need to. Relax and enjoy time for yourself regularly as people with chronic pain release more stress hormones than the average person and therefore need to pay more attention to their daily relaxation time.
Don’t beat yourself up just because you need a break once in a while or can’t do exactly what other people do. Remember that you have different circumstances and limitations.
4. Support
Support may come from actual support groups in your neighborhood or from friends and family. Building a good support network is extremely important but with pain, frustration and depression, it can be hard to maintain or build new friendships.
Try to stay in touch with one person outside of your family everyday. (Yes, texting counts.) Choose activities that you don’t have to leave the house for like movie nights, board games with friends or dinners at your home or someone else’s.
At the end of the day, your friends and family will understand if you really don’t feel up to doing anything. Just reschedule and make sure that they understand that you love them but also need to take care of yourself.
MORE: Anxiety, depression are important qualify-of-life factors in endometriosis patients, review finds
Endometriosis News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.