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This EndoLife Podcast Episode 21 with @cori5mith is here! In this episode I’m talking to Cori about his experience of endometriosis as a trans man and how we can make the endometriosis community a safer, more supportive place for transgender and non-binary people and others who do not identify as cisfemale with endometriosis. Cori has endometriosis and his story of how he was treated as a women vs how he was treated as a trans man is shocking, but so important to talk about and raise awareness of. Cori is doing incredible and courageous work for our community. It was an absolute honour to speak with him, and I really hope you find it an enlightening episode! 💛 Head to my bio to listen or go directly to your podcast app.
Friends - this is an urgent call to our community to show just what endometriosis warriors are capable of. We have less than 24 hrs to sign @endofound’s petition which could radically change the future of menstrual health. 🙏 A new bill is currently before the New York State Senate and Assembly, which would make endometriosis and menstrual health mandatory in NY state middle and high schools. This is HUGE. This change and the positive impact it will create, will hopefully have a ripple effect across America and further states will follow suit. By educating young people about menstrual health and conditions such as endometriosis, we're breaking the taboo around periods, meaning people are able to open up and get support and a diagnosis quicker and future generations won't face the same hurdles and challenges we have because everyone will recognise the importance of menstrual health. To sign and find out more, follow the link in my bio or head over to @endofound Let’s make history. ❤️ P.S. You can sign this wherever you are in the world. For those of you in the UK, you can also sign the petition being run by Endometriosis UK. Head to their site for more info - I’ll be sharing some exciting news about that soon.
Its taken 6 months, 2 designs, an intervention from Chris and a Monday night up past midnight finishing it off... But the new This EndoLife website is here! The old one was designed and built when I had no idea how to create a website (still don’t tbh, hence the intervention) and I just felt that it wasn’t serving you guys well anymore. It was hard to find previous blog posts and there was no search button if you wanted to look for something specific. The shop was also pretty much non-existent! So now we’ve created a gorgeous new website that I am so so proud of, the new layout means you can see all posts and all pages easily, you can search for information that’s relevant to you... and there’s now a full blown endofriendly shop with products that I’ve tried and tested and use regularly. There’s still a lot of additions and changes to come to the site, so you may seeing it evolving over time, but I’m so happy with where it’s at today and I hope that it helps you on your journey to living and thriving with endometriosis. ❤️ Visit the new site in my bio and let me know what you think and what you’d like to see on there in the future in the comments! 😘😘😘
Season 3 of This EndoLife Podcast begins with a giveaway! This episode I chat with the organic period subscription start-up @totmorganic who are changing the period game. TOTM make tampons, pads and cups that are kinder to your vagina and are both sustainable and made without all the chemicals you find in your everyday period products. 🌹 . And to celebrate, podcast guests @totmorganic are giving away 2 products and an accessory of your choice - choose from organic pads, liners, tampons and menstrual cups. 😍 Just tag a friend below who you talk endo and periods with. ❤️ This giveaway is only available for UK and US ONLY residents at the moment, but soon I’ll be opening up giveaways all over! 🌎 A winner will be picked at random on Friday 🎉 . I talk to the lovely Fee and Alex about how TOTM started and why the founders were so passionate and determined to create organic period products that are safe to use. We discuss the chemicals found in tampons and pads and how those can affect our hormone health and even diseases like endometriosis, we also discuss how organic period products can help you have a better period and what the start up is doing to change the lives of those living with endometriosis. . Download the episode on your podcast app or follow the link in my bio to listen. I hope you enjoy! ✨
Each month, I now make make the intention of resting just before and during my period as much as feels right and good to me. I do my best to avoid making concrete plans, as I became exhausted by the pressure of having to keep to them at the time when endo was/is likely to be at its worst for me. Doing this, allowing my body to be in its ‘inner winter’ phase, has given me the much needed chance to slow down and recharge. Something I’ve never really allowed myself to do in the past - ever. I’m the type of person who keeps going until I literally can’t keep going anymore. But since working with my cycle more and more, I’ve found that my energy is increasing and stabilising after years of serious fatigue. I’m not there yet, but I’ve definitely noticed an energy and clarity that has been missing for years. I’m having less meltdowns, my PMS is so much more manageable and my periods are getting easier. Last weekend I cleared the diary with dreams of vegetating, but woke up so full of energy and a desire to buy a new dress (really) that I just had to go do it. I followed my instinct, came home and baked sourdough bread (a new strange addiction) before my period came along and I settled down with the Harry Potter series 🤓. If you asked me this time last year whether I could go shopping hours before my period, the answer would have been “hell no”. It would have floored me. But moving with my cycle seems to be also making my seasons less dramatic, more stable. I am resting when it feels good and nourishing, but I’m not locking myself away on bed rest because my body is holding me hostage. I am still learning what works and what doesn’t - but I can see and feel such a huge improvement. Tracking your cycle might not be of interest to you, but it definitely has been helping me so I wanted to share my experience. If you’re curious, I started this journey with the Peaceful Period Course (link in bio), and I also really recommend the book Code Red, I’ve written a few columns on this over on my site as well. 💛 I hope this supports some of you to experience easier periods and hopefully support you in managing endo too. 💛
Hey there - back again (with a recipe)! 🙋‍♀️ I’ve been hibernating during my autumn and winter phases (a.k.a pre-menstruation and menstruation), but I’m nearly through and wanted to give you a little update! This month, after much trial and error, I started trying more protein based meals with vegetables just before my period. The reason being that I find even oats and rice can bother my stomach and heighten my period pain at this time, I’m assuming it’s due to the carbs converting to sugar (though as always, I’m not a nutritionist, so this is just a hunch). Don’t worry - I definitely do not deny myself carbs, I start everyday with a bowl of oats and making gf sourdough is my current fav hobby, I also eat a lot of grains and root veggies! But I’ve just noticed an increase in pain for me personally when I have these at this particular time (the rest of the month is fine); I would never, ever recommend you just copy a diet that works for someone else - always take the time to work out what helps you manage your symptoms. 💛 But I like to be honest and share my journey in case there’s something in this that helps you. 💛 - Anyway, I ended up making these incredible chickpea based pizzas on Friday! I used a @hemsleyhemsley chickpea flour pizza recipe, and topped it with a walnut pesto by @minimalistbaker I then added vegan cream cheese, balsamic onions, rocket, herbs, thinly sliced beetroot and toasted walnuts. I have to be bold here and say it was divine! Being able to eat like this and not get pain is a big deal to me, because my body is so sensitive to what I put in it - but recipes like this prove you don’t have to go without if certain foods trigger your endo. 🍕🙏🍕(The links in this are not sponsored, I found the recipes myself online!)
I made these lavender and rose gluten free and vegan shortbread biscuits ages ago, but I’m super into baking right now so thinking of making them again. 😍 BUT the point of this post is to talk about diet and how it can help or worsen the IBS issues that so often come alongside endo. I’ve spent a good few years tweaking my diet in order to to get my symptoms under control, and I’m now in a place where the only thing I struggle with really is bloating (though it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be). For me, some of the biggest triggers for my stomach problems were caffeine (especially matcha tea, but not matcha lattes?!), dairy was huge for me as it turned out I was super, super intolerant, gluten and certain raw vegetables like carrots. The process I took to find answers was a mix of getting tested, trial and elimination and research. Thankfully there is so much more info out there now, so the research part is much easier! I’ve written a couple of columns on my experience with this over on Endometriosis News, you can read about my journey and the detailed steps I took by following the link in my bio. ❤️ Also - if you’re coming to our Endo Sharing Circle tomorrow and this is one of your struggles, we can work on this in our group coaching section! ❤️
Hilariously @slc_london had to do a bit of stalking to dig out this picture of me for our interview! So as many of you probably have no idea what I look like giving I hide behind food and periods most of the time - hello! 🤗 Here’s a little snippet of mine and @vickiewilliams_ interview with the gorgeous girls over at She’s Lost Control, ahead of our Endo Circle this Sunday (for tickets head to my bio).... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This Endolife founder, Jessica Duffin and Natural Rhythmic Healer, Vickie Williams, met at a She’s Lost Control session, got chatting and discovered that they were both living day to day with a condition known as Endometriosis (or endo for short). “Vickie and I have a alternative way of dealing with Endo to the norm” Jessica told us recently, “and it can be quite isolating because family and friends can think you're being hippie or extreme. Meeting Vickie was like finding my people (or person!) and we had a really long chat about our stories, especially as Vickie had quite serious endo issues going on at the time.“ As they chatted, they began thinking of ways they could support others together and asked us whether we’d be interested in hosting a support workshop with us, “I remember leaving SLC that day feeling pretty high on love and support!” ‘
Recently, two things have happened that have made me want to be more specific about the methods I use to reduce my endometriosis pain. Firstly, in December I had a pain-free period and it was very clear to me what made the difference. Secondly, I wrote for Endometriosis UK a couple of weeks back, and mentioned I use supplements for endo. Many of you asked me what supplements I’ve taken, which I’ve shared personally in comments. In the past, I haven’t talked as openly which supplements I take because we’re all different, and I’m not a nutritionist. However, giving that recently I’ve experienced such a noticeable difference and many of you are asking me about it, I’m going to start sharing more of the specific supplements I take. Not because I’m an expert, but because I’m a woman with endometriosis and they’ve worked for me. I would always suggest you check with your doctor and/or nutritionist to make sure these are right for you before trying, and as always, we’re all different, so whilst these worked for me, they may not work for you – but hopefully posts like these will help you work out what does! The first supplement (other than magnesium, which I regularly rave about) that I want to share, is the Turmeric & Ginger Supplement by @gen_essence. I’m starting with these because it’s the supplement that actually led me to that pain free period I talked about over on This EndoLife podcast. I’ve spent a lot of money over the years on trying different supplements, but none have reduced my pain levels so dramatically. I’d rather tell you about one supplement that’s the most effective than several that aren’t - because supplements add up, and if endo has impacted your income, you obviously don’t need a crazy expensive list of supplements. Again I want to make it clear that we’re all different. I’ve spent years reducing my inflammation levels and working with my body to reduce my pain. These supplements for me, seem to be the cherry on the top to make my periods feel ‘normal’. I’ve written about inflammation, why turmeric can help endo pain and about my experience with @gen_essence over on the blog. Link in bio 💛 Sponsored but true post ✨
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