Gut inflammation with endometrial infiltration

[eimearrose]

My diet is not very Peaty because I limit Vitamin A and beta carotene. I eat pinto, black eyed peas or black beans at three meals. Other foods are chicken, beef, rice, coconut oil, vinegar, olive oil, white corn tortillas, apples, pineapple, onions, eggs, iceberg lettuce, a small amount of ice cream or Greek yogurt, blueberries and other things if I go see relatives. I am older and even past menopause I could tell when my estrogen would go up. I spent about six months eating low fat and 1/2 cup of beans five times a day and all those irritating problems went away. Now I just eat plain beans with meals. I don't agree with Karen Hurd's recommendations to eat a lot of vegetables, nuts and oils. I don't digest milk well so I avoid it. I do agree with Karen Hurd's theory that the bean or psyllium fiber will help remove toxins from bile and estrogen is one of the toxins. I don't drink coffee and avoid caffeine and I am much calmer because of that. I take B vitamins, Vitamin C, magnesium glycinate, and some others less regularly. You probably have enough progesterone but you need to get rid of excess estrogen. The progesterone will slow gut motility but if you are getting enough fiber to remove the estrogen your digestion should improve. If you are younger and having lots of problems with pain, I would try to get plenty of salt throughout the month (a former user said she used salt tablets near her period after a recommendation from a pharmacist, I can't find the thread because that user is no longer active here) and maybe try bee pollen as @Rinse & rePeat mentioned in a thread recently. I had plenty of period pain when I was younger and I wish I had known some of what I know now.

This is the thread:
Dilation and Curettage Procedure or Raspa

And this is @Rinse & rePeat quote from post #11:

Bee Pollen is amazing for woman’s health, and got rid of my menstrual cramps, in my late twenties. I didn’t take it all the time, but always a few days to a week before my period, to have it prepare my system for what was to come. I have always felt normal through my periods because of it. I would feel an extra need to eat a lot the day before starting, and some fatigue, but bee pollen made my life a breeze. I think it is worth taking solidly with female problems, since it is only food. MSM is good at skin and cell repair and breaking down keratin and fibroids. I would probably add some other things to your stack, but I would start with those two first, and see how things go, and make at least one or two major changes in the diet, and getting the wheat gone would be my first choice. The other one would depend on the current diet. Here is a pic of the only MSM brand I trust, because other ones were not pure and I could tell. Sometimes doing too much all at one can be hard on the body too, just do something good to add and something good to take out, that is so much easier, mentally even.

Thanks for the detailed reply, and the suggestions. It's exactly the stance on vegetable oils that prevents me from doing her protocol exactly as it is prescribed, so I am working my way into my own version, essentially I feel the most important elements are adding the beans and taking out caffeine. I lowered my caffeine intake this week, and just had a decaf yesterday, nothing today and by now I have a banging headache. I've given up coffee many times before for short periods, and always have rotten headaches when I stop. I do think for me coffee adds to my estrogen load. Like you, I suspect I don't digest plain milk that great, but I seem to do OK with fermented milk eg yogurt or kefir. I plan to keep that in and only remove it if I am still having pain. However I've been vegan for extended periods of time and I still had dreadful cramps. Same with fruit and the small amounts of honey and maple syrup I use, I really don't think they're my issue. But I am prepared to experiment removing them further down the line if adding beans and removing coffee doesn't do much. I also will be keeping in saturated fats but I will be over all decreasing my fat intake as I feel like I have eaten so much dark chocolate and cheese recently. I just let myself give in to those cravings (more for the chocolate than the cheese) and actually now I don't really want either. A few weeks ago I was eating a few ounces a day. I used to find my period pain was way worse after foods rich in saturated fat, and a bit better if I'd eaten very low fat or hadn't eaten at all (eg if I'd been sick). In recent years my only comfortable period was just after I'd had a colonoscopy, and had had my gut totally cleared out plus fasted for the best part of 3 days. So I already have an idea that a clear gut and possibly lower saturated fat intake are important here.

I do salt meals and eat salty things (olives, very salty French butter, pickles) but I will experiment with pushing it a bit higher especially the week before my period. I have never tried bee pollen before but will give that a shot of the salt doesn't work. I am really fed up taking supplements and even unusual foods, and don't really like the idea of having to rely on something that I might not always be able to access (such as bee pollen) so I prefer to start with something that's very easy to incorporate into my routine, like the salt. But I will concede that bee pollen is not as off putting as it's just a food really. I really appreciate the response and it's reassuring to hear from someone that has had success with a more nuanced application of Hurd's theories.

 

[Dolomite]

Thanks for the detailed reply, and the suggestions. It's exactly the stance on vegetable oils that prevents me from doing her protocol exactly as it is prescribed, so I am working my way into my own version, essentially I feel the most important elements are adding the beans and taking out caffeine. I lowered my caffeine intake this week, and just had a decaf yesterday, nothing today and by now I have a banging headache. I've given up coffee many times before for short periods, and always have rotten headaches when I stop. I do think for me coffee adds to my estrogen load. Like you, I suspect I don't digest plain milk that great, but I seem to do OK with fermented milk eg yogurt or kefir. I plan to keep that in and only remove it if I am still having pain. However I've been vegan for extended periods of time and I still had dreadful cramps. Same with fruit and the small amounts of honey and maple syrup I use, I really don't think they're my issue. But I am prepared to experiment removing them further down the line if adding beans and removing coffee doesn't do much. I also will be keeping in saturated fats but I will be over all decreasing my fat intake as I feel like I have eaten so much dark chocolate and cheese recently. I just let myself give in to those cravings (more for the chocolate than the cheese) and actually now I don't really want either. A few weeks ago I was eating a few ounces a day. I used to find my period pain was way worse after foods rich in saturated fat, and a bit better if I'd eaten very low fat or hadn't eaten at all (eg if I'd been sick). In recent years my only comfortable period was just after I'd had a colonoscopy, and had had my gut totally cleared out plus fasted for the best part of 3 days. So I already have an idea that a clear gut and possibly lower saturated fat intake are important here.

I do salt meals and eat salty things (olives, very salty French butter, pickles) but I will experiment with pushing it a bit higher especially the week before my period. I have never tried bee pollen before but will give that a shot of the salt doesn't work. I am really fed up taking supplements and even unusual foods, and don't really like the idea of having to rely on something that I might not always be able to access (such as bee pollen) so I prefer to start with something that's very easy to incorporate into my routine, like the salt. But I will concede that bee pollen is not as off putting as it's just a food really. I really appreciate the response and it's reassuring to hear from someone that has had success with a more nuanced application of Hurd's theories.

I hope you get some relief. I agree about unusual food availability, like bee pollen, but if it works that is the main thing. I craved a lot of chocolate, too. I have recently cut back to only a very small piece of milk chocolate in the morning. I plan to wean myself off that, too, and only eat white chocolate so I get saturated fat without the caffeine and other stimulant chemicals in chocolate. You should wean yourself off coffee over at least two weeks if not longer. I never had headaches when I did that. The only times I had headaches are when I was drinking it regularly and couldn't get any on a particular day. Caffeine raises cortisol so even though it is considered a Peat food, the increase in cortisol isn't good. I, too, felt great after using the colonoscopy prep, so I know what you mean. Mainly, I eat a bland, kind of low fat diet with plenty of salt these days. I wouldn't worry about sugars in your diet. That is another thing I don't follow with the Hurd plan. I tried drinking a lot of milk but it caused more hormone problems in addition to the digestion problems.

 

[eimearrose]

I hope you get some relief. I agree about unusual food availability, like bee pollen, but if it works that is the main thing. I craved a lot of chocolate, too. I have recently cut back to only a very small piece of milk chocolate in the morning. I plan to wean myself off that, too, and only eat white chocolate so I get saturated fat without the caffeine and other stimulant chemicals in chocolate. You should wean yourself off coffee over at least two weeks if not longer. I never had headaches when I did that. The only times I had headaches are when I was drinking it regularly and couldn't get any on a particular day. Caffeine raises cortisol so even though it is considered a Peat food, the increase in cortisol isn't good. I, too, felt great after using the colonoscopy prep, so I know what you mean. Mainly, I eat a bland, kind of low fat diet with plenty of salt these days. I wouldn't worry about sugars in your diet. That is another thing I don't follow with the Hurd plan. I tried drinking a lot of milk but it caused more hormone problems in addition to the digestion problems.

I'm reading this with a throbbing caffeine withdrawal headache and definitely agree tapering off is the way to go! I stopped a few days ago because I was pretty sick this week with bad abdominal pain and then my period hit. So I figured it was a good opportunity to stop coffee, but now although the other issues are settling, I'm crippled with this headache, so I'm having a little cup now and will gradually reduce the amount over the next two weeks.
I am a very sympathetic dominant person, I just recently gave up long distance running, I find I am drawn to things that drive up my stress hormones despite the fact I am super sensitive. I feel getting away from any cortisol enducing foods or activities should make a big difference to how I feel. Not running has already helped a good deal with sleep quality, and despite the headache, I sleep so well when I don't drink coffee. Great idea on the white chocolate, I always forget about it and yet I like it. I have a work colleague who became very sensitive to caffeine in perimenopause and now only eats white chocolate. She would get painful bladder spasms if she had coffee or dark chocolate. I am curious about what drives intense chocolate cravings, I suppose it's just the heady combination of saturated fat, a bit of sweetness and caffeine. I am not as sure that it's lack of certain minerals, since things like copper are available in other foods and I don't crave those.
I will report back here in a few weeks with how the added beans and salt, and removal of caffeine goes.