by annette | Aug 25, 2020 | Endometriosis, Periods
Unfortunately, it can take up to ten years for a woman to be correctly diagnosed with endometriosis. In the meantime, she may be suffering from any or all of the following symptoms: Common signs and symptoms of endometriosis include: Painful periods (dysmenorrhea). Pelvic pain and cramping may begin before and extend several days into a menstrual period Pelvic pain during the month Pain during or after sexual intercourse Pain during bowel movements or urination Excessive bleeding during your period Fertility issues Fatigue Digestive related discomfort like diarrhea, constipation, bloating or nausea, especially during your period So what is endometriosis? Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue similar to the tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus — the endometrium — grows outside your uterus. In most cases, this endometriosis lesions are found in the area of your ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining your pelvis. In rare cases, endometrial tissue has been found in areas beyond the pelvic organs. The endometrial-like tissue acts as endometrial tissue would — it thickens, breaks down and bleeds with the changing hormones of the menstrual cycle however this tissue has no way to leave your body so it stays stuck in your pelvic cavity. When endometriosis involves the ovaries, cysts called endometriomas may form. Surrounding tissue can become irritated, eventually developing scar tissue and adhesions — abnormal bands of fibrous tissue that can cause pelvic tissues and organs to stick to each other. How do I know if I have endometriosis? Firstly, if you have many of the symptoms in the above list, I suggest you make an appointment with a Dr who specialises in endometriosis. It’s important that you see a doctor who is familiar with endometriosis and all of the presenting symptoms. In Israel today, there are several centers that specialise in endometriosis. You should contact your local Health Fund and ask for a referral. An early diagnosis is in your favour! In addition, finding a conventional doctor and holistic support may result in better management of your symptoms. How will a doctor determine if I have endometriosis? Your doctor will listen to your symptoms, perform an internal ultrasound (the probe is inserted into your body via your vagina similar to ultrasounds in early pregnancy) and palpate your abdomen. Not all endometriosis lesions can be felt externally or seen on ultrasound. The only real way to determine if you have endometriosis is via a surgery called laparoscopy. During the procedure the surgeon makes several small incisions in your abdomen and inserts a tiny probe with a camera and light which enables the surgeon to see what is going on inside your abdomen on a screen connected to the probe. If they find tissue that appears to be endometriosis, they will take a small sample to test it. Many women decide they don’t want to undergo a laparoscopy and will commence treatment based on their doctor’s diagnosis without a laparoscopy. Why does it take so long to be correctly diagnosed with endometriosis? Some of the symptoms associated with endometriosis are also present in other conditions like pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) or ovarian cysts. In addition, because many women with endometriosis have digestive upsets like diarrhoea, constipation, bloating or nausea and are incorrectly diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition that causes bouts of diarrhea, constipation and abdominal cramping. Does the level of pain I’m in indicate the severity of the endometriosis? There doesn’t seem to be a connection between how much pain you experience and the extent of your endometriosis. Some women experience extreme pain with mild endometriosis and other women have the opposite experience. What causes endometriosis? Unfortunately, there is no known cause for endometriosis. Several possible theories exist including: Retrograde menstruation: during menstruation, some of the endometrium lining (menstrual blood containing endometrial cells) escapes from the uterus via the fallopian tubes and enters the pelvic cavity. These cells then stick to surfaces of the organs in the pelvis eg bowels, ovaries, fallopian tubes, liver, even the lungs. Each time the uterine lining thickens in response to changing hormones in your menstrual cycle, these cells also grow and bleed. Immune system disorders: Another theory states that all women have some endometrial tissue outside of their uterus but mostly their immune system keeps it under check. However, in women with endometriosis their immune systems do not manage to control it. Many women who have endometriosis also are more likely to suffer from other conditions like auto immune disease, rheumatism, fibromyalgia, etc. Transformation of peritoneal cells. Some experts suggest that hormones or immune factors promote transformation of peritoneal cells — cells that line the inner side of your abdomen — into endometrial-like cells. ...
by annette | Jul 27, 2020 | Periods
Your hormones are changing throughout the month and affecting the organs in your body, your energy levels and even your skin. In addition to all the other hormonal processes in your body, women have a monthly hormonal cycle directly related to their fertility and menstrual cycle. And most of us know when it’s out of balance. Signs of hormonal imbalance Mood swings, wildly fluctuating energy levels and an irregular menstrual cycle are all signs of being out of balance. It’s normal to feel differently at different times of your cycle. Wanting to rest around your period, having more energy around ovulation and getting a bit short tempered before your period is due is all NORMAL. But when it’s making your life unpredictable and your loved ones are walking on eggshells at certain times of the month, maybe you want to do something to get back into balance. Ovulation is the main event Your hormones are orchestrating your menstrual cycle. While we are used to looking at our period as the main event in our cycle, actually ovulation is the main event in your monthly cycle. Your hormones are slowly changing leading up to ovulation – estrogen is rising. Estrogen is the hormone that gives us our female characteristics of breasts and wider hips and it stimulates the production of cervical mucus. Cervical mucus is a key part to getting pregnant and one of the three primary fertility signs. Just before ovulation and in response to the rising estrogen levels there is a surge in LH (leutinizing hormone) which causes the follicle on your ovary to rupture. Yeah – ovulation has occurred. After ovulation, progesterone rises sharply and becomes the dominant hormone. Progesterone keeps the lining of your uterus thick ready for a potential pregnancy. If you don’t conceive, progesterone levels will drop after approximately two weeks and your period will start. Now you can appreciate just some of the changes in hormonal levels throughout the month. If just one of these main hormones is not rising and falling like it should, it can throw off your whole cycle and affect you physically and emotionally. Some hormone levels trigger the release of other hormones so if one is out of balance it will affect other hormones directly and indirectly. Arvigo techniques of Maya Abdominal Massage One of my favourite ways of helping women return to balance is through the Arvigo techniques of Maya Abdominal Massage. A gentle yet deep massage on your belly helps those hormones get to the organs they need to, smooths out the normal fluctuations of your cycle and helps you feel more in control of your life again. During an Arvigo session we discuss lifestyle factors that might also be affecting your hormones and your menstrual cycle and in turn your mood and energy levels. If you’re interested in learning more about how I can help you improve your cycle, balance your hormones and enjoy your life with less stress and more joy, call me on 054-575-4032.
by annette | Jul 27, 2020 | Periods
Recently I worked with a woman who was having severe PMS each month. It got to the point where her husband dreaded the week before her period almost as much as she did. She felt out of control and was so frustrated that her hormones were controlling her, rather than the other way around. Arvigo techniques of Maya Abdominal Massage I introduced her to the Arvigo techniques of Maya Abdominal Massage. A gentle yet deep massage on her belly and back that helped release a lot of the tension she was holding without even knowing it. Like with all my clients, I taught her how to massage her own belly as a self care practise and to maintain good blood and energy flow to her uterus and ovaries and improve her digestion. She was concerned it would take too long but I assured her it was 5 minutes a day at the most. Stress: We talked about the stress in her life – a full time job, husband, 3 kids under the age of 10 and paying more attention to her cycle. Actively planning for less activity when she was bleeding, journaling the week before her period about what was irritating her so much and daily awareness of her mood. Action Tips: Take a few moments each month to write down what is actually bothering you. Is it the same person every month or the same issue that keeps coming up? DON’T try to deal with it during the heat of the moment but leave it for a couple of weeks till you are around ovulation and you can discuss it in a calmer and less confrontational way. Plan some quiet time while you are bleeding. Ideally a whole day but if not, a minimum of one quiet hour by yourself while you are bleeding to relax and let go of some of your daily stress. Ask for what you need When we are pre-menstrual (the days leading up to bleeding), it can feel like the mask between us and the outside world is much thinner which means it’s a great time for gaining insight. Pay attention to those thoughts, feelings and ideas that seem to appear out of nowhere. After you start to acknowledge those feelings and ideas you can start to act on them. That might involve asking for what you need – another important skill many women need to learn. I like to suggest finding one small thing you know will improve the quality of your life and asking for it. First give yourself permission to receive it, then ask for it. And be open to the possibility of receiving it. Two months later she was ecstatic. Firstly, her period was lighter and easier with little to no cramping or pain (yeah!) but more importantly the week before her period was completely manageable. She started asking for what she needed. She lowered her level of activity while she was bleeding and it was helping her entire cycle. She continued to do the self care massage at home and was taking joy in having a few minutes each day to care for herself in this way. She wrote down the things which were bothering her the week before her cycle and that release helped her. In fact, journaling became another important tool to managing her stress, emotions and her cycle. If you’re interested in learning more about how I can help you improve your cycle, balance your hormones and enjoy your life with less stress and more joy, call me on...
by annette | Jul 22, 2020 | Fertility, Periods
The topic I want to dive into today is what is a healthy menstrual cycle? So many women are misinformed about what they should expect from their menstrual cycle and if what they are experiencing is normal or not. It’s a little known fact that women can use their menstrual cycle as a barometer of their health. In fact, the menstrual cycle is now starting to be considered as the fifth vital sign of a woman’s health. The first four vital signs are: heart rate (which is your pulse), body temperature, blood pressure and breathing rate etc. These are the four signs that are checked if you are in an emergency situation and also on regular doctor visits and can be a sign that something is not right. What I have learnt in recent years and firmly believe is that: the menstrual cycle is a window into your general health and well-being as a women, and not just related to whether or not you can get pregnant. If you are not having a regular cycle with ovulation, then that could impact on your heart health, bone health as well as your long term fertility. So let’s take a look at what a healthy cycle should look like. Bear in mind that your menstrual cycles will vary at different stages of your life. During pregnancy and breastfeeding it’s normal not to have a cycle, however at other stages of life, if your period has gone missing, it’s worth investigating what is going on in your life that has caused it as it is a sign that something is not right. It could be related to stress, body weight or another medical issue. Firstly, How long should your cycle be? Before I talk about cycle length, I want to make it clear that we are all counting the same thing. The first day of your cycle is the first day of bleeding. If you experience spotting before proper bleeding then you can choose the spotting as the first day of bleeding as long as you are consistent every month to what you consider the first day of your cycle. Some women don’t include the spotting and count Day 1 as the first day of proper blood flow. The average cycle length is around 28 days. There is a strong correlation between the moon and the menstrual cycle. The average lunar month is 29.5 days. However, it’s quite possible for your cycle to last for anywhere from 21 to 45 days and still be considered normal. 45 days is definitely on the long side and most health professionals will prefer to see cycle length of less than 35 days. The important point is that your cycle length is roughly the same each cycle and cycle length doesn’t vary more than a week. So to put that in numbers, you might find that generally your period is 30-31 days apart but you have one or two cycles in a year where your period arrives after 36 days or 35 days. That’s considered normal as there are factors that affect when you ovulate and when your period arrives. Ideally that difference between cycle lengths is going to be less than a week and even better if the difference is only a few days. That’s a sign that the hormones in your body are working optimally. What can affect the length of my cycle? If you are having cycles of vastly differing lengths then you need to pay attention to what may have caused it. Stress, moving, illness, a change in nutrition and exercise can impact your cycles and possibly delay ovulation and cause a longer than usual cycle. One of the advantages of using Fertility Awareness is that you can make note of any changes in your routine on your chart and see how it affects cycle length, ovulation, etc. If you’ve been charting and note that your ovulation has been delayed, that’s going to give you a heads up that your cycle will be longer than usual this month. And that can be so helpful so you’re not panicking and stressed because your period is late. Even if you aren’t using Fertility Awareness yet, just being aware of your cycle length and noting down your mood, lifestyle changes, etc can give you some important clues about your cycle. How can we discuss your period without talking about blood!? Moving onto some more nitty gritty details: how can we discuss your period without talking about blood!! Firstly, a true period is bleeding that occurs 2 weeks after we ovulate. This is an important point to mention because women do bleed while they are taking the pill and some other forms of hormonal contraception but that is not considered a true period. A true period is always preceded by ovulating a couple of weeks before the bleeding starts. I mentioned earlier the incidence of spotting. It is a common occurrence but Ideally there shouldn’t be spotting. That can be a sign of imbalanced hormones. Colour should be a variant of red: pink to a deep wine colour. But it shouldn’t be brown black or purple is not normal. A small amount of clots or strings of blood is considered normal but not too much. Ideally you want to be seeing liquid blood without clots. What is considered a normal flow pattern? One issue of periods that is rarely discussed is the actual Flow...
by annette | Jul 21, 2020 | Pregnancy
Pregnancy after a loss can be really challenging. Since it’s estimated about 1 in 8 pregnancies end in miscarriage, that means as a woman trying to conceive, you may be dealing with a pregnancy after a loss. I often work with clients who have had a miscarriage in the past and for many it has been coupled with challenges getting pregnant in the first place. Believing that you are pregnant: When you finally get pregnant after a miscarriage and/or fertility challenge it can be really hard to believe that you’re pregnant again but also really challenging to trust that your body is going to be able to nurture your baby all the way to the end of the pregnancy and you’ll one day hold a baby in your arms. The truth is I’ve been through this myself, just like many other women. I had a miscarriage in the second trimester and yes it was traumatic and the pregnancy that followed the loss brought with it many challenges. Since that personal experience, I have supported tens of women during pregnancy after pregnancy loss so I’m going to offer some suggestions. How can I restore confidence in my own body? What I’ve learned over the years is there are different ways to support women in this situation, to help restore your confidence in your body, to build a connection with the growing foetus in your belly in spite of your fears of another pregnancy loss. Some common blocks: Often women who are pregnant after a loss don’t want to believe that the new pregnancy is real until a certain point. Sometimes it’s after the first detailed ultrasound around 12 or 13 weeks, or the same week you lost a previous pregnancy or sometimes even the birth itself. The problem is that for many women, if you don’t believe in the pregnancy and form that connection with your baby even when they are only a few weeks in gestational age then you’re doing yourself and your baby a disservice. More and more research is emerging showing the importance of the connections and experiences during pregnancy. Whether we want to admit it or not, babies can and do feel while they are in utero and they are especially sensitive to a woman’s emotional state. My understanding is that the underlying emotion here is fear: fear that the pregnancy will end, fear there is something wrong with the baby and sometimes vague unknown fears. Here’s how to overcome these fears: I find that giving a voice to these concerns during a reflexology or Arvigo treatment can help release them. The combination of being in a relaxed state, allows you to voice those unconscious fears and release them as well as find creative ways to improve your confidence in the pregnancy and bond with your baby. Bach Flower Remedies Aspen (for unknown, vague fears) and Mimulus (for known fears) are super helpful in reducing fears. Bach Flower remedies are safe to take during pregnancy. They help change your energetic state and help you become more positive about the pregnancy. In addition to addressing fears, Larch can improve self confidence and Cerato can allow you to be more in touch with your intuition and inner voice. I encourage women to journal their feelings. There is so much power in putting pen to paper, writing out what is bothering you and naming the emotions you are feeling. It can feel like a therapeutic release. EFT Tapping can be used on practically any emotional or physical issue, without risk of any known side effects. It’s a simple and effective technique that can be learnt very quickly and can be used for self-help. These are just some ways that you can improve your feelings about pregnancy after a loss. If you’d like to hear more about treatments before, during and after pregnancy, feel free to contact me HERE. Be in touch with me Please send me your questions via this form: Phone: 054-575-4032 Email: annette@annette.co.il Address: Yael Hagibora, Modi’in Name Email Address Message Submit...
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