Endometriosis Awareness Month: Special Episode Clips

Dr. Brighten: [00:00:00] Hey there. Welcome to a very special episode series of the Dr. Brighton Show. I'm your host, Dr. Jolene Brighton, and on this episode series we are doing one for the Endometriosis Girl A. If you're one like me, then buckle up because I'm going to release. Several short episodes for you, giving you the information that you most need to help understand your condition, get a diagnosis, but also understand some other issues that like to ride along with endometriosis that our doctors don't always talk about.

To us about, so there will be coming some clips from previous episodes. I'll let you know who you're hearing from. So if you wanna go listen to the full episode, you can certainly do that. But given that it's endometriosis awareness month, I wanted to do something special for all of the ladies out there with endometriosis.

If you haven't seen on my Instagram. Following my excision surgery, I just had a successful frozen embryo transfer. I'm feeling, uh, on top of the world right [00:01:00] now. I feel fantastic. I know it's still super, super early. We had our first pregnancy test and things are good. Um, but I just share that right now to have some hope because in this series you're gonna hear from Dr.

Ram Cabrera and he was my endometriosis excision surgery and I. Absolutely have to give him props because he helped make this possible. So we're gonna be going into these clips, but first I wanna give you a little information about endometriosis and IBS. So irritable bowel syndrome. This is something that is super.

Overlooked. When it comes to an endo diagnosis, when it comes to going to the gastroenterologist office, when it comes to seeing your doctor and them just saying, oh, you're just stressed out. That's why you have pooping problems, when in fact it's actually endometriosis. Oh, wait, before we get into that, I forgot this.

Really awesome thing that I made for you as well. So in honor of Endometriosis Awareness Month, I created a Endo Flare guide to help you get out of pain in the short [00:02:00] term and the long run. And you can go to dr brighton.com/endo flare. That's E ndo o. F-L-A-R-E and you can grab that guide. It's totally free.

It has some of my best tips that have helped me stay pain free and ones that I share with my patients as well. So I hope you'll take advantage of that. And with that said, let's talk about the IBS and, and what made me think about that was because there's some tips in there for Endo Belly as well. You know, that distension of filling four months pregnant, that, um.

Yeah, that is like nothing else. So when it comes to endometriosis and gut health, these two things are totally linked, but totally overlooked. So what you need to understand is that the gut is the hub for hormonal balance and immune system regulation, and both of those are major contributing factors for the development of endometriosis.

Now, as you'll hear in an upcoming clip with Dr. Anna [00:03:00] Sierra, who is the top female neuropathologist and endometriosis specialist. She was also on my surgical team. Uh, she talks about how endometriosis is actually formed in utero. So that's our best understanding right now, is that there was migration of cells and they ended up in the wrong place.

However, those cells being in the wrong place can light up the immune system. There may be an autoimmune component in this. This is important because roughly 70% of your immune system is found in your gut, and we also understand that while endometriosis lesions can sometimes make their own hormones, they can also be stimulated by hormones.

So what does that have to do with your gut? Well, your gut is one of the major A avenues basically superhighways of how we move estrogen out of the body. So once it's metabolized via phase one and phase two in the liver, it's then moved out via the gut through a bowel movement. But also through the [00:04:00] kidneys as well.

It's also water soluble. But that brings us to like, why does the gut matter? So there's the immune system component. There's the hormone component, but we also know that your so endometriosis is inflammatory, but your gut can also be a major source of inflammation and they can really be playing off of each other.

In fact, there was research that came out showing that there are certain organisms. That are like involved in the development of endometriosis. Does that mean this definitively is the cause of endometriosis? No, but it does mean that if those organisms are present in your gut, that could potentially make things worse in terms of your endometriosis.

But what I really wanna focus on is talking about the irritable bowel syndrome. Diagnosis, that's a complete mistake when in fact it's endometriosis. So to do that, let's just talk through a couple of the, well, let's go through the common symptoms of endometriosis versus IBS, and then we're gonna talk [00:05:00] about why does this get mistaken.

So I. Number one, common symptoms of endometriosis. So everyone always thinks pain. Pain with your period. Pain around ovulation, pain with sex, uh, pain weeks leading up to your period. Sometimes, uh, pain with exercise 'cause you're having chronic pelvic pain, heavy bleeding with or without clots. When we see clots, we think a lot about adenomyosis.

If you have clots in your period, you're gonna wanna listen to the upcoming clip with Dr. Anna Sierra. Bleeding between menstrual periods can sometimes be a sign. Bladder symptoms, so pain with urination, difficulty urinating if you're having painful bowel movements or they're difficult, you're having a hard time passing stool, or they feels like it's incomplete.

Abdominal cramping, burning, aching sensation in your low pelvis, that's all par for the course. Anxiety, depression. Nausea, vomiting. You can have diarrhea with your period or significant abdominal pain. And then infertility. That's [00:06:00] one of the more silent, um, endometriosis conditions I say, or symptoms. I say it's more silent in that doctors don't always necessarily look for endometriosis first, and yet we know roughly 50% of those who are seeking help due to infertility, reprint miscarriage.

It can be due to endometriosis. Now with IBS, you can also have those incomplete bowel movements. Feel like you need to go again after you just went. You might be bloated having constipation, diarrhea, alternating between the two, having abdominal pain and cramping. Digestive symptoms that are triggered by food or stress are really common with IBS.

And so as you can hear, a lot of these symptoms crossover now. With endometriosis. Why say if you've got IBS and you also have painful periods, you have infertility, you have pain with ovulation, you are having any of these other symptoms that are suggestive of [00:07:00] endometriosis, and you've been told you have IBS definitely worth looking into endo and I have a clip coming up about how do we get it diagnosed, what do we need to do first?

Now the overlap of symptoms, bloating, endo belly, as I talked about, constipation, cramps, nausea, difficulty with bowel movements. So, uh, when you are having kind of that diffuse pain, that pain in your lower abdomen, there's no way to really know. Is it your intestines or is it your uterus or your ovaries?

Something in that area without a doctor investigating that and looking into it. So it has to be looked into. If you have IBS and you have a family history of endometriosis, definitely if you have any of these other symptoms that you suspect it could be endometriosis, it's worth looking into, and this is, and why this can happen.

So there's a few things that can be going on. So we've got this [00:08:00] chronic inflammatory condition. It's systemic inflammation throughout the body, but it's also inflammation in your pelvis and or whatever the lesions are. But if it's in your pelvis, it's going to irritate everything that's housed in your pelvis as well.

If your immune system is overactivated. We can also see, uh, elevated prostaglandins in endometriosis Pro tip. Bring in your Omega-3 fatty acids, take an Omega-3 supplement. I'm always a diet first proponent, but this is a situation where I'm like, eh, you really need to have, um, you really need to have a supplement on board if you wanna get those prostaglandins handled.

They are derived from omega fatty acids, so I. We wanna eat an anti-inflammatory diet and we wanna drop highly processed food to the ground as low as it can go. That doesn't mean you can't like have a snack here, and then nobody's judging you about that. But it is that if you have a diet that is more of the standard American diet that is more geared towards omega six fatty acids, you can have more potent prostaglandins.

They're also associated with inflammation. And [00:09:00] so that can cause not only the uterus to contract, but the bowels to contract. And so now you're getting. Period, diarrhea, um, or you're having even diarrhea sometimes that's happening like the week before your period. And so your doctor might say, that's IBS, when in fact it's not.

You may also have lesions on your bowel. That's not uncommon. And if you have lesions on your bowel and those are growing, then you could have bowel obstruction. Um, you may not be able to completely evacuate your bowels. And that can be another sign that this is endometriosis. But your doctor might make the mistake and say that it's IBS and IBS is like, honestly it's way overdiagnosed.

It is a big garbage bucket of a diagnosis in that I, I say it like that because it just feels like sometimes you're just like throwing the patient away because you're frustrated as a doctor. You don't want to have to like, dig deeper. You don't wanna figure out what's going on. Um, I do have future episodes with gastroenterologists to [00:10:00] agree with me on this.

Saying the same thing because IBS does. When you have IBS symptoms, there's a cause and we have to figure out what is going on. And for women, it is so often linked to endometriosis. So we know 200 million women worldwide walking around with endometriosis and it's taken decades for some of them to even get that diagnosis.

On average about 10 years. So we really need to be aware of what all the symptoms are. Okay, so gonna give you some quick tips because we're keeping these episodes short and to the point so you can get in and get the information that you need. So if you are experiencing these symptoms, number one is let's get it figured out, right friend, like listen to the upcoming other episodes.

So there's gonna be, uh. Series of other episodes that'll help you with getting the diagnosis. But while you're doing that, because it takes time, shout out to my Canadian, uh, friends who are, these women are telling me it's taking 'em six months just to see a gynecologist. And by the time they see that gynecologist can take another six [00:11:00] months because that one dismissed them.

So they go to another trying to get their endo diagnosis, and a year later they finally get it. Yeah. Praise that. We got it. Yay. But then they're told you have to wait two plus years before you can even get a surgery or anyone to do anything for it. And so. That's frustrating. I wanna give you some things that you can do right now.

So I already talked about an anti-inflammatory diet. I have an upcoming clip for you where I'm gonna talk more about specifics of things to focus on and bringing in your diet. I really like to focus on what to bring in. We also wanna be consuming probiotics and prebiotics. So this, if you do well with dairy, not everyone with IBS or Endo does well with dairy, but if you do.

Getting yogurt then has live cultures but is low in sugar 'cause that sugar's not gonna be your friend when it comes to inflammation and, and managing your symptoms. Things like Keifer can be helpful. Sauerkraut, kimchi, miso. Um, I'm a big [00:12:00] fan of Miso soup. It's got probiotics, but it's also very nourishing and it's.

Very gentle on the gut, whereas something like kimchi, not so much if you're, if you're filling a flare, uh, Tempe, so fermented soybeans, pickles, um, not in the vinegar, but in brine. So B brined, pickles, and even some fermented cheeses can be a source of probiotics, but. It's not enough just to eat probiotics or take probiotics.

You guys know I have the women's probiotic from Dr. Brighton Essentials. I formulated that with spore based probiotics, plus ones that are specific to down there, to supporting our vaginal ecology and an antioxidant that's been shown to be beneficial for the urinary tract system. We also put prebiotics in there though because.

You have to, you will have to feed those guys as well. So prebiotics, this can look like things like garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, [00:13:00] bananas, chicory root, Jerusalem, artichokes, whole oats. Maybe you opt for organic. I know that when we talk anti-inflammatory diets, some people are like, no, oats are out. But some people do just fine with oats.

So it's all about what's true for you. Apples. If you're eating with the skin on, you're having fresh ground, flax seeds, seaweed, these are all great prebiotics. And then I'm a big fan of resistant starch. And so, uh, the way that, there's two ways that I like to get resistant starch. I make rice, I. I stick it in the fridge.

I eat it the next day as part of a salad. Um, so it's just cooled rice. I make potatoes, I put 'em in the fridge, I eat 'em the next day. And I'll actually say when it came to my endo belly symptoms, I have like a whole fiber protocol that I did, but something that was really, really helpful. Was potato starch was the p making.

I like to make these smashed potatoes where you, I boil 'em first, then I smash 'em down. I put some ghee on them 'cause that's rich in butyrate. Really good for your gut. Really good. [00:14:00] Uh, pro tip ladies with a DHD. Really good for your brain health. And um, then I like to roast them. Usually at like 3 75, 4 25.

It depends on how much time I have. Um, and just get them like a nice crisp on them and I'll eat them for breakfast or dinner and then I'll, they'll put 'em in the fridge and then I'll have them the next day. And that is, um, you know, it's something where like when you talk anti-inflammatory diet, some people are taking out nightshades altogether.

Maybe that's necessary. But I found with me personally, potato starch was super helpful with managing the endo belly. If you guys saw my post on Instagram, you know how bloated and how big my belly was getting, and people were really mean on the internet too, I have to say. People were like, oh my God, you're obese and making all these comments, and I'm like, no, I'm bloated.

Like this is bloating, like my belly's like rock hard right now. Anyhow, I just think people should not comment on other people's bodies in general, but especially on the internet. Though, that's a few things that I would [00:15:00] recommend in terms of dietary changes, and then also considering how you support liver function.

So we want the bowels to move out our estrogen, and then we also want to support the liver in processing the estrogen that we're making. So avoiding things like alcohol. Making sure we're staying hydrated and drinking things like, uh, you know, I love burdock root tea or, uh, dandelion root tea. Those can be really great for the liver.

And then things like cooked cruciferous vegetables, cooked friends, because if you're struggling with IBS or gut symptoms, it needs to be cooked and you don't need a whole lot of it. And if you're like, I can't even tolerate that. If you can't tolerate that, I always think like, is it sibo? Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

But otherwise, we go to broccoli sprouts, which don't have the same problems that cruciferous vegetables can give us, and we eat a couple tablespoons of it and that can help with our estrogen. So that's a few of my tips. Again, we are doing this. Um, series of little shorties, [00:16:00] little clips. Um, just get in and get out information for women with endometriosis in honor of endometriosis Awareness month.

Don't forget, you can get that guide that I need you, dr brighton.com. D-R-B-R-I-G-H-T-E n.com/endo flare, ENDO flare, F-L-A-R-E. So dr brighten.com/endo flare. And it's like a 20 page guide about what, what can make you flare, what you can do in the short run, the short term to get out of pain, and then what you can do in the long run to try to keep yourself out of pain.

'cause that is ultimately the goal. And if you have endometriosis, you. Absolutely deserve all the tools to manage things at home, because the reality is, is that it, it's not enough just to go to the doctor. And even once you go to the doctor, uh, it's still, I mean, it still can be a long road and you have to be doing things at home to take care of yourself, but you can't do those if you're in pain all the time.[00:17:00] 

So I hope. You appreciate this series that we are putting out. As always, leave me a comment. I read them all. If you can leave a review, that is super, super helpful. My team is telling me like Apple reviews are like everything in the world, and I'm like, okay, I need to say that more. So if you can leave me a review.

That is incredibly helpful. And if you know anyone with endometriosis or suspects they have endometriosis, share this with them because there is more to come. Thank you as always for being here, and I can't wait for you to get in on the next piece of advice.