Georgina had come all the way from New Zealand to see me as she was desperate to find relief for her chronic abdominal and pelvic pain. This was caused by endometriosis growing on her bladder and bowel despite having had a hysterectomy, which unfortunately had provided only partial relief. She was in her late 30s and had not had children. Georgina was a lovely lady with a bright bubbly personality and I admired her positive attitude and toughness, as she had managed to keep working despite this chronic pain.

Georgina was using a progesterone cream but wasn’t using it regularly enough to experience the benefits. Progesterone helps reduce endometriosis by balancing the effects of the hormone estrogen. Estrogen is a growth promoting hormone and excess levels can lead to out of control growth of the endometrial lining in places it shouldn’t be. I also explained to Georgina that it was vital to strengthen her immune system and reduce inflammation with nutritional medicine. Endometriosis shares several features of autoimmune disease. There is an underlying problem with the immune system. Therefore I put her on the eating plan in my book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation. It is important to heal leaky gut and reduce the liver’s production of inflammatory chemicals.

I recommended the following

  • Fish oil capsules to reduce inflammation. I asked Georgina to take 2 capsules twice daily with meals.
  • Magnesium powder in a dose of ½ teaspoon twice daily to ease her bladder and bowel cramps.
  • A probiotic capsule to provide healthy gut bugs.
  • Raw vegetable juices from fresh green herbs (parsley, basil, mint, etc), carrot, ginger, citrus, cabbage and apple. This would reduce inflammation and improve liver function.
  • A powerful liver tonic containing the herb St Mary’s Thistle, B vitamins and sulfur bearing amino acids. In all cases of estrogen dominance it is vital to improve liver function, so that the liver can break down the excessive estrogen produced from the ovaries and fat tissue.

I also noticed that she had a slight goitre with a few small nodules on her thyroid gland and on checking her serum vitamin D levels I found these to be deficient. Her urinary spot iodine concentration was very low thus revealing a deficiency of iodine. Thyroid problems are often caused by deficiencies of vitamin D, iodine, zinc and selenium. Thyroid problems will often cause imbalances in the function of the ovaries leading to progesterone deficiency. Progesterone deficiency leads to estrogen dominance and this worsens endometriosis. Thus it was vital to improve her thyroid function so I prescribed Thyroid Health capsules, containing vitamin D, selenium, zinc and iodine to improve thyroid health.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.