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Speaker 1: Apoge Production.
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Speaker 2: Hi, this is Devina Rankin and welcome to the Who Me Podcast. This podcast is all about expanding your mind, opening your heart, having deep and meaningful conversations with inspiring, motivational people, and giving you helpful tips on how to live your most high vibe life.
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Speaker 3: Buckle up, We're in for a ride.
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Speaker 2: Hello everyone, Welcome back to another episode of Who Me the Podcast.
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Speaker 3: I have the beautiful Catherine.
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Speaker 2: Hay In here joining me talking all things endometriosis, PCOS, gut health, hormones, all of the things that She is a clinical nutritionist and also the founder of the wonderful supplement brand All Things Better. Thank you so much Catherine for joining me. This is a conversation I've actually been really excited to have because, to be honest, I don't actually know much about endometriosis or PCOS, and I feel like that whole thing is something that we don't learn until it's.
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Speaker 1: The hard way. So I'd love to be.
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Speaker 2: Able to pick your brains and just maybe help our listeners understand. You know, what to look out for and what's normal if things don't feel normal, what they can do about it, and how to talk to like, you know, their healthcare practitioners and all of those things.
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Speaker 1: So Hi, Hi, thanks.
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Speaker 3: For having me.
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Speaker 4: I'm so excited to be here and you know, talking about these deep issues around women's health, which you.
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Speaker 3: Know, we've been forgotten about in the research for.
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Speaker 4: For so many years, and only I guess in recent times, especially with endometriosis, is it actually being funded in the research and now being properly diagnosed, you know, in the research as well, and having endometriosis myself.
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Speaker 3: It's it's it's been a journey. It's been a journey.
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Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to kind of, you know, giving your listeners the information that they may need to further investigate or advocate for themselves or their health as well.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, because I think like a lot of the people I know who have endometriosis, like they the common thread is that like everything was always normal, Like they were fine up until like you know, they weren't or up until things started getting really painful, or they just like weren't able to get out of bed when their cycle rolled around. So yeah, it's just it's one of those things that are a bit scary to think that like, oh shit, it can just.
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Speaker 1: Happen at any time.
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Speaker 2: Or any age, and you know, are there things that we can do that can maybe help prevent it is? Does it have to do with diet or Yeah, I've got lots of questions, right, But at first, I guess I'd love to know your story about how you came into the space and like your journey with it.
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Speaker 4: I guess my entire life, I've always suffered with incredible period pain. And you know, as a teenager, the doctors take the pill, gone the pill to sort your issues out.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, you're not ready to conceive, so on your way.
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Speaker 2: So the pill was It's almost like if you weren't on the pill, you weren't cool.
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Speaker 1: But that's it.
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Speaker 2: Literally everyone was on the fucking pill.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: It was just a complete ban aid approach.
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Speaker 4: Take your brain, your brainer, there go, And we never questioned it because we trust out you know, in general practitioners.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, you had acne, take the pill. Yes, you get held more new headaches, take the pill, just take it.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: I knew people that weren't having sex and they were on the pill.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's just such a common script with little information as well. When you're in that I guess meeting with the doctor. Yeah, it's like you just say I've got this, this is that's fine, take the pill.
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Speaker 3: Here you go. We'll see in three months time for an updated script.
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Speaker 4: So you're like, okay, yeah, So we did that, and I guess it wasn't until I started university and I started studying.
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Speaker 3: I started studying in.
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Speaker 4: The tropathy to be a naturopath, and I decided, now, once I started really understanding human body, I just took myself off the pill. And it was in that instance that I ended up in hospital with two burst cysts on my ovaries and it was incredible amounts of pain, and I thought, hmm, this is really strange. They diagnosed me the PCOS straightaway, just said you've got pcos.
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Speaker 3: You've got multiple follicles on your ovaries.
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Speaker 4: You got pcos, and we know that that's not a diagnostic tool for pcos regardless. So all my life as a twenty year old in my early twenties, my gynecologists but said, you got pcos. It's going to be really difficult for you to conceive in your later years.
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Speaker 3: Don't worry.
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Speaker 4: We'll put the inflant on in the rot, the contraceptive rod in your arm.
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Speaker 3: Come back to me when you want to have babies. So okay, I thought, well, maybe I'll just give that one a try, even though I was still studying. So I did.
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Speaker 4: I lasted, I remember three months on that and another cisburst, and I said, that's it, take it out. I'm not having any hormonal contraception methods at all. We're gonna treat this holistically. And I guess as the years progressed, I always had incredible you know IBS signs and symptoms as well.
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Speaker 3: So really inflamed him my gut.
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Speaker 4: And you know, through my studies, I always kind of was treating myself or going to holistic practitioners, natural paths, you name it, to try and
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heal my own issues. And then you know, fast forward, I did four years of neutropathy and lost my passion for herbal medicine, and then I ended up doing my degree. I did a Bachelor of Health science and made it a nutritional medicine because when I really looked at the human body, it takes a nutrient, an enzyme, a antioxidant to function every single process of the human body, right, not a herb, not a drug, not hormones, nothing, So it's nutrients. So that's where my brain kind of ticked over and I said, right, I gotta do this, this is what I want to do. And then met my husband when I was twenty three, you know, we got married and then decided we wanted to have a child, and back in I think it was twenty nineteen, we started, you know, trying for Sonny, who's our four and a half year old, and it took us about twelve months to conceve. Now, in the big picture, it's not that long when we look at the statistical data, but it was still long enough for me to think, hang on a minute, you know, is there something going on here. I was working really heavily in my own clinical practice with clients who I supported. We got health you know, autoimmune disease, skin issues, emotional well being, so nervous system. But I hadn't really specialized in preconception, pregnancy and beyond, so I was working with another nature path at the time in integrative doctors. And then, you know, I had my best friend's wedding in the December of that year and I found out I was pregnant at her recovery party. So, you know, it's just that funny story where.
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Speaker 3: That month I actually shouldn't have been trying.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I so feel you Yeah, yeah, you get pregnant.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, and I guess I'd still always struggling with really excruciating period pain, so you know, take a packet of napridgeesy every single month, Yeah, to decrease the pain.
00:07:08
Speaker 3: It was just horrific. But that was the only sign and symptom, and doctors kept brushing me off. That's it's normal.
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Speaker 4: You just you know, take your knapergesy, take it pan and oh, you'll be fine. So had sunny and it wasn't until my first postpartum period came back. It was pain free, which I was just never experienced a pain free cycle in my life.
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Speaker 3: However, it was so heavy. I'm not sure if you do you notice changes.
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Speaker 2: I feel like that's all of my friends felt the same, like they were like, holy moley, It's like yeah, like they've never had it before.
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Speaker 3: Yes, and you think this is this me is you know?
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Speaker 4: Is this normal?
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Speaker 3: So I didn't think much of it. I thought, we'll just see what happens then.
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Speaker 4: I think the subsequent periods after that were all really heavy, and I remember the fourth cycle back, the pain just ramped up, kicked back off ten times worse, and I was just like this, I've got Endometrius's one hundred percent.
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Speaker
3: I just knew I had endometriosis.
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Speaker 4: So I went to my first I went to my GP and said, I've got endo, but I want to have a laparoscopy because still to this day, it's still the gold standard of diagnosis. There are incredible deep infiltrating endometriosis ultrasounds that are available now as well, which are a lot less invasive than surgery. Anyway, I found a gynocologist on the Gold Coast. They did a laparoscopy on me. I think this would have been about twenty twenty two because that's when I wanted to start trying for another baby. So I had my laparoscopy and he diagnosed me with deep infiltrating stage four endometriosis.
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Speaker 3: So it's one of it was just prolific. It was all on my organs.
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Speaker 1: So what does what is that?
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Speaker 2: Like? What are you talking about when you're saying it was all on my organs?
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Speaker 4: Yes, so I guess to classify what endometriosis is. So endometriosis is endometriosis like lesions that are found in extra uterine sites, So outside of the uterus. Okay, so these highly inflammatory lesions essentially attaching to your bows, your blood rectum, and then it can be the cervix and the pouch of Douglas.
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Speaker 3: It can be in the uterus, it can be on your ovaries. They've even found it in lung's brain tissue.
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Speaker 2: What.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a whole body disease. Really yeh wow, it's mind blowing. And it doesn't just affect women. It affects men too. They've also found endometriosis in men as well. Yeah, it's this whole system disease, and it affects the immune system, it affects nervous system, a digestive system, the endocrime system.
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Speaker 2: So it's just actually not just for ovaries. Yeah, so it's and everything.
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Speaker 3: Everything can be affected.
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Speaker 4: Some people what some people may only just have it around their ovaries or in uterus itself. Because we have the endometrium lining, that's the lining that sheds after we ovulate to give us a period. So that's where the name endometrios gets originate from.
00:10:16
Speaker 2: And would we like, would women be able to pick it up? Like, would it be more noticeable for women? Because when we do when we are bleeding. That's when everything is like extra inflamed and there's like a lot of sensitivity and all that kind of stuff. And then yeah, that's how we realize something's really wrong.
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Speaker 3: Exactly, gotcha.
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Speaker 4: And for some extreme endometrius's cases, they have pain every single day of the cycle on ovulation.
00:10:39
Speaker 3: I know, it's it's it's fucked. It's the worst disease.
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Speaker 4: And when those surges and estrogen happen around ovulation, and then with a lot of people with endometriosis, they have big surges after ovulation as well. Estrogen is that primary hormone that exacerbates that inflammation as well. Yeah, it's a it's a nasty disease and it affects now. I think it's one in every six one in every six women in Australia.
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Speaker 1: Wow.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, and it takes ten years to diagnose correctly because that's how much you just get brushed off in the conventional medical system or you know, the pill or other means are prescribed without proper investigation as well. And I think the fascinating thing that I get passionate about talking Sorry, you'll have to shut me up.
00:11:32
Speaker 2: No, no, I'm all in so I'm sitting here like, WHOA.
00:11:38
Speaker 4: So I had my diagnosis of stage four, so it was everywhere everywhere.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, it was quite shocking at the time. Even though I thought I.
00:11:44
Speaker 4: Had it, I didn't realize how prolific it was. So then I changed my entire lifestyle, you know, I changed my diet to really support me.
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Speaker 3: I really got into my gut support.
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Speaker 4: I started researching, specializing in hormones, preconception, pregnancy, and just anything to do with endometrosis, but also just hormones in general, like you know, pcos. We've got adenomyosis, got andiometriosis, we've got spy broids, We've got so many insane hormone conditions women experience.
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Speaker 3: So that was fine. Had my surgery, and then after.
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Speaker 4: That I had my routine cervical cancer screen so perhaps SMEA, and it came back with pre cancer cells.
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Speaker 3: So that was all another bit of a journey.
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Speaker 4: So anyway, I ended up having to have a procedure where they essentially laser off the cells. Then we couldn't conceive for six months after that to make sure I was in the clear of it not progressing into cervical cancer.
00:12:43
Speaker 3: That was all clear, which was great.
00:12:45
Speaker 4: So then we started trying for another baby, and my signs and symptoms were just horrific, you know, heavy, painful periods. I had no relief from that surgery whatsoever. And in about ninety percent of cases, you will get some symptomatic relief from a laparoscopy.
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Speaker 3: And I just did it, and I still had in.
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Speaker 4: My gut feeling that something was really wrong, Something was really wrong.
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Speaker 3: I shouldn't be living like this.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, And so fast forward to twenty what are we twenty twenty four.
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Speaker 3: I saw a new gynecology.
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Speaker 1: Oh, so this is only last year.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, shit, wow, it's really it's yeah, it's really in just literally yeah last year.
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Speaker 2: Wow.
00:13:28
Speaker 3: In June, I had my second surgery.
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Speaker 2: Wow.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, second surgery with a new endo specialist.
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Speaker 4: And when I came out of that surgery said, you still have stage four endometriosis.
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Speaker 3: That is so deep and infiltrating.
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Speaker 4: We don't know what that other surgeon did, but it
looks like he left everything in you.
00:13:54
Speaker 3: Oh that makes me feel sick.
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Speaker 1: That makes my heart hurt for you. Yeah.
00:13:59
Speaker 3: Wow, devastating to hear.
00:14:02
Speaker 4: And I thought, thank God, I know so much about my body so I could advocate because my surgeon, my second surgeon, said.
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Speaker 3: Look, I know you've got a gut feeling.
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Speaker 4: I believe in science first, but I believe in your gut feeling second.
00:14:15
Speaker 3: So that's while I'll operate on you.
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Speaker 4: She didn't want to because it was only it was only eighteen months since my first surgery.
00:14:21
Speaker 3: Wow, And I said thank you.
00:14:23
Speaker 4: And she said it was so bad that I had to cut into like the last bit of muscle to your primary organs.
00:14:30
Speaker 3: Oh ow yeah.
00:14:33
Speaker 4: Oh so and one of them being extremely bad was my bladder.
00:14:37
Speaker 3: So after that I had a frozen bladder. I wasn't allowed to leave hospital.
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Speaker 4: I couldn't connect the communication from my brain to my bladder to go to the toilet.
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Speaker 1: Oh my god. So this is how bad it can get, Like holy moley.
00:14:50
Speaker 4: I know, and I'm quite grateful because I know I'm it's bad, but I know so many other people with ENDO have it ten times worse than.
00:15:00
Speaker 3: Me as well.
00:15:01
Speaker 2: So I'm so glad we're having this conversation because I truly just thought endometriosis was just like you know, when you get your period, it hurts more.
00:15:10
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah literally? Yeah wow.
00:15:14
Speaker 4: Okay, So that was a big finding and she did complete excision surgery, which was fantastic.
00:15:23
Speaker 2: So she got rid of everything, everything amazing. So she said, she's like, we need to share this woman's detail.
00:15:29
Speaker 3: Go and see her first.
00:15:31
Speaker 4: She's in Southport in the Gold Coast, amazing, and she doesn't do There are different types of excision surgery, so she uses her hands, her manual hands to feel the endometriosis, but there's a lot of robotic surgery, and there's only a point that you can get from feeling.
00:15:46
Speaker 3: You can't feel with robotic surgery.
00:15:48
Speaker 4: So I'm very a big advocate for hand decision surgery for that reason. So I recovered from that, and she said, you know, basically, come back in six months if you haven't fallen pregnant, but you've kind when you have a laproscopy and they remove all that inflammatory tissue they say you've got and I use an air quotes a clean slate, so hopefully you'll full pregnant.
00:16:12
Speaker 3: Saw her in January.
00:16:13
Speaker 4: Haven't fallen pregnant, and my signs and symptoms are still just as bad as I were. Then I said to her, why, like if we missed something. She said, there's no way we've missed something. She took me through all the photos, all the surgery. She said, you're in the ten percent of endometrios's people who whole excision surgery doesn't work for great So what does that mean? She goes, Well, because you're trying for a baby. There's nothing we can do until you feel pregnant. So if you weren't trying for a child, I try her on hormones and the marina and it was obviously as a Holystic practitioner, I just sit there and I go, there's no way.
00:16:53
Speaker 2: No, yeah, totally, you know, yeah, And that's kind of where I'm at today.
00:16:59
Speaker 4: But I guess I'm really supporting myself and I support so many women in clinic with it from a big Holystic, that overarching holistic umbrella.
00:17:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, all of the disease.
00:17:10
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, okay, Well let's go into that then, because what makes endometriosis? How?
00:17:15
Speaker 1: Where? Why?
00:17:16
Speaker 2: Honestly, I'm just like, how how do people? How do we not get endometriosis?
00:17:21
Speaker 1: Is it diet? Is it lifestyle? Environment?
00:17:23
Speaker 3: Like?
00:17:24
Speaker 1: Where does it come from?
00:17:25
Speaker 4: And that's what we still don't know, which is really that's why there's so many nuances to this disease. We still really don't understand the root cause of endometriosis. There are a lot of hypothesis and a lot more money coming into the research. Incredible research that's coming out recently that pathogenic bacteria that live within the gut basically translocate and move outside of the gut microbiome and exacerbate endometriosis ly lesions. So we're looking at dysbiosis of the gut microbiome, which is an imbalance of your good and bad bacteria. Essentially, we're looking at the immune system because it drastically affects you system. Say maybe you're infected with glandular fever as a teenager, or EBVPS and bar virus, maybe that could have been the catalyst for this dysfunction. And then estrogen, estrogen, high amounts of estrogen that's metabolized or is it being eliminated properly via the kidneys and bows, could you know, also be an exacerbator of the disease. And then we have to look at diet and lifestyle and all the other mental health as well, all the other things. So they're still not a clear understanding of what the actual cause of the disease is.
00:18:36
Speaker 2: Yeah. Wow, So what advice would you give to anyone who maybe feels like they know that they have endometriosis and they feel helpless Because I feel helpless listening to this, I'm like.
00:18:50
Speaker 3: Who do we have to throw money out?
00:18:51
Speaker 2: You get a fucking answer, like Jesus, Like I can imagine it would feel extremely like you'd feel lost.
00:19:01
Speaker 1: You don't know where to start or what to do.
00:19:03
Speaker 2: So what kind of things would you you suggest for women that do have endometriosis?
00:19:08
Speaker 1: How can they support themselves?
00:19:10
Speaker 3: Absolutely? And I use this analogy.
00:19:12
Speaker 4: You know, if you take your car to a mechanic and they do
a crappy job, you don't keep taking your car back there, right, So, same thing happens if you're going to a doctor and you're not getting those answers you want with further investigation.
00:19:24
Speaker 3: You have to advocate for yourself. But see multiple doctors. It's a punish and it's a pain in the ass, and it's so time.
00:19:32
Speaker 4: You know, we don't have time to do that, but we've just got to when we're you know, suspecting of the disease as well. So shop around, ask people. And I think with endometrius it takes a village. It takes a support network to really support all facets of the disease, So education, education, education, natural paths who specialize, clinical nutritionists who specialize like myself, or you know, integrated doctors, really specialized guidecologists, and there are more and more of those you know, available in Australia. But I think you just can't stop and till you feel heard. And that's the sad thing. No one's feeling heard at the moment.
00:20:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so say I like someone's listening. What are some of the early signs that people can kind of keep aware of when if they're like, oh shit, since having my kid, I have like really hectic periods, or I have a heap of pain now, or I have like information or swelling or bloating, or what are the different things to look out for that might be a little bit unusual or that are not quite normal when it comes to a healthy.
00:20:34
Speaker 3: Cycle, yes, perfect, just healthy in.
00:20:37
Speaker 2: General, because now I know it's not about the cycle, it's everywhere.
00:20:41
Speaker 3: It's everywhere.
00:20:42
Speaker 4: So I mean the textbook sides and symptoms for endometriosis is dysmenory or menoragia, so heavy, painful periods, periods can last, you know, up to seven days. We should roughly lose about eighty meal of blood a period.
00:20:58
Speaker 1: What about clots like clotting.
00:21:00
Speaker 4: Yeah, clotting is another factor. And you know five cent coin size clo So that's okay. It can be a little tissue, anything bigger than that red flag.
00:21:08
Speaker 3: Definitely want to get that. Yeah, do you have do you have those?
00:21:12
Speaker 2: Sometimes? Like sometimes sorry guys, sorry to you if you're having breakfast, but like that's something that never used to happen before having Meela. Yeah.
00:21:23
Speaker 3: And then sometimes I'll be like have I.
00:21:25
Speaker 1: Just given birth? Like what was that?
00:21:27
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, to come and see me?
00:21:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh this and it makes me feel it makes me a little bit worried because we don't have more answers and we don't have like you don't actually know if there's something happening behind you know, you know what I mean, Like you're like, oh, that's a bit weird, and then you don't really think about it until it's too late and then you have secondary infertility, you know what I mean. So it's so important for you to actually like listen one,
listen to this episode and have those questions being like, actually, do I have clotting? Yeah? Is it more painful than normal, like do I feel more nauseous or whatever. Anyway back to the more the symptoms.
00:22:06
Speaker 4: And so those are the textbook, but they're you know, hormonal headaches. We start to see PMDD, so you can feel really sad and depressed leading up into your cycle. You can have period flu so histamine responses where you feel like you're getting run down, or you'll just feel like maybe your skin's really itchy. You'll have bloating gas, You'll have a lot of digestive discomfort, we call it the period poohs. So you might be more constipated or have diarrhea with the actual bleed itself as well, and then you could have population pain. So there's and that's just the kind of the tip of the iceberg. But what I find fascinating about this disease, which is underneath the iceberg that we don't see, is fifty percent.
00:22:50
Speaker 3: Of people who go into you know.
00:22:53
Speaker 4: To see a fertility specialist and a diagnose in air quotes infertility, they go in do a laproscopy and they have endometriosis. So it's silent, that's yeah, time i'ms nervous, yeah yeah, And because over time, like I'm assuming it just gets worse and worse and worse with more time that passes, right, or don't know in some different everyone's so different, and some people can have completely asymptomatic endometrisis and the only reason they knew is because they were like.
00:23:25
Speaker 3: Why aren't we getting pregnant?
00:23:27
Speaker 4: Chachility specials like let's just still a laproscypy to check the environment of the uterus and the surrounds and the organs, and then oh wow, huge, finding you have endometrisis. This could have been the primary reason why you weren't getting pregnant. Yeah, And so that blows my mind from how high those statistics are. Yeah, yeah, wow, Okay, fuck it's it's yeah, fucked is the best word for it.
00:23:55
Speaker 2: Yeah. And it makes me really sad that we just like we really don't know more and that's taken this long and you know, this much pain and like anxiety and heartbreak for it to be more talked about.
00:24:07
Speaker 1: I'm really sorry. I just have you on here sooner, honestly.
00:24:11
Speaker 2: So, what are some of the biggest myths that you see like surrounding whether it be PCOS or endometriosis, Like, what are some myths that you have come across that you're like, well, actually, no, I think probably one would be the fact that it's silent.
00:24:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that can be so huge myth.
00:24:28
Speaker 4: And I think in clinic too, so many clients go, oh no, bet my doctor, my gud I just did a pelvic ultra sound and said I don't have endometriosis, and I.
00:24:37
Speaker 3: Said, okay, red flag number one.
00:24:41
Speaker 4: You cannot diagnose endometriosis solely unless you you can, like there's some a small percentage of people that you can see on a pelvic ultra sound, but ninety percent of people with endometrosis you will not pick it up on a pelvic ultra sound.
00:24:54
Speaker 2: Wow.
00:24:54
Speaker 4: So can you imagine how many people just take that and go Okay, I don't have endometrosis.
00:25:00
Speaker 3: I don't.
00:25:01
Speaker 4: They don't know anything more and still living with their sign symptoms every single day and maybe aren't going to explore it anymore. So that for me is the biggest myth. You can't diagnose and demetrios are solely on a public ultra sound, especially if you still are so symptomatic.
00:25:17
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah yeah, And so who do you think, like, where would their first ideally, where would their first point of contact be what would you say.
00:25:27
Speaker 3: Oh, this is tricky.
00:25:28
Speaker 4: I guess if I had to be conventional, I would say your GP to see a good qualified gynecologist. But coming from big holistic background myself, I would say a clinical nutritionist or naturopath who has specialized in reproductive health. Gotcha, Yeah, because we look at the whole picture. We spend an hour to an hour and a half with our clients in that initial interview to get all the information about their medical history, their diet analysis, their lifestyle. We ask some questions about every single system of their body to make that formulated beautiful. Okay, where's the red flags here? What do I think's going on? Where are those differential diagnosises? And can I now refer you to a GP or specialist based.
00:26:17
Speaker 3: On what I think's going on? Yeah, and we can have a look at that holistically.
00:26:21
Speaker 4: I feel like so many more women are coming to healthcare practitioners like myself for that because they've been let down by the medical conventional system.
00:26:30
Speaker 1: Gotcha Yeah, Yeah, I hear that a lot.
00:26:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, And that's the thing when you've got that time to really listen to those signs and symptoms and formulate I guess an educational you know, diagnosis. Obviously we can't diagnose, but they tick. I just say to my clients, you've ticked every single box here for endometriosis or some other hormonal condition or whatever we're trying to work on. Let's further investigate. You know, we always want to get to that root cause, so we always say test, don't guess. So what tests can we send you off for further investigation? Is it a stall test, is it bloods is it you know, seeing a specialist, so we can just put all those missing pieces of their health puzzle back together for them to give them the most I guess quality of life.
00:27:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, totally, yeah.
00:27:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, because that's the thing, like, yeah, the last thing you want is to have to write off a whole week like every month to be able to like be at home and nurse yourself.
00:27:27
Speaker 1: You know, like you shouldn't. It shouldn't be that bad, It shouldn't hurt that much.
00:27:31
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:27:31
Speaker 1:
So any kind of.
00:27:33
Speaker 2: Like words of advice for people who are kind of listening and on the edge of being like, okay, I need to look in and do something, Like what kind of things would you say for them to just those first few.
00:27:44
Speaker 3: Steps write a list of your signs and symptoms.
00:27:48
Speaker 1: Beautiful.
00:27:48
Speaker 4: Yeah, really pay attention to your cycles. You know, use those period tracking apps. They can be great, the more in depth ones because you can put in bloating cravings. You know, there's so many great apps out there that you can really take note of what's going on every single day of your men'stry cycle. So have a bit of data before you go in. I think that's important. Have a list of your signs and symptoms. And I always say, if you feel confident enough to say, I'm not leaving until you give me a list of bloods or you know, a referral to a specialist who you think is going to be greatful, you know, based off my signs and symptoms. Really sit with that because you are allowed to advocate for yourself.
00:28:30
Speaker 1: I really love that.
00:28:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, I really love that because I think as women, we very much are just like oh, okay, that's it, or like no, you're fine, don't worry about.
00:28:39
Speaker 1: It, like that's normal.
00:28:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you feel like something is not right, and I think as women that is like our feeling and our intuition is our superpower.
00:28:46
Speaker 1: And we've been told the.
00:28:49
Speaker 2: Generations to like, no, put that away, like no, but we are so innately wise when it comes to our body and our system. And yeah, definitely advocating for yourself and just pushing, yeah, pushing for more investigation.
00:29:03
Speaker 3: Absolutely, don't give up, you know.
00:29:05
Speaker 4: And that's where if you are feeling like giving up, go and see holistic health care practitioner because they would listen.
00:29:12
Speaker 3: It's in our nature. We're m paths, you know.
00:29:15
Speaker 4: We want to help, We want to see your health improve and at least there are other tests and things that we can do. Yes, we can't obviously do surgery and prescribe hormones and all the rest of it. But you know, so many people with ENDO can manage they are signs and symptoms through a more of a holistic treatment plan.
00:29:34
Speaker 3: Thank you.
00:29:34
Speaker 2: I love that and that, like, you know, for a disease that feels like you have no hope, like that little piece just send. It just makes you feel like there are things that I can do. There are people that can help me or you know, point me in the right direction and put me on the right path and at least make me feel a bit better.
00:29:53
Speaker 3: Yeah, like make me feel a little bit.
00:29:55
Speaker 1: Better and a little bit more supported. How can people find you. Yes.
00:30:00
Speaker 4: So my name is Catherine Underscore Hey Underscore new treeist on Instagram and I share a lot of real life stuff on there as well, so a lot of education, but also what I go through to show people that I'm a real person going through these health concerns myself, and I really love to I say to my clients, you know, and my little community on there, I show up from inspired actions. So what I'm seeing in clinical practice, my clinic is captured Nutrition with a K.
00:30:30
Speaker 3: Unfortunately you can't see me. My books are closed new clients.
00:30:33
Speaker 4: But I have another incredible clinical nutritionist who works for me and I have mentored her and she's phenomenal in all aspects of health as well. And then also my supplement company, All Things Better, and I created this.
00:30:45
Speaker 3: I'll just talk a little bit about that quickly. Please. I'm dying.
00:30:51
Speaker 4: Because, you know, being in the industry for nine years now, I'm working with clients back to back. You know, I've seen the gaps in the market with supplements as well. You know, there are supplements and there are supplements, They're just not created equally. And I really wanted to create, you know, practitioner only range that everyone can access, so you don't have to come and see me for a prescription, but you can you can buy it as well. So you know, I formulated a preconception pregnancy and postpardon prenatal and a stress and sleep support for all us mums because you know we need it, and I've given Divina sums hopefully she can try.
00:31:27
Speaker 2: I'm going to try the stress and sleep report report support.
00:31:32
Speaker 1: Yeah tonight, I'll keep you posting, keep me posted.
00:31:35
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:31:36
Speaker 2: Oh, honestly, well, I'm so glad our world's collided, and I'm honestly so glad that we had this conversation because you've really opened up my eyes. You've actually made me want to like educate myself further and actually and quite like have a little bit more self inquiry too, because like maybe it doesn't have to be that bad, or maybe it doesn't have to like I don't have to feel that sluggish, Maybe there is a reason for it, Like I don't have to just brush it off.
00:32:03
Speaker 1: So yeah, thank you so much. I'm going to be jumping on your website.
00:32:07
Speaker 3: I'm going to thank you so much for having me. It was so great.
00:32:12
Speaker 2: Thank you. M mmmmmmmmmm