Christina Najjar

My Endometriosis Journey and the Underdiagnosis of Menstrual Issues

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We need to talk about something serious. And I’m not asking you to converse with me about your humourless uncle. No, I’m referring specifically to the underdiagnosis of menstrual issues like PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and endometriosis.

According to the Endometriosis Network Canada, it is estimated that 1 in 10 women has endometriosis. The prevalence of PCOS cases is roughly the same, as well. And yet, when we complain of severe menstrual pain, we’re told that we have PMS or dysmenorrhea, and that we should be taking the birth control pill.

This issue is very personal to me. I am one of the 1 in 10.

My Endometriosis Journey and the Underdiagnosis of Menstrual Issues

My endometriosis journey

The teenage years

The first few years of my period presented with the expected mood swings a teenager would experience, and “average” cramps (though it should be noted that average does NOT mean healthy). But a few years in, something started to go seriously wrong. When my period came around, I found myself curled up in pain on the bathroom floor, ready to vomit.

Visits to the doctor informed me that it was “just PMS”. I was prescribed a high dose of painkillers. And I continued to take them until I had built a tolerance, and found that they no longer had an effect on me. I was then told to take the birth control pill to “fix” my symptoms. When I eventually did start taking hormonal birth control, all seemed to be better.

If you’re in my Nutrition for PMS, PCOS & Endometriosis group on Facebook, or if you’ve read some of my previous posts, you already know that I’m not a fan of what birth control can do to the body. Research shows a correlation between some types of oral contraceptives used mainly for PMS symptom management (such as YAZ and Yasmine) and IBS.

The digestive issues and adrenal fatigue

Of course, I did develop IBS. I even had an acute bout of colitis and discovered a bunch of food sensitivities. Did you know that digestive problems worsen menstrual issues? And the birth control that was supposed to help my PMS was worsening my digestion. It’s a vicious cycle!

In my early twenties, I finally came off of hormonal contraceptives after 5-6 years of use. My digestive issues did improve a bit. However, it quickly became clear that the birth control had only been a band-aid solution for my menstrual issues.

Under the recommendations of my Naturopathic Doctor, I made lots of changes to my health. These changes showed varying degrees of improvement on my PMS symptoms. They did, however, help my digestion.

In nutrition school, I learned a wealth of information that I could directly apply to my health. I was in heaven. Once again, my period was manageable. But again, “manageable” doesn’t mean healthy.

After I graduated from nutrition school came the challenge of starting my nutrition practice. Let me say that starting a business is not a stress-free endeavour! The stress of doing two consecutive degrees and running a business pushed me over the edge to stage 3 adrenal fatigue.

The thing with adrenal fatigue is that it messes with the body’s hormones. Many hormones are produced in the adrenal glands, including sex hormones. And when one sex hormone is off, it can easily throw off the balance of the other sex hormones.

It was like I had been transported back 10 years. The pain came back in full force. Once again, I was curling up on the bathroom floor on the worst days of my period. I was unable to be mentally present during social gatherings because I was busy willing the pain to go away.

Testing for menstrual issues

Because my mother has PCOS, I pushed hard to get an ultrasound and some hormone tests done. But when those tests showed no PCOS, I was told it was only dysmenorrhea. As a healthcare professional who works mainly with menstrual issues, I knew that something had to be wrong for my body to react that way. But had I been a layperson, I would have accepted that explanation and continued suffering.

Once I found out I didn’t have PCOS, I continued to try to figure out what could be wrong with my body. My symptoms were suggesting endometriosis. But endometriosis is a condition which is a bit tricky to diagnose because it doesn’t show up on blood tests or most ultrasounds. It requires a laparoscopy, which involves filling the abdomen with air, and inserting a camera through an incision near the navel.

Diagnosis or not, I want this issue taken care of as soon as possible. I am currently on an anti-inflammatory diet, I started acupuncture a few weeks ago, and now I’m looking into also doing pelvic floor physiotherapy.

Last week, I finally went in for my physical. I brought up my concerns with my menstrual issues. As someone who doesn’t automatically choose conventional medical interventions, my concerns don’t always get taken as seriously. My doctor told me that since I am not looking to conceive in the next 6 months and I don’t plan on going back on hormonal birth control, there’s no point in looking further into my menstrual issues. But upon doing the actual physical portion of the appointment, she was convinced.

An optimistic future

I received a referral for a gynecologist so that we can discuss my options. Endometriosis is one of those conditions that, when left untreated, can get worse. But I am choosing alternative treatments that focus on bringing balance back into my body, rather than simply dealing with the symptoms. Bringing balance back into my body will also reduce my chances of having ovarian cancer, since endometriosis puts women at a higher risk.

After struggling for 13 years, I’m finally starting to get answers. Sadly, this is not out of the norm. In Canada, it takes an average of 7 to 9 years of complaining of symptoms to get a diagnosis.

Will I be able to reverse my endometriosis? Who knows! But I certainly won’t give up until I do. And not only will I fight for my own health, but I also plan to help as many women as I can along the way.

Do you struggle with menstrual issues? Click the button below to join the FREE Nutrition for PMS, PCOS, and endometriosis group on Facebook.
Nutrition for PMS, PCOS, and endometriosis

7 Easy Ways to Eat More Healthy Fats

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Almost everyone would benefit from adding more healthy fats to their diet. This is especially true for those with conditions where blood sugar levels fluctuate a lot, such as PCOS and diabetes. Fats from healthy sources help slow down your body’s absorption of sugars in your food. They also help your cells better listen to your hormones.

Use the following tips to increase your intake of healthy fats. And don’t worry about possibly gaining weight. Healthy fats have too many functions in your body to simply be stored as fat for future energy (unlike unhealthy fats).

7 Easy ways to eat more healthy fats

Add nut butters to smoothies

Are you making smoothies for breakfast or after workouts? Use a chocolate protein powder and add a tablespoon of nut butter to make it nut butter cup flavoured. Alternatively, you can add a tablespoon of chia seeds, hemp hearts, or coconut oil to your smoothies to boost the fat content.

Put a dollop of coconut oil or sesame oil to your food

Planning to make a stir fry or steam some vegetables? Sauté or steam your dish with water, and add some coconut oil or sesame oil at the end for extra flavour. Waiting until the end to add the fats will keep them in their healthy form.

Include some avocado on your plate

Making a meal that just doesn’t require fat? Add some avocado slices to your plate as a side. Some vitamins can only be absorbed when consumed with fat. Because avocados can be expensive, all you need is 1/4 or 1/2 of an avocado.

Yolks have healthy fats!

Are you eating egg white omelettes to boost your protein while keeping cholesterol down? Eating more cholesterol won’t increase your cholesterol levels. Your body produces most of its cholesterol for hormones, and as a protective mechanism. Egg yolks not only have healthy fats, but they’re also incredibly nutrient dense.

Eat a handful of almonds

If you’re looking at your plate and see nothing but vegetables, lean protein, and/or grains, save a bit of room for a handful of almonds. You don’t need much – 10 almonds or so will do.

Take a fish oil

A good quality fish oil is a great supplement for most people. It’s an anti-inflammatory, it helps anxiety, depression concentration, diabetes, hormonal issues, and makes skin and hair healthier. It’s also a natural blood thinner, so it should be avoided if already taking blood thinners. If your meal is lacking healthy fats, take a teaspoon of fish oil with your meal.

Make a dip for vegetables

Are you eating vegetables without fats? As previously mentioned, some nutrients can only be absorbed into your body if eaten with fats. Make an easy dip for your vegetables by combining tahini with lemon, or make hummus or a curry dip.

Which strategies are you using to boost the healthy fat content of your meals?

You Absolutely Should Not Ignore Your PMS Symptoms

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When you spend a lot of time studying a subject, it’s easy to think that everyone knows what you know about that subject. I find PMS fascinating because you can learn a lot about a person’s health simply by looking at their PMS symptoms. I had forgotten that most of those who experience PMS simply see it as an inconvenience or a dreaded time of the month.

Why you shouldn't ignore PMS symptoms

In reality, PMS is so much more than a pain or an inconvenience. It’s actually a red flag for health. This is easy to forget because according to the latest estimates, as many as 85% of the menstruating population experiences PMS symptoms of some kind.

This figure is alarming, especially when you think of what PMS can indicate. But it should come as no surprise as the rates of infertility, cancer, and autoimmune diseases rise.

I’ve mentioned before how PMS is highly connected to adrenal fatigue and digestive issues. However, I feel that it’s important to talk about what happens if these two main roots of PMS aren’t addressed.

Adrenal fatigue to PMS to cancer?

Adrenal fatigue is what happens to your body when you’ve been stressed for too long. Your adrenal glands produce many hormones in your body, including your stress hormones and sexual hormones.

When you’re consistently stressed, your body spends a lot of resources on stress hormones, especially cortisol. After a while, your body has to start choosing between producing cortisol and other hormones, such as progesterone. When cortisol and progesterone have to compete, cortisol tends to come out on top.

But even then, adrenal glands eventually run out of resources to support cortisol production. When adrenal fatigue has fully set in, both progesterone and cortisol levels can be too low.

Low progesterone is often behind PMS symptoms like cramps and dark blood at the beginning and/or the end of your period.

So how does that tie in to cancer?

Our cells use our DNA as instructions for everyday protein synthesis. Sometimes, mistakes pop up in our DNA, and that’s completely normal. Usually, the body fixes these mistakes when we relax. But when we are in a constant state of stress, the body cannot fix these mistakes. Our cells end up reading instructions to produce cancerous cells, instead.

PMS itself is not the cause of cancer. PMS warns us that something is malfunctioning somewhere. Popping a painkiller when your cramps hit will not address the potential adrenal fatigue. And, if that adrenal fatigue is ignored, the long term stress could just be the beginning of a tumour.

PMS and autoimmune diseases

The organisms in our gut play a large role in our overall health. In a healthy individual, the friendly organisms should highly outnumber the unfriendly organisms. But when they don’t, the unhealthy guys can takeover and cause just about any health issue you can think of.

When the liver deactivates excess estrogen, it needs to pass through the bowels to leave the body. When there are a lot of unfriendly organisms in the gut, they intercept that estrogen and reactivate it to pass it through the body again.

This is an issue because estrogen needs to be balanced out by progesterone. When there is too much estrogen, or what is called an estrogen dominance, it’s as if progesterone levels were too low. And as you know, low progesterone can equate to PMS symptoms.

So where do autoimmune diseases come in?

The disproportion of good to bad organisms in the gut can have all kinds of repercussions. An excess in unfriendly organisms can make the existing pores in the gut lining larger than they should be. These large pores then begin to let large particles into the bloodstream. Because those particles don’t belong there, the immune system has to launch repeated attacks.

An immune system that keeps having to work overtime can become very tired. Usually, the immune system knows how to recognize the body’s cells as its own. But, as it becomes tired, it starts to make mistakes, and can attack the body’s cells. This is what is known as autoimmunity.

So once again, PMS is not the cause of the bigger issue, but shares a root cause with that issue. So, while PMS is a pain in the butt, it’s a fantastic indicator of what’s going on in the body!

PMS symptoms as a warning sign of infertility

Your body has a lot of mechanisms that are necessary for immediate survival. In fact, the only body system that isn’t absolutely necessary to keep you alive is your reproductive system. When your body can’t come up with enough resources to run all its processes, the reproductive system is usually the first to misbehave.

As mentioned above, PMS is often a symptom of other important imbalances in the body. These imbalances often result in hormonal levels that are less than optimal. Because the female reproductive cycle is very delicate, it doesn’t take much to turn conception into a challenge.

As I keep repeating (like a broken record!), low progesterone levels are responsible for many PMS symptoms. In order to conceive naturally, you need to ovulate. Ovulation happens when progesterone levels begin to rise. But if your body can’t produce sufficient progesterone, it may struggle to ovulate.

I hope I’m helping you understand why you absolutely should not ignore your PMS symptoms. PMS is not just a monthly inconvenience. It’s a nice and loud message from your body.

If you experience PMS, I invite you to download your PMS Survival Guide to start addressing your PMS naturally.

Healthy Holidays: How to Stay on Track

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It’s October 25th, which means that Christmas and other holidays will be coming up in the next two months. Some people may struggle to stay on track with their health during that time. In order to have healthy holidays, it’s important to think about a few things before the holiday season actually begins.

Start by deciding what your healthy holidays will look like. Come up with realistic health goals. Determine how much you want to allow yourself to indulge and try to stick to your plan. Don’t be critical of yourself, though. If you fall off track, acknowledge that you did so, and then kindly allow yourself to get back on track.

How to have healthy holidays and not gain weight

How to survive family dinners

If you’re hosting a dinner, tell guests what you would like them to bring. Make fewer side dishes to reduce the desire to overindulge and use smaller serving spoons to reduce how much of each dish you’re having. Keep the meal healthy by making mashed sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, and making your gravy and stuffing from scratch. Stick to one tasty dessert, instead of a dessert buffet.

As a guest, your best bet is portion control. Start with less food on your first plate, and grab seconds if you still feel hungry. Or, you can fill your plate with vegetables and turkey, then have the treats like mashed potatoes and gravy once you’re a bit more full. Cut wine with soda water and save it for toasting. Set a limit on the number of holiday drinks like eggnog.

Prevent blood sugar fluctuations by eating throughout the day, as opposed to “saving your calories” for dinner. Otherwise, for days after, you could continue to put on weight, and experience cravings, mood swings, and fatigue.

Healthy holidays include healthy shopping

On a long day of shopping, drink warm lemon water in the morning. Eat a filling meal, including a good protein source that will help you stay full longer. Bring a healthy snack along with you, such as raw almonds or pumpkin seeds. If cooking healthy meals during that time seems impossible, cook ahead for leftovers, or prep and freeze ingredients.

You can also reduce the amount of shopping you need to do by agreeing with family and friends to reduce the amount of gifts or having a Secret Santa. My family has already agreed to my request to skip the gifts altogether this year. Instead, we’ll be making the holidays all about spending time with the people we love.

For gift exchanges, request to avoid sugary gifts like cookies and chocolate and opt for tea instead. Alternatively, you can ask for a membership to an activity you enjoy, or tickets to an enjoyable experience.

Address your stress

With the holiday season, stress levels tend to increase. This is an issue because stress increases belly fat and inflammation. It also uses up the body’s nutrients at a faster rate than in a relaxed state. Additionally, it reduces immunity and slows down digestion.

To counter the effects of stress, it is extremely important to allow yourself some time to relax and to get adequate amounts of sleep. Consider a pamper session with relatives, and schedule celebrations to allow for proper sleep. Avoid caffeine in the afternoon and consume alcohol in moderation. If you feel your stress levels go up, try these ways to destress in 30 seconds or less.

Very importantly, you’ll need to support your immune system as you consume more sugar and go through more stress. Try to include nutrient-dense foods in your diet such as eggs, green leafy vegetables, colourful vegetables, pumpkin seeds, and raw almonds. Eat immune supporting foods like turmeric, garlic, and fermented foods (such as sauerkraut).

What are you strategies to stay healthy during the holidays?

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Christina Najjar - Natural Nutrition

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Docere Naturopathic Clinic & IV Lounge
444 Preston St., Suite 2
Ottawa ON K1S 4N6
T: 613-421-8591
F: 613-761-1855

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