Endometriosis isn’t something I often talked about growing up. Maybe it’s because facing it makes it feel too real, or maybe it’s the ingrained belief that women should simply put up with period pain. Whatever the reason, for a long time, I pretended everything was fine.
From the moment I got my first period at 15. I remember that day vividly—I had to leave school and go home, where I ended up curled up on my mum’s bed, crying in pain. I kept telling her that no one warned me it would be like this. I was the youngest of three girls, and I’d never seen my sisters suffer like this every month. That’s when I realised my body was different, but no one ever said, “Maybe you should see a doctor.” It was always just, “It’s just your period.”
For those who don’t know, endometriosis is when endometrial tissue grows outside the uterus. In severe cases, like mine, these adhesions can bind organs together—ovaries, bladder, bowels—and cause debilitating pain, fatigue, inflammation, and even infertility. There is no known cure, and it’s ranked among the most painful medical conditions, right up there with heart attacks and childbirth.
I remember the day I was finally diagnosed. I had flown back to Australia in 2020 finally ready to get a proper diagnosis as the pain had become an every day event. My mum came with me for support as I sat in the doctor’s office, undergoing an ultrasound. The technician’s cold wand prodded deep, causing years of trauma to surge back. “Oh, darling,” her voice laced with sympathy, “I don’t know how you’ve managed this long. It’s everywhere; you must be in so much pain.”
At that moment, 15 years of “it’s just period pain” came crashing down. Fifteen years of thinking I was weak, of taking painkillers just to make it to work, finally made sense. Tears streamed down my face as my mum turned to me said, “I’m so sorry.” It was the first time I felt seen, my pain was validated and I knew it was not all in my head.
Since then, I’ve tried everything to heal—hormone treatments, multiple surgeries, Chinese herbs, acupuncture. You name it, I tried it. By April 2022, my health had reached rock bottom. I was set to return to Australia for a major surgery to remove part of my bowels, where the endometriosis had returned, this one being a much longer healing time as the complications involved with removing part of your bowel was not something I took lightly.
It’s often said that when you’re brought to your knees, you dig for gold. So I started digging. In my search, I found the Bean Protocol, pioneered by nutritionist Karen Hurd and taught by Unique Hammond relies on the power of soluble fiber to detoxify the body and regulate hormones. The theory? Soluble fiber binds to bile (which carries toxins and excess hormones) and escorts it out of the body, prompting the liver to create fresh bile from stored cholesterol. I read stories of women who had healed themselves from endo as well as other chronic diseases on this protocol and from then I knew it was something I had to do.
A journal entry I wrote the week I started ‘
“ So here i am, Friday night, 5 days into it, home alone, making 3 types of beans and farting my way through it all.
I feel mixed emotions, i’m a little scared at this concept of the death of the old me. The fun adventurous, restaurant eating, cocktail drinking fun me. The old me does not know how to take care of my body, I live in constant pain but also in constant denial.
I read that healing takes maturity, I don’t think I’ve been ready to take it until now. I’ve hit rock bottom with my health, I cant go to the toilet without pain, can’t have sex, can’t go a full night without waking up in pain, my heart is a constant fluttering, when I am not in pain, I am in fear of pain, and when the pain does come it is beyond unbearable, I shove myself with pain killers and scream in a ball until it dissipates. It has become so normal I think it is just part of my life now, I wake up only to feel like the devil is burning my insides, pulling my legs and drilling into my ass only to have to pull it all together 1 hour later to try and go to work or see friends like nothing ever happened.
I know I couldn’t hold a child in this body and I know I can’t keep living like this, the inner calling is stronger than ever. I believe I can make myself better, through food and a-lot of discipline. It’s going to take some time, but I can achieve it. I am ready to meet the new me, healthy, focused, determined, calm, and pain free.
I will look back at this whenever I am having a hard day and remember this night I sat typing this full of strength, optimism and determination to beat my disease one bean at a time.”
After the 8 month mark I started to notice a significant difference in my symptoms, as well as a bunch of other perks to the protocol, my nervous system had really relaxed, I found it easier to focus, I slept better, the heart flutters, the night cramps it all started to dissipate. Now coming up to 19 months my pain level has dropped from a ten to a manageable four. I get a few days of pain a month, it’s still pain but it is not knocking me off my feet.
Nineteen months since I wrote that in my journal, 19 months of healing. I can say it has not been easy. My journey has been full of ups and downs. Healing with food is not an overnight fix, I felt worse before I started to feel better and so many times I just wanted to give up and bite an apple, or enjoy a cake or Champaign at a special occasion.
I know I still have a way to go until until I can say I’m fully in remission, I still follow the protocol strictly. But I can gladly say, I feel like a new person — both body and mind. It’s become a way of life, not just something I’m trying to “get over.” And once that shift happened, it stopped being about what I was missing out on and became about everything I was gaining back.
I hope by sharing this, I can raise awareness and encourage more compassion for so many women living with endometriosis. Next time someone mentions period pain, take a moment to really ask how they’re doing. We endure so much, and we deserve understanding and support. Women are strong – stronger than we sometimes even know, we’ve already survived every tough day we’ve faced so far.