Endometriosis, Crohn’s Disease & Fodmaps.

Debbie Howard’s Journey

I often joke that if I was someone’s pet, they would have had me put down by now.  I’ve always been the problem child in the health department and my story starts back in my teens.

I was late to the puberty party but when it hit, I wanted to die.  How was it that all my other friends who had their periods seemed to be able to get on with their lives, I could barely get out of bed.  My period would last for weeks, it was heavy, it was painful, and it gave me migraines.  I was one of the fortunate ones though, my doctor was able to recognise my symptoms as endometriosis. 

Over the course of 5yrs, I had 3 surgeries plus another to remove an ovarian cyst.  By not taking the sugar pills in my contraceptive, (to avoid having a period) I was able to start living my life again. At that point I also started a gluten free diet and noticed a significant improvement in my bloating and stomach pains.

Now let’s jump to my thirties.  Two weeks after getting married my parents told me that they were separating.  To say my world fell apart would be an understatement.  That’s when health problem number two came along, Crohn’s Disease (crazy bowel movements, bloating, brain fog, stabbing pains, achy joints and drugs that made you wonder if they were worth the heinous side effects).

After 4yrs of different drugs and awful side effects, I gave them up and became stricter with my gluten free diet, learned to love bone broth and discovered the life changing way of eating called FODMAP.  The Monash University App was a life saver and through it I found some amazing resources, cook books and magazines such as Fodmapper to subscribe to.

However, for the pain it’s caused me, had it not reared its ugly head, I would never have had a colonoscopy and they wouldn’t have found the pre-cancerous polyps that had a high chance ofdeveloping in to bowel cancer.  I’m now in the system to have one every two years and to date, 5 pre-cancerous polyps have been removed over the past 8 years.

My health journey has taught me to slow down, prioritise my health and to say no when I don’t feel up to doing something (and not to feel guilty about it!) as well as to focus on what I can do, rather than what I can’t.  

Going gluten free (though not always as strict as I know I should be) and discovering FODMAP’S, have changed my life.  The beauty of FODMAP’S is that you don’t have to always avoid them, you learn how much of something you can have and what your triggers are,  (garlic, onions, apples and broccoli are my enemy but who doesn’t love a cold crisp apple in the middle of summer?).  With the help of a dietitian who specialises in FODMAPS, we found my triggers and we did a breath test to rule out anything else.  

You know your body better than anyone and so when something doesn’t feel right, it usually means something isn’t right – learn to trust your gut (pun intended!).  Keep asking questions, seek different opinions and never give me looking for ways to improve your health and wellbeing. lol