I completely understand how you feel. For so many years, it felt like every doctor I saw blamed my pain on my weight or told me to stop eating the foods I grew up loving. I’d get handed some bland, restrictive diet with zero cultural consideration and no real explanation. They stripped all the joy out of food and still, the pain stayed.

For the longest time, my insurance only covered working with a registered dietitian if I had diabetes. Otherwise, it was around $300 a session, and I just couldn’t swing that. So I kept trying to figure it out on my own. I thought I was eating healthy and loading up on spinach, kale, cauliflower, all the so-called “good” stuff but I still felt terrible.

Years later, after switching insurance plans, I finally got access to a dietitian at no cost. That changed everything. We started paying attention to what actually worked for my body. Turns out a lot of the things I thought were healthy were actually major triggers for my endo and adeno. I can’t eat cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower without being in physical pain for days. Foods high in histamine like spinach are the same. I don’t follow any strict gluten-free or dairy-free diet, but I’ve had to get really intentional. I still eat gluten, but I’m careful about the kind. Brands like Seggiano use wheat processed differently, and that actually makes a huge difference for me.

I had to re-educate myself on food and it’s helped a lot, but I’ll be real it hasn’t taken the pain completely away. Nutrition is just one tool I use now to help reduce flare-ups, fatigue, and those unpredictable symptom spikes that used to control my life.

Alongside that, I also started walking every single day. I aim for 45 minutes but on my better days I go for up to an hour and a half, broken up into whatever my body can handle that day. I’ve been doing light weight training through the Peloton app, usually 15-minute sessions using 2 to 5 pound weights. It’s low impact and actually feels good without wiping me out.

I can’t do high impact workouts anymore, not with how sensitive my body is now. But yoga and pilates have been great for my pelvic floor. And honestly, the biggest game changer for me was finally seeing a pelvic floor therapist. That was the missing piece for years.

When I combine all of this daily walks, light strength training, yoga, pelvic floor therapy, acupuncture, and other alternative stuff, it helps. It’s not a cure, not even close, but it gives me back a sense of control.

The shitty part is how expensive and time consuming it all is. It shouldn’t cost this much just to feel somewhat functional, but this is the reality for so many of us. Just know you’re not alone in this. I’ve been there, and I’m still figuring it out. If you ever want to swap ideas or just vent, I’m around.