Treatment for Endometriosis is limited, or rather; it is limited in treatments that work. Most GYN’s are not specialized in the most effective way to treat Endometriosis, excision surgery. There are few MD’s who can actually perform excision with expertise in cutting out all of the disease from affected areas.
Most GYN’s try to treat Endometriosis with suppressing estrogen, which Endo adhesions need to grow, multiply and be active. They will treat with birth control pills, Lupron (originally developed for prostate cancer) and surgical ablation (burning adhesions, creating more scar tissue).
All of the treatments that the majority of GYN’s use for Endometriosis come with nasty side effects. Lupron is becoming the ‘drug’ of choice in treatment. It overstimulates the hormones to shut them down, forcing women into a menopausal state, which can sometimes be irreversible as well as permanent bone loss. Side effects are so severe that a patient can only be treated for 3 months at a time. It suppresses hormones, not inflammation; therefore most patients are still in a great deal of pain.
Unfortunately, most women do not have access to a specialist who can perform excision surgery and if they do, many insurance providers will not cover the cost because it is deemed not essential for treatment. Basically, there are other treatments that are cheaper so you are forced to pay for them your whole life. In addition, their side effects leave you paying more for new treatments and pills due to those side effects the ‘covered’ treatments caused. It’s a money game, plain and simple.
Even if you do have access to have excision specialist, not all cases are successful and many patients report that their symptoms come back in 6 months to a year. Support groups have been formed for women around the world to share their thoughts and emotions about a disease that so few have knowledge about. They share their treatments of what has been successful and what has not. Many people who have not had excision and do not have the means to do so have relied heavily on narcotic pain medication and anti-depressants. Obviously, this causes more problems for women while putting a band aid on the symptoms.
This is where CBD oil can help.
The Endocannabinoid System runs off of endocannabinoid chemicals. These chemicals help balance many important bodily functions. Some of these functions include immune system and pain responses. The body has CB1(found in the brain) and CB2(found in the immune system) receptors, both of which are found in immune cells.
It has been shown that when these receptors are further stimulated, it helps the regulate pain and immune system response (reducing inflammation). It is only speculated that Endometriosis could be autoimmune but none the less, the inflammation response of adhesions is the top factor in causing severe pain in patients with Endometriosis.
CBD is known to reduce inflammation in individuals with or without autoimmune diseases by limiting the immune response and releasing anti-inflammatory properties.
In addition, women with endometriosis tend to have or be more susceptible to other diseases, such as autoimmune (Hashimotos, Lupus, RA, MS to name few) as well as certain types of cancer and anxiety/depression.
Research shows that CBD oil not only suppresses the immune response reducing symptoms of highly inflammatory diseases but is also known to shrink tumors in certain types of cancers as well as relief from anxiety and depression that often comes with having a chronic illness.
Having an option that treats more than one symptom with little to no side effects and is actually a success, is here. CBD in high doses is a benefit to any individual with a chronic illness. Women within the endometriosis community are finally finding an alternative to narcotics and starting to have hope in their journey to wellness and managing their disease.
Originally published: http://www.cbdalliance.org
