When you have Endometriosis, your fertility will be affected. It doesn’t automatically mean that you will be infertile, but you are likely to find it more difficult to fall pregnant.
But the good news is that nutrition can help to improve your fertility! But when is the best time to start working on your fertility?
Well, that depends on where you are in your fertility journey:
- Are you already trying?
- Do you plan to start trying in about 6-12 months?
- Do you know you would like to have children at some point, but not anytime soon?
Your approach and when to start is slightly different for each.
1. You are already trying
If you are already trying, whether naturally or using assisted reproductive services, the time to start is now! And there are 2 things you need to focus on.
The first focus should be on reducing your inflammation. Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease (read more about that here), and it is the underlying chronic inflammation that provides the ‘fuel’ for it to spread and progress. We also know that inflammation is also a major cause of implantation failure. And what you eat Your personal Endometriosis diet needs to be anti-inflammatory, which means not only eating a range of anti-inflammatory foods, but also removing any foods that you are intolerant to.
The second focus should be on improving the quality of your eggs, and this requires some specific supplements. Endometriosis directly affects your eggs’ ability to produce the energy they require to mature and support the development of an embryo. This is especially important if you are over 35.
2. You’re planning to start trying in 6-12 months
If you are planning to try for a baby in the next 6-12 months, I recommend you start with reducing inflammation right now. Find out what your personal Endometriosis diet is and take a few months to establish it – changing your diet can be difficult! Then, when you’re about 4 months out from starting your fertility journey in earnest, you’ll need to start working on your egg quality with supplements. Your eggs take around 3-4 months to go through their maturing process and this requires a lot of energy. Endometriosis affects your eggs’ ability to produce energy and supplements are needed to make sure they function as they should to minimise the risk of chromosomal abnormalities.
3. You want children at some point but not anytime soon
If a pregnancy is not on your immediate horizon but you know that you want children at some point you could wait until you’re about 6-12 months out from trying. But my recommendation is to start now on reducing inflammation by finding your personal Endometriosis diet. It will have a few immediate benefits plus you know you’ll be getting your body in the best state possible for when you want to try to fall pregnant.
By finding the right diet for you now, you’ll be able to start reducing your inflammation. You can take your time to make the changes you need to make and establish some good routines around what you eat and don’t eat. And you’ll see many, if not all, of your Endometriosis symptoms reduce! Then, when you are about 6 months out from starting your fertility journey, you need to think about improving your egg quality and start taking some specific supplements.
So, wherever you are in your fertility journey, there are things you can do right now to improve your fertility.
June is World Infertility Awareness Month, and I will be running an online workshop where I go into everything I’ve discussed in this article in a lot more detail.
The workshop is called “How to improve your fertility naturally when you have Endometriosis” and I’m running it on Saturday 10 June (Sydney Australia time zone). I’ll be running the workshop twice that day to accommodate the different time zones in the world.
Find out more and register now! https://www.subscribepage.com/improve-your-fertility-when-you-have-endometriosis-june-2023