Are you at risk, like Lena Dunham, of a ruptured ovarian cyst?

Lena Dunham has made the news again this week with her hormone issues. First of all, I think her willingness to share about her issues with her hormones is game-changing for women. Only by taking these issues out of our individual hiding places, can we find a better way forward. Her story is unfortunately all too common. So many women with one condition can quickly develop a secondary one – in her case, endometriosis and then an ovarian cyst. It's all caused by the same root causes.

What happened to Lena

Here’s what happened to Lena – she developed what is known as an Endometriomas. Endometriosis causes endometrial tissue to migrate around the body and attach to other organs and sometimes this tissue will attach to the ovaries and form a growth which becomes a Endometriomas cyst. A cyst like this on the ovary can grow to be very large and cause the ovary to twist, causing a lot of pain. When a large Endometriomas cyst ruptures, as we heard happened to Lena, it can cause internal bleeding – this is why she was rushed to hospital for surgery. She may have experienced symptoms prior to the rupture like pelvic pain and a sense of pressure in her abdomen, but she would also have recognized these symptoms as related to her long-standing Endometriosis.There are other kinds of ovarian cysts beyond those caused by endometriosis. When ovarian cysts are suspected to be growing women are usually told to either wait to see if symptoms arise or if the cyst goes away on its own, to take birth control pills to prevent more cysts developing, or to have surgery as Lena did. It’s possible Lena had a ovarian cystectomy which means the surgeon left her ovary intact. However, sometimes this is not possible, which means she may have undergone an oophorectomy - removal of the affected ovary. From my knowledge, experience and expertise, conventional treatments like the Pill are not effective enough. How do we know this? Lena is still dealing with her endometriosis symptoms, enough to cancel her promo tour of Girls, and using the Pill did not prevent her from getting an ovarian cyst that grew large enough to rupture. Frequent pelvic exams can catch signs of ovarian cysts early, but they will not prevent them from happening. I have helped many women prevent cysts from growing to the point of rupturing, and I have helped women make their cysts disappear all together! This is just all so unnecessary if we learn how to care for our bodies in a pro-period, female hormone-centric way.

What can we learn from Lena’s experience and What should you do next?

The Pill is not the magic bullet to our hormonal issues. We have to address the underlying causes of our estrogen overload with food. We have to get in action around partnering with our hormones to do all that we can to avoid surgery.In order to truly manage our hormones, we can't rely only on pills. We have to deal with the root cause food and lifestyle issues that are creating our hormonal chaos. And we have to take consistent action to minimize their effect. Here’s what you need to be aware of and what steps you should take next:

1. Estrogen overload of the body from chemical exposure - When estrogen is too high, it can promote the formation of these cysts. Read more here about where these chemicals may be coming from in your life and start making swaps to natural products.
2. Not the right micronutrients available in our diet to break down estrogen - Without these nutrients, estrogen continues to build up in the system and stimulate a cyst to grow. Read more here about how to start supporting the liver long term to keep estrogen moving out of you successfully.
3. Not eating the right foods at the right time for each phase of our cycle to optimize the hormonal ratio each week to eliminate symptoms - This is such a critical step. For example, during your 2 peak estrogen surges during your period, the Cycle-Sync™ method makes sure you’re eating foods at those exact times that maximize estrogen metabolism. You’ve got to get in sync with your body’s hormonal patterns with food and that’s exactly what the WomanCode Online program teaches you to do.

What’s possible instead when you take the natural approach?

Just read the story of one woman, Heidi, who found Flo Living just in time to prevent having Lena’s experience. She worked with me and made her cysts dissappear. “So as I lay on the table, with no expectations, the technician tells me, “The cyst on the left ovary is gone” and then “Oh! The one on the right is gone, too!” I’m in shock. I’m elated. And as a tear rolls down my cheek, I’m in awe of the power…the power this body has to heal itself. How amazing is that! If I treat it right (if I treat ME right), then amazing things will happen.”Don't wait and get caught off guard by a ruptured cyst. You can prevent this from happening - please take a moment now to check in with you body on 2 questions:What is your period experience?As I said, when your hormonal system is not working properly, it can cause a domino effect, producing more period problems and even autoimmune issues from the same hormonal imbalance. Lena had endometriosis, but I’m sure she did not expect to deal with a ruptured ovarian cyst. However, this is all connected and has the same set of root causes. Take a good look at your current period problems and examine the severity of your symptoms. If you are dealing with bad PMS or PMDD, major cramps, wacky bleeding, and you have a diagnosed condition like PCOS, Endometriosis, or Fibroids AND you haven't done anything beyond taking the Pill to help yourself and avoid symptoms, then you might be at a higher risk of developing an ovarian cyst than you realized.Are you eating an endocrine disruptive diet?Ultimately, look at your diet, is it full of dairy, gluten, animal fats, alcohol, and sugar? This will continue to set you up for estrogen imbalance and make you much more susceptible to symptoms and developing secondary conditions like ovarian cysts.This is why I created the FLO Living protocol to help every woman maintain the optimal healthy balance of hormones that keep us symptom free and able to make our body our happy place again.If you think you're at risk - the best place to start is with the FLO Living 4-Day Hormone Detox - to immediately bring down toxic estrogen levels.Sending Love and FLO to Lena's ovaries and yours.Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!to your FLO,AlisaGood things come in threes:

I want to hear from you!

First, have you had an ovarian cyst? Second, did you have a prior period problem before developing the cyst? Third, everyone you know is hormonal – spread a little good ovary karma, share this article on social and support Lena!

Need more Hormone Help?

If you’re needing some health upgrading, it’s time you started you looking into what’s going on with your hormones.I’ve designed a 4 day hormone detox and evaluation to help you understand exactly what’s out of whack and how you can start getting back to balance so that your hormones no longer have to suffer.Click here to get your FREE detox and evaluation!