Community Stories: Gabriela

Gabriela Gonzalez is 32 years old and lives in New York City. And for the past several years, Gabriela has lived with endometriosis and the crippling side effects that come with this disease. 

Endometriosis —  a whole body disease that impacts millions of people around the world — occurs when tissue that is similar to the tissue lining the uterus grows outside of the uterus and adheres to reproductive organs such as the ovaries, fallopian tubes, or intestines. 

Endometriosis is often misunderstood but is, in fact, incredibly common. It is estimated to impact at least 1 in 10 women in the United States alone. While symptoms can vary from person to person, some of the most common symptoms to be on the lookout for include pelvic pain, severe periods, heavy flow, painful sex, lower back or abdominal pain, gastrointestinal symptoms (including constipation and diarrhea), infertility, and more. To this day, it still takes an average of seven years for someone to get a diagnosis for endometriosis despite this being an extremely prevalent disease.

And it was these symptoms that Gabriela was experiencing — like constant, debilitating pelvic pain — that first led her to discover Elix Cycle Balance via a “How Healthy Is Your Cycle?” quiz in Chalkboard Magazine just over a year and a half ago. Despite dealing with this disease for most of her life, Gabriela had previously struggled to find treatment options that helped manage her pain in the way she was hoping without tons of extra side effects. 

By this point in her journey with endometriosis, Gabriela was “willing to try anything.” Gabriela further explained this, telling Elix, “When I saw Elix through the period quiz in Chalkboard Mag I already had a system with supplements and other things I was taking so I was like, ‘You know what? I'm going to try this.’” She continued, “I decided to give it at least six months and see if anything changed. I had been through so much already, I thought, ‘What’s one more thing?’ Anyone who has struggled long-term with something like endometriosis understands the sort of the willingness to be a human guinea pig in an effort to seek relief.” 

That was over a year and a half ago, and since then, Gabriela’s cycle and pain has changed — for the better. We were able to catch up with Gabriela to learn all about her experience with Cycle Balance almost two years in. You can read more about her experience with Elix and her journey with endometriosis below.
And be sure to be on the lookout for more stories from real-life Elix users coming soon! 

Can you talk a little bit more about your experience with Elix? At Elix, we often tell people that they have to commit for at least three months to see changes start to take place with their cycles. What was the timeline like for you?

Gabriela: Yeah, you know, it was interesting, because I feel I had pretty quick results and sort of like it was just really obvious at first and those first few months that my bleeding had gone down a ton, which surprised me. So that was something that happened pretty quickly where I was like, wow, I hope this lasts, and it did! And then past the three months was when I started feeling a lot less pain. And to be quite honest, I still don't feel very much pain during my cycle to this day. I used to take Advil almost every day, like every couple hours, because of the pain. I've even fainted from how bad my pain was in the past. In fact, I remember in high school, a friend of mine just found me in the bathroom on the floor, I had passed out from the amount of pain I was feeling. So I was really surprised to find that in the first three months I noticed not only lessening of my flow, but I also had a lot less pain.

If you had to describe your flow before and after starting Elix Cycle Balance, how would you do so? 

Gabriela: I will tell you that I remember I was at my friend's wedding on my period. And I had two of those giant pads — like those diaper pads — on top of each other and it had so much blood just soaking through. I went to the bathroom right before the ceremony and by the time the ceremony was over, the blood was on the dress. I had changed right before the ceremony happened and it still was covered. 

Now, after using Cycle Balance consistently, I feel like I bleed a third or less than I was before. I can now wear one of those thin flex foam pads. And again, that's not to say that there's always like a small amount of blood. At times, when it's heavier, it's heavier, but again, it's nothing compared to what I used to bleed. I used to be so uncomfortable, even while sleeping. When I had my period back before finding Elix I would wake up and feel as if I had to rush to the bathroom, or sleep on a towel. And I feel a lot more human now, which is really nice.

Were there symptoms in particular that you were hoping to help by starting elix? 

Gabriela: The pain, the pain, the pain. My physical pain was the main one I was trying to manage, and also the amount of bleeding during my cycle. 

That leads me into my next question, which is the dosing question. For example, some people ingest the herbs throughout the month, and others do a few days before their cycle. So I'm curious: what dosing pattern do you follow?

Gabriela: When I use the Elix Cycle Balance, I time it out to where I start about seven days before my period appears and I will drink it straight with water or add it to my morning tea. I've sometimes even put it in my food — like oatmeal or something — and it works well that way too. And I just recently —  like, two months ago — also bought the Daily Harmony formula, which has been a great addition. I've used it for the past three months and  I think it's been helpful as well. 

Before finding Elix’s Cycle Balance, what other types of treatment did you explore for your cycle?

Gabriela: My liver is probably fried because of the amount of Advil and OTC pain meds I used to take. I used Advil throughout, I guess most of my adolescence or like throughout college just to get through the day with the pain I was experiencing. I have also tried heating pads, but what it would do is make me bleed more. So I stopped using heat. It was good for the pain but then it would be like a hemorrhage of my system and so much blood so ultimately I was like, “I can't deal with this.”

I just feel like nothing quite started working until maybe 2017 which is when I got officially diagnosed with endometriosis. I will say this, though, I've been plant based since I was 13 which I think helps me. And also I don't metabolize caffeine very well, so it’s something I actively avoid.

Also in 2017 when I was diagnosed, I had decided to try to deal with it holistically. At that point, I found this article on Goop that outlined some holistic methods to deal with endometriosis and it included a study that had been done. And from there, I started implementing what they had talked about in the article, which was written by Dr. Aviva Romm.

What would you tell someone who's in a similar position to you? That's maybe on the fence about trying Elix?

Gabriela: Try it!!  I mean, I always say, you don't lose anything. I know not everything is a one size fits all, but I do think that there is something to be said about reaching that rock bottom place, or the place where you've experienced enough chaos with your own system and you don't want to feel this way anymore. And I'd say if you're at that point, you got nothing to lose and it might actually help you like it did for me. And I always tell folks to give it at least three months. Because I feel like that's when your body sort of adjusts and you start actually seeing more in- depth results so that folks don't get discouraged. 

Is there anything you want to share around your experience with Elix

Gabriela: To be honest, if you’re feeling skeptical, just know that I was too at first. I was very skeptical. Because in the past I'd go to my doctor and tell her about the pain I was experiencing, she would be like, “Okay, drink some raspberry leaf tea” or something and you know, for me, I have drank raspberry tea up the wazoo, and I never felt any kind of difference.And so a huge part of me was worried — is this is going to be similar to my raspberry leaf tea? But no, it hasn’t been. It has  reminded me of just how much wisdom there is in what we ingest and how food can really be medicine, and Elix is medicine for me. 

And finally, Gabriela wanted to leave us with this.

Gabriela: I just want to say: I also just think that we've normalized a lot of things that should not be normal. Like when I look back and think about how I used to literally cry in restaurants for no reason and have these violent mood swings from my cycle. Like hormones affect so, so much. I feel like it's been through this process that a lot of different aspects of my health journey have been so positively affected, not just my cycle. And sometimes we don't pause to reflect on just how far reaching how we feel is and how it impacts so much. I am thankful I found Elix.

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This article was reviewed by Dr. Elizabeth Fine.
Dr. Elizabeth Fine is currently the Dean of Clinical Education at Emperor’s College and has been practicing Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine for over 25 years, with a specialization in Women’s Reproductive Health.