If you’ve ever felt like you’re stuck in a constant battle with your womb, where you’ve tried everything, doing all the “right” things, only to have your fibroids grow back or get bigger? I want you to know: it’s not because your body is working against you. Neither is it due to the lack of willpower, and its certainly not because you didn’t try hard enough.
There is something else going on and it has a name.
It's called Epigenetic trauma.
Epigenetics is a well-established field of science that shows how stress, trauma, and even our social environment can change the way our genes express themselves, all without changing our DNA.
In an earlier blog on epigenetics, I broke down what epigenetics actually is, why it matters, and how pioneers like Dr. Bruce Lipton and Dr. Joy Degruy have shown us that the mind and body are not separate, especially not for ‘women of colour’ who have had to put up with generational pain, medical neglect, chronic stress and more besides.
But today, I want to go a little deeper.
I am referring to a paper titled “Epigenetic Effects of Social Stress and Epigenetic Inheritance”, and while it doesn’t mention fibroids, what it does describe is the exact biological pattern I see in almost every woman I work with.
The Groundhog Day Effect: Why Fibroids Keep Coming Back
So many women come to me after they’ve tried everything. They’ve done the herbs, supplements, changed to a plant based diet, done yoni steams…the list goes on and one, and yet the fibroids continue growing or they start growing again (after surgery), which is the worst thing ever because you thought you had got rid of them for good.
This constant round and round is what I call the “Groundhog Day Effect”, the painful merry-go-round where healing never quite takes place because something essential hasn’t been addressed. The question we must ask ourselves is what is that essential thing?
The answer, I believe, is in the way the body remembers what the mind can’t say verbally.
The paper explains how social trauma; like poverty, abuse, racism, or even generational experiences like war and genocide or the long term impact of slavery, can chemically alter gene expression through a mechanism called DNA methylation. These epigenetic changes can affect our hormones, immune responses, and even how our body handles stress, all of which are major players in fibroid development.
The thing I’ve been unable to ignore is the fact that these changes can be passed down through generations, even if you never directly experienced the original trauma. Meaning, we are still suffering from the effects and don’t even know it.
The Stress-Fibroid Connection Runs Deeper Than We Thought
The paper dives into what is called the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA axis), the system in the body that manages our stress response. Essentially, its a feedback loop. When the HPA Axis becomes dysregulated (usually due to chronic or trauma), it can lead to hormonal imbalances, particularly high cortisol and low progesterone. This then creates the perfect conditions for fibroid growth.
One gene that was mentioned, NR3C1, is responsible for our glucocorticoid receptors, the way our body “hears” cortisol. When any kind of ‘ trauma' increases methylation (the chemical modification of DNA), the result is a body stuck in stress mode, even when the threat has long gone.
And if you’re stuck in stress mode, your reproductive system takes the hit. Your womb becomes the battlefield of unprocessed stress, grief, loss, and survival.
This is data-backed hard-core science and it's what I’ve been seeing in my practice for years.
Why Your Womb Is Speaking To You
As I mentioned already, the paper doesn’t talk about fibroids.
But when I see women with fibroids who also have a history of trauma, abandonment, body shame, medical gaslighting, or suppressed rage, and I read studies about how these exact stressors rewrite the body’s gene expression, I can’t unsee the connection.
Which is why, I’ve come to know for sure that dealing with them will take much more than simply detoxing your liver or eating anti-estrogenic foods (although those matter too!). It’s about recognising that your womb might be expressing a story that needs to be heard or expressed so your womb and you can let go of it.
Healing Requires a Multi-Functional Approach
This paper and others like it make very clear that:
Early life trauma alters gene expression.
That altered gene expression can be inherited.
Reversing the impact requires deep cellular, emotional, and spiritual work.
The field of social epigenetics is showing us that our bodies are not just shaped by what we eat or how we live today, but also they are shaped by what we carry forward from those who came before us.
That’s why I created the Holistic Cycle Method. It's a transformative system I created through my own self-healing journey over 8 years, that creates real change and results. No longer can fibroids keep being treated like a checklist of things to tick off. Real change comes from a drastic change in our beliefs, behaviours, habits and our ability to challenge the paradigms we come to see as ‘normal’, like ‘fixing’ heavy bleeding with birth control, or taking iron pills without addressing the root causes of heavy bleeding…
…and btw…it's not just fibroids!
You and your body are more intelligent than we’ve been led to believe.
As women, we are highly intuitive. It's time to start listening to the Divine Wisdom that has always been inside you, so you can step into who you've always been… without being in survival mode, living in trauma without realising it, or believing in the false beliefs that have shaped your choices and your life, all your life.
So, you might want to ask the question…
When I remove these fibroids [whether naturally or through surgery], do I really want to return to the same ‘normal’ that helped create them… or am I ready to step into the woman I was always meant to be?
If you enjoyed this, here are three powerful articles to explore next:
This space is where I teach the real truths about fibroids, womb health, and healing: the things women are never told. Stay connected as I continue to share the frameworks, insights, and root‑cause teachings that shape my work.
References
Ekmekci, H. S., & Muftareviç, S. (2023). Epigenetic Effects of Social Stress and Epigenetic Inheritance. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry. Read it here
Lipton, B. (2005). The Biology of Belief.
Degruy, J. (2005). Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome.
Roth, T. L., et al. (2009). Lasting epigenetic influence of early-life adversity on the BDNF gene. Biological Psychiatry.
Klengel, T., et al. (2013). Allele-specific FKBP5 DNA demethylation mediates gene–childhood trauma interactions. Nature Neuroscience.
