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She’s had five surgeries. She lives with endometriosis. And she’s one of the people she’s trying to help.
“I can’t cure it. But can we reach for a tool to lessen how bad it is when we have exacerbations? The GLP/GIP medications are looking like they are a very good tool for this. And the data is looking like these peptides were missing in these women anyway.” — Kimberly Cunningham, Board-Certified Nurse Practitioner
The endometriosis clip hit 2.3 million views. So I flew to Denver and sat down with Kimberly Cunningham at her clinic to go deeper. And this time, it’s personal—because Kimberly has endometriosis herself.
She’s had five surgeries. Her adhesions grew back after a hysterectomy. One wrapped around her appendix and nearly ruptured it. Another caught her ovary on a hike miles from cell service. Eventually, both ovaries had to come out. Even as someone who speaks the medical language and knows the surgeons personally, it took her nine months from first symptom to diagnosis.
The national average? Eight to ten years.
Kimberly explains what endometriosis actually is—adhesions forming in the peritoneal cavity that attach to bowel, bladder, ovaries, and uterus. They’re invisible on imaging. The only way to see them is surgery. And the key question driving this episode: is endometriosis gynecological or metabolic? If it were only caused by menstrual blood reflux, a hysterectomy would solve it. It didn’t for Kimberly. And men form adhesions too—without menstrual blood.
The data points to GLP/GIP deficiency. When those peptides are absent from the peritoneal fluid, pro-inflammatory cytokines upregulate, macrophages stop functioning correctly, and adhesions form and contract. Kimberly microdoses tirzepatide—0.9mg twice weekly—and gets near-complete symptom resolution. If she’s late on a shot by more than 12 hours, she can tell exactly where her adhesions are because they start contracting.
A quality-of-life survey showed that 68% of women on GLP medications had significant reduction in at least one endometriosis symptom. Over 30% had complete resolution of at least one measure. This isn’t a cure—but it’s a tool that can quiet the disease and potentially slow new adhesion formation.
The episode also covers adenomyosis, the non-negotiables of strength training and protein regardless of condition, how to find the right dose without losing muscle, and why any weight loss journey over 20 pounds must go slow to avoid gallbladder and pancreas complications.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Kimberly’s personal endometriosis journey: five surgeries, adhesions that grew back after hysterectomy, and why she microdoses tirzepatide to avoid a sixth
- Why endometriosis may be metabolic—not gynecological—based on GLP/GIP deficiency in peritoneal fluid
- How microdosed tirzepatide works for endometriosis: lowest effective dose, twice weekly, finding the razor-thin line between symptom relief and unwanted weight loss
- In a quality-of-life survey, 68% of women saw significant symptom reduction, 30%+ had complete resolution of at least one measure
- Why the average U.S. diagnosis timeline is 8–10 years from first clinical visit—and why advocating for yourself matters
- How adenomyosis connects to endometriosis and why pre-surgical GLP treatment may reduce post-operative adhesion formation
- The non-negotiables regardless of condition: strength training, protein every four hours, hormone balancing, and sleep
🎧 Listen to the episode now:
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