Podcast

About the Endo Untangled podcast

The Endo Untangled Podcast is a Thrive Endo Clinic initiative, produced by GP Dr Alecia Macrow and Exercise Physiologist Cherie Noble.

Drawing on their experience working with hundreds of women and AFAB folk with endometriosis and pelvic pain, Alecia and Cherie track down local and international experts to unravel the complexities of pelvic pain and all the conditions that come along with it. The podcast is aimed at health practitioners and patients, focusses providing up to date, practical information, through their signature holistic and compassionate lens.

Episodes are published fortnightly.

You can subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Episodes are also uploaded fortnightly on the Thrive Family Practice Youtube page.

Episode 10: Yes, you can see endo on ultrasound. We examine endo scans, anatomy and the ultrasound 'confessional' with Ali Deslandes

Join us on Endo Untangled as Dr Alecia Macrow and Cherie Noble sit down with Alison Deslandes, a clinical academic sonographer, endometriosis researcher and founder of Astute Ultrasound Education to explore how advanced imaging is reshaping the diagnostic landscape for people living with endometriosis and pelvic pain.

In this episode you’ll hear:

Why a “normal” scan doesn’t always mean everything’s fine, and what to ask if the standard ultrasound isn’t giving you answers
How specialised transvaginal ultrasound protocols and the “sliding sign” technique help detect deep-disease and posterior pouch involvement that many imaging pathways miss.
Who the hell is Douglas and why is he in my pelvis? and other anatomy including where to find the uterosacal ligaments and where exactly is the peritoneum in the pelvis.

Episode 9: When pain gets personal: Dr Millie Mardon's road from diagnosis to discovery

In this episode of Endo Untangled, Dr Millie Mardon PhD shares how her long trips from Port Augusta to Adelaide as a teenager shaped her work in pain science. She explains how understanding what pain really is can help us change it, slowly but surely.

We talk about where pain discussions go wrong, how what we think, feel and see can shift the way pain shows up, and why personal stories matter in research and recovery.

This one will change how you think about pain.

Episode 8: A pain in the bum! When pelvic pain hits the bowels with Dr Chris Gillespie

In Episode 08, we dive deep (no pun intended) with specialist colorectal and pelvic floor surgeon Dr. Chris Gillespie as he lifts the lid on everything your bowels don’t want you to ask. From the anatomy and reflexes behind a good poop, to what’s going on when your colonoscopy is “normal” but symptoms persist, we cover it all.

We unravel the role of anorectal manometry, bust common myths (do laxatives really make your bowel “lazy”?), and get his go-to strategies for managing bowel dysfunction in real life. Whether you’re a clinician, patient, or just poop-curious — this one’s for you. Tune in, flush away the stigma, and get the inside track on what your gut’s been trying to tell you.

Episode 7: The Fire Truck, The Glue, and the Physios, with Alycia Scannell and Caz Berry

Our collaboration grew out of a cloud of plaster dust, a half-finished practice, a fire engine out the front, and someone quite literally glued to the floor. Out of that chaotic, hilarious day came connection, trust, and the start of a long partnership with pelvic health physiotherapists Alycia Scannell and Carolyn Berry.

In this episode, we talk about what pelvic health physiotherapy actually is, what happens in a consult for someone living with pelvic pain, and why the pelvis can get “cranky.”

Episode 6: Beyond a One-Dimensional View of Pain and Fatigue, with Sophie Sheppard.

In this episode of Endo Untangled, pain-titled physiotherapist Sophie Sheppard shares her lived experience of chronic fatigue (ME-CFS) as a teenager and later discovering she is autistic and ADHD. We unpack the science of persistent pain and how it reverberates through the nervous, endocrine and the immune systems (NEI ensemble) and explore how understanding the whole system impact changes care.

Episode 5: Standing Up to POTS with Dr Marie-Claire Seeley (part 2)

When one episode is not enough! We extended our recording with Dr Marie-Claire Seeley: researcher, lived experience advocate, CEO Australian POTS Foundation and dead-set legend, to talk POTS overlaps including endometriosis, pelvic pain, neurodivergence and hypermobility. We discuss investigation for POTS, how to do and interpret active stand test, what to rule out incl discussing heart tests, and discuss management.

see the POTS foundation website for resources: https://potsfoundation.org.au/

Episode 4: Standing Up to POTS with Dr Marie-Claire Seeley (part 1)

Unwell in central Asia. Dismissed as "just anxiety". Four kids, nursing shifts, and a fight to be believed. Today Dr Marie-Claire Seeley is CEO of the Australian POTS Foundation, using her PhD and lived experience to change care for people with POTS.

see the POTS foundation website for resources: https://potsfoundation.org.au/

Episode 3: Bridging the Gap: Why Endo Conversations Go Off Track – and How to Get Them Back, with Gynaecologist and Pain Physician A/Professor Susan Evans and Women's Health GP Dr Carmel Reynolds.

Why do so many endo appointments leave patients feeling unheard and doctors feeling stuck? In this episode, GP Dr Alecia Macrow and EP Cherie Noble sit down with Prof Susan Evans and Dr Carmel Reynolds to unpack why care can feel like control, why “they just want to put me on the pill” is such a common refrain in forums, and how sharp “ovary pains” aren’t always what they seem.

We talk about:

The disconnect across the desk and how to rebuild partnership
Why hormonal treatments are offered so often (and how to talk about them without shutting down choice)
Stabbing pains, ovary myths, and what’s really going on
Surgery: when it helps, when it doesn’t, and why it’s not the whole story

This is a constructive, honest conversation for patients, clinicians, and anyone wanting to better navigate endo care.

Episode 2: The Pelvic Pain Super Syndrome

Why the fatigue? Why the headaches? Why the lightning arse?!

In this episode, we dive into the messy overlap of gut issues, pelvic floor dysfunction, heavy periods, and crushing fatigue, and why these symptoms so often show up together. Dr Sneha Wadhwani joins us to explore what we’re calling the Pelvic Pain “Super Syndrome” and how recognising these patterns can completely shift how we approach care.

Episode 1: Introducing the Tangle

Exercise Physiologist Cherie Noble and Endo GP Dr Alecia Macrow talk through the 'why' of Endo Untangled, their personal stories, and what they're most looking forward to in the podcast.

Endo Untangled Podcast