So I came off the Pill back in November 2018. I just randomly decided I didn’t want to put synthetic hormones into my body any longer. I started a vegetarian diet a few months before and then went vegan the same month that I stopped the pill. (I stopped the pill mid-way through the pack as well, not sure why!)
3 months went by with no period and I was loving it.. how lucky, I thought!
Then 6 months..
Then 8 months..
I gave seed cycling a go for just over 3 months before making an appointment with the Doctor as I hoped it would bring my period on as some people see great benefits, but unfortunately I wasn’t one of them.
Blood tests were taken and came back as ‘fine’.
I was put on synthetic progesterone pills for 5 days to see if it would induce a bleed. I didn’t want to take it but felt like I should give it a try as it’s been a while now. I took it for 5 days and still nothing.
I decided to slow down my gym to 1-2 times a week, from 4 times a week and I started acupuncture. I did 5 acupuncture sessions and still nothing. The acupuncturist was baffled as to why I didn’t have a period yet and suggested I eat some animal meat. Begrudgingly I started to add one piece of meat to my diet a week (tuna, salmon and had chicken once or twice but it made me feel sick!). But guess what…still nothing.
I continued eating meat once a week for about 6 weeks and they also recommended to use a hot water bottle on my stomach once a day, which I did for about two weeks and then kind of forgot…
Time past by and still nothing, so this called for cutting my beloved gym completely.
I was then referred to a private hospital for more blood tests.
These blood tests came back as ‘low estrogen’.
I decided to start back at the gym once a week and a HIT (high intensity training) class once a week too (Oh god this makes me cringe! High intensity definitely wasn’t doing me any favours!), but I spoke to my Gyno and she said that for my mental health I should keep up my gym!
I then had an internal ultra scan of my womb (pretty uncomfortable and seemed to last forever, twisting the thing around inside of me to get every angle!). This came back as ‘fine, but quiet a thin uterus lining’. I then had a normal ultra scan (the one done on your belly), which came back as ‘fine’.
This then brings me to the start of 2020, when I went travelling for 6 weeks around South East Asia. It was hard to be vegan/vegetarian and I ended up eating meat about once a week during this time.
We went to a spiritual holistic healer in Bali and when he saw me he instantly said
“I can see you have blood stuck in your belly. Do you know why this is?”
Like what the hell!!!
If he said that to ANYONE else, they would be like “what the hell do you mean you crazy man?!”
But obviously it rang true to me!
I told him that I hadn’t had my period for ages and I didn’t really know why and he looked at me in the eye and said..
“Want to know why? It’s all in the mind. Stress. Take care of the mind and your heart more.”
This knocked me back!
I am a stress-head and always in my mind!
When I came back from travelling, I was booked in for an MRI scan of my brain and pituitary gland. This came back as all normal. I’ve never had an MRI scan before and I had to take my piercings out of my ears (tragus and upper ear piercings) and one of them closed up from not being in my ear for one day because of the rays of the scan can apparently make the hole close up super fast! So I had to get it kind of re-pierced the day after! It was also super loud..you hear a lot of banging so they give you ear plugs and headphones with the radio on.
More blood tests were taken.
I was then given 21 days of synthetic estrogen tablets, followed by 7 days of synthetic progesterone tablets.
As a side note, I quit by job to go travelling at the end of 2019, so coming back from travelling I was WAY less stressed and was able to meditate more. I was also making sure I ate TONS of healthy fats and was adding salmon to my diet once a week.
A few days after stopping the synthetic tablets, I came on my ‘period’. Very light and lasted a few days.
This was then meant to ‘bring on my period naturally’, but guess what..it didn’t!
My Doctor’s only response was ‘erm, go back on the pill to regulate your periods. There’s nothing else we can do’.
NO THANKS.
Now its April 2020 and I decided to go ALL IN…because I wasn’t going back on the pill. I pretty much just assumed I had HA (hypothalamic amenorrhea) by now.
Going ALL IN, in case you didn’t know, means eating ATLEAST 2500 calories a day and no exercise other than yoga and a small amount of walking per day as this is gentle on the body.
I was eating closer to 3000 cals a day. As expected, I put on weight (just under 1 and a half a stone and a dress size bigger, but I was originally classed as a ‘normal’ weight before this).
I started to add some dairy into my diet as well, mainly full fat yogurt, which is linked to ovulation.
HUGE mindset shifts HAD to be made.
I had to sacrifice the gym.
I had to change my mindset around not wanting to eat ‘unhealthy’ food each day.
I had to sacrifice going out on bike rides with my boyfriend which we loved to do together.
I had to sacrifice even doing yoga some days, because I needed to stick to an hour of exercise a day, INCLUDING walking my dogs. So if I walked my dogs for an hour some days, that was it..no yoga for me!
I had to change my mindset on all food rules I made and didn't even realise I had…such as ‘I cant eat past 9pm!’.
I had to accept that my body was putting on weight and that my fitness levels were decreasing.
Basically my job was to eat and rest! Which is hard for someone who likes to be active and be pretty healthy!
Seeing my body change and not fitting in my clothes was hard.
Seeing the months go past with no period was hard.
Was there ever a light at the end of the tunnel?
Am I even doing the right thing to get my period back?
Am I just broken?
I started to dive into breathwork and did about 6 sessions of breathwork in the comfort of my own house. One of the sessions I cried and had an emotional release that I didn’t realise I had stored in me. My last session, I felt intense tingling and vibrations in my sacral/stomach area, which I thought could be unblocking some stagnant energy there.
I often meditated on my womb space and visualised myself getting my period and how it would make me feel. Usually this would bring a tear to my eye, I just wanted it back so bad!
Then it came.
It actually BLOODY CAME!!
On 8/8 which is known as the 'lions gate portal', which is meant to be the luckiest day of 2020 and the day where your dreams become reality..how synchronistic!
My period came 5 days after my breathwork where I felt intense vibrations in my stomach.
Finally I knew everything I had been doing WORKED.
It feels WONDERFUL and worth it to get a healthy natural period back.
To know my body feels SAFE.