Let’s Talk About… Hormones
on Oct 03, 2017, Updated Nov 08, 2018
We are participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Please see my disclosure policy.
It’s the first Let’s Talk About Tuesday and I am so happy to finally share a bit more into my personal life that doesn’t always make it onto the blog. I’ve come to realize there is a fine line between sharing things that happen to me in order to be helpful and transparent, and oversharing every minute detail about my life. But over the last year and a half I have learned more about hormones and naturally healing my body than I ever thought I would, and I knew my story could be helpful to so many women. I say women over men because a) women make up 91% of my readers, and b) i’m about to get all up into period talk so GET READY LADIES. But if you are a man reading, this could totally be helpful to you too because a lot of what I will explain in this series is about de-stressing! Which let’s be real, every single person can relate to.
Let’s talk about Hypothalamic Amenorrhea:
In January of 2016, A LOT was happening in my life. I thought I would break it down in a list so you could get a glimpse into what was going on:
- We did our first Whole30! And in preparation for that I decided that January would be the first month I would go off birth control which I had been on for 10 years – not to get pregnant, but to balance my hormones naturally as I was starting to eat differently and live a more natural life.
- We had just found out at the end of December that Matt (the hubs) had gotten into Paramedic school which was super incredible and exciting but also meant that he wouldn’t be working for 9 months.
- I was RAMPING up my blog. I made a decision at the beginning of 2016 to post twice a week and commit all of my spare time to blogging outside of work (which i talk more about in this post). Especially with Matt not working I wanted to try and start bringing in some income with the blog!
- If you couldn’t tell from the last two bullets – money was TIGHT. I’m glad we did a Whole30 in January of that year because no eating out or booze really helped to not spend as much money!
As you can see, there were a lot of stressors happening but honestly at the time, I mentally didn’t feel super stressed. I am a very positive person and I really saw the happy side of everything that was going on. I was so thrilled Matt got into paramedic school, I was happy to be eating clean and doing something good for my body, I was also so jazzed about taking my blog to the next level and being a BOSS about it. So when March rolled around and I hadn’t gotten my period back I thought it was a little strange but the internet told me it’s normal to take up to 3 months to get it back after being on birth control for so long… so I put off thinking about it another month.
April came and no aunt flo in sight so I made an appointment with a gyno and we started running tests! At first they thought maybe it was Thyroid? PCOS? Nope and nope – clear on both. We did lots of blood work and nothing came back so my doctor said to wait 2 more months and see if it comes back on it’s own.
2 months later – nothing! I go back to the doctor and she runs another panel of tests and ding ding ding we have a winner! Hypothalamic Amenorrhea. I said what now? Never heard of this in my life and it sounds scary. She explained it to me this way:
Your hypothalamus in the center of your brain controls your reproductive system. When your body goes into fight or flight mode, it stops telling your body to produce the hormones needed for ovulation and in turn, for a period to happen.
When we found this out I was TERRIFIED. And confused. When I went on my rampant google search about it I found out that it is the reason why people with eating disorders or marathon runners lose their periods. That made it even harder to believe because I eat a lot and hate running. I was working out but only about 3 HIIT workouts a week, nothing too crazy I thought!
Let’s talk about fertility:
So next my doctor told me to go to a fertility specialist and get an ultrasound and make sure everything else was okay. By this time it was June and I was really ready to get this figured out and under control! So after going through my eating habits and lifestyle with the fertility specialist she asked me how my stress level was.
At first I said “hmmm I think it’s okay!” I mean we just have no money, i’m working constantly and sitting here talking to you crossing my fingers you aren’t about to tell me i’m infertile… okay so maybe I am stressed? *Instant tears*
STRESS. It’s a son of a b****. Creeps up on your when you don’t even realize it. Looking back on the beginning of 2016 I see now that all of the events going on were very stressful – but being an optimist has its downside too I guess! I have now realized that saying I am happy and cheerful won’t make the stress go away. It will make it manifest into something else entirely.
I will likely write another blog post all about stress and stress management, so let’s get back to this fertility gal for now.
The appointment continued and she agreed it was likely stress induced Hypothalamic Amenorrhea. So then we went and did and ultrasound and I was very happy to see I had lots of eggs all ready and waiting for me when I healed my brain and chilled out for a minute.
So what now?
Her suggestion was to eat lots of healthy fat like avocados (love her for this) and try to de-stress. She said to exercise less which blew my mind because I already felt like I wasn’t doing much. She explained that my cup is full of stress right now and even adding a little bit of exercise can make it overflow even more. So she told me to try to bring it back naturally for another 2 months then going back to my gyno if it doesn’t return.
Do you know what is kind of stressful? Someone telling you to stop stressing.
2 months passed full of yoga and avocados and nothing. Back to the doc I go and she sent me home with a prescription for hormones. It was basically like getting back on birth control – aka – forcing my body to bleed with drugs instead of doing it naturally. I took the pills for 2 days before deciding I really didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole. The rabbit hole where I would take fake hormones until I wanted to have a baby then they would inject more fake hormones in my stomach so I could reproduce.
I wanted to be healthy. I wanted my body to make those decisions for me and not a prescription. So I reached out to a friend who sells essential oils and stocked up! I was in it to win it!
And what do you know, 3 months after that, 2 weeks before quitting my job to blog full time, 2 weeks before closing on our new house and the morning of filming the Dr. Oz show in New York… A PERIOD!
I’ll share more soon on what else I did to de-stress and what I have done in the last year to get myself regular again, but for now it just feels so good to let that out and you in. The more we talk about things that have somehow become taboo in our society, the more we can help and support each other! Stress is real, periods are real and we are all real people just trying to figure out how to live a happy and healthy life. I can’t wait to hear what you think about all of this and cheers to happy hormones!
I loved your post on this topic!! I suffer from a thyroid imbalance and it’s taken a lot from me & out of me and I like you want to heal naturally!! I can’t wait for your post on how you deal with stress, thanks so much! I love your blog & IG stories lol
So glad you can relate! I will be sharing more very soon!!
You are amazing!! Thank you so much for having the courage to talk about this. You are helping SO many women xoxo
Thank you Davida!! You’re the best!!
Kelsey! Thank you so much for posting! I’m @jeska_rn on IG and I have messaged you a few times regarding less complicated things…I never post about this personal stuff but here goes…My story is almost the same as you, but worse. After a year without a period I went to the doc to find I only have FEW eggs. I have already done one round of fake hormone injections into my belly, eggs retrieved, and none fertilized I am about to start another round and I KNOW i am over stressed but I feel like backing off working out and other things will make me stress more, so I can’t wait to hear what you did to de-stress because I NEED it! ❤️
Oh lady my heart is with you!! It’s such a scary thing and stress plays a huge roles in hormones. I will be sharing more soon but mindfulness and self care are so important!!
Thank you ❤️
Enjoyed reading this. Would love to read more about the specifics of how you overcame (essential oils-wise) and what you do now to manage stress.
Thanks!! I will definitely be sharing more on that soon!
Great post! Thanks for stepping out with faith and courage and being vulnerable. I’m working through my own struggles of hormone imbalance and adrenal fatigue (my brain obviously needs to chill out!) and this post was super relatable.
We totally need to start an continue talking about this stuff. So many women are hiding with these struggles and I doesn’t have to be that way!
Thanks for starting the conversation!
So true!! I am glad it could help. And isn’t it just the hardest to chill out?? Takes a lot of practice and work surprisingly!
This could not have been MORE pertinent to me as I was just talking about stress not 10 mins before I read this post. I’ve been feeling pretty emotional the last week or so and couldn’t understand why. I very rarely feel the urge to cry for no apparent reason, but that’s has been my whole last week. My sister reminded me that: I have in the last 3 weeks: moved to a new city, in a new house, at a New job, joined a New crossfit gym, started a new side business, along with all the other things that accompany a major move. She’s right, I’ve been so excited to experience new things and meet new people and make a positive (and literal) move in my life, I forget that although good and positive, it’s still stressful. I need to remember to be kind to and patient with myself as I make all these adjustments. Thank you for being you and sharing so openly.
Oh lady I feel you!! It’s so easy to just put on a happy and jazzed face but those are huge life changes!! Love that you will be more patient and kind to yourself because it is so vital! I hope you settle in nicely and find your stride!
I think you do this already, but just in case you never mentioned this to your acupuncturist – acupuncture is AMAZING for balancing hormones. I have been going regularly for the last 3 years (first to help me with my unexplained second child fertility issues, and then all through my pregnancy, and after for postpartum care) and my hormones were so regular at one point when we were trying that I would start my period on the 28th day at 3AM On. The. Dot. It was nuts!
Ah yes!!! I am going to talk about that soon too – I just started acupuncture 2 months ago and it has helped me get my periods closer already, wish I had started sooner!!
I love how openly you talk about all this ! Good for you for sticking to your guns and avoiding the hormones. I feel you on the stress, but so inspiring to see where you’re at now!!
Thanks so much Em!! I am so glad to get it all out there and be open, feels like a huge weight lifted!!
I am so happy you posted this! I follow you each day and love love love you and your blog! I so appreciate you being so open. As someone who is trying to de-stress and just come off the pill, too, this post hit home for me!!! Thank you for being so honest. You’ve made my day! Just to see that I’m not alone is amazing!
So glad it was helpful!! It is so good to talk about it. I have learned so much about all of this from so many people I just had to share!!
Your story is SO similar to mine and I can totally relate to everything — especially being on birth control for over 10 years as well as having a doctor tell you eat more and exercise/stress less AND prescribe more hormones. I know stress is definteily a HUGE piece of the puzzle, but part of me has to wonder if being on birth control for years and years isn’t a big piece too. I don’t think enough research has been done on birth control’s long term effects.
Anyhow, I’m so happy that your period came back naturally. I can’t believe it was the morning before you were on the Dr. Oz show! So crazy.
Thank you for sharing your story as I know it will help other women. <3
Oh for real!! I am sure BC has effected so many people like this. Your story made me feel not so alone and I am so happy to finally open up to my community!!