There are too many women out there suffering through painful periods. They’re using Advil, Midol, Aleve, and all the over-the-counter painkillers, heating pads, and resorting to curling up in a ball in bed until the first couple of days of heavy bleeding pass.

I’ve been there. I know your pain. 

Planning vacations around your cycle? Yep. Been there.

Nixing date night because of low mood and energy or cramps? Yep. Been there.

It wasn’t until I was sitting in the office of a fertility specialist, who was looking over my questionnaire, that I realized maybe it wasn’t normal to be in this much debilitating pain each month.

“You’re taking how many Advil when you’re on your period?” he asked.

“4 tablets every 6 hours, for the first couple of days,” I told him.

I remember the look on his face as he told me, “Yeah, that’s not normal.”

It was then that the word “endometriosis” was thrown at me, and for the first time in my life, in my late 20’s, I was starting to piece together various experiences into one reality:

My hormones were way out of whack.

I had first endured migraines for years that led me to discovering low progesterone was my trigger, and then a few years later, sitting in that fertility doctor’s office, I realized the low progesterone was also likely playing a role in my painful periods and infertility.

To be honest, I thought suffering for a day or two each cycle was what most women must go through. I remembered, in high school, girls complaining of cramps often. Through college, I remembered having friends who would have to stay in bed when their periods would roll around. But me? I figured I was normal. After all, I’d never been to the ER for pain and thanks to Advil, was able to keep going for the most part in my day-to-day.

But as I aged, my cycles seemed to worsen. I knew something had to give, and the NSAIDs were starting to make me nauseous and give me foggy headaches. 

It was then that I decided to pursue holistic treatments for the pain. Years later, I’m finally in a place where very few, if any, NSAIDs are used on a monthly basis, and I don’t have to worry about scheduling my life around my cycle.

Supplements like Semaine health, magnesium, zinc, and more have helped alleviate my symptoms, along with bioidentical progesterone. In addition, I’ve done some major tweaks to my diet. I limit processed foods, I consume zero dairy or gluten in my diet (highly inflammatory!), and I have drastically increased my cruciferous vegetable intake to aid in estrogen metabolism. Not to mention cycle sync’ing my workouts, so that I’m not pushing in off times of the month.

All of these things have helped me increase my quality of life so that my period doesn’t ruin my social life and the way I feel. If you’re someone suffering from painful periods, let’s have a chat. While I am not a doctor, I do know how you feel and can help direct you to the right questions to ask, the right testing to receive, and supplements to investigate. 

xoxo,

Jenny