I’m going to begin this and say if the grammar police are out I apologise in advance as I’ve written from my heart and wanted to put this out there asap x

 

10.5 years ago my menstrual cycle stopped – it was more than likely due to the amount of cardio classes I was teaching a week plus competing in Power Lifting along with an eating disorder i’ve struggled with since the age of 12 my body just could not cope, I went into something called amenorrhea, at the time I didn’t know this was what it was, I had lots of scans and blood tests and if I’m honest back then the dr just told me to eat more cake ha ha x

 

I stopped over exercising and competing in Power Lifting nearly 9 years ago now as I got sick – my adrenals were shot to pieces, my hormones weren’t doing their thing plus I had to have an op to have a benign tumour removed – in that same operation they found a cancerous tumour – everything happens for a reason right ;-)

 

My poor body had been pushed to its limits. I knew I needed to make some changes and reduce the amount of stress on my body. Over the past 9 years it has been a very gradual process in reducing the amount of exercise I was doing, doing more yoga, teaching more yoga, teaching less fitness until eventually stopping teaching fitness altogether. 4+ yoga teacher trainings later here we are….. its all I do and it is my purpose in life - I love it and every aspect of it.

 

Plus the universe kept playing its part every time I went back to trying to up my exercise levels……….

 

I contracted Dengue Fever out in Bali on a yoga teacher training in 2014, I suffered with severe fatigue for about a year plus after this – in fact I’m never sure if I’ve fully recovered as I get fatigued very quickly but this could be due my low levels of oestrogen.

I then fractured my hip in August 2015 within 2 months of trying to get back to exercising a year after contracting Dengue, anyway it still took me some time to fully listen………

 

The main reason I’m writing this blog/email is not for sympathy but because I want to explain what I’ve done differently in the past year and even more recently the past 5 months – I’m going to bullet point it so it’s easier to read, you never know it might help others who are struggling with the same thing.

 

I would like to say I have had medical intervention with scans over the years (nothing was found apart from telling me I had healthy ovaries), numerous blood tests telling me a variety of things but the main one that stuck out was my scarily low oestrogen levels, in the past 15 months I’ve tried 2 medical induced stress test  using Letrozole to start a period which gave me a little spotting and also proved to me my ovaries are still in working order – but this happened last September and I hadn’t had anything since then.

 

Due to lockdown and not really wanting to pump my body full of hormones although at times a huge part of me has known I need to as my Oestrogen levels have been so low and this can cause a whole heap of problems, I decided not to go back for another stress test and to see if I could help myself by really focusing on the changes deep down I know I needed to make.

 

Anyway here is the list – remember I’m not a medical expert so I’m just explaining the changes I’ve made and what has brought on my first proper menstrual bleed in 10.5 years – I’m also not in denial that it could be just a one off and it may take a long time to get something regular again but I’m remaining positive.

 

These changes have been since the beginning of the year……

 

• Stopped HIIT training (was only doing 2 or 3 sessions a week (now I do 2 or 3 25 minute run/walks just to increase my heartrate for health)
• Got my little Denny Dog - took my focus away from me, gave me less time to exercise plus maybe a maternal instinct kicked in….
• Walk Denny twice a day
• Wim Hof Breath 3 rounds every morning
• 2 minute Cold Shower every morning
• Seed Cycling - been doing this for about a year now but pretty religiously the last 5 months.
• Increased soya intake - tofu/milk/soya beans – this is known to help increase your oestrogen levels
• Eat a 95% vegan diet
• Practice yoga 5/6 days a week and make sure it’s a balance of yin and yang
• MEDITATE everyday even if some days it’s just 10 minutes - it’s very important for me
• Stopped worrying about how many carbs I’m eating
• Stopped working so hard
• Reduced the amount of classes I teach - this was forced due to Covid but I won’t go back to teaching as much
• Stopped making myself sick - had bulimia since the age of 12/13 and its always my go to when I get low/out of control - my recovery has been tested this year but I can confirm I’ve only done it once in the past 6 months - plus in regards to this I’ve spent about £6000 the last 2 years on my teeth due to the damage it’s done plus god knows what else it’s done to my insides – I advise you get help or learn the coping strategies - I’ve had help which has never cured me but I have my own coping strategies that 90% of the time work – I’m still on this journey.
• Supplement with a multivitamin, B12, Vitamin D, Magnesium, Ashwaganda, Calcium, Fish Oils, 1 teaspoon of maca root powder once a day
• Made the decision to move back to Brighton - this was only about a week before my period returned but hey it certainly lifted quite a severe darkness thats been sitting inside me for quite a while now.

 

Like I said I understand this is only the beginning, I will continue to work or actually I should say soften and let go and stop battling to bring my body back into a place of equilibrium hoping that I haven’t caused any long term damage but only time will tell.

 

Thank you for reading and please reach out if I can help you in any way 😘

 

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