5 things I learned from curing amenorrhea naturally

They say you grow though what you go through, and although my journey through curing my amenorrhea was a long one, it was the catalyst for my life journey.

Although I felt like my “health journey” started when I first got interested in health & fitness - I’d say it begun for real when I finally clued into what I genuinely needed to cure my amenorrhea naturally.

If you haven’t yet read my story on how I cured my amenorrhea naturally, I suggest you read my blog post all about it here.

Curing amenorrhea naturally drove me to a journey of self-discovery and ultimately self-mastery. Here are the top 5 things I learned…

1. There are no Martians on earth

We often think we’re alone in what we’re suffering from. When the topic itself is taboo, this perception is emphasised since no one is talking about it. I remember when I first spoke about my struggles with amenorrhea on Instagram I was shocked by how many women replied letting me know they were going through the exact same struggles. If you’re feeling alone, know that you’re not alone. Opening up about my condition is what propelled into taking my self healing seriously. I thought to myself…

So many women all over the world are dealing with amenorrhea, there must be something we’re all doing wrong, a piece of the puzzle that we’re missing… I want to crack this code.

In my recent podcast interview with Meredith from The HYE Life we both shared our respective journeys to healing our amenorrhea she mentioned that she found a huge support system by reading the book No Period Now What? and joining the Facebook Support Group. I didn’t know about this resource when I was in depths of amenorrhea but I wish I did. Finding support and realising you’re not alone can be a game changer…

2. It’s more about how you eat than what you eat

When I first decided it was time I actually do something about my lacking period, I started doing my personal research online. I gobbled up all and any information I could find on what Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda suggested when it came to nutrition. With this information I gave up my beloved Vegan diet (more on that here) and shifted my meal plan around to include more of this and less of that.

At this point I was following a relatively restrictive meal plan, calculating every gram of what I ate and tracking the macros in My Fitness Pal. After reading that amenorrhea can be a symptom of eating too little, I decided to up my daily calorie intake from 1,750 to 2,000.

What seems incredibly ironic to me now is that by playing around on My Fitness Pal and curating the perfect meal plan was simply doing more of what was keeping me stuck in amenorrhea. The root of the problem couldn’t be part of the solution.

When I finally cued in that my obsessive, controlling tendencies was the root cause of my severe hormonal imbalance, I let myself off the hook. I promised myself to put the kitchen scale away and learn to eat intuitively. Ultimately what I ate was more or less the same (I naturally leaned towards healthy vegan food) but simply letting go of the “rules” and allowing myself to eat what I wanted, not what my App told me, changes everything.

3. Yes, you can have too much of a good thing

I remember reading blogs about amenorrhea being frustrated because I most of those who seemed to be dealing with it were either exercising excessively (professional athlete levels) or eating way too little. I remember thinking; but I’m doing everything perfectly!!!! Yes I was working out, but I was exercising 5 days a week with 2 calculated rest days. Yes I was tracking my meals, but my App proved that I was eating more than enough calories, more than enough fat, more than enough protein and more than enough carbs.

As I mentioned in the previous lesson it was less about what I was eating or what movement I was doing…and more about the how. I had everything so specifically calculated that I was completely out of touch with my body. If I wasn’t as hungry one day, well I followed my meal plan anyway. If I was extra tired one day, well that was even more reason to get my energy back with my pre-scheduled workout.

I was doing it perfectly by the book, but it turns out that the saying is right; you can have too much of a good thing.

4. Your cure lies in what you’re resisting the most

The first recommendation I got from the first doctor I ever went to about my amenorrhea was that I should exercise less. She said it in such as way that I took it as a personal attack. She put the responsibility on me. In my surroundings I was the “healthy one”, I was the one that did everything “right” when it came to health, nutrition and fitness…yet she told me that the one thing I prided myself in, was what was actually making me ill.

I did exactly what many of us do when we feel our identity being challenged; I took a defensive stance, complained that the doctor didn’t know anything and left in a furry. I then spent years and lots and lots of money on other naturopaths, doctors and gynaecologists to get different opinions; opinions that told me what I wanted to hear. I’m not sure what I wanted to hear, but all I know was that stopping exercise was not that.

I took all the advice I could get from those other naturopaths, doctors and gynaecologists but in the end the one thing that actually led me to curing my amenorrhea was stopping exercise. I needed to spend years resisting to realise that my cure lay in what I was resisting the most and that is often the case. What have you not tried that you know deep down you need to try?

5. Curing amenorrhea comes down to self-mastery

When it comes to hormonal health we often focus on what we eat, how we move, getting rid of toxins combined with taking the right supplements, but I’d go as far as saying that hypothalamic amenorrhea is a bit different; it’s in the head. Those who struggle with hypothalamic amenorrhea are often A-Type women who love controlling everything from how they eat, how they move, to how they spend their time.

What I learned the hard way is that the best way to cure hypothalamic amenorrhea is getting to know yourself. It’s about knowing your natural tendencies and being truly, deeply, uncomfortably honest with yourself. I wish I would have worked on my Self-Mastery right at the beginning, it would have saved me so much time and money but the journey is what got me here. I now help others reach Self-Mastery, a state where you master your habits, routines and mindset - not in a rigid way, but in a way that allows you to connect with your deepest intuition, build the bridge between your body and mind and feel secure in your true authentic self.

If you’re looking for extra support on building the mindset that will allow you to let go of the rigidity that’s keeping you stuck in amenorrhea and heal your hormones naturally, reach out for 1-on-1 support on reaching Self-Mastery.

In the podcast episode below Health Coach Meredith Wadsworth and I break down our respective journeys through curing our amenorrhea naturally.