It’s Just Not Okay.

January 16, 2014 By Leanne Vogel November 7, 2018

If you haven’t read My Last Chapter or The One Thing That’s Holding Me Back and you’re curious about how I got here, have a read before you continue. This topic is highly personal. I know that you will be gentle with my story and with others that choose to share their experiences in the comments. I hope that in sharing my experiences, the women in our community are encouraged to seek help, embrace healing and create beautiful lives for themselves.

I spent years harming my body – drugs, eating disorders, wrong thoughts.

It’s been quite the journey to get here. Now, I can say with the utmost confidence – I love my body too much to do things that I know will harm it.

When I learned about all the things that birth control does to the body, cutting it out of my life was an easy choice.

I went off birth control in 2007 and hadn’t had a period since.

Every doctor and specialist that I met told me that it was normal for women not to get their period off of birth control and that; if I wanted to have children someday, they could fix me temporarily.

It’s not okay to rely on birth control for your period.

It’s not normal to never naturally menstruate.

It’s not healthy.

It’s not right.

It took me a long time to find a group of doctors that were willing to help me. But I did it. And now, I’m ready to share my experience with you::

In August 2013, I started on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) under the supervision of Endocrinologist, Dr. Bernard Corenblum. I began with a 50mg Estradiol patch (which later increased to 100mg). I wore the patch every day, switching it out every 3rd day. On days 1-10 of the month, I took 10 mg of Medroxyprogesterone to encourage a period.

The side effects were pretty intense at first. I had a hard time sleeping, increased appetite, gained 15 pounds or so, acne took over my face… but my body felt good. My nails were getting stronger (a good sign of a healthy structural system), my chest was getting larger (never a bad thing!) and I just felt… whole.

After learning that my brain could be contributing to my hormone imbalance (read more about this HERE) I devoted myself to rekindling my yoga and meditation practice. I cut down my work hours, adjusted my scheduled and started studying A Course In Miracles.

30 days after my first treatment, I got my period.

I did this for 4 months until I met Gynocologist, Dr. Laurel Smith. She recommended that we pause the treatments to allow us space to test for chromosome issues and set a gauge for how my body was reacting to the treatment.

In January 2014, the results were in. My body is creating hormones on it’s own!

Dr. Smith decided that it was time to go off of HRT. I started supplementing with Estro Detox and Biotics Cytozyme PT/HPT to keep the goodness going.

For the next 2 months, I am tracking my cycles and taking 50 mg Serophene on days 5-9 of my cycle. Serophene is a medication used to encourage ovulation. We’re testing my estrogen and progesterone levels throughout the next little while here, so we’ll see!

What’s next?

I am a couple of weeks away from getting my first “natural” period (the ultimate goal!). I would like to believe that the intense spiritual work I am doing + HRT has given my body (and brain) the kick-start it needs to get back on track. If it didn’t… well, we’ll cross that bridge if we come to that. I am a lot closer to my goal now than I was in July of last year, so that’s something.

Please, share your story with our community – are you getting a natural period? Have you had issues with your menstruation in the past? What steps have you taken to balance your hormones?

Your responses strengthen our community. By offering advice and sharing your stories, we create a safe place for a super-juicy healing conversation that can benefit hundreds, if not thousands, of women around the globe.

This entry was tagged: eating disorder, hormone, hormone replacement