Let’s Talk About Hormones, Adaptogens + My Story

Thank you for sharing your story! I went through the same thing this past year and hearing about others makes me feel less alone. I was on the pill for 10yrs and it took me 13months to finally get my period. I ignored it for the first 6months too. Then I panicked and exercised more because I thought that was “healthy” and was my way of dealing with anxiety. Obviously that didn’t help. Finally after a ton of research, I cut out all exercise other than yoga, added in meditation and acupuncture, and put on a few lbs by eating more healthy foods. I also added in maca, ashwagandha and started taking magnesium before bed. After 3months of the right changes, it happened! And I cried tears of joy in the bathroom at work. Keep doing what feels right for your body!

I am going through almost the exact same thing! I went off the pill last August and have yet to see my period since. I talked to a doctor who suggested I take a prescription to “force” my period back but I would much prefer it returns naturally. I’ve also given some of these supplements a go, including Maca, so hopefully things return to normal. Thanks for this post!

Wow, Rachel, this made me take a HUGE sigh of relief. I have been struggling with hormone issues for almost 2.5 years. I went off birth control and never regained a normal period. It disappeared last July and I have been visiting doctors and getting labs run ever since with no results. Now they want to put me back on medications and hormones while I’m still hoping to return to a hormonal balance naturally. I also started taking Maca and Ashwaganda recently and am so so so glad to hear I am not in this alone. I’ve tried to do so much research for others in the same situation but everything is coming up either PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or HA (hypothalmic amenorrhea) and neither one fully fits my situation.

Thank you a million times over for sharing your story and opening up about your situation and what works for you. I hope you figure out the cause soon and you continue to feel better! xoxo

Rachel, I felt like I was reading a person diary just now! I too read the Women Code, and have since been incorporating maca and vitex, these past few months while I have been working to regain my period. My question for you is this–how have you been following Women Code while not having a cycle? Based on my blood results, I have tried to guess which phase I would be in and eat/move/live accordingly, but I am just wondering if you had a better approach.

I always love watching your stories, reading your posts, and finding out we are even more similar than it had seemed when I first began following you. Thanks again for being you!!

Lauren

I really appreciate you being so open and writing this post! I had the same the problem. I went off birth control about two and a half years ago because I didn’t want to keep injecting my body with unnatural hormones. I wanted my body to regulate itself naturally. I had been on birth control since I was 16 (I’m now 27). After I went off birth control I wasn’t getting my period. After about 3 months of no period I went to my OBGYN because I was really nervous. She said it was normal to not get your period after going off birth control because your body and hormones are trying to regulate on its own. She did some tests to check my hormone levels anyways and they ended up being completely normal which made no sense to me! She said to give it another few months and then let her know if I still wasn’t getting my period. Another few months went by with no period so I called her up and she said she wanted me to take progesterone to force my body to have a period. She said this was important because the lining was building up in the uterus and it is important to shed the lining with a period. After some debate about whether or not I wanted to take the progesterone, I decided to take it. And it didn’t work. I still didn’t get my period even after taking the medicine to force my body to have a period. I really started to freak out at this point. My OBGYN said the only way to solve the issue was to go back on birth control. I didn’t listen to her. I didn’t know about adaptogens or the WomenCode book. I didn’t think there was anything that I could do so I just tried as best as I could to not stress about it because I knew that the stress was only making it worse. Then one day about 15 months of no period, it just came! Completely unexpected. And it came the following month as well. It has been regular ever since! I didn’t do anything special to try to make my period come back. Mainly because I didn’t have the knowledge. Every woman and every body is different. My advice would be that your period will come – you just have to let your body do its thing and trust it. I had been manipulating my period for 10 years on birth control. So my body had to figure out how to have a period without those unnatural hormones. Unfortunately for me it took a long time for my body to regulate and figure that out. During the year and a half that I was struggling with these hormone issues I felt very alone. I would tell my friends about my issue and they always had a look of concern on their faces. I didn’t know anyone else that had the same issue that I did. It is so amazing for you to share your experience. I think it is important for every woman to know that other people are going through the same thing and that they are not alone in the process.

Hi Rachel- have you done any research on hypothalamic amenorrhea? After a year with no period and thinking I could never get pregnant, I self diagnosed and self corrected by just gaining somewhere between 5-8 lbs and stopping exercise until I got my period back. I was a perfectly healthy BMI prior to this, mind you and no doctor ever told me to gain weight. They just wanted to put me on medication. Look into the book “No Period Now What?” GAME. CHANGER. Sometimes our bodies shut down when they think we’re over stressed…. even if we don’t “feel” stressed… our bodies may consider our caloric intake too low and our exercise too intense and stop producing the hormones that we need to keep our system going. It’s a fight or flight thing. If our bodies aren’t fully prepared to carry a baby, what’s the point in ovulating, right? Just right off the bat, some things I changed with my diet that ultimately led to my recovery were: full fat dairy, extra carbs (sweet potato, quinoa, whole grain bread), and lots and lots of healthy fats (avocados daily, nut butter like it was going out of style, coconut oil, all the good stuff.). You’re probably thinking, ‘I already eat all that?’ well then it could be that you need to stop exercising… at least until your cycle returns. I did strictly yoga and walking until I got my cycle back (about 3 months for me but everyone is different) and then started slowly incorporating some light impact workouts back into my routine. I’m now 7 months pregnant and am working out regularly every day as I was pre-HA diagnosis. It’s not the end of the world. You are not alone. You will recover… but you HAVE to listen to your body. Good luck!! And feel free to ask me any questions you might have! I’m happy to share more about my experience!

I have struggled with having a regular cycle since I went off birth control years ago. Although I exercise a lot, I’ve never been at an unhealthy weight. The one thing I attribute to having a regular cycle again is juicing. I hadn’t had my period in over a year and started juicing almost every day and my period came back. I notice when I get out of the habit of juicing then it becomes irregular again. I’ve done a lot of research and reading and found other women had success with juicing too – apparently celery can help to regulate your cycle (the juice I make daily is celery, cucumber, lemon and spinach/leafy greens)! Bonus: juicing made my hair and nails healthier than ever. Thanks for sharing your experience! I’ve recently been incorporating maca and ashwaghanda and hope that it will help keep everything in check. Good luck!!

I had irregular periods starting at age 11 and went on birth control to regulate at age 15. After 10 years on different brands of Pills, I went off in hopes of my body regulating itself now that I was older. I was diagnosed with endometriosis as going off the Pill brought to light a series of other problems (chronic pain, unbearable periods, etc.). I’m getting my second surgery within a year this summer, and my periods are still irregular (65+ days without a period). I think it’s important that women discuss periods, hormones, etc. because this is HEALTH. It really is no different than talking about how we care for our bodies in other ways. Thank you for encouraging other women to speak up; I was always expected to keep quiet about my gynecological problems in my teens (even with family members) but it’s nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. We need more research for women’s health issues and open dialogue is an easy yet effective start.

Thanks for sharing your story. I’ve been on birth control for 15 years with a small 7 month stint off, when two very large cysts grew on my ovaries that had to be removed, so i’m back on birth control tiIl i can figure out a way to manage PCOS better. I am glad to see you on this journey reminds me there is hope to do this in a natural way.

Thank you for sharing and it does feel so good to read how many women are going through something similar. I haven’t had a period in 2.5 years and just started seeing a naturopath and reading womancode a few months ago. (My body basically makes no progesterone or estrogen and I’m 32!) I’m on tge three things you mentioned, doing accupuncture and increasing healthy fats but one of the things that increased by cervical fluid most (sign of increasing estrogen) was beef liver supplements. I guess the bc pill can drain your b vitamins. So I’m hopeful too that I can rebalance naturally. Keep us updated!

Hi Rachel

Thanks for sharing this. I was on the birth control pill for around 20 years, with two breaks to have two kids. Until last December when I stopped taking it. Haven’t had a period since then (just 6 months ago) but instead of what most people do, I gained about 8 lbs in 2 months and haven’t been able to get rid of it.

I know the last few weeks I haven’t been eating that healthy, and I exercise at least 4 times a week. The doctor isn’t concerned about the weight gain or lack of period but it irks me at times.

I might check out the Rebbl stuff and the other suggestions you have. I just want to be healthy and happy.

Yes to all of this! I started my period at 12 and then didn’t have it again for more than a year. After that it was always a surprise if I got a period. I have two children and having them has been nothing short of a miracle. This may sound silly but something that was recommended to me was myrrh. My family is from East Africa and it has often been used to help with blood flow through out the body. It worked! I was so scepticial. The only thing was it was something I needed constantly. I hope this helps someone. If you look it up I think it was the University of Italy that had done research on the health benefits of myrrh. Thank you for opening this conversation. ❤️

Wow-so inspiring. I know how hard it is to be open about challenges your body faces. About 5 years ago I was diagnosed with an eating disorder and for about 2 years I didn’t get my period at all because of all the weight I lost. At that time I was totally ok with it because I had other things to focus on such as school studies so therefore I wasn’t worried about the long term effects. But when I thought about raising a family I knew I couldn’t do so without a period so I decided to use birth control pills to ignite my periods. Now I have a normal menstral cycle and don’t have to worry about “will I ever be able to be a mom to a son or daughter?” But your post got me thinking…I’m finally back at a normal healthy weight so now my thoughts are “should I stop taking birth control and see if I will get my period back”? (Totally not asking that as a direct question to you at all) but it just got me thinking like is it worth trying? I hate the fact that I’m on the pill just to be somewhat ‘normal’ and feel like a ‘woman’ and have a period. I just don’t know, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try, I could always go back on it at a later time. Anyways sorry for rambling at you. Back to YOU…I’m happy to hear you are seeing some change in your body as far as some of the symptoms of having a menstral cycle are concerned.
Take care

I love love love this post! I recently (about 5-6 weeks ago) found out I have Hypothalamus Amenorrhea, which my cycle has been missed for some time. It is hard to think that I have to gain weight and stop working out to bring my cycle back but realizing I am not alone is comforting. I am so happy to read about someone else taking a natural path to regain your cycle! I will be checking out that book as I remember you mentioning it on IG before.
Anxious to read more about your story! Hope it comes back soon!

I’m in a very similar boat. I am 28, and was put on oral birth control due to a number of hormonal symptoms (inconsistent/absent periods, extreme constipation, fatigue) six years ago. My doctor, a new mother in her early 30s, very casually mentioned that if I wanted kids some day, I might want to stop taking it a year before trying to conceive, especially if I had a timeline I wanted to balance with a career. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but that message has always been in the back of my mind, and I am now so grateful for the offhand advice. 15 months ago I decided to quit, in part because after forgetting to take my birth control for a week, I realized how much better I felt, and in part because I will want to start a family in a few years, so my doctor’s advice became more relevant to my life. I thought I was being waaay over-cautious with the timing. At the time I was 27, and wanted to start trying for kids around 30. I had no idea about the tumultuous journey ahead of me. My first sign that my body was very far off kilter was when I began charting my basal metabolic temperature about a month after stopping the pill, and realized that my temperature was way way low (typically 96.8). After some research, I started making some lifestyle changes in hopes of getting my temperature back up- I stopped my intense workouts and opted for more gentle forms of exercise, focused on eating more healthy fats, and did my best to be better about sleeping- but nothing made much of a difference. I did finally get a period back after 10 months, but even then things were not normal. My cycles were long (45 days), with a very long follicular phase. If I ovulated, which was incredibly rare, it would occur very late and my luteal phase would only be 6/7 days, half of what it should be. I went to see my doctor, but she said all she could do was prescribe me birth control, and recommended I see a fertility specialist, which my insurance did not cover, and which also feels unnecessary because I am not trying to conceive right now. I asked if I could see an endocrinologist, but because blood tests showed that my thyroid hormones were normal (although lowest range of normal), my insurance would not cover that either. I was shocked that having a functioning reproductive system is not considered standard care. Upset and discouraged, I turned to literature with hopes that I could treat myself. Two months ago, I started taking Vitex (tincture in droplet form) twice daily and gelatinized maca every morning, and two weeks ago I began taking transdermal magnesium every night. Things are still not back to normal, but something is happening…. My follicular phase temp is up to consistently above 97, and I ovulated this past month- my luteal phase was 8 days, not ideal but a little bit longer. My last period was actually really scary- my entire post-puberty life, when I do have a period I bleed very lightly for 1-3 days, and very little associated symptoms. This time, however, I had extreme cramps that kept me in bed for three days, as well as bleeding so heavy at night I had to get up change my tampon every 30 minutes, and in total my period lasted about 5 days. While this was scary, I take it as a sign that something is happening. I plan to keep up with my supplements and continue tracking my temperature. As frustrating and upsetting as this is, I am so glad that I am dealing with this now, rather than when actively trying to conceive. Thank you for your story. Because there is really no physician support for the average woman who can’t afford to see “elective” specialists, it is so important that we share our experiences.

Thanks for sharing your story – it’s great for other people to read about.