I have had my fair share of issues regarding my health, and TBH, I am still figuring it out. BUT, I have learned so much about my body, and symptoms once I started connecting the dots and LISTENING to “her”.

Real talk. I was started on Hormonal Birth Control (HBC) at 18 years old, mostly because that was the thing to do. No one wants a pregnancy while you’re in school for your doctorate. I started having constipation issues shortly after. I mostly attributed it to college life (drinking a ton, eating crap, more stress, less exercise, etc). I went to a GI doctor + was told I had IBS constipation + was recommended Linzess, which just caused me diarrhea. So the solution was a laxative… Yea, no thanks. I basically learned to live with it, pooing every 3-5 days, feeling BLOATED always. Tons of 💩 embarrassment. Years went by. I graduated PT school, started exercising more, cooking at home more, dating a guy who started a salad company + then I found a book that talked about clean eating, eliminating certain foods such as dairy, gluten, peanut butter, + legumes to fix a leaky gut. I tried a ton of different diets. I started eating more FIBER, drinking more WATER, focusing on stress reduction, mainly eating as many plants as possible, eliminating processed foods + refined carbohydrates/sugars as best as I can + taking magnesium (my favorite), probiotics + some other supplements. I can now say that my digestion is ALMOST perfect. There are certain things I know will mess up my stomach, + I try to avoid them 80% of the time, but sometimes I want to eat Pizza (dairy + gluten), have some ice cream (dairy + sugar), or slug down a few brewskies (alcohol + gluten).

I came off HBC in 2018. Everything was hunky-dory until I decided to try intermittent fasting (IF), like hardcore. At the time, I was going to CrossFit 4-5x/week, working out INTENSELY, like obsessed with it. I also began having terrible acne/eczema-type rashes on my face. My bloodwork showed my hormones to be at a menopausal level for most everything. Because of my 2 months of “no period”, my body also didn’t OVULATE, + on a transvaginal ultrasound, can show “functional cysts” on ovaries (a swollen egg follicle that did not “burst” during ovulation), which I had. I was told I may have PCOS.

Typically for a PCOS diagnosis, you need 2/3 of the Rotterdam criteria:

• Hyperandrogenism (hirsutism: abnormal hair growth in male-like patterns, typically due to increased testosterone), cystic acne (high levels of testosterone)

• Menstrual irregularities

• Polycystic ovaries

I had (+) menstrual irregularities, (+) cystic ovaries, (+) acne (at that moment in time)

I had ALL the emotions, thinking I would never get pregnant, a cyst could "burst", + just purely felt defeated, thinking things would never "return to normal". My hormones were all over the place + I had ALL THE FEELS. But, I kept reading books, blogs, listening to podcasts, digging into my diagnoses + deciding to continue pursuing a natural approach. After tons of my own personal research, blood work, transvaginal ultrasounds, acupuncture, supplements, stopping IF, eating more carbohydrates/food, gyno visits, reeling it back at the gym + denying Spironolactone for my acne, I regained back my period naturally + learned WAY more about my body than ever before.

After a few more months of normalized periods, improved symptoms + more gyno appointments, my functional cysts disappeared, and my gyno said “I think you are right, you don’t seem to have PCOS”.

I started ovulating again + I knew this because I began

• TRACKING my cycle

• Measuring my basal body temperature in the morning.

• Checking for cervical mucus.

• Peeing on ovulation sticks to test my LH hormone levels.

  I also learned that PCOS is mostly lifestyle-related, triggered by uncontrolled blood sugar, STRESS, + could occur due to "Post Birth Control Syndrome". It is also VERY possible to have kiddos one day!

Moral of the story. It is important to learn what WORKS FOR YOU. It is important for YOU to be your own advocate, do your own research + become aware.

Awareness is EMPOWERING.