The Hormone Diaries | Part 6: First Period & Ovulation in Years

Who would’ve thought, just 27 days after going to see the nutritionist that I would have a real, normal, regular period!

The first signs of improvements was around 2 weeks after seeing her – I felt like I was ovulating. For most of that day my lower stomach area was experiencing a dull ache – very mild, but that night I experienced a sharper pain (again pretty mild and not unbearably painful) for 5-10 minutes. I had an intuitive feeling that I was ovulating due to the area of the pain, and the changes I had made to try and experience a normal cycle.

It wasn’t confirmed until another 12 days later when I started spotting, and 2 days after that experienced a real, normal period. This may be TMI for some people, but usually whenever I’ve experienced a spotting or some version of a period over the last decade the blood is quite brown and clotty, as if it is always old blood, and it’s not very heavy. But this time it was heavier and a more true red colour. There was still some brown intermixed with it but this is truly the first time I had seen red period blood in years.

Honestly I am in shock that it only took a couple of weeks of taking some supplements, incorporating teas and seed cycling into my diet, it’s incredible and I am over the moon to see results this soon as everyone tells you to wait about 3 months.

Switching lanes, I started listening to some PCOS based podcasts which is helping me learn a lot and also get more comfortable talking about periods and PCOS which has been a struggle in the past. The PCOS Girls Podcast is my favourite that I’ve found as it’s 2 Aussies that don’t shy away from any topic! It’s a pretty new podcast but they have been covering really great content so far and I’m excited to see them grow in the future. Episode 13 – What is your period telling you? was a favourite of mine and I learned a lot. It’s so interesting to hear other people’s experience as PCOS is so common, yet everyone experiences a different combination of symptoms and issues and there is no cure at this time, only lifestyle changes.

Although it’s frustrating that the research on PCOS is in it’s infant stage, I think it’s empowering to take control of your health and get answers and support from doctors and other medical professionals, and even more empowering when you get the results you were after.

I feel very grateful that I don’t experience intensely painful symptoms of PCOS and pray that all the women who do get answers, feel heard, and their pain can be reduced significantly as that must be so hard. I also feel for all the women who are experiencing infertility as a result of their PCOS. I pray that you

As far as goals moving forward, I am hoping that I can get my period to continue to be regular in the coming months, and also work on getting some of my hormone levels to be stabilised – particularly lowering testosterone and reducing excessive hair growth symptoms as that really affects my confidence and comfort in my own body.

I have got a referral for a blood test for a long list of PCOS related items that I found in The PCOS Journal that I bought earlier this month, so I will keep you updated on that! I am really excited to get the results tackle anything that comes back in the red zone.