Hello!
I thought I would just share a bit of backstory on how I got where I am.
I cycled normally for several years. By cycled normally I mean that I had four sisters and we were all hormonal and crazy together, and it was the best and worst of times, as one might imagine. I got my period around age 11 I would guess, and never missed a beat till I was 17. I never took birth control and never got pregnant and never lost so much weight that I lost my period. It just disappeared.
I moved to Austria as an Au Pair after high school and right at the same time, my period vanished forever. I think I have tried to blame Austria ever since :) A bit after I got there, and right on schedule or perhaps a bit early, I got a very light period, very brown. I thought my body was confused from the flight and the move and the stress and that everything would be back to normal soon. I was scared and pretty alone. I remember emailing my Mom right away, telling her that something was up. My period was early and too short and all weird. I was sure I was overreacting but thought I would tell her anyways. Not so off the mark, as it turned out.
Maybe a week after that I was spotting again, again dark brown, then nothing. I had packed pads so I wouldn't have to shop for them in Europe, and then I packed them all back home three months later. I haven't had a natural period since.
It takes a while for a woman to convince herself that her period is gone, that there is something wrong. All the period loosing happened in Fall 2011, but I doubt I visited a doctor until a year after that. I was pretty chill. I was healthy enough, had always had normal hormones. I wasn't in a relationship. I didn't want a period. No one does.
But there was no explanation. A visit with a new family doctor convinced me that I knew more about what was going on here than she did.
"You're too skinny. gain some weight", she told me.
What a laugh. She didn't know my weight history, and I was not and still am not a skinny person. I am totally normal weight. 5'8", usually between 140-150 lbs. I was definitely around 150 at the time. I had never lost any significant amount of weight. I had never lost weight suddenly. I had never worked out strenuously or regularly. I knew she was wrong. I was not too skinny. But I decided then and there that if my body was gonna act as if it was skinny enough to ditch the period, I was gonna give it a reason.
So I went and got my first gym membership.
I thought I would just share a bit of backstory on how I got where I am.
I cycled normally for several years. By cycled normally I mean that I had four sisters and we were all hormonal and crazy together, and it was the best and worst of times, as one might imagine. I got my period around age 11 I would guess, and never missed a beat till I was 17. I never took birth control and never got pregnant and never lost so much weight that I lost my period. It just disappeared.
I moved to Austria as an Au Pair after high school and right at the same time, my period vanished forever. I think I have tried to blame Austria ever since :) A bit after I got there, and right on schedule or perhaps a bit early, I got a very light period, very brown. I thought my body was confused from the flight and the move and the stress and that everything would be back to normal soon. I was scared and pretty alone. I remember emailing my Mom right away, telling her that something was up. My period was early and too short and all weird. I was sure I was overreacting but thought I would tell her anyways. Not so off the mark, as it turned out.
Maybe a week after that I was spotting again, again dark brown, then nothing. I had packed pads so I wouldn't have to shop for them in Europe, and then I packed them all back home three months later. I haven't had a natural period since.
It takes a while for a woman to convince herself that her period is gone, that there is something wrong. All the period loosing happened in Fall 2011, but I doubt I visited a doctor until a year after that. I was pretty chill. I was healthy enough, had always had normal hormones. I wasn't in a relationship. I didn't want a period. No one does.
But there was no explanation. A visit with a new family doctor convinced me that I knew more about what was going on here than she did.
"You're too skinny. gain some weight", she told me.
What a laugh. She didn't know my weight history, and I was not and still am not a skinny person. I am totally normal weight. 5'8", usually between 140-150 lbs. I was definitely around 150 at the time. I had never lost any significant amount of weight. I had never lost weight suddenly. I had never worked out strenuously or regularly. I knew she was wrong. I was not too skinny. But I decided then and there that if my body was gonna act as if it was skinny enough to ditch the period, I was gonna give it a reason.
So I went and got my first gym membership.
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