Hypothalamic Amenorrhea: MY Journey & how i recovered & Got pregnant.

1.5 years ago, it all became clear that my body wasn’t functioning at it’s best….. despite how “healthy” I felt I was….

Here is my story…

It was the end of August 2018 after my husband Trevor and I got married that I was officially comfortable with the idea of potential babies (him not so much just yet, but we played it safe… and little did we know it wasn’t even possible at the time!) After being on birth control for 8 years, from age 16 when Trev and I started dating to age 24, it was time to come off! September came and went… NO PERIOD. So I went to the doctor to try to figure out what the heck to do. It was a naturopathic doctor and they prescribed acupuncture, seed cycling, and different herbs, which I tried… but nothing happened. October passed, then November… NO PERIOD. So then I started going regularly to a new OB/GYN to make sure everything was okay down below, it was… besides the lack of my monthly flow! I had blood work done, hormone levels appeared normal. Cortisol was checked… normal. My OB suggested I do the progesterone challenge, which is when you take a progesterone pill for 10 days, and then stop and if it works it should result in a withdrawal bleed… but for me it didn’t. I did an ultrasound to check my ovaries to make sure there were no cysts… nothing! I started to wonder to myself WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME.

I had my fair share of cries from frustration, feelings of hopelessness, and that little hole in my heart due to the fact I couldn’t have babies until I figured things out. I had a couple more doctors visits. One of which I brought up with my Naturopath that another girl, (Alec Treffers) got her period back by limiting high intensity exercise, and eating more food! Being a personal trainer who worked out 5 days a week and limited certain food groups I thought… this could be my solution too! I mentioned this to both doctors. My naturopath was on board, and my OB/GYN also okay with my decision to try things naturally but suggested that I come back in 3 months if I still don’t have my period to be put on estrogen. I REALLY didn’t like the idea of putting more artificial hormones in my body, so I was MOTIVATED. I then started to do my own research about getting my period back with less exercise, and more food and came across the term hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA). HA is loss of menstrual period for 3+ months (amenorrhea) due to the hypothalamus shutting down. This can be caused for a variety of reasons such as energy balance, food restrictions, weight loss, stress, and genetics! Most cases stemming from a background of being in an energy deficit from under eating and over exercising. (No Period Now What) This was something that stuck with me. Although I was no longer that girl who felt the need to exercise intensely 6-7 days a week (4-5 days OTF, 1-3 days of lifting weights), and control/restrict my intake of food (obsessive macro tracking, 1500-1700 calories, “intolerant” to gluten & dairy) which led to a low body fat % for my body… I used to be… and that was effecting me many years later. It also didn’t help that I was a personal trainer living a fast paced life, exercising 5 days a week lifting heavy weights, limiting certain food groups like gluten and dairy, all the while waking up early, and not sleeping as much as my body may have needed.

After this discovery much of my free time was spent listening to podcasts on HA, and looking up blog posts from women who have experienced the same thing. (Own it Babe, Food Faith Fitness, The Healthy Sweet Potato). I started noticing a common theme between all the women I came across… exercise LESS, eat MORE! I then discovered the book No Period Now What by Nicola Rinaldi, and this became my period recovery bible! I began reading the book every morning to start my day off on the right foot, and I joined the Facebook group for additional support. The day we went into quarantine I decided to go ALL-IN. Meaning limiting or completely stopping exercise and allowing myself to eat ALL THE FOODS including gluten and dairy, and consume 2500+ calories a day! I do have to mention that prior to going all-in, I would say I was probably “half-in” for 6 months. Where I slowly stepped away from cardio of any sort, and only lifted weights as my exercise. I cut down my days of exercise from 6 a week to 5 then 4, and/or cut down the length of my exercise from 1 hour to 45 or 30 mins. While allowing myself to “indulge” in a wider variety of foods especially gluten and dairy, the two I would typically limit.

Going ALL-IN for me looked a little something like this….

Quarantine was truly a blessing!! As I mentioned above, I work as a personal trainer at a gym. Which made the choice to completely stop exercise very challenging for me while still working. I guess I felt that if I stopped doing what I help others to do I’d be…. I don’t know…. a “fraud”! So when quarantine hit I was like THIS IS MY CHANCE. I am doing this! Tuesday March 17th was my first official day off work and in quarantine. Which meant I had all the time in the world to do nothing at all! My first couple weeks I stopped all exercise besides 1 day a week leading a 30 min zoom workout for work, and daily walks with my pup to keep him happy! My 3rd week I decided to opt out of the zoom workouts, because although I started to experience positive signs of ovulation such as egg white cervical mucus (EWCM), the workouts were getting harder for me and I really didn’t want anything in my control to get in my way of recovery! So daily walks were the extent of my exercise, and all other time was spent with my butt on the couch, lifting my hand to my mouth! :P As far as food goes, I truly just went for it! I bought tons of packaged snack foods, pints of ice cream, pretty much anything calorie dense. I started to limit my vegetable intake so that I wouldn’t get full so quickly. I didn’t track my calories, so I am not even completely sure how many I was getting in a day. I just figured that if I kept eating calorie dense foods I would get close, if not over, and that was a win! Trev and I also started ordering take out from different restaurants every weekendl, as a way to really help me get those calories in. It was a fun new tradition! I also reintroduced myself to my “fear” foods like bread, cookies, chips, ice cream, and cheese! Trev loved having more “fun” foods in the house, and I loved enjoying them with him without guilt!! :) I basically told myself, “do the complete OPPOSITE of what old Kelsey would do”! I treated it just like any one of my fitness or “body” goals, and I gave it my all! In addition to the exercise and food components quarantine allowed for much more sleep and much less stress! I think this was a HUGE factor in my recovery! I went from 4:30-5am wake ups a couple times a week for work, to 7:30-8am wake ups during quarantine with the same bedtime of 10-10:30pm if not earlier! I also wasn’t rushing from home to work or work to home on a daily basis! So decreasing not only stress from exercise but also stress from my lifestyle was HUGE in my recovery!

Like I said about 2 weeks ALL-IN I experienced egg white cervical mucus, which is pretty much exactly as it sounds! This is present when you’re ovulating, and it’s most noticeable after a bowel movement. I learned this from the book No Period Now What, and I got really excited when the symptoms from the book began happening to me so shortly after taking the leap! April 12th I had super sore boobs, a major headache all day long, as well as very very light spotting. I thought for sure, THIS IS IT, my period is going to arrive! One additional day of super light spotting to follow… then nothing! 2 additional weeks went by… and still no period! I started to get pretty discouraged because I felt as if I had really given it my all, basically “sacrificing” my physique…. with no period in return from my body.

Little did I know…. my body had other plans for me. A period wasn’t in my future for at least 9 more months because…. I GOT PREGNANT! Ovulation occurred , I was right about that! But when my period was supposed to follow shortly after… a baby was a brewing in my tummy putting my period on pause a little longer! I remember in the book No Period Now What they say, “You may ovulate and get pregnant before ever having a period”. I thought, “huh, that would be so cool, but I doubt that will happen to me!” BUT IT DID! It was April 26th when I took a pregnancy test (6 actually, we couldn’t believe it) AND THEY WERE POSITIVE! I decided to do so after a several days of having food aversions to foods I normally love! At first I thought, “hmmm maybe my body is rejecting these foods because I have been eating so much lately?” … but nope, just some typical first trimester symptoms! I immediately contacted my doctor, and scheduled a blood test to confirm pregnancy, and then an ultrasound. The ultrasound was mainly to see how far along I was, because when you don’t have a period you obviously can’t determine that on your own. I found out I was 5 weeks 5 days on April 29th… which means our conception date falls right around when I thought I was ovulating due to the presence of EWCM on March 27th! 10 DAYS!!! It was 6 months of half-in and 10 days of all-in and I got pregnant!!! Also note, Trev and I weren’t not trying over this whole course of time… which just goes to show that less exercise, a more relaxed life, and more food REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE! I always have said, we will get pregnant when it’s meant to be… and I honestly believe THIS WAS MEANT TO BE! We were blessed with our little miracle baby, and we couldn’t be more excited, or feel more grateful for it!

Now I think to myself…. “what if we didn’t go into quarantine?”, “would I have taken the leap?”. While i’m not sure what path I would have chosen without quarantine, I can honestly say that while the path I took was HARD, I am EXTREMELY grateful I stepped out of my comfort zone and did what I needed to do for my bodies health. My biggest hope by sharing my story is that if you’re someone who also struggles with HA, you can feel HOPE in your journey. I honestly couldn’t do it without the support of my husband, my family, my friends, or even my boss! But above all else I couldn’t have done it without a purpose… my purpose being babies and to finally have a completely healthy body. Whether you want babies or not… know that having a period IS NORMAL, and EXTREMELY important for our health as women. It will be 100% worth it, no matter the discomfort, when you experience that first recovery period or that positive pregnancy test! Weight gain is inevitable, but the number on the scale DOES NOT DEFINE YOU. Honestly my biggest advice is to DITCH the scale all together, let go of numbers and just focus on LIVING life with the ones you love. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to read my story. 💗

To see more of my journey during recovery & follow my life post recovery follow me on IG @Kelsey.Dubois_ I have several posts about my thoughts during recovery & a story highlight all about my HA recovery journey! Also, never hesitate to say hello ☺️