My health and fitness journey

Have you ever had a fleeting moment where you wondered if you were suffering from bi-polar disorder, or despaired that life was hopeless and you were an extremely weak and over sensitive person, that something terrible was about to happen, that all your friends secretly hate you...then the next day got your period and been like - “ah, coo”? I’d be seriously surprised if no one could relate. Some things seem blindingly obvious - your period affects your mood. But sometimes understanding how and why, can blow your mind.  Your brain before your period, is like your brain on alcohol and other depressants. I’ll let that sink in. How much of your life do you spend due on? That is how much of your life you are going  to feel depressed. Let alone the rest of your life where there are non physical reasons for feeling some type of way. Before you reach for a blunt object with which to club yourself about the head - this blog is about solutions not sad acceptance.  Let’s understand ...

Where to begin. I have had migraines since I was 5, at least. I remember getting them in school, throwing up in the playground from the pain, and sitting in the classroom with my head on the desk hoping that everyone would leave me alone but being asked by every class member in turn what was wrong. They are a bit of a haze to be honest, I couldn’t tell you how often I got them or how long they lasted until after the phase in my life where I psyched myself up to persist with the GP and get to see specialists (several false starts where emotionally I just gave up). These specialists seems kind of disgusted that I didn’t have a chart to flourish at them - I couldn’t tell them basic things like how often I got them, how long they lasted, or which side of my face they affected. I didn’t realise I was supposed to know all of this and I wasted a lot of appointments to be honest.  They increased to be every week, lasting three days. And then there was the post-drome. The few days after whe...

This is a big topic - but I will plough on with an overview. I have polycystic ovaries, insulin resistance, and adenomyosis (similar to endometriosis). Also, years of pushing myself through my laziness (undiagnosed   health issues) and constant stress, had led to constant exhaustion. I suspected that this was also hormonal. Spoiler - literally everything I experienced seems to have affected my hormones, and often the natural and the medical treatment for multiple issues, was the same.  A little background that you may have forgotten/never learned; The two main female hormones are oestrogen and progesterone - but we also have testosterone, FSH, LH, and DHEA.  These fluctuate throughout your cycle. A “typical” cycle lasts anywhere between 26 and 32 days, and has four phases. 1) menstruation 2) follicular 3) ovulation, and 4) luteal. Day 1 of your period is considered the beginning of your cycle.  In phases 1 and 4, our oestrogen levels are low, and we find it harder to...

I love to research, experiment, and share what I’m learning with friends. Some suggested I make a blog so that other people can benefit from what I try, so here it is ☺️ I have always suffered with migraines, I threw up most days (non eating disorder related), and regularly fainted. I was always described as weak and sleepy, and had to be home schooled because I missed so much of school being ill. I thought that would be my whole life, never thought I could hold down a job. But I started working full time at 20, and things came to a head. I was fainting in front of oncoming tubes, down stairs - everywhere really. Along with all my other symptoms.  At 21 I was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome, and vaso vagal syncope. This affects the autonomic nervous system, the heart, the digestion, and so on. It was a real relief to have a diagnosis, but that was the end of that, medically. I was told there wasn’t much in the way of treatment, and despite a lovely team of ...