I could paint a picture that I am special, but the truth is my path is not unique. I share this because many will see their own story here. I was often lucky, and I am grateful for that luck.
I started my period at 12. I was lucky because my mother gave me three small books about being a girl, being a boy, and about sex. We did not talk much, but now I see she tried to guide me. I knew menstruation was normal. What I did not know was the pain. From the start it was often uncomfortable, and many times it hurt a lot. My fixes were a warm pillow, painkillers if needed, and silence. At home they left me alone. At school I just got through the day. We did not speak about it.
At 16 my period stopped for three months. My cycles had never been regular, but this time I was scared. I had a reason to fear I could be pregnant. When I told my mother, we rushed to a gynecologist. We learned two things fast: I was not pregnant, and I had PCOS.I am grateful for the next part. I did not get the pill as a quick fix. Instead I got full blood work and a insuline level tests. The tests showed insulin resistance, which often goes with PCOS. I got lifestyle advice on how to improve my health. Only later did I learn how rare this is. Many girls are given the pill “to fix cycles,” and later face deeper hormone imbalance, worse insulin results, weight issues, acne after stopping, hair growth or hair loss. I felt lucky.
I got a diagnosis and advice at 16. My family did not live in a health focused way, so my diet efforts failed fast. A rebel phase began. It felt unfair to “be on a diet,” which I thought meant no good food ever again. I do not blame my family or my teenage self. My cycles kept skipping, but at least I knew why.
At 21 I started the pill. I had a steady partner, and the condom broke twice. After the second time we chose a more certain method. We split the cost because it was our shared interest. For the first time I could predict when bleeding would come. I now know that pill bleeding is not a real period, but then I believed it was. Cramps eased or did not come at all. I stopped noticing when bleeding started. It was also easy not to worry about condoms. I knew the pill would not solve PCOS long term. I still thought it would be fine for a while.
At 23 I began lifestyle change. I was still on the pill but planned to stop at the end of the year. The catalyst was my partner. I told him what I knew about PCOS and insulin resistance, and how they can affect fertility and long term health. He was shocked that I was not following my doctor’s advice. He was right. I had pushed the problem aside for years. He offered to do the change with me. We started the 160 gram carbohydrate plan that was common then for IR plus PCOS.
For those who do not know it: the plan sets an individual daily carbohydrate amount, often 160 grams per day, split into five or six smaller meals to keep insulin steady. It also cuts quick sugars and refined flours.
I lost finally weight. I stopped at about 75 kg, which was still a bit high for my 165 cm but much better than my 85 kg at university. The “hangry dragon” state wich I often experienced also faded. When my last pill pack was done, I stopped. Then a new question: how to prevent pregnancy now? Neither of us loved condoms. Neither of us wanted the pill. I feel I got lucky again.
Years earlier I followed a Hungarian educator on YouTube who spoke about sex and cycles. She is a Fertility Awareness teacher and a pioneer. I watched all her videos. So when I stopped the pill, I knew it was time to learn the method.
I did two courses with her. First, right after stopping the pill. After hormones from the pill, the body needs time to find its own rhythm again. We waited for that. Six months later I did the full course. I learned to read my body’s signs and to “translate” them into hormone patterns. I could see, with body signs, that my hormones were not well. Classic PCOS signs showed up: very variable cycles, several attempts at ovulation, sometimes a successful ovulation, sometimes an anovulatory cycle. It took a full year, but now I could see and understand what my body was doing.
People say knowledge is power. In my case it was true. I could name my symptoms and my condition, and I could see exactly how my body was changing. My cycle felt upside down. The pill after-effect was likely still there. My weight loss stopped. Period pain returned. Acne and PMS came back, now with a name. I felt that something was not right. I was not right. But I knew what was wrong and how it showed up on my chart. That helped me move forward: knowing and being able to name what do I experience helped me enourmusly on this journey.
There was no single point where I became “fixed.” It is a path. Today I consider my hormones balanced, but it is still a path. We do not know exactly why someone becomes insulin resistant. A part is likely genetical and lifestyle likely plays a big role as well. With genetics we cannot do much yet, but we do can answer the problem of lifestyle. That means a shift to a way of living that supports hormones and can last.
Over the years I tried many “diets.” Now I do not like that word. It is just my personal way of eating. There are things I do not eat, and things I eat rarely. When I see what happens in my body and in my hormones after I eat something that is “not right” for me, I get a new insight or a reminding and a reason to live in a healthy way.
Today I sometimes see the effect within hours. If I eat “not well,” I feel what it does. Bloating, pain, fatigue, bad sleeping, "hungry-angriness" and other. I also see how stress shapes my cycle. Movement lifts my mind fast and supports hormones over time. I know my body. I know my hormones. I understand the language my body uses to speak to me. Knowledge is power, they say, and I agree. If I compare my life now with ten years ago, the change is like earth and sky. I feel much better.
This personal experience moved me to become a Fertility Awareness teacher. I am grateful to the educator who first showed me the method. Without this knowledge my road would have been longer and more rough. Fertility awareness is not for everyone. But I choose to speak about it. I hope it can change your life too.
