How I Managed to Have a Completely PAIN FREE Period This Month!

I must admit, since having my miscarriages, my hormones have been a little up and down. The signals of too much estrogen in my body were really obvious again and I had forgotten what it felt like to have sore breasts, headaches along with my period and that wonderful moodiness that comes along with it all. Initially, I was okay with these signals because I knew that my body just needed to flush out what was left over from the miscarriages but after three consecutive months of periods that were less than favorable, I decided to play this month’s monthly a little differently.

The last few months, I had all the signals that I had worked very hard to get rid of. The good thing with this is that I could remember what it was like before but that I could really test any actions I did this month—to really help YOU have a better period too.

Here are some of the symptoms I had the last few months which were less than favorable: sore breasts for a week leading up to my period, headaches on the day before or even two days before my period. One month I actually had a severe migraine. Muscle tension in my back and neck on two days prior to my period and day 1 & 2 of my period. Period pain with heavy flow and dark clotting. Exhaustion and incredible moodiness 3–4 days prior to my period.

So, a big part of me felt like I had taken some drastic steps back after my miscarriages and that it was like I had to start again. So, I did… I acted like I had a clean slate to play with and could experiment again on what works for my—and hopefully your—body.

Here is what I did this month:

• I really watched my diet. I had been reasonably lax with my diet the last few months as I was travelling and couldn’t always choose exactly what I ate. Since being settled in New Zealand and being able to do my own shopping and cooking, it is of course much easier. I cut out meat completely as I simply couldn’t get a good source yet. I have been eating mostly vegetables and soups and making lots of super smoothies. I have avoided chocolate and any sugars completely, always tough for me initially!
• I also made a point of cutting out more nuts this month. I have found that too many nuts can actually give me an inflammatory reaction in the body. So, just thought I would stick to seeds and cut out all big nuts, especially as they used to be my main snack in the afternoon and I was having heaps of them! I cut out almond milk and stuck with coconut milk if I needed milk for anything. 
• I really reduced my grain consumption. For me, that was simply cutting out rice as I don’t really eat many other grains. Please note: I do eat quinoa and buckwheat grouts for breakfast but they aren’t technically a grain. I found the grains seemed to interfere with my digestion, which will naturally affect endo in the process.
• I have also been exercising regularly again in the mornings. This really helps the liver cleanse away anything it wasn’t able to get to overnight. I was doing yoga fairly regularly but hadn’t managed to keep it up with travelling that well. Now, I am doing a combination of either yoga, walking or exercising on a crosstrainer—luckily there is a gym here I can use.
• I have been eating more seaweed to ensure my thyroid is happy. I gargle with the iodine which really has helped my gums and teeth. I try not to take the iodine in its pure form and prefer to just eat more seaweeds or take ashwagandha to support my thyroid health. I got detoxified iodine from this website.
• The biggest addition was the coptis. This is a Chinese medicine formula and has been highly recommended to cleanse the liver. I struggled to find it in New Zealand, so landed up ordering it from the US. This stuff did wonders! I slept better and felt that it was really working on my liver. I ordered it through SensibleHealth.com. 

This is the result of my monthly changes:

I still experienced some breast tenderness and slight moodiness on the days leading up to my period. My actual period, however, was a complete shock! I had NO PAIN at all. Nothing, not even on days 1 & 2 and there was no clotting or heaviness at all either! It was amazing. I was doing heavy lifting and gardening and was totally fine! I felt light and my head was super clear.

I can’t believe the results after just a few changes. Really happy!

I still feel that my body needs to flush out the excess estrogen from the miscarriages but after two months, I reckon the PMS symptoms will go away as well.

I hope this gives you some ideas and little changes that will hopefully help you feel better too. I find it great that we can literally measure the effectiveness of the changes we make, as we always have our period as a measuring tool! I always like doing these tests on a monthly basis too, because we can all stick to something for a month.

Let me know if you have any questions or want to make any other suggestions in the comments below.