If you’ve followed my blog, or even if you’re new, I bet you’ve noticed I’m an over achiever and refuse to just settle for something. Well last fall, my heath was no exception.
Most times being an over achiever is good, but other times, well it bites me in the ass. Starting Ghostface Knitter up was really stressful and it’s really hard to turn a hobby into a business. I started prepping for the Nov 1 launch of GFK in early September. I would wake up at 5am and work until I had to get ready at 8am. Then I’d come home at 6pm and work on GFK until midnight. For weeks I did this. I was motivated, excited and ready.
Then, in late October I started getting nauseous. Like couldn’t eat nauseous. I had always had bad PMS and for the first week I just chalked it up to the lady game. But then it progressed. I was losing weight, not because I was healthy, but because I was only able to eat bread, oatmeal and juice. I had started a birth control pill to alleviate my PMS symptoms a few months prior – so every MD I saw ruled that out. I stopped taking it at the end of the first week of feeling like garbage. So it MUST be stress. Everyone was telling me this – and believe me it doesn’t feel good to have people tell you, you are stressed. Dear friends, keep that crap to yourself. That kind of shit only makes the stress worse, because now you are conscious about it. So the nausea went on for a month – a few days before Thanksgiving I begged for some anti-nausea meds so I could at least eat during the day. That helped, but only for a few hours after taking the meds, then the nausea would come back. I literally laid down and panted for 2 months.
Then, I finally went and saw and acupuncturist in early December. I had REALLY been into this when I lived in Chicago, but got out of it when I moved back to Denver – I don’t know why. If you’ve never been to acupuncture – the needles don’t hurt, they itch sometimes and you basically lay and take a nap (or at least I do). However, this acupuncturist is skilled in women’s health. She listened to me. Told me that it was hormones causing this and the birth control acerbated it. At this point she was the only one listening and not handing out referrals to expensive Dr’s, tests, and medicine. She also recommend that I see the Doula at her practice who is skilled in abdominal massage.
I started seeing both. The most upsetting thing to me is that NO ONE in the medical field asks any of the questions about my menstrual cycle like these two did. And you know what? I discovered that PMS is not normal! We are not supposed to be crampy, bloaty, upset, binge eating, craving, and for lack of a better word – crazy.
So after 2 weeks of seeing them, the nausea was gone and it is still is gone! Why? Because my reproductive health was upset – my uterus is/was tipped, and thus blocking the natural flow of hormones which the birth control made infinitely worse. And guess what else? NO PMS.
After this, I have renewed my faith in holistic meds and I refuse to be ashamed or upset about sharing my experience. I would buy a billboard and write ‘LADIES PMS IS WRONG – LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR BODIES WITH HOLISTIC MEDICINE!’ if I could.
If you’re interested in more about my journey please email me! ghostfaceknitter@gmail.com
Here’s some reading also:
ghostfaceknitter.com 