I am a classic case of Endo, I’ve not had surgery to confirm, however it’s a very safe bet. My mother also had it, it’s passed through the matriarchal line and I’ve got symptoms in spades.

❣️This means that before I made changes in my life my period went like this:

Week before – SO ANGRY AT EVERYTHING. Irritated, everyone was annoying, and I was all alone.

Few days before – The cramping would start, lower back pain, sleeping for 10 hours easy, with a nap if I could. Crying in the shower knowing what was coming next and there’s nothing I could do. Bloated, sore boobs, joints ached. It sucked but it wasn’t the bad part.

Day 1 and 2 – I’d get really cold and break out into a sweat. Start shaking and go really pale. People would notice it, white as a ghost. Sometimes I’d pass out, down like a ton of bricks. Sometimes the pain would hit like a wave, and take me to my knees. I’d go to the bathroom and there the real hell began.

My blood would come, the pain, like the worst food poisoning you’ve ever had, for 48 hours straight. By the end of day 1 I was empty, a husk of human floating in a bathtub so hot you could poach eggs, trying not to puke again.

By Day 2 I would be worn out, just beaten down. Still in the bathtub, I generally just didn’t leave the bathroom for the first two days. Thinking if it was time to make an appointment for a hysterectomy and also wondering if being totally uninsured would be a problem.

—If I had to work I would be on drugs like Vicoden, Tylenol with Codine. I was a big fan of those heat patches you can stick on your body, they’re for muscle injuries but they worked well for easing cramps. The drugs didn’t do much but they made it possible to stand up. Assuming I didn’t throw them back up. I’m sure I was a ball to work with.

❣️ Now I consider myself in remission. Endo isn’t something that you can ‘cure’. It’s being looked at as an autoimmune disorder more so than a hormonal imbalance. I think it’s a combination of both.

For myself and other women I’ve worked with who’ve got Endo, we do a combination of things and they work.

❣️❣️But what I’ve really learned is we’re WOMEN and our whole life is lived as if we’re trying to be DUDES.

From how we eat, to how we work, to how we relax. “Work hard to play hard”. How about work easy to play easy?

“Eat on the run” should be “Eat while you kick back and enjoy”!

And “I’ll rest when I’m dead” is dead. It’s time for rest when I bleed, and I’ll do it however gives me the most PLEASURE!

Some women feel good moving during their bleed, some women like me feel good curled up, good show, good book, good tea, good weed, good snacks, good nap!

❣️No women should be trying to be a dude and bleed❣️

❣️ So what does my period look like today?

Week before – Knocking out awesome shit and making sure my calendar is looking clear for my periods ETA give or take a few days. List out what NEEDS to be cleared out, and what can be pushed if needed.

Few days before – Chia pudding in a big way, making sure I’m getting all the fuel I need, listening to my body and making suggestions for her to feel into. Naps if I need them, sometimes I do sometimes it’s only the day before. Rarely do I skip them completely the day or two before. Orgasms, they help reduce cramping 

Right before – I’ll have a little talk with myself. I used to get panic attacks knowing what was about to happen, the anxiety would build and it can still be scary. I can still feel my whole body brace for the storm that’s coming, even though it hasn’t come in years. So we talk. I remind my womb that it’s not like it used to be. She can relax and just do her job, release. No need to be painful, no need to stress out about it. Just release. Like letting a fist relax and release its grip.

I meditate, I run chi cycling meditations that reduce and release pain. It’s like taking Aleve right after the workout or night of drinking, before the pain hits.

Day 1 first few hours – I can tell it’s on the way. Generally I’ll feel some pressure, not cramps but a clear pressure building and have really loose stool, those pesky prostaglandins, a big part of the Endo/immune system connection.

Then the first few hours, assuming I’ve got no events (they happen sometimes and it’s OK! I prepare thoroughly), I just nap. It’s brilliant. I’m up and down to the bathroom at least once an hour but mostly it’s 2-3 hours of just powering my body down.

Curled up with a hot water bottle, sometimes I’ll have an edible depending on if I have to work or not. Most times I don’t but occasionally I’ll have a client meeting, or business meeting. Generally I tell them I just got my period and I’m working from bed. No ones seemed to mind, and honestly you’re talking to the wrong person if you do.

The rest of Day 1 & 2 – I make myself something really good to eat. It’s a blessing to be eating, instead of violently throwing up. So I really enjoy making something that I just WANT to eat. Pasta, burgers, taco bowls with lots of hot sauce, I make them really rich, with top of the line ingredients. Brown rice cooked with bone broth, always something with red meat of only the highest quality, pasta (GF) topped with marinara cooked with liver and kale. You know RICH.

I’ll tool around doing a little work on FB, I’ll post things like this waxing and dreaming.

I’ll nap again.

I’ll eat again.

I remind myself that I don’t have to do anything. I’ve planned for this, I’m prepared and I’m doing what I need to do to stay in balance.

I’ll reheat my hot water bottle.

I’ll watch a hilarious movie.

I’ll cry at Grey’s Anatomy.

I’ll journal.

I’ll make a chocolate cherry smoothie (I blended a little blood into it this time. I’ll let you know how it goes!)

I’ll be so fucking grateful that this is my experience now that I’ll cry a little at that.

And make another pot of tea.