Using progesterone and in particular, the provera challenge (or similar) as a tool in recovery has its place. It’s place is very specific and the situations in which is can be useful are somewhat limited. In this episode I aim to unpack why you’ve been prescribed it, why you’re using it and what is can and can’t help with.
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To your mobile device and exceptional accuracy over six months ever since e3 gives you readings you can count on for important safety information and to learn more about eversense visit eversensediabetes.com safety accuracy evaluated in adult populations with two calibrations per day or less welcome to the hypothalamic amenorrhea podcast i’m danny sheriff your
Host certified fertility awareness practitioner functional nutrition counselor and founder of the ha society and of course an aha recovery coach who has walked where you currently are walking this is the place to come if you care about getting your period regularly this podcast aims to educate inform and keep you motivated on your period and aha recovery track
So let’s dive in but last thing nothing on the show should be taken as medical advice so please take the advice of your physician the ha society is taking clients coach ashley and i work one-on-one with aj’s as we call you to help you figure out a plan and of course implement it and stay accountable whether you’ve worked with a health practitioner already and
You just want to stay accountable and strategic with the plan that they’ve laid out for you or you want to start from scratch looking at all the aspects of your recovery needs and to create a game plan to reach those needs then we are definitely your girls when you sign up to work one-on-one with one of us we’re gonna go over your history your biggest obstacles
Ensure that we’re taking into account your specific goals and start making a plan to reach them so those goals could be getting your period back could be getting pregnant could be getting back to exercise or sport or simply working on your mindset around your body image and long-term recovery we also can teach you the fertility awareness method so if you want to
Learn that so that you have the skills you need to go out into the world on your own without fear of getting ha again we have got your back so our coaching packages are either weekly or bi-weekly and only a month at a time commitment so you’re not paying tons and tons of money for five six months it’s month to month which is awesome makes perfect sense for period
Recovery right so to learn about other women’s experiences working with us and to apply for a coaching spot plus ask any questions that you might have before getting started just go to the society.com forward slash coaching hello hello hello i’m also recording on two cameras and we’re going live inside of the aj society group and i’m recording on my camera here so
I’m going to go back and forth to you guys but today i’m yes going to be answering dms dms with danny i get a lot of dms so sometimes i just i’m like that’s a great question so i’m just going to answer this person’s question on the show so sip of the good stuff here we go this person will remain anonymous because they didn’t ask for permission for um me to answer
This question so after listening to a few client stories and speaking to my consultant i’m having a few doubts if it really is aha that i have my consultant said because i had a small withdrawal bleed after taking progesterone it wouldn’t be aj and my progesterone at day 21 was normal low but normal and listening to the podcast the women have had eating disorders
Or competitive runners or working out for two to three hours a day i just can’t relate to that can you recommend any episodes with women who have a similar story to mine so there’s so much here i’m gonna go through it in order okay i don’t know what a consultant is but if it’s a healthcare practitioner that’s telling you you probably don’t have ha when you are
Missing a period um but they’re also not coming up with any other explanation here’s just what i need you to know if you are missing a period if you do not have your period you have had a period in the past and you don’t have a period now the high high probability is that you have hypothalamic menorrhea and that is the reason it’s missing there are some other
Less common reasons but in a nutshell if you don’t have a period you have amenorrhea that’s just how it works like if you don’t have a period you have amenorrhea so there’s that now this consultant said because i had a small withdrawal bleed after taking progesterone it wouldn’t be aj so many people get recommended to take progesterone it’s also called provera for
Um some places just different brand names and it’s a test taking progesterone pills when you have ha is typically a test to see if you will bleed it doesn’t fix anything and it also doesn’t necessarily tell you what’s wrong it can give you an idea of a starting place of where you might want to look so maybe you pass the test which means you do get some kind of a
Bleed and this means that your estrogen levels have been pretty good like they’re there they’re they’re sort of existing and this is why when you get blood work you might have low or normal low normal ranges there’s some hormonal activity you have enough rest or enough energy enough fuel in your body for some hormonal activity and so you’re developing some semblance
Of a uterine lining so over a year ago i created something called the seven day aj recovery commitment challenge and i’ve been running it for over a year it was this free email based challenge so lots of reading but you would get an email every day for seven days to help you overcome and tackle the different but important areas that you need to be checking off
In order to get your period back now over time i have collected some really great feedback and upon working with all of these wonderful amazing women really started to learn even more about what works and what doesn’t and so i’m excited to be introducing to you guys the updated version it’s called the seven day aha recovery kickoff and it is totally designed to
Help you not just commit to the process and have all of your ducks in a row in terms of important factors that need to be tackled and issues that need to be overcome in order to get your period but the whole thing is now based in video so you can listen slash watch and every day for seven days we will tackle nutrition there’s actually two days of that because
That’s so big we’ll tackle lifestyle we’ll tackle exercise your support network your mindset game each video goes from anywhere between 12 minutes and five minutes so it’s not very long but you’ll get all of the most important areas and the best tips and strategies for how to implement them because i know that going through recovery is hard there’s always an area
For each person that is a little bit difficult to execute on and so the goal or maybe a lot difficult so the goal of this challenge is to help you have the awareness the self-awareness and the tools and strategies you need to overcome each of the different issues that aha recovery faces for us so get on it it’s great if you’re at the very beginning of recovery
Or if you’re halfway through i mean we never know how far through we are until it’s over do we but no matter where you’re at it can be a really good opportunity to check in and look for blind spots and areas where you might be dropping the ball in your nutrition in your lifestyle in you know maybe it’s your support network that’s a problem maybe uh exercise is
Something that you are still struggling with making changes to so check it out go to the ha society dot com forward slash seven dash day dash challenge or the link will be um on the website so it may be in the show notes of this show it may not be just go to ajsociety.com and you’ll find it in the footer or you’ll find it in the pop-up that happens when you are
When you visit the page and we will see you for day one of the challenge so if you take progesterone pills that will cause the lining to shed and now this information is did you know that one in eight couples struggle with fertility that’s over seven million people in the united states alone and the risk of miscarriage it’s more common than breast cancer or
Diabetes the challenges of your fertility journey we don’t talk about them enough we assume that when you’re ready to have kids it will be easy but that just isn’t the case for everyone the journey can be expensive mystifying and full of disappointment and shame but there is hope and you are not alone on the new podcast baby or bust host dr laura shaheen an ob
Gyn and reproductive endocrinologist answers your questions dispels the myths and transforms disappointment into hope every episode of a baby or bust features interviews with experts and real life infertility survivors to explore questions and answers like should i put my hips up afterwards should i be eating pineapple to help with embryo implantation boxes
Or briefs when do you know it’s the right time to have a baby will plastics and toxins kill my eggs what really causes a miscarriage hot tubs really kills mom and how do queer people have kids join dr shaheen each week for practical approaches for your fertility journey you are not alone really find baby robust on apple podcast spotify or wherever you get your
Podcasts target has laundry day covered because they offer a great selection of concentrated tide pods to help with all your laundry needs tide pods clean freshen and help rejuvenate your clothes with odor fighters and stain removers did you know tide pods clean better than the leading liquid bargain detergent tide pods are powerful enough to make your whites
White and your bright sprite even in cold water just toss in one tide pod for small loads two for medium three for large it’s that easy for great value and convenient pickup options get tide pods today at target helpful for us just to know kind of in a way how deep you are into ha so i find it interesting to know if you pass or fail like it’s information to help
Me know do you have some kind of hormonal activity happening or not but it’s not a diagnosing tool for whether or not you have aj so the fact that you pass or fail doesn’t mean you do or don’t have it you know it may just mean you’re not like flatlining your hormones but you still don’t have enough to get a period and that matters okay and my progesterone at
Day 21 was normal low but normal low to normal ranges in blood work is typical for someone with aj and listening to the podcast the women have had an eating disorder or they’re competitive runners or working out for two to three hours a day i just can’t relate to that so that is a common experience but i also do have many shows with women who that’s not the case
They didn’t always they weren’t competitive runners i actually don’t have that many competitive runners on the show but i do know that it’s very prominent in that community in general if you are very very busy with stuff with life if you are an active person if you are under eating or you think you’re not but like even maybe you are you know even if you’re not sure
If you have a very stressed lifestyle there are so many other factors besides having an eating disorder being a competitive runner or working out two to three hours a day that can cause you to get amenorrhea like they can be they can lead up to you being too stressed to get your period back so now you have amenorrhea so i just i really liked this question because
I think so many of us get put into doubt about this diagnosis if you will by other people and our practitioners because we don’t relate to having any kind of problematic behavior in our life but the truth is if you live in this society these first world countries australia new zealand england anywhere in the uk anywhere in europe honestly um the united states
These first world countries you are a part of a society that is not conducive to women getting a break so that’s my answer to that and i mean it all with love i can see how people want this to not be the thing and so oh it’s not aha it’s probably not a chaser so going down this path of like changing my life and my behavior and my relationship with food isn’t the
Key like i have a lot of compassion for that i fully understand where you’re coming from and i can tell you from experience that if you let yourself get stuck honestly in this story it’s got to be anything but this you’re doing yourself a disservice level of stress that we’re operating out on a day-to-day basis that we have deemed normal that is the problem and
That is something worth looking at hey that was fun thank you so much for listening today guys please subscribe to the podcast and if you could head to itunes specifically and leave a rating or review that would help so much because it makes it easier for other people with aha who are googling around to find their podcast really easily so if you do that you’re
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Transcribed from video
The Hypothalamic Amenorrhea Podcast – 108. Diagnosing HA with Progesterone/Provera By Dani Sheriff HA Recovery Coach
