Lisa Marie

I’ve suffered from extremely irregular, heavy and painful periods since I was 17 years old. I always knew something was wrong - despite what my GYN told me - but I could not seem to get her to treat the cause of my irregular periods. I remember asking her “is this going to affect my fertility?” and she replied, “Well, if you don’t ovulate, you can’t get pregnant”. I wanted to treat the problem but when she learned I was not trying to have children at that time, all she wanted to do was push the pill on me again. Feeling like I had no recourse, I relented and went back on the pill again.

Several years later, I got married and it came time for us to think about starting a family. After several months of being off of the pill and not yet ovulating, I went back to the GYN. I then had an ultrasound which confirmed that I had PCOS, although by this time I had done my own research and already realized I had it. The emotional roller coaster was horrendous. I was on medication, I had injections, I was monitored daily via ultrasound, I lost my first pregnancy, and finally after 2 ½ years I was pregnant with my son.

While staying home with him, I noticed the PCOS symptoms were coming back. The weight gain was stubborn and once again, I was depressed. I knew about Laughing Sage from a friend of mine and lurked on the site for several months until I decided I would sign up for a free tele-class that Alisa was giving. I really didn’t know what to expect. I was so tired of exercising to the point of physical exhaustion without seeing results, I knew I wanted to have another child, and so I figured if I started working on this now, maybe I could cut out a lot of the pain I suffered the first time around.

When I talked with Alisa, she was talking to me about abundance, and femininity, my adrenal glands and my liver…(I was thinking to myself, this woman is crazy, I want to talk about my PCOS and she’s talking to me about my childhood and stuff that has nothing to do with my ovaries!) I told her “this all sounded great but I don’t know if I have the will power to follow through with a life change as what you’re describing”

Said to me “you don’t need will power”. I thought she was nuts.

But something clicked because I decided to sign up for a program.

For the first few weeks in the program, I remained skeptical. Alisa told us about the “Trinity Meal” and how this would help stabilize my blood sugar. I felt the difference right away. Early into the program, I recall feeling hungry but not feeling like I was going to pass out from hypo-glycemia

The big change for me happened during the Spring Cleanse. I started experiencing intense levels of anger. It turned out, I had unresolved emotions related a violent act I suffered when I was 17 (also the age when my periods stopped). At this point, I realized PCOS was not just about food and my pancreas, there was a lot of emotional work I needed to do. I needed to allow myself to enjoy life and do things that were good for me. I needed to learn to speak up for myself and finally be the adult woman I wanted to be.

Four months after completing the program, I got a period! It has been regular since then.

Six months after completing the program, my skin was clear, and my blood work was normal and my ovaries were back down to normal size. My current GYN was amazed! She noticed the difference as soon as she came into the examining room.

By the time my son was about a year old, we started thinking of giving him a sibling. We just assumed we would have to go through infertility treatment again. I just didn’t think changing my food habits could increase my ability to conceive. We were told we had to try to 6 months and then seek infertility treatment. Two months after trying to conceive, we conceived our second son.

The pregnancy was extremely easy and uneventful. While having a routine ultrasound, we learned all of my ovarian cysts were gone. I remember the tech saying to me “I am looking at your ovary now”. I recall being confused because I could not see them. You see I used to define my ovaries by the cysts on them. I could not find the cysts and I kept asking, “Where is my ovary?” And my husband exclaimed, “The cysts are gone!”

I didn’t suffer from post-partum depression as I did with my first son, and breast-feeding was possible.

Two years later, I am still eating whole grains and greens. I focus on living abundantly and I am still working on speaking up for myself.

I signed up with Laughing Sage expecting them to tell me how to eat; instead, I learned how to live a fulfilling and healthy life. Thanks for reading!