Reddit reviews Period Repair Manual, Second Edition: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods

I’m super passionate about hormone health so I’m sorry if this comes off as preachy. I was on hormonal birth control for 10 years and then started doing research about how bad it is for our bodies and ended up reading this book (which has a whole chapter on hormonal acne) and it changed my life (dramatic I know)

The readers digest version is that hormonal acne is basically caused by a hormone imbalance. Going on birth control is just covering up the symptoms and not actually fixing the problem. After coming off the pill last year I started getting hormonal acne and was able to get it in check by cutting out dairy/most gluten and processed sugars (cane sugar etc) and taking some supplements that were recommended in the book.

Those supplements include: zinc, magnesium, a b complex, a probiotic, and DIM. I also take fish oil but that’s more for other things than just hormonal acne but I also think it has helped with overall skin health. These are the ones I take.

I’ll still get a blemish here and there during my period but nothing like before. If you have any other questions I’d be happy to answer them!

You'll definitely want to look out for any abnormalities AND support your body in detoxing from the pill. This is a new book I'm hearing great things about: https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Pill-Program-Hormones-Dangerous/dp/0062847058/


One that I have read and love, and think EVERY woman should read is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Period-Repair-Manual-Second-Treatment-ebook/dp/B075NDJC2J/

>Birth control does help regulate periods.

I just wanted to address this one. Birth control wrecks periods. Menstruation is bleeding after successful ovulation. Birth control suppresses ovulation and sometimes introduces an anovulatory bleeding period by varying the hormones. To regulate a period would be to diagnose something wrong with the hormonal cycle or one of the reproductive organs, and then to address it. For example, a common cause of period pain is low progesterone in the luteal phase. A doctor could prescribe bio-matching progesterone to be taken during the luteal phase (3 days after ovulation until the start of the period.) This would keep a functional menstual cycle and address the problem.

After going off of birth control, it can take years for a woman's cycle to regulate again and allow a woman to conceive. Additionally, all birth control does is mask the underlying symptoms of PCOS or endometriosis, so if someone has a real health concern it can go unaddressed for years until it becomes truly harmful.

A lot of women are fed up with the pill being pushed as a cure-all instead of doctors actually addressing the illness. Read the reviews here to see how women feel once they've learned that the menstrual cycle isn't some mysterious thing that needs to be killed in order for them to live normal lives. Here is a story of someone who sought real treatment after their first doctor told her to go on the pill.

Imagine that you were a woman. Every month for a week you have to deal with severe pain. You visit a doctor who does not seek to diagnose the pain, but offers the pill saying that it would help with the pain. You accept. Assuming that you are not one of the women who experience severe side effects from the pill, like strokes, heart attacks, depression, maybe lupus. Instead you grow up and get married to a man that you would not actually be attracted to had you not been on the pill. Life is good, you love the world so much you want to share it with a tiny human, and you go off the pill because you want to have a child now.

After going off the pill, your cycles are even worse than when you were a teenager. You try for two years on your own to get pregnant. Two years of dealing with pain every month and still no baby. You visit doctor after doctor trying to get a diagnosis, trying to find an answer besides IVF. Finally after a doctor treats your pain seriously and doesn't just respond that period pain is part of being a woman, you are diagnosed with endometriosis. If it had been treated when you were younger, you might now be able to have a child. But because endometriosis gets worse with age, you are likely to be infertile the rest of your life.

The pill makes doctors lazy and it really pisses me off. Women deserve better than to be told that a large aspect of their biology is innately dysfunctional just because it's different from a man's.

It can take up to a year to regulate after birth control. The variation in your cycles is not as worrisome if you are actually ovulating. Temping with a basal body thermometer is the only way to confirm ovulation at home. The sidebar has tons of great information to get you started and I also suggest you read The Period Repair Manual and Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

This book isn't necessarily set up for people trying to conceive, but you might find it helpful in trying to get your cycles to be more regular: https://www.amazon.com/Period-Repair-Manual-Second-Treatment-ebook/dp/B075NDJC2J

Hi there I really liked the combo of reading the Period Repair Manual (to understand medicine/ diet/ factors p.s. this is my favorite one) and Woman Code (for diet and lifestyle) and taking and Taking Charge of Your Fertility (to understand how your hormones work and what you can notice about hormone and body relationships) . I feel like all three give you a really good complete health picture. Im not "fixed" yet but I feel like it has been a great work in progress.

I was vegetarian for 4 years and decided to eat meat again. I have seen my health improve from my changes. I do not recommend a diet that makes you miserable. I think eating butter (butter is more of a fat than dairy product) helps keep me sane after being more stict with sugar. I do not eat processed sugar and dairy except maybe 1-3 times a month ( i quit four years ago for my acne) I also quit meat since I thought it caused acne but after reintroducing it I have found that to not be true.

cutting processed sugar out was really hard, but not impossible ( and i still enjoy in moderation :)

Are you able to see a nutritionist or dietician maybe to help you?

I just started reading The Period Repair Manual because I am also hoping to get myself off birth control pills. There is a whole chapter on how to handle acne and skin changes as you get off the pill. (Also, the book is kind of terrifying in its descriptions of the pill's side effects, so just brace yourself for a naturopath kind of hating on western medicine a little.)