When I first got my period, it was heavy and miserable. But to my delight, it only lasted one year. At the age of 13, my periods stopped and I went 10 years without a single period. When I turned 23, I finally went for a “well woman visit” and the doctor asked about my period. I told her I didn’t get one and that I wondered why this was? She told me “Oh, birth control will regulate that”. So, I started on birth control.
I met my husband at 26 and we dreamed of starting a family. We got married and I discontinued my birth control. It was a bit unnerving to see that birth control didn’t “regulate” my period. I again had no periods, so I returned to the doctor. She told me it just hadn’t been enough time (3 months) so I waited another 3 and returned again with no period in sight. She was finally motivated to order testing.
To my surprise, the results showed I had PCOS. My androgens were through the roof, and it turns out I was also prediabetic. My doctor referred me to a reproductive endocrinologist. He started me on Metformin and told me to return in 6 months if I was not cycling yet. Sure enough, 20 days after starting, my period began! I could hardly believe it. It returned monthly at a pretty regular interval.
My husband and I got to work. We decided to have intercourse every 2 days throughout my cycle. I wouldn’t recommend this plan- it was stressful and “too much”, but it worked! We got pregnant two months later. Sadly this ended in a chemical pregnancy, but the very next month we were pregnant with our rainbow baby!
My words of advice: not having a regular period is not normal. Even if you get your period sometimes, but not regularly, definitely see your doctor. You need to consistently ovulate to have a shot at getting pregnant. Metformin worked for me!
