The gynaecologist who finally drew me a diagram

My cycles changed within about four months, which nobody had told me to expect and which turned out to be the thing I most wanted to talk about.

I asked specifically about the fertility side before starting and got a clear answer and a plan, and I would push anybody to have that conversation early.

My bloods moved in a direction my GP described as encouraging, and she then spent nine minutes explaining what that did and did not mean, which was the useful part.

This is the honest version, and the honest version is harder to write.

I have been under a specialist throughout and I would say that made an enormous difference compared to being managed generally.

Agreed, and I have nothing to add to it.

What I underestimated was how tangled this is with everything else. Sleep, mood, cycles and appetite all move together and no single one explains the others.

The thing nobody warned me about was that a returning cycle brings back everything that comes with it, and I had forgotten what that was like.

Somebody here pointed out that most of the general advice is written for people without this, and once I stopped trying to make it fit I did much better.

What I found is that my symptoms moved at different speeds. Some things changed in months and others have not changed at all in two years.

What worked for me practically was resistance work twice a week. Not for any aesthetic reason — the effect on how I felt was noticeable within two months.