Ep. 054: No Period, Now What? With Nicola Rinaldi

The BodyLove Project with Jessi Haggerty

Dr. Nicola Rinaldi has a PhD in biology from MIT. Since experiencing hypothalamic amenorrhea (missing periods) herself, Dr. Rinaldi has been on a mission to spread awareness of the condition and how to recover. In 2016 she published the book "No Period. Now What?" This book is a comprehensive resource that includes much of the medical and scientific research that underlies our current understanding of the triggers for amenorrhea, what steps to take for recovery, and treatments to use for recovery and pregnancy as needed. In addition, Dr. Rinaldi performed the largest survey to date of women who likewise experienced amenorrhea, and includes results from the survey answering many of the common questions women have, such as "How long will it take to recover?" "Will I be able to get pregnant?" and "Will I resume cycling after pregnancy?". Finally, the book includes Dr. Rinaldi's own story along with those of hundreds of other women, providing hope and reassurance to women following in their footsteps. Since publishing "No Period. Now What?" Dr. Rinaldi has been a guest on multiple podcasts, attended the ACSM and SCAN conferences, and presented the winning poster at the 2017 Female Athlete Conference.

In this episode we talk about how you can advocate for yourself when you’re suffering from amenorrhea (absence of a period) or Oligomenorrhea (irregular periods), how to know the difference between amenorrhea and PCOS, and what it takes, and how long it takes to get your period back, and how to check out your cervical mucus for a more intuitive way to track your ovulation. You can check out her website and popular blogs below and make sure to check out her book, No Period, Now What? For more details on all of the information we talked about in this episode!

Bleeped Content:

24:18: “I did a survey for my book of over 300 women who experiences HA… Over 82% of them lost 10 pounds or more in the last few years. That’s a significant weight loss for anybody.”

30:06: “[getting your period back] will happen more quickly if you’re able to go “all in” and eat more than 2500 or more calories per day…”

Navigating BodyLove IRL:

In this episode we talk about how to advocate for yourself at the doctor if you are experiences amenorrhea; especially if you are living in a larger body, or struggling with a ‘false’ PCOS diagnosis.

Listener Q/A

In this episode we answer:

• How long does it take to get your period back?
• Is soy really bad for hormonal health?
• How do you actually “check” your cervical mucus?

Resources:

• Jessi’s Intuitive Eating Audio Guide
• Nutrition & Body Image Coaching Skills for Personal Trainers
• Mentorship/Internship Posting
• Nicola’s Website
• No Period Now What Book
• Nicola’s Facebook Group
• Julie Duffy Dillon and PCOS

Nicola’s Most Popular Blogs:

• Why Weight Gain Might Be Necessary
• Energy Balance and Missing Periods
• Hair Building as a Positive of Recovery
• Flax Seed and HA/recovery
• Acetyl-l-carnitine and HA/Recovery
• HA Recovery as a Competitive Athlete
• Overall HA Understanding
• HA versus PCOS