No Period. Now What?

 

I can't tell you how many times I've thought I should write a book.  A cookbook. A novel. A diet book. A book about infertility.  But I know how much work goes into writing a book and I've never really had the guts to really try it.  However, that's just what my friend did and I want to share with you all her hard work!

One of the most amazing things in my life is the incredible network of women I met through my infertility experiences.  Only a handful I have met in person, but Nicola Rinaldi, the first author of this book, is one of them! She has just published, No Period. Now What? We met up in Boston when Adam and I visited a while back.  One of her co-authors, Stephanie Buckley, I met there too!!

Nicola is actually the founder of the online support network I am a part of and she is one seriously impressive woman! She has a PhD and is mom to 3 adorable boys.

The book is on hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) and may be the only book out there dedicated to this topic.  This refers to the absence of menstrual cycle and is a diagnosis of exclusion.  If no apparent reason is found, it is often the diagnosis, but too few doctors misdiagnose it as 'skinny PCOS' or fail to address lifestyle factors that can cause it.  Essentially, too much exercise and too few calories can cause a woman's menstrual cycle to stop.  For some women, it is only when their activity and diet become too extreme, but for others, they may have a very sensitive endocrine cycle which is interrupted even by slight increases in activity level or decreases in caloric intake.  The bigger problem is, some women cannot seem to restore their cycle even after adjusting their lifestyle and gaining a significant amount of body fat.

Nicola did a ton of research on HA and at this point is probably the world expert (no joke!).  I have ordered my copy through Amazon.com (which fortunately ships it to Canada), and I can't wait until it arrives, I know the book is going to be fantastic. 

Now what am I going to write a book about?