I am a professional Make-up Artist in the entertainment and fashion industry. Working in Hollywood for over 25 years. I have worked on many stressful and demanding projects that required many long days of standing and dealing with stressful deadlines. What got me through those projects successfully is that I had an abundant level of energy and stamina; which helped me through each challenging shoot.
In hindsight, I realized how much I took for granted of my health. My healthy physical condition never gave me any reason to say no or turndown a difficult assignment; henceforth my monthly cycles were always a breeze. Normal bleeding no more than 3 to 4 days, no cramping and not even any signs of PMS.
It was just about 4 years a go as I was approaching my late thirties. I started to see some changes in my body as well as my menstrual cycles. For the first time I started feeling the effects of PMS and cramping before and during my monthly cycles. Some months were more intense than others, but as the years past, it progressively got worse.
The last year and half is when I can say the symptoms got so bad I didn’t know what to do. This is very traumatic for someone who has a very spontaneous, independent and active lifestyle.
During my period I felt as if someone was continuously stabbing me front and back for 3 to 4 days straight. Not to mention I was bedridden every month feeling debilitated. So planning trips i.e. vacations and even business related travels were very difficult.