And how it led me to co-found Circles

Somewhere in the 90s I was visiting a gyno clinic together with my mom, in the hope of getting answers to my mysterious period pain, that seemed to be a bit harsher than what other girls were experiencing. The calm, apathetic face of my then doctor came with the predictable answer “it’s completely normal”. “She can take painkillers or go on the pill, then the pain would disappear”. Facing my mother as if I don’t exist.

Fast-forward to 2019, after 2 unfortunate miscarriages, I am finally a mother to my daughter Zoe, who is one by now. My period came back a few months after the birth, and boy this is nothing like I’ve experienced it before. My cramps moved from my abdomen to my pelvis, and a new, unfamiliar form of PMS has kicked in. A much more severe one.

How did my PMS feel? Like my life was split in two. The first two weeks of my cycle were more or less normal, and the last 2 weeks like someone drew a black cloud above my head. I could suddenly feel the day of my ovulation, but not just physically- mentally. There was a sharp turn in my mood, my negative thoughts were on repeat and my self-doubt was creeping in, and my sensitivity to sound and smell was extremely heightened.

The worst part was that it felt like I’m not in control. My hormones were controlling me. And my relationship…. “Welcome to adult life”. I said to myself.

The turning point

Like every good person, I turned to google and to the tribe wisdom on facebook. Turned out I was not alone: more than 80% of menstruating women suffer from PMS, described as “chronic condition experienced by menstruating women which is characterized by distressing physical, behavioral and psychological symptoms that regularly recur during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle” (source: national association for premenstrual syndrome)

After endless scrolling the contradicting information and different opinions on its origin, best treatment, or lack of it, lacking medical evidence and failed treatments found in conventional medicine, I gave up and closed my computer.

Instead, I decided to book an appointment at the nearby acupuncturist with the hope she’d help me with this list of pains (after all, who else can I go to without feeling shame??)

Her first question was- “what do you eat?”

Me, in shock- “I don’t know, I think I eat very healthy” (Yogi after all…). “And how the hell is it connected to my moods?“

As always, she kept her words scarce, gave me a list of plants I should be taking, placed some needles and the session was over before I could really understand what was going on.

I came back home and started googling almost in trance those weird plant names and a whole world was opening up to me. Apparently there are plants and nutritional advice that are extremely efficient for those exact symptoms that I had? (Reminder: period pain, mood swings, self-doubt, over-sensitivity, teariness, bloating, painful boobs).

I stocked up on the supplements, ordered some teas and after collecting advice from several nutritionists and books I decided to cut completely gluten and sugar out of my life.

After 4 weeks my period arrived WITHOUT any symptoms. I’m really not kidding: no pain, much less moodiness and almost no bloating.

My first thought was: “This is not possible. I didn’t suffer all my life for nothing. The answer cannot be that simple!”

The next thing I did, was texting ALL my friends about my newly discovered formula to ease all those period symptoms. I felt like a fire was lit in me. For the first time in a long time, I felt the urge again to go and make the world different for other women.

Maybe it’s the fact that I have a daughter now, and I think about that visit at the doctor’s clinic and I know that I won’t let her get these answers from anyone and suffer for years for nothing.

Luckily at that time, I met an amazing woman, Margaux, who would be my business partner later on, that had the same fire and was looking to make a difference in women’s lives and break taboos around menstruation.

Together we created Circles, with the message- pains are not normal. Let’s talk about our periods and pains and treat them naturally.

Sign up below to be the first to know when we launch our first line of natural products for better periods. You will also learn about beneficial plants for your cycle and can join an amazing community of women.