What happens when a type‑A, high‑achieving doctor slowly loses her period, her sense of safety in her body, and eventually her fertility, only to discover she is the one pushing her hormones to shut down? In this raw and hopeful episode, Dr. Ashley Burton traces her path from childhood body image and disordered "health" habits through years of irregular cycles, the pill, an unexpected pregnancy and termination, and a cascade of IUD complications that ended in full‑blown hypothalamic amenorrhea. Ashley pulls back the curtain on her HA journey and how true preconception prep was a game‑changer in helping her get and stay pregnant.
Episode Highlights:
- How growing up in a Northern Ontario First Nations community, body image pressure, and "healthy habits" quietly set Ashley up for missing periods and HA.
- The truth about her late first period, years of sparse cycles, and what seven years on the pill really did to her hormones.
- An unexpected pregnancy on the rhythm method, a difficult at‑home termination, and the Mirena IUD decision that changed everything.
- The terrifying hemorrhage that became her rock‑bottom moment and the doorway into real body literacy and cycle awareness.
- The one line on a fitness podcast that made her realize she was overtraining, and how easing up finally opened the door to pregnancy.
- Why she is so grateful for preconception nutrient loading now that she is 10 weeks pregnant with first‑trimester food aversions in full swing.
- The sneaky "goal clothes" trap that keeps so many women stuck in HA and what freedom on the other side can look like.
- A client story where a frightening PCOS label turned out to be HA that shifted in two months with breakfast, stress work, and charting.
- Ashley's countercultural reframe on movement, timing, and why building fertility foundations now pays off well into perimenopause and beyond.
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Please Note: The contents of this podcast are for educational and informational purposes only. The information is not to be interpreted as, or mistaken for, clinical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment.
