How Joanne Healed 30 Years of Excruciating Menstrual Pain by Facing Her First Bleed

Imagine suffering from intense, debilitating menstrual cramps every single month for nearly three decades—with no real answers, just medication and endurance. That was Joanne’s (name changed for privacy) reality until she discovered that her pain wasn’t just physical. It was emotional. And it was waiting to be acknowledged.

This is her story—and a reminder that your symptoms may be speaking a truth your mind has yet to hear.

Living With Chronic Menstrual Pain

Joanne is a vibrant woman in her early fifties, grounded in the stage of life I like to call “early wisdom.” She has a loving partner and two grown children. But when she first came to see me, she was desperate for relief from the intense abdominal pain she had experienced nearly every month since the age of 12.

The only exception? A mysterious decade-long break when the pain went quiet.

But around age 35, it came back—with vengeance. Her periods became increasingly unmanageable: heavy bleeding, intense cramps, and contractions that rivaled those she felt during labor. For relief, she relied on high doses of anti-inflammatory medications. Without them, she was curled up in agony, unable to function.

She had accepted this as her fate—until something unexpected shifted.

Uncovering the Emotional Root of PMS

As with many of my clients, I gently asked Joanne to revisit the emotional landscape around her first period. And there, in that very first memory, something vital was buried.

Joanne recalled the moment vividly: she had gone to the bathroom and discovered blood. Confused and overwhelmed, she called for her mother. What she received wasn’t support, but a cold glance and a quick, dismissive command:

“The sanitary napkins are in the drawer.”

No warmth. No guidance. No initiation into the sacred rhythm of womanhood—just instructions, and silence.

The Pain Behind the Pain

In that session, Joanne let herself go there again—back to the bathroom, back to the stunned silence, and back to the aching need for nurturing she never received.

She cried. Hard. The kind of cry that comes from the gut, from the soul.

In that moment, I stepped in—not as a therapist or teacher, but as a temporary stand-in for the mother she needed back then. I held space for her wounded younger self, allowing her to be seen and soothed, maybe for the first time. Then, I invited Joanne to keep tending to that inner girl. To become the mother she never had. To listen to her body the way no one had taught her to do.

Her monthly pain, we realized, wasn’t just physical. It was a cry for care. A deep grief that had been echoing through her womb for over 30 years.

From Monthly Torture to Menstrual Peace

The following month, Joanne returned with a quiet smile and a breathtaking update:

Her pain had dramatically lessened.

No more crippling cramps. No more lying in bed for days. Just a normal period—and a renewed connection with herself.

Joanne credited the shift to her emotional release and the internal work she had started after reading my book, My Beauty & My Beast. In her words, it was the stories inside the book that gave her permission to hope. To see her suffering in others. To believe she could heal too.

And she did.

The Body Always Remembers—and It Also Knows How to Heal

Despite over a decade of research into PMS and the unconscious, I’m still in awe every time a woman’s body responds so profoundly to inner healing. There is always a deeper screen behind what we see at first glance. And when we meet that space with compassion, something begins to shift.

If Joanne can find peace after 30 years of suffering, so can you.

In My Beauty & My Beast, I share real stories of women just like Joanne—who discover the hidden emotional roots behind their physical pain and learn to listen, heal, and reclaim their power.

Want to explore these stories and insights live?
Join me for an upcoming virtual live gathering, where we’ll talk openly about PMS, emotional healing, and the mind-body connection. This is your invitation to connect with other women walking the same path and begin rewriting your story in real time.

Final Thoughts: The Power of Listening to Your Body

Joanne’s story is proof that it’s never too late to heal. Whether your pain began last year or decades ago, it’s not just biology—it’s biography. Your body is speaking. All you have to do is listen.

We may not be able to rewrite the past. But we can absolutely change how it lives in our bodies.