We're closing out our period pain miniseries the way it started.
With a real story.
In the final episode of the Period Pain Mini Series, Jess sits
down with Ella, founder of Els Lovers, a New Zealand-made brand
creating wearable heat packs designed specifically for
endometriosis and period pain relief.
Ella takes us right back to the beginning to a musical theatre
rehearsal camp, three days before her 14th birthday, when her
very first period arrived and brought her to her knees. From that
day forward, eight-day heavy periods, severe pain, and chronic
exhaustion became her norm. Because her mum had always suffered
the same way, Ella assumed that's just how it was for her too.
What followed was years of dismissed symptoms, a GP who
attributed her chronically low iron to her plant-based diet
rather than the blood she was losing every month, and a
gynaecologist at family planning who told her that heavy periods
were an opinion. It wasn't until a nutritionist connected the
dots, low iron, low B12, IBS-like symptoms, painful heavy
periods, and said the word endometriosis, that Ella finally had
somewhere to start.
She shares what it took to push for her diagnosis, what her
endometriosis surgery in February 2024 actually involved, and why
the year and a half she spent with a Mirena afterwards was the
most painful of her life and how trusting her body and getting it
removed was the decision that finally started turning things
around.
Ella also opens up about having to leave her first full-time job
out of university at just 21 because her pain had become too
unpredictable to manage, and how that painful chapter led her to
create Els Lovers. Handmade in Aotearoa from 100% natural cotton,
Els heat packs were born out of Ella's own search for something
wide enough, long enough, and weighted enough to actually wrap
around the places that hurt.
This is the episode we want every young woman who is quietly
pushing through to hear. Because how the hell are you supposed to
know if your period pain isn't normal if nobody is talking about
it?
This is episode five of five of The Cyclist's period pain
miniseries. All episodes are available now.
Find Ella and Els Lovers at elslovers.com or on Instagram
@elslovers
Follow and connect Instagram: @wearethecyclist Website:
wearethecyclist.com
Hit play. And if you know someone who needs to hear this, send it
to them.
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