Stephanie Burger suffered in her teens and 20’s with debilitating cramps and problem periods due to undiagnosed endometriosis. Once she was finally diagnosed, she started taking Perfect Period to support her body to regulate hormones. This is her full story as told to Perfect Period. 

From the time I started my period and throughout my 20s, I had challenging periods. It was bad enough that sometimes I couldn’t even walk. Around my senior year of high school, I had heavy cramping pain — and not just around the time of my period.

When I’d end up in the emergency room, I would get diagnosed with everything from bladder infections to kidney infections. Everything except the real problem, which was endometriosis.

The first day of my period was so difficult that I’d often miss school or work. In my 20s in my job as a restaurant manager, I would have to lay down on a disgusting office floor trying to breathe through the cramps so that I could function.

Finally Diagnosed With Endometriosis

I had friends who had endometriosis, but for some reason the doctors didn’t discover it in me. Then one night, I went to the emergency room one night because I couldn’t stop throwing up.

It was then that I was diagnosed with cysts on my ovaries. They gave me something to help me stop vomiting and I went home.

But I went back to the emergency room the very next day, because again I couldn’t stop throwing up. The doctors ran more tests, and finally figured out what was causing the debilitating cramping. “You have endometriosis. We’re going to admit you right away, and you’ll have surgery.”

Apparently, my endometriosis was so severe that there was no time to waste — I needed surgery.

I Spent 12 Years Forcing Myself Through Life

When the doctor finished the surgery the next day, he told me that my endometriosis was one of the worst cases he had seen. “I don’t know how you were able to function on a day-to-day basis.”

With endometriosis, deposits of tissue similar to tissue that lines the uterus develop outside the uterus. But instead of breaking down and leaving the body during each period, this tissue becomes trapped and remains inside.

As my doctor explained it, “All of your internal organs are supposed to shift around inside. But everything was glued together.”

All this time, I’d forced myself through life.

I didn’t know any different, and I didn’t have any other options. I still needed to work to eat and pay my bills. So I just dealt with the discomfort the best way I could and kept going.

Post surgery, my doctor wanted to prescribe a medicine that would suppress estrogen production and effectively put me in menopause. I was only 30 years old, and I was not willing to let go of my fertility and enter premature menopause.

Addressing the Root Cause of Endometriosis

Instead, I chose to be more holistic about my diagnosis. I didn’t want to just suppress my difficult period symptoms. I wanted to get rid of them.

So I started experimenting with acupuncture after surgery. It helped for a while, but then the cramping started coming back. The first month after surgery, I didn’t have period discomfort. But the second month, I was back to being curled up on the couch, throwing up in a trash can. I

decided to try Perfect Period because, why not? Nothing else was working, and maybe this would help. It couldn’t hurt.

Two Dropperful Doses Per Day to Start

Because I had severe symptoms, I experimented with Perfect Period to find the right dosage for me. I started with two dropperfuls per day.

And It worked — because my next period came as a shock. In just one cycle, I went from debilitating cramps and unable to function to having regular, easy periods. And zero cramping in between my periods.

So I started weaning down to half a dropperful — but that wasn’t quite enough for me.

My Sweet Spot is One Dropperful

When I’m taking the Perfect Period, instead of debilitating cramps, I get a little discomfort every three or four months. I have occasionally stopped taking it because I’m too busy or forget.

Within about a month or two I’m feeling cramps and discomfort. It keeps my symptoms in check.

Throughout the past 18 years, I’ve been on different diets, exercising and not exercising, but with the Perfect Period, my cycles have stayed steady.

I Got Sober — But I Won’t Give Up Perfect Period

The one issue I had with Perfect Period is that the tincture is vodka based, and 8 years ago, I went into rehab. When I got sober, I had to figure out how I could continue to take Perfect Period without it affecting my sobriety.

After working with my team and the Perfect Period founders, I had a few options:

• Take it with orange juice to mask the flavor
• Put it in boiling hot water to burn off the alcohol — then let the water cool down
• Pair it with another daily ritual — like brushing teeth.

Now, I take it right before I brush my teeth because the mint covers up the flavor. I went from not being able to walk and throwing up during my period from the cramping to having periods without any issues.

I won’t ever give it up because it just works.