Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold was affected by unbearable pain, but was relieved...

Together with colleague Tiril Eckhoff, Tandrevold has the podcast “Kant ut”. There they talk about top sports life from a women’s perspective and aim to help especially young athletes.

In the latest episode of “Kant ut”, they address women’s health and then specifically menstruation and the use of the contraceptive pill.

– We are very passionate about more focus on women’s health, says Tandrevold to TV 2.

Among top female athletes, it is not uncommon to not have regular menstruation.

– In that sense, I am abnormal, since I have my period, Tiril Eckhoff says in the podcast.

But for Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, who this autumn has been relevant in the TV 2 series «Landskampen», the situation is different.

– I’m not menstruating. It has been a source of much concern for me. I do not understand why. I have had my period before, but never regularly, says the 24-year-old in the podcast.

She says that it has been tough not to have her period regularly.

– Not having it regularly can be with a negative sign. You feel that you are not taking care of your body. That you do something wrong and are not in balance.

She has long believed that the absence of menstruation has been due to top sports life, since no tests showed anything abnormal. But one late July evening last summer, she got the answer.

– Unbearable pain

She and Eckhoff came late to Gardermoen from a rally and took the last plane train. At the station she was to be picked up by her boyfriend Trygve.

– There was a good atmosphere on the train. You talked a lot with some acquaintances we met, Eckhoff remembers.

– Yes, but when we were about to get off the plane, I felt that it knelt more and more in my stomach. In the end, I could hardly get off the train and at least not take out my luggage. It was unbearable pain, says Tandrevold.

A slightly confused Tiril Eckhoff then had to help her with her luggage. Afterwards, she commanded Tandrevold and her boyfriend to the emergency room, while she herself took a taxi home.

At the emergency room, she was then examined and received a surprising answer.

– What we then found out one night until Saturday in July was that it had cracked some egg blisters on the ovaries. Ultrasound revealed that I had many ovarian blisters on my ovaries. They did not loosen up and started menstruating, as is usual. It turns out that I have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Getting to know it, Tandrevold describes as a relief.

– For me, even though it was terribly painful and uncomfortable when it happened, it was a great relief to understand why I did not have my period. I really felt like I was doing something wrong, but all the measurements showed that everything was fine.

The 24-year-old says that if you search for polycystic ovary syndrome on google, you can “get a little sweat in your forehead”.

– The symptoms are obesity, abnormal hair growth, pimples. There was a lot I did not want. And a lot I did not recognize myself in either. I do not have any of it. Maybe that’s why neither I nor anyone else thought it could be the reason for not menstruating. Perhaps such a diagnosis is overlooked in top sports?

Looks positive

Tandrevold chooses to look positively at the situation.

– I do not have to bother with having menstruation, hehe. The second is that I may release these hormonal fluctuations, even though I feel like I’m part of your fluctuations, Tiril. I crave chocolate when you do it, she chuckles.

Tiril Eckhoff praises her friend for the openness and says it might lead to an extra person checking if you have a similar problem.

For Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, PCOS has little to say for her investment in biathlon.

– As I understand it, it is not dangerous. I can bet on top sports with this. But when I want children, I probably have to get some hormonal help to speed things up. Then there is also a greater probability of having twins.

Soccer player was weighted

Football professional Therese Sessy Åsland has the same diagnosis as Tandrevold. She has previously talked about the challenges she has faced with PCOS. According to helsenorge.no, half of the women who have the syndrome are overweight.

– This means that you have poor insulin resistance in the body, and that you do not have to eat so much and exercise very much to stay very “fit”. It is a challenge I have to live with, and I have accepted that I more or less have to be extra careful with everything I put in my mouth, she told TV 2 in November last year.

Then she had gained weight on social media, after she played the cup final for LSK Women.

– Fortunately, I do not take myself very seriously. I know my body is on the plus side all year, so to speak. But there’s an underlying reason why I look like they may not know. I live as a top athlete “24-7”, and know that the work I do is good, Åsland answers.