Hey everyone,
I’m new to the forums, but have been doing keto for 2 years now. I have never cheated, which is not an attempt to gloat, but meant as context. My question is for the ladies, or for any practitioners who might be on this site:
Did anyone else experience total amenorrhea shortly after beginning a ketogenic diet?
If so, have you figured out why, and/or how to regain your menstruation/ovulation?
Context: I’m 27, 5 foot 2 inches, 130 lbs, 22-25 % body fat. I’m fully gluten free, mostly dairy free, and eat all wild caught, grass fed, etc. I also supplement with about 30 different things, including adaptogens, vitamins and minerals, inositol, myoinositol, vitex, phosphatidylserine, etc. 2 yrs ago, I was following a paleo diet, but began Hepatitis C treatment, and to my surprise, was told I had high blood sugar. So I looked into keto, started keto, and then 2 months later, lost my period. I used to have ovulation pain every month, so I know that I was not anovulatory when I was having a period. I have never been on birth control, and am not sexually active. Anyway, I then went to an endo and got a PCOS diagnosis due to extreeeemely high testosterone, ovarian cysts, and amenorrhea. My blood glucose testing during that time told me that I am insulin resistant, as well, because despite eating strict keto, my blood sugar never went below 100. At the time, I was about 160 lbs. I did not lose any weight doing keto. My thyroid hormone conversion began shutting down about 5 months after beginning keto; by now I was taking metformin (2,000 mg daily) for the PCOS, but had severe insomnia, constipation, and muscle weakness. I KC and KO, though. I saw a number of practitioners who refused to do a full thyroid panel until I found one who would, and she prescribed me Armour thyroid for my low T3 and slightly elevated rT3. My testosterone was still super high, having only gone down about 30 points with the metformin. My sex hormone binding globulin was also super high, which is atypical in PCOS. A few months later, I began intermittent fasting. Finally, I began losing weight. Within 3 months of IF and taking Armour thyroid, (a year after beginning keto), I had lost 30 lbs., and was starting to feel normal again. However, my period was still absent. I then had a salivary hormone panel done, which revealed chronically elevated cortisol, chronically elevated melatonin, and floor-level estradiol (2.9 pmol/l). However, my testosterone was finally in the normal range. My estrone was high, in the 5th quintile of the range, but considered “normal;” my estriol, however, was way out of range…SUPER high…50 pmol/l higher than the top of the range. Also strange was that my progesterone was super high, as well. In essence, at 26, I was diagnosed with early menopause.
This is super weird because prior to beginning keto, I had had a normal period. 3-5 days every 28 day cycle.
I’m at my wit’s end because no one I’ve ever spoken to has experienced the same, and none of my practitioners know what to say except: birth control, or Provera. Neither is a solution.
I even went to the 2nd annual conference on nutritional ketosis and metabolic therapeutics last weekend in Tampa and asked my question during the open panel, but was told by the 3 female researchers that that was “strange,” and that that “shouldn’t happen.”
Given that I am insulin resistant, I am scared to try carb-ups. My fear is paralyzing. Again, I’m at my wit’s end though.
If anyone has any ideas or experience to share, I would greatly appreciate it.
Sorry to hear that you’re in a similar boat.