Has EF effected anyone's monthly cycle?

(Pamela) #1

I was wondering if any of you have experienced delays in your cycle in relationship to EF.

I went keto March 17th, since then my cycle timing and EF went like this:
28 days (March-1 wk after I started keto)
30 days (April)
28 days (May)
1st EF of ~43 hrs (June 1 PM to June 3 afternoon)
2nd EF of 73+ hrs (June 13 PM to 16 PM)
26 days (June - this cycle came 2 days early, the day after I began my 73 hr extended fast - had to continue the fast as it was required for a medical procedure)
28 days (July)
3rd EF of 5.5+ days (July 17 PM to July 23 AM)

I started this last EF 1 week after my cycle started (about 3-4 days after it was finished).

This was a fairly normal schedule for my cycles. However, I am now waiting for my cycle to arrive and I am at Day 32 (4 days past average). I have had a couple days where I was really bloated and was retaining water. That has gone down some, but this kind of bloating really isn’t a regular occurrence for me. I was wondering if the EF could have impacted my cycle this way.

Some additional useful info:

  1. no, unless hubby’s surgery undid itself, I am not pregnant.

  2. I am 45 but the past few years I have had probably the most consistent cycle pattern I have had. It used to be EXTREMELY irregular.

  3. On EF, I do water and unflavored electrolytes only for the full autophagy benefits

  4. 5’4+", ~150 - no medical issues other than the extra weight I want to lose. I have lost 35+ since mid-January (12 pre-keto)

  5. the 5.5 day fast resulted in a 10+ lb loss, of which I gained all back :disappointed:. There are a number of reasons that have contributed.
    A) Travel (affecting stress/sleep etc)
    B) No cheating but more keto foods than normal (not always stopping when satisfied) - maintained ketosis post fast
    C) impending cycle (as noted not arrived)
    D) body’s set point protection

    – I was really hoping the EF would help break a month plus stall (tho I had some measurement improvements during that time). Other than bloating in the evening mostly, my clothes are all fitting like they did post fast, even with the weight rebound.

Part of why I think set point is a huge issue: now that I am back at the pre-fast weight, even with bigger eating days, the rise stopped and it has started slowly creeping down again - even with the impending cycle.

Anyway - was just wondering if this has been something others have experienced.

I was hoping to do another EF next week, but didn’t want to try to do so on my cycle. Do most of you try to not EF during your period? I listened to Megan Ramos on fasting and I know it was recommended to not.

Thanks for any insight you have to offer. (PS this is my first post on the forum). :smiley:

(Jessika Nilsson) #2

I think it might have affected mine as I’ve haven’t had one since I tried out my first extended fasts… (And I have checked that I’m not pregnant)

But I think it might have not just been the EF, but the fact that I was training heavily (strengthtraining & HIIT cardio), having some extra stress in my life and that I did too many EF in too short of a time without enough feasting in between.

I’ve stopped fasting, even my usual IF (16:8), to see if more food helps my menstruation to return and mostly trying to lower my general stress. But it’s not easy to lower stress when during this process my bonus dad passed away.
So we’ll see when my body thinks I’ve lowered my stress enough and that it has healed enough… But I’m also waiting for a doctor’s appointment to check everything out.

I think the point I’m trying to make is: EF works fine for women, as long as you make sure you’re not doing it when you’re stressed and you make sure to eat enough in between them.
And in my case maybe I should have made my EF fat fasts, as according to fasting calculator I need to supplement with fat to maintain my metabolism… I guess lesson learned?

I’ve also heard/read that fast fat loss for women can sometimes create some wonky cycles as it can affect the hormonal balance…

(Sonia A.) #3

It’s strange. For me, it’s the opposite. I’ve always had irregular periods. Since my first fasting, it became more regular. Maybe you should give it some time. Fasting affects our hormones, so our body has to adapt.

(Nicole Sawchuk) #4

I’m going to tack onto this post.

Since I started fasting, all PMS symptoms have gone away. I might get a little cramp the day off and every so often my boobs my get tender prior but for the most part everything else is in check (I’ve always been pretty regular even prior to keto and introducing fasting). Except one thing:

I spot for days leading up to my period! This time I started spotting (really light dark dried stuff) a week before! It is real annoying and has been going on for over 7 months now! I’ve tried different food, different fasting schedules (on my eating days its a 18:6 schedules and I typically don’t fast for more than 3 days in a row) but I can’t pinpoint what is going on!

Any one else experience this? If so, how long did it last?

(Andrea) #5

EF gave me wonky cycles…trying to understand if that’s a reason why I should stop or reduce my fasting? Any thoughts?

(Jessika Nilsson) #6

You can always just try and see what happens. I completely stopped mine and made sure to eat more. I’ve then gradually started slowly with intermittent fasting again. Now I generally do at least 16:8 every day, sometimes more. And 1-2 times a week I do OMAD, but only on my non-training days. (And the good news is that my period is almost completely back to normal :smiley: )

I would recommend to experiment with less fasting and/or eating more.
I realized that I probably weren’t eating enough, because even if I never was hungry I was almost never satisfied either.
So maybe you should make sure to eat until you’re satisfied when you eat? It’s important to feast too :slight_smile:

(Crystal Velez) #7

Hi ladies. I know I’m very late to this thread but I was looking for answers when I happened upon it.
I am 44 years old and my period is always on time. I have always had a lighter flow but it always shows up. I’m 4 days late now with sore breasts (really sore). I confirmed that I’m not pregnant. I really don’t want it to be the fasting. Last week I was doing 24hr fasts and eating to satiety and this week I did a 42hr fast ( no weight loss btw🤔). I don’t know what gives, but I definitely don’t want to stop fasting.

(What The Fast?!) #8

I’ve been doing a lot of EF and my cycles are whackadoodle. They used to be clockwork - every 28 days, but they are now every 5-6 weeks. It’s annoying to not be sure when they’re going to show up, but I don’t have having an extra week or so between them. :slight_smile:

(What The Fast?!) #9

This is interesting. I think I had the same issue. Did you ever figure out something that worked?

(Jessika Nilsson) #10

Well I got my period back, after I stopped fasting and ate breakfast and in general more food. It’s been consistent pretty much since, except for the first periods which were longer than usual before everything sorted itself out. I also did gain about 8-10 kg… Food and/or the stress due to the death of a close one working in tandem I guess…

I quickly picked up IF-ing again after getting my period back as I’m way more comfortable with that. I’ve recently started trying out EF again, but with more time in between and/or not as long periods of time.

More food and less fasting seems to agree with me, as even if I still weigh more than my lowest point, I’m thinner than last time I was this weight, so I guess my efforts in the gym has really paid off :wink: Which I can also see in the mirror, so I’m definitely better at building muscle if I eat to satiety and don’t limit protein as much as before. I guess that the required amount of protein is greater for someone who strengthtrains 4-6 times a week than someone who is sedentary, moderate protein is different for everyone I guess.

I’d guess it’s not always great to lose the last few kgs to quickly by fasting and/or undereating (I think I lost the last 4 kgs to my goal weight at 61kg in about 1-1,5 months)

(What The Fast?!) #11

This is me too.

I find this point really interesting, because I’ve noticed that I’m not maintaining muscle on lower protein, but other people (even those who strength train consistently) seem not to have that problem!

There is really a lot of n=1 in the world of keto, I wish the answers were a little more standard across the board, I’m fantastic at following directions and poor at adjusting for personal response!

(Jessika Nilsson) #12

I find this interesting too, as I was able to maintain muscle but not build as much on a lower amount of protein.

I also realized that some ppl talk about moderate protein with different numbers, some say grams and others use percentage. And when you compare a diet with 2000 kcal to one with 3000kcal that makes a world of difference proteinwise when you aim for 15-25% protein. (Not that I really count, but to just get a gist of how much protein is ‘OK’)

So I’ve learned that weight is not really a good tell of how well you’re doing especially not when you’re really close to ‘goal’, or in my case wishing to see some abs while still aiming to be strong and healthy :see_no_evil: In my case my weight is just a number, my measurements give a more clear indication as to how I’m progressing. And it’s ok if it takes a while :wink:

(Andrea) #13

Mine returned after 75 days. Not sure what the issue was. EF? Stress? Who knows!