Ladies, I need your help! keto&period

newbies
(Harjit Singh) #21

Hi! did everything normalize for you? I’m one month in and experiencing the same thing you did! i feel like quitting Keto :frowning:

(Bunny) #22

This is what’s happening: the higher levels of DHEA is creating more estrogen (estradiol) and competing with the progesterone (…and birth control), testosterone and androgen and their are ways to block it…

(Jen) #23

I’d love to comment on my period since starting keto 6 weeks ago but I haven’t had one! I was due 7 days after starting keto and it just never showed up. I think I’ve missed two at this point as there’s no way I’m pregnant. Seems like I’m in the minority though cuz everyone is complaining about their awful new cycle. Anyone skipped after starting keto???

(Natalia) #24

I have same problem with period: its my first month of keto and no period :frowning:

(Tessy M.) #25

My first period was about two weeks in and it lasted for nearly three weeks! But now nearly two months later I haven’t yet had one. For the record, I am not pregnant and that is a highly unlikely possibility.
We’ll all respond differently to the hormonal change. As I’m sure you’ve read, fat retains estrogen so when that fat is burned, the estrogen is released. That likely plays a big role.

(Krystal Bowman) #26

Me too! My period was regular before keto - every 30-35 days it would show up, but since starting this WOE and excersizing 6-7 days a week my period is non exsistant, I know I am not prego bevause I took a test and it was negative…
I have pms symptoms come and go, and its going on 43 days since my last period and I am wondering whst is going on…
I could just be stressing out too much causing me to delay it more…

Sigh

(Julie Shepard) #27

I am having this exact same struggle. I just went and saw the On/gyn today and he added progesterone. I’ve been keto since 1.2.18 and pretty much spotting EVERY day.:sob: I tried to stick it out. I am fat-adapted and have started to implement some extended fasting to see if that helps.:tipping_hand_woman:

(Amanda Slater) #28

Glad to hear I’m not alone, 1.5 weeks in to keto I got my “friend” . I’m on bc and only get every 3 months regulary. Not due for 5 -6 weeks still when I got, and still have it now (it’s been a week) so I’m on 2.5 weeks of keto all going well accept this irregular event. Hope it works itself out ,I see some people are dealing w it for months :astonished:hope dosent happen to me…if any thing can help please someone let me know the trick lol

(Julie Shepard) #29

I was at a point even 4 months on Keto and still spotting every day. I started a natural ulcer healing regimen which included Vitamin E 400iu 3 times a day and all of a sudden my bleeding stopped! I did some research and it seems that Vitamin E can be used to treat irregular bleeding. I do not know the exact mechanism of action but 2 months later I now take 2 Vitamin E 400oh caps every morning and still have no irregular bleeding. Hope this helps!

(Sari) #30

I started Keto just about a week ago. I’m 50 years old, had my period since the age of 11 and do not use any medication/contraception. My period has been so regular all my life that I could pretty much use my cycle as a calendar, ha! I’ve missed ONE period in all my life and that was nearly two years ago. I think I might be approaching menopause as the one change with my period has been (occasionally) during the last year is that they might be prolonged from the usual 4-6 days to 7-8 days. I was on day 4 when I started Keto; period was diminishing and I hadn’t thought of Keto affecting it (yup, should’ve read more about this) - after being in Ketosis for two days the flow suddenly increased and now I’m on day 11 with bleeding getting only heavier and cramps have started too.

Honestly…up until maybe four years ago I had suffered from very painful and very heavy periods, and it FINALLY started improving after almost 35 years, pain almost non-existent, flow getting lighter…and now this. It may sound overtly dramatic, but I think this might just be a deal breaker for me because my period has been a huge problem most of my life, and the thought of possibly having to go through this for 3-6 months like I’ve read some people doing (and who knows IF it will balance out)…I don’t think I can do it. I’m not overweight and did not really start Keto to lose huge amounts of weight - I wanted to get rid of excessive carb eating and balance myself out… I could lose 15lbs but I know I can do it with moderate carbs/added protein as I’ve been on those kinds of diets most of my life…however, I am really disappointed as Keto did/does seem like it makes sense and I do feel lighter (dropped 4lbs in a week). I think I’ll stick with this till the end of July and see if anything changes with my period.

Sorry about the long ramble… Was just wondering if any of the ladies who posted in this thread early on have any updates? I understand it is very personal how the hormones might react. Thanks!

(Edith) #31

I don’t know what to tell you: it could be keto, it could be perimenopausal, or it could be a combination of the two.:thinking:

I’m 52, still perimenopausal, and I’ve been keto a little over a year. I still get night sweats sometimes and I still have morning anxiety sometimes. My cycle is sometimes three weeks, sometimes six weeks. Sometimes they are light and sometimes really heavy. All of this is related to perimenopause. Two things have really improved: 1) no more breast tenderness, and 2) my cramps are almost nonexistent.

I did have spotting between periods and they did dribble on longer than usual when I first started keto, but that seemed to stop around the 6 to 8 month time frame.

I don’t know if this helps you since the time frame is longer than you would like, but I do feel my cycle has improved.

(Sari) #32

Thanks Edith, I appreciate it. I’ve not had any hot flashes or other menopausal symptoms yet, unless you count the major sweating I’ve experienced now during this week on Keto :slight_smile:

Last night I woke up to some “strange noise” and I realized my left ear had the most horrible tinnitus - never experienced this before. I am beginning to feel more anxious about this than I am excited so I think I will be better off going back to my normal diet, it should be balanced enough as long as I stay away from bingeing on carbs.

Thanks again :smile:

(Michelle) #33

I’ve had my period every 2 weeks since starting keto. I’m 2 months in. It’s my understanding that estrogen isn’t necessarily stored in fat, but that fat cells have the ability to create estrogen, so when you lose fat your hormones take some time to adjust.

#34

So the Vitamin E seems to really do its job.
I’m 3 month on keto now and on bc. The first cycle was normal. At the second one I started spotting two weeks before my period and it went on until the period was over. One week later I started spotting again and this time much heavier. I would reather call it a light period for two weeks straight. So I tride taking vitamin e 500mg three times a day and only 24hours later it all stopped.

#35

My period (first since I started keto) started 2 days ago and then abruptly stopped. I’ve been very tense and I seem kinda bloated in my face and ankles but not my mid-section. I want to give my body a “shove” and get it going again because I hate this stuck, tense, full feeling. I’m so irritable that I went home early. Oddly, I had absolutely NO PMS symptoms before 2 days ago.

I ate a zucchini dish that had some slices of potatoes. It put me about 20 grams over in carbs. I’m willing to risk this and risk having to get readapted again if it means there’s a chance this irritation will end. We’ll see.

#36

Hey, my period has been almost 2 weeks long each month since I started my period. Anyone knows how long it takes to normal out. I have not been on BC since I started keto.

Also last week I finally felt like I had become fat adapted. Like I wasnt hungry and didnt have to eat for 20 hours. Then this week with starting my period I feel like I am hungry again…but I also started exercising again. Can exercise screw up being fat adapted? Can your period screw up being fat adapted? Thanks for any help!

#37

Stick with it and maybe try to drop the BC if possible. I personally found my first 2 periods on keto very light and thought wow, this is easy, soo much better than usual. Then the next few were all over the place, the worst pms I had ever had, huge flow some days, minimal on others, never knew quite what was happening. Now though things seem to have settled down to a nice normal level, periods are generally shorter than they ever used to be but very regular. I believe it was all the hormones trying to even themselves out and now they know where they stand things are back on an even keel. Stick with it if you can tollerate it and see if things change. It is not easy but you may well find it is worth it later down the line.

#38

Did you find that your period made you feel like you werent adapted anymore? Like you are hungry and cant fast?

#39

When I was getting the bad pms I was getting really bad cravings for carbs and just wanted to eat everything (I had not really ever had such cravings previously, not even during pregnancies). So that was really tough going. I think it was 2nd month I gave in and ate carbs at that point and then only felt worse so I learned pretty quickly to distract muself from it, eat other keto friendly foods to satiate those cravings and work through it. I don’t get the PMS cravings now like I did before but I do still feel more hungry for the few days before my period starts. I have found that staying totally keto but not restricting calorie intake on those days at all satiates it for me. I literally eat whatever I want to and however much I want to on those days as long as it is keto and still keeping my carbs low. Extra fluids and elecytrolytes plus pork scratchings help me a lot plus any lovely fatty things I want.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #40

Very good advice! :bacon: