Spotting on Keto? TOM

ndvoice

Gentlemen, you may want to skip this one

Since starting low carb eating, I've been spotting almost constantly. Nothing heavy, but constant. Is this typical? I've done some research & all I can find is a theory (from blogs & chat rooms) that as we burn fat, we release hormones that are stored in fat and that triggers bleeding. It sounds plausible, but I can't find a reputable source!
Thanks in advance for sharing info or experiences!

kmca1803

This has happened to me every.single.time that I have started low carb or keto. (Which has happened a few times over the years, have fallen off the wagon and been in situations where I couldn't eat as I wished.)

It usually lasts a few weeks at the start when I'm really ketotic or if I'm HIIT training or doing really extreme, high heart rate exercising.

There are some theories that suggest that extreme exercise can trigger spotting or bleeding through what is ultimately a mild ischaemic response in the uterus, but I can't link this response to anything that only being on the keto diet would induce. I'm in the medical field so have a fair bit of knowledge of how the body responds to certain stimuli but have never been able to find an actual evidence based answer to spotting being linked to low carb or keto diet.

So ultimately yes, it does happen to some women, and yes it goes away after a bit. Just another one of the lovely adjustment symptoms some of us women have to endure!

ndvoice

Thank you! That helps reassure me. I'm really surprised there is no documentation, but I'm glad to hear you couldn't find it either lol. We ladies get all the fun, huh? Guess I'll be wearing the "ugly panties" for a while longer!

KnitOrMiss

Once I adapted (fat adapted), my body adjusted. I've had one "surprise cycle" since then (just about 2 weeks ago, actually), so I've been happy. My general idea, and how I'm okay with it or get that way, is that I believe that going low carb restores some of our youthfulness of which sugar had robbed us, and because of that, sometimes our hormones and everything else go wacky for a while. I don't know about you, but the unpredictability of my monthly visitor used to make me insane when I was younger... Just a "rationalization" I guess, but it does help.

sweetteadrinker2

I've heard that going keto could cause enough of a change in bodily chemistry to make the lining more fragile. That means something that didn't cause any bleeding before might for awhile. Ie, lifting something heavy or certain stretches might be just enough to cause some spotting.

KnitOrMiss

@sweetteadrinker2 Apparently there is something to that. The eye dilation meds I took Friday led to a day of light-ish bleeding and another day or so of spotting, which was SOOOO not fun... SIGH

Sabine_Stroehm

I think it causes a lowering in estrogen levels, personally.
Not usually a bad thing.

mongoosealamode

I can ALWAYS tell if I slipped out of ketosis... Every time I get back in I have spotting

noclady1995

sweetteadrinker2 wrote: »

I've heard that going keto could cause enough of a change in bodily chemistry to make the lining more fragile. That means something that didn't cause any bleeding before might for awhile. Ie, lifting something heavy or certain stretches might be just enough to cause some spotting.

Oh my gosh. This happened today and I finished my cycle a week and a half ago. This morning I lifted. I did chest and abs but apparently my body is sensitive.

Sunny_Bunny_

I've been all out of whack for a couple years now. Had a Mirena IUD, had no periods other than occasional light spotting 1-2 days a month for 5 years. Then had to get that Mirena removed and I liked it so much I got another one. I have had TOM every single month since then! I went back to dr for 6 month check up and mentioned it hadnt stopped like before, which could indicate I wasn't getting all the progesterone??? In the Mirena. She gave me a RX for something that was supposed to help. It did nothing. I was frustrated with it but basically just dealt with it. Now it's been about 2 years since I got it.
Ok, now the recent unusual thing was that I had worse cramping with last TOM and then about 2.5 weeks later got a full 10 days of TOM again! I almost called to make an appointment because I can't tell you how nice it was not having cramps and bleeding for 5 years and I want that back, but I'm kinda worried it's not a good idea to go ask for hormones to "fix it" anymore.
Can birth control mess up hormones and stuff later in life? Plus I just turned 40 this year, I don't want to push my luck and wreck my body when things are probably changing a lot right now with the diet and my age.
This is a subject I just don't know much about and I don't know if I should just wait things out or not.

KnitOrMiss

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

I've been all out of whack for a couple years now. Had a Mirena IUD, had no periods other than occasional light spotting 1-2 days a month for 5 years. Then had to get that Mirena removed and I liked it so much I got another one. I have had TOM every single month since then! I went back to dr for 6 month check up and mentioned it hadnt stopped like before, which could indicate I wasn't getting all the progesterone??? In the Mirena. She gave me a RX for something that was supposed to help. It did nothing. I was frustrated with it but basically just dealt with it. Now it's been about 2 years since I got it.
Ok, now the recent unusual thing was that I had worse cramping with last TOM and then about 2.5 weeks later got a full 10 days of TOM again! I almost called to make an appointment because I can't tell you how nice it was not having cramps and bleeding for 5 years and I want that back, but I'm kinda worried it's not a good idea to go ask for hormones to "fix it" anymore.
Can birth control mess up hormones and stuff later in life? Plus I just turned 40 this year, I don't want to push my luck and wreck my body when things are probably changing a lot right now with the diet and my age.
This is a subject I just don't know much about and I don't know if I should just wait things out or not.

The first thing I would research is if the hormonal composition changed. In 5 years, I can totally see the formulation changing. Yes, hormones now can affect things later, but not in a crazy negative way. Being in that "40" zone myself, come July, the biggest risk is high blood pressure from added hormones, but to my understanding, that's generally related to estrogen more than progesterone. You might look into Inositol powder (Jarrow brand on Amazon has great reviews). It is vitamin B8, but most of us just don't get enough of it. It naturally works to balance the hormones, but honestly, as we get older that is more of a problem. Being on this WOE tends to turn back our clocks some, so you may be stuck in a peri-menopause loop or something. (The inositol also has dementia and mood disorder "protections" and such at higher doses, so may even help with the ADD or other things, too... I can't remember all your factors, sorry...)

Honestly, I would not wait. I would get this addressed now, because it's far easier to tweak things than it is to start over fresh, because frankly, as we women age, this fading hormone thing just becomes more complicated. One thing is that as long as you keep eating enough fats, your body's hormone productions should have an easier time keeping up... Good luck!

DianaElena76

In response to the original post, I had a full-blown period every two weeks like clockwork for the first few months of LCHF. It got really old really quick--especially since I was always one of those lucky women with a really long cycle and therefore only went through shark week every couple months. It has since resolved, and I'm back to a regular cycle.

Lillith32

I've always had long shark weeks, but since starting keto they've been extra-all over the place. As a matter of fact my shark week is heading into overtime (day number 9) today. It's really annoying, but if it's just spotting without the cramps and migraines, I'm good with it.

Sabine_Stroehm

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

I've been all out of whack for a couple years now. Had a Mirena IUD, had no periods other than occasional light spotting 1-2 days a month for 5 years. Then had to get that Mirena removed and I liked it so much I got another one. I have had TOM every single month since then! I went back to dr for 6 month check up and mentioned it hadnt stopped like before, which could indicate I wasn't getting all the progesterone??? In the Mirena. She gave me a RX for something that was supposed to help. It did nothing. I was frustrated with it but basically just dealt with it. Now it's been about 2 years since I got it.
Ok, now the recent unusual thing was that I had worse cramping with last TOM and then about 2.5 weeks later got a full 10 days of TOM again! I almost called to make an appointment because I can't tell you how nice it was not having cramps and bleeding for 5 years and I want that back, but I'm kinda worried it's not a good idea to go ask for hormones to "fix it" anymore.
Can birth control mess up hormones and stuff later in life? Plus I just turned 40 this year, I don't want to push my luck and wreck my body when things are probably changing a lot right now with the diet and my age.
This is a subject I just don't know much about and I don't know if I should just wait things out or not.

I know so many people who loved their first mirena but hated the second.

Sunny_Bunny_

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

I've been all out of whack for a couple years now. Had a Mirena IUD, had no periods other than occasional light spotting 1-2 days a month for 5 years. Then had to get that Mirena removed and I liked it so much I got another one. I have had TOM every single month since then! I went back to dr for 6 month check up and mentioned it hadnt stopped like before, which could indicate I wasn't getting all the progesterone??? In the Mirena. She gave me a RX for something that was supposed to help. It did nothing. I was frustrated with it but basically just dealt with it. Now it's been about 2 years since I got it.
Ok, now the recent unusual thing was that I had worse cramping with last TOM and then about 2.5 weeks later got a full 10 days of TOM again! I almost called to make an appointment because I can't tell you how nice it was not having cramps and bleeding for 5 years and I want that back, but I'm kinda worried it's not a good idea to go ask for hormones to "fix it" anymore.
Can birth control mess up hormones and stuff later in life? Plus I just turned 40 this year, I don't want to push my luck and wreck my body when things are probably changing a lot right now with the diet and my age.
This is a subject I just don't know much about and I don't know if I should just wait things out or not.

The first thing I would research is if the hormonal composition changed. In 5 years, I can totally see the formulation changing. Yes, hormones now can affect things later, but not in a crazy negative way. Being in that "40" zone myself, come July, the biggest risk is high blood pressure from added hormones, but to my understanding, that's generally related to estrogen more than progesterone. You might look into Inositol powder (Jarrow brand on Amazon has great reviews). It is vitamin B8, but most of us just don't get enough of it. It naturally works to balance the hormones, but honestly, as we get older that is more of a problem. Being on this WOE tends to turn back our clocks some, so you may be stuck in a peri-menopause loop or something. (The inositol also has dementia and mood disorder "protections" and such at higher doses, so may even help with the ADD or other things, too... I can't remember all your factors, sorry...)

Honestly, I would not wait. I would get this addressed now, because it's far easier to tweak things than it is to start over fresh, because frankly, as we women age, this fading hormone thing just becomes more complicated. One thing is that as long as you keep eating enough fats, your body's hormone productions should have an easier time keeping up... Good luck!

Thanks @KnitOrMiss I will look into that. ADD is the only thing I have going on, now that IBS is a thing of the past. It would be great to be addressing that more naturally as I'm hoping to cut my Adderall in the next few months.

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

I've been all out of whack for a couple years now. Had a Mirena IUD, had no periods other than occasional light spotting 1-2 days a month for 5 years. Then had to get that Mirena removed and I liked it so much I got another one. I have had TOM every single month since then! I went back to dr for 6 month check up and mentioned it hadnt stopped like before, which could indicate I wasn't getting all the progesterone??? In the Mirena. She gave me a RX for something that was supposed to help. It did nothing. I was frustrated with it but basically just dealt with it. Now it's been about 2 years since I got it.
Ok, now the recent unusual thing was that I had worse cramping with last TOM and then about 2.5 weeks later got a full 10 days of TOM again! I almost called to make an appointment because I can't tell you how nice it was not having cramps and bleeding for 5 years and I want that back, but I'm kinda worried it's not a good idea to go ask for hormones to "fix it" anymore.
Can birth control mess up hormones and stuff later in life? Plus I just turned 40 this year, I don't want to push my luck and wreck my body when things are probably changing a lot right now with the diet and my age.
This is a subject I just don't know much about and I don't know if I should just wait things out or not.

I know so many people who loved their first mirena but hated the second.

It's so weird. I really just figured everything would stay the same. But I guess that just makes too much sense. Lol