My boobs hurt so bad!

AsaThorsWoman

Ok, this is cross posted from the keto group, but there are some really smart cookies in here and I'd like feed back from them who aren't in the keto group.

So... I think I have this: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003153.htm not "a lump."

A good thing is that symptoms should go away soon and not come back until next month.

Unfortunately, it's saying that high-fat diets and caffeine cause this, and I'm finally having the success I've been looking for with my HFLC/Keto/Paleo diet!

My hunger has completely regulated and I'm finally meeting my calorie goal with ease even considering a huge amount of my kcal per day is pure fat, and my bulletproof coffee is really helping me along with that.

It took me forever (a couple weeks) to get to this point and I'm not willing to give up now!

I'm finally seeing the weight loss I'm looking for, I'm not feeling bloated, hungry, tired, or hangry any more... it's working and I want to stick with it, and I will but dang my boobies hurt BAAAAAD!

They hurt in normal bras, they hurt with no bras, they hurt with any sort of attention, but... FWIW I've had almost no cramps and a lighter than normal time if you know what I mean, so I'm starting to feel certain my issues are hormonal and not breast cancer which was my first thought when I discovered the pain and swelling.

The good news is this is a valid excuse to buy myself a couple new sporty bras and file on my medical expenses, I mean at this point I only own one, and if I'm going to have to wear them exclusively while it's my time of the moon cycle, I'm going to need more and it's a medical necessity.

Have any other women had this or have advice on how to deal (men are welcome to reply if you have helpful advice)? My best thing has been to keep the sports bra on. They don't hurt in there. And ibuprofen.

Thanks, also, feel free to add me, I love my Paleo buddies!

On another tangent/note, feel free to chat about surprising hormonal things you've gone through since switching to Paleo. I've had dramatic hormonal side effects from eating too much sweet potato, and I know of someone having the same experience with cabbage. It is so shocking to me how much food really does affect us, and it's so eye opening to what our SAD were doing to us without our knowledge!

Akimajuktuq

So many health problems are blamed on dietary fat. I call BS. For every health problem the advice is to "eat a low fat diet". Then why is everyone still so sick? Why was a low fat diet the start of all of MY health problems (thanks Weight Watchers!).

However, the best thing to do is experiment with different eating plans and explore sensitivities to suspect foods. For me nightshades are a problem as is too much insoluble fibre.

I have had zero hormonal effects except vast improvements with mood, anxiety, depression, self esteem, resolution of pre-diabetes, sleep problems, you name it.

I get some breast tenderness and I'm hypersensitive (always have) but I have had no negative side effects (only improvement!) from a ketogenic Primal/Paleo lifestyle and I've been doing it for 22 months. It may be different for you so don't be afraid to explore. You don't need to add back in grains or eat a ton of sugar though.

PS. Try to find better sources of info. There's lots of medical garbage on the internet. Always look for sites with a functional medical/holistic stance.

Oh and I didn't look at your diary. Are you really going to blame the fat first if you are still consuming things like artificial sweeteners and a lot of processed foods? :noway:

Dragonwolf

Two things I noticed when looking at your diary -- a number of "sugar free" stuff, and minimal variety.

I'd check the artificial sweeteners in the sugar free stuff and see if that might be contributing to your problem. Artificial sweeteners can act as endocrine disruptors by causing abnormal insulin spikes and disrupt estrogen pathways. When estrogen is disrupted, so is progesterone, and the interaction of the two are major factors in PMS symptoms.

Additionally, with the lack of variety in your diet, you may be lacking certain nutrients. PMS symptoms are actually often a sign of nutrient deficiency, particularly electrolytes (magnesium being the biggest one). It'd probably be a good idea to review what you're eating and try to incorporate more variety so that you get the proper nutrients.

http://physiqology.com/artificial-sweetners/
http://www.paleoforwomen.com/paleo-and-menstrual-cramps/

Jenny_Rose77

Two things I noticed when looking at your diary -- a number of "sugar free" stuff, and minimal variety.

I'd check the artificial sweeteners in the sugar free stuff and see if that might be contributing to your problem. Artificial sweeteners can act as endocrine disruptors by causing abnormal insulin spikes and disrupt estrogen pathways. When estrogen is disrupted, so is progesterone, and the interaction of the two are major factors in PMS symptoms.

Additionally, with the lack of variety in your diet, you may be lacking certain nutrients. PMS symptoms are actually often a sign of nutrient deficiency, particularly electrolytes (magnesium being the biggest one). It'd probably be a good idea to review what you're eating and try to incorporate more variety so that you get the proper nutrients.

http://physiqology.com/artificial-sweetners/
http://www.paleoforwomen.com/paleo-and-menstrual-cramps/

100% agree. I used to live on everything artificially sweetened. I actually ended up going cold turkey off it when a fertility doc told me it may be keeping me from getting/staying pregnant. One month later (with no medical interventions) I was pregnant. I'm not 100% sure that was the reason (giving up artificial sweeteners), but there is a very good chance it was. The stuff seems so toxic to me. I think it's best to just stay away from it.

AsaThorsWoman

I have been guzzling down the Italian Creme Soda's which are sweetened with Splenda lately. That's a new addition and pretty much a new addiction. I usually only use Stevia. My boyfriend encouraged me to make a Paleo version with vanilla extract and Stevia extract, so I certainly could experiment with that, and it would cost a lot less if I can get a recipe down.

All the stevia's never affected me before, and are all-natural, so I would be a lot more suspicious of the Splenda than the stevia, just because me and stevia have a good track record together for a long time.

There is a bit more veg in the diary than appears based on the label, as some of it is recipes. Egg Muffins have broccoli, and California Medley has carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.

What would you recommend for variety? Oh, my boyfriend's Vegetti JUST SHIPPED and I am so excited because there's about to be a whole lot of zucchini, homemade Alfredo and chicken on that diary!

I just can't wait.

I'll read these links and reply in a bit.

Akimajuktuq

I have been guzzling down the Italian Creme Soda's which are sweetened with Splenda lately. That's a new addition and pretty much a new addiction. I usually only use Stevia. My boyfriend encouraged me to make a Paleo version with vanilla extract and Stevia extract, so I certainly could experiment with that, and it would cost a lot less if I can get a recipe down.

All the stevia's never affected me before, and are all-natural, so I would be a lot more suspicious of the Splenda than the stevia, just because me and stevia have a good track record together for a long time.

There is a bit more veg in the diary than appears based on the label, as some of it is recipes. Egg Muffins have broccoli, and California Medley has carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.

What would you recommend for variety? Oh, my boyfriend's Vegetti JUST SHIPPED and I am so excited because there's about to be a whole lot of zucchini, homemade Alfredo and chicken on that diary!

I just can't wait.

I'll read these links and reply in a bit.

Splenda is not natural, not sugar and not safe. I refuse to consume it. Ever.

My opinion with stevia is similar. It's still a processed product unless you are consuming the leaves. I have my doubts that loads of stevia is healthy either. Be careful with the "it's natural so it must be healthy" assumptions. Even many healthy foods cause me problems in large quantities (most notably fruit - sugar!).

Maybe work on not needing things so sweet? I went to the US a couple of years ago and was pleasantly surprised to find unsweetened iced tea available everywhere. We don't even have that in Canada and I LOVED it!

monkeydharma

My opinion with stevia is similar. It's still a processed product unless you are consuming the leaves. I have my doubts that loads of stevia is healthy either. Be careful with the "it's natural so it must be healthy" assumptions.

While I'm afraid I do not have any advice regarding your initial question, I'll second Akima's stance on stevia...

I don't use it at all, but if one WAS to use it, it should be the liquid stevia - essentially stevia leaves soaked in alcohol to extract the sweetness. The powdered packets of 'stevia' (such as Truvia) not only use rebiana (the industrially purified sweetness component of stevia) but erythritol (a sugar alcohol made by processing corn into a food grade starch which is fermented to create glucose and then processed further to create erythritol).

Hope you find an answer on the soreness issue.

meghanner

I'm not sure if your symptoms are caused by the sugars but from a medical perspective, breast tenderness is caused by a dominance in estrogen. You either have too much or an imbalance between estrogen and progesterone.

How is your sleep?

How much fat have you lost? Do you think you've lost fat quickly?

Fat stores toxins, particularly endocrine disruptors, in your body. One thing that can happen if you loose fat to quickly these disruptors can be released at a rate which your body has a hard time dealing with and can cause hormonal imbalance. This phenomenon has been studied in women who crash diet and breastfeed. The concentration of toxins, offloaded from fat mobilization, becomes much higher.

Just a thought.

AsaThorsWoman

http://physiqology.com/artificial-sweetners/

This is interesting. I'd be interested in reading more about the studies saying artifical sweetners release cortisol. They've never caused issues with weight loss that I know of for myself.

http://www.paleoforwomen.com/paleo-and-menstrual-cramps/

It's highly likely that I'm lacking magnesium. I get RLS when my magnesium is low, and it's been acting up lately. I know nettles tea helps, but it takes like dirt. :-)

Akimajuktuq,

I have a back ground in herbalism, I've done my research, stevia does not spike insulin, it's actually an insulin sensitizer, which is a wonderful health benefit. It's a wonderful addition to the diet, and has medical benefits and actions outside of just being yummy and sweet. We're in a very happy long term relationship together which I have no intention of ending any time soon, if ever. Because of our long track record together, I seriously doubt stevia is causing the breast pain.

Monkey,

I do use the liquid extract mostly.

Meg,

Someone suggested it could be caused by an exceptionally strong ovulation leaving high progesterone in me, and I did see a recommendation for the Evening Primrose Oil, which is a phyto estrogen as a treatment.

I used to take the Evening Primrose Oil I think it was to regulate my period when I had them 2x a month sometimes, and heavy ones. But I quit taking it. It was great because it's a good source of oil and Omega 3's.

My sleep does often suffer, I have to work full time and be a single mom, so more often than not if I want to take care of all the responsibilities of two parents I finish the chores and house work, then head to bed after midnight.

I've lost a lot of fat, gone from size 24 to 14 in two years. I still wouldn't describe it as fast loss, though. I like taking it slow.

Thanks for the feed back everyone.

Sabine_Stroehm

Definitely give Evening Primrose a try. With weight loss, your hormones will shift some.

For me (with menopause), added EPO and magnesium helped a lot with cyclical breast pain.

(bio identical estriol helped the most, but you shouldn't need that)

MFS27

I have this same condition - and I had this before I went paleo/primal. I talked to my doctor and ob/gyn - both said it's normal, and not a whole a lot you can do other than remove caffeine (which is not going to happen for me!) and reduce salt. Neither told me that high fat was related. I do notice that when I exercise everyday, the swelling is less and the pain is less. I just wear a moving comfort bra during that time, and it acts like a compression bra - which helps. HTH.

AsaThorsWoman

Fortuantely the pain left with my period.

I am currently taking an evening primrose oil capsule daily, hoping for no repeats next month!

AsaThorsWoman

Just following up on this.

I've taken the Evening Primrose Oil daily (almost) all month and almost no pain or swelling this month.

Slight sensitivity, but that's normal. Also, the period seems to be much lighter (at least so far.)

Yay!

Sabine_Stroehm

Just following up on this.

I've taken the Evening Primrose Oil daily (almost) all month and almost no pain or swelling this month.

Slight sensitivity, but that's normal. Also, the period seems to be much lighter (at least so far.)

Yay!

YAY!