stevia/truvia Fertility and ovulation

schustc

I've been using truvia daily for the past 3 months or so. My cycles have stopped (had 1 in the last 4 months) i am 43, and know that could be an issue, but this seems so coincidental. we want to get pregnant - this is causing issues. anyone have trouble with stevia products?

xarge

I read about women using stevia with irregular or no menstrual cycle, most say that they got back to regular after they stop using the substitute so indeed that may be the reason.

now_or_never12

Have you changed your exercise habits in that time? Could just be a coincidence.

Athena98501

I've been using truvia daily for the past 3 months or so. My cycles have stopped (had 1 in the last 4 months) i am 43, and know that could be an issue, but this seems so coincidental. we want to get pregnant - this is causing issues. anyone have trouble with stevia products?

I hadn't heard of this, and it kind of weirds me out. I was just trying to make the switch to stevia drops (from splenda).

schustc

I've been using truvia daily for the past 3 months or so. My cycles have stopped (had 1 in the last 4 months) i am 43, and know that could be an issue, but this seems so coincidental. we want to get pregnant - this is causing issues. anyone have trouble with stevia products?

I hadn't heard of this, and it kind of weirds me out. I was just trying to make the switch to stevia drops (from splenda).

this is what i did.... thinking it was healthier. now not so sure. i read that tribal women used it as a form of birth control so now am freaked out i may just go with honey all these artificial sweeteners are bad for you..

schustc

Have you changed your exercise habits in that time? Could just be a coincidence.

Yes- my exercise and diet have changed. Diet is far more healthy! exercise - mostly lifting weights. I think you have to be working out pretty hard pretty consistently to affect your ovulation. From what I was told, it usually affects the highly athletic in that way. I am not highly athletic, just a beginner weight lifter.

Coincidence? possibly - sure. but an odd one. I may have missed a period here and there in the past, but my diet was horrendous too. Now I am far healthier, and my periods have stopped altogether (nothing for the past 2 months. I missed one in April after I started on the truvia ( i think - hard to pinpoint when) then had one in May, nothing in June or july. I have all the symptoms, everything acts like it's gonna happen - but - nothing.

I dono- i am going to try to give it up and see what happens. I don't know how long it will take to get the cycle back or if it will ever come back...:(

Asil02

all these artificial sweeteners are bad for you..

Stevia is not an artificial sweetener. It is all natural. I hadn't heard of it causing issues...but of course I am NO authority on it. I am 46 and and have not had any problems with it myself.
My suggestion is for you to visit your doctor. If you have stopped having your period it is better to go find out why from him/her.

ETA: Actually I just did a search to read up on it and you might be right. But still I'd go see the doctor!
http://www.steviacafe.net/for-fda-stevia-is-no-sweet-deal

xarge

Exercise, especially weight lifting does cause irregularities in menstruation because of increase in androgens but 3 months late isn't normal. Eating too little, a steep drop in body fat are more likely to cause such an irregularity but I'm not sure if either applies to you. Hope you get better without truvia :flowerforyou:

PixelTreason

Oh my god. I will have to stop Truvia and see if it helps. My periods became VERY irregular and then stopped all together. I had no idea Stevia *might* be the culprit. The doctor has no idea what's wrong, says it might be my low body fat %.

I'll have to do some research but if that's what it is then at least I can fix it! It might still just be my BF% but it's worth a shot.


Thanks!

petiteLady89

I haven't experienced this. Still get mine every month and I've been using truvia for about three years.

MinMin97

I've been using truvia daily for the past 3 months or so. My cycles have stopped (had 1 in the last 4 months) i am 43, and know that could be an issue, but this seems so coincidental. we want to get pregnant - this is causing issues. anyone have trouble with stevia products?

Have you ever had your hormone levels checked?
I had mine checked several months ago, because of some missed periods(highly unusual for me), and because I was always so unreasonably tired!
Turns out all my key hormones were just a tad low.

I'm not one to use meds, so I've chosen to do the obvious:
lower stress
exercise
eat properly
etc.....

I will be re-checking in a few weeks...I feel better now. And normal cycles have returned for several months now.

And I use stevia like it is going out of style:happy:

:)MinMin

monicalosesweight

Interesting. That Stevia/Fertility thing may just be a rumor. This website claims that and documents some studies.

http://organicpharmacy.org/products/Sweet.Leaf.Stevia.Extract.Powder/SKU:SL12572

This page talks about a bunch of studies and the conclusion is at the bottom. I suspect you'd have to eat a TON of Stevia (bucket loads) to affect fertility based on what I read.

http://cookingwithstevia.com/contraceptive.html

Apparently it's now legal to get Stevia in Europe. Basically, if you're trying to get pregnant and are paranoid - I'd go with honey or succanat. Basically, try to get sugar that's at pure to the original plant and less processed. Control how much you eat of it and you'll be fine.

schustc

Interesting. That Stevia/Fertility thing may just be a rumor. This website claims that and documents some studies.

http://organicpharmacy.org/products/Sweet.Leaf.Stevia.Extract.Powder/SKU:SL12572

This page talks about a bunch of studies and the conclusion is at the bottom. I suspect you'd have to eat a TON of Stevia (bucket loads) to affect fertility based on what I read.

http://cookingwithstevia.com/contraceptive.html

Apparently it's now legal to get Stevia in Europe. Basically, if you're trying to get pregnant and are paranoid - I'd go with honey or succanat. Basically, try to get sugar that's at pure to the original plant and less processed. Control how much you eat of it and you'll be fine.

I absolutely agree that a large number of people could use it without a problem - possibly the majority. I tend to be sensitive to things - more so than other people. caffeine for example - I simply cannot drink it. no matter how early i have it in the day, it keeps me wide awake at night, and i don't sleep, and then it takes 2 nights to catch up on my sleep. i.e., one CUP of coffee at 7 AM will cause me sleep issues for 3 nights.

I'm just highly sensitive to it. I think things affect people differently, and if it has a chance of being the issue, i'm going to eliminate it. It could be any number of other things, but, the fact that it MIGHT have an impact is enough to make me steer clear for a few months. I love the stuff, so will probably come back in future when I am not wanting to get pregnant again (this next will be our last, if there ever IS a next ) thanks everyone!!

schustc

I just wanted to update here. About 1 week after stopping the truvia, it's back! Coincidence? possibly. Either way I wont touch the stuff in the near future.

schustc

Oh and I had my hormone levels checked last week as well as an ultrasound done. There were some small things found, but generally nothing to cause this to happen per my dr. I was completely healthy and normal but for this. The true test for me is if they will be consistent after this. If so, it was likely the truvia. If not, it may have been something else. My dr called in a script to restart my cycle today, I have not picked it up and wont now

Ruthe8

Stevia is not an artificial sweetener. It is all natural.

Stevia is a plant, but Truvia is a highly processed product. It is NOT natural.

schustc

I'm not discounting stevia being natural - the point is - even NATURAL things can have adverse affects on the body. Think about people with peanut allergies. Peanuts are natural, but they can kill people with allergies.

Coffee is natural, but I can't handle the caffeine. Natural or no, it 'may' have tendencies to affect fertility, and it's the 'may' part that is causing me to steer clear of it.

Ninas8

I've never posted here before but today's research has been an eyeopener that might be worth sharing. We have a large family and have never had any trouble conceiving. I began using Truvia about a year ago, at the same time we started trying to conceive again. My cycles are textbook-regular and I'm ovulating as per my chart/temps etc. Strange fact #1: I've put on 15 pounds since beginning Truvia with little or no other change to my diet...my method for losing a few pounds here and there when I gain them isn't working (I mean 4-5 pounds). Strange fact #2: No conception. Maybe coincidence, maybe not. Either way, after all I've learned today about the possible connection between Truvia and fertility issues and Truvia and weight gain/bloating, I threw it out. We'll see what happens. I can't believe it's taken me a year to begin to put this all together.

buildingdreams

I'v been on Truvia for 2 years. Cycle comes every 28 days like clockwork. Maybe isolated case

schustc

Unfortunately, not isolated. I am finding more and more people experiencing the same problem. Just because most people, even 99 out of 100, don't have any issue, does not mean that the people experiencing it are wrong. The point is, stopping stevia is about the easiest test anyone can do to see if it makes a difference. In my case, within days I started cramping, and shortly after my period started after being absent for 2 consecutive cycles. My friend had an issue where her cycles were coming more frequently after they had been like clockwork. She stopped taking it, and next cycle she was completeky back to mormal. Please don't discount others experiences ~ not everyone is the same, and when you start seeing the evidence stack up that there could be a connection, I think it is important to get the word out there to help people who might be experiencing issues and looking for answers. Oh and my first cycle was horrible after not having one for 3 months, but the next was textbook normal so far. I am avoiding that stuff like the plague. If I were meonopausal I might not care, but we want another baby and I don't want to take a chance that this will interfere

_DSM

I made an account so I could specifically reply to this thread. I haven't got my period in 2 months. I started using stevia liquid drops and the odd stevia sweetener package about a month and a half ago. There have been no significant changes in my diet, although I did do the candida cleanse for 15 days. Still, the foods I was consuming on the cleanse were things I would normally eat. I stopped using stevia 3 weeks ago, I'm still waiting to get my period. I took a pregnancy test, so that's out of the question. I'm going to the doctor this week because I'm starting to panic.
I randomly decided to google "stevia and irregular periods" and this forum came up. Coincidence? I don't think so.

alhyde

I know this post is ancient, but I saw it and had to respond. I stopped menstruating for 2 years when I turned 40. Doctors could not figure it out. I tried everything. Yoga inversions, Acupuncture, eating cleaner, stopped exercising so much, had scan done on pituitary glad (no tumor), celiac test, etc. no luck. Then I did an "elimination diet" because my chiropractor said she thought I had a food allergy and we should figure out what it is. Well, turned out to be stevia. I had been using it as an alternative to sweeteners for 3 years I guess. I used the drops, packets, yogi tea has stevia leaf in almost all flavors, and also my vegan protein powder has it. As soon as I stopped ingesting stevia my period came back within 1 month. I have been told that only one percent of the population has an allergy to stevia. I guess I am the one percent. I don't have any other allergies besides poison ivy. Interesting.

MVY_

Im a little confuse. Stevia and Truvia are both the same?

alhyde

Trivia is made with stevia and erythritol
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truvia

JeniLee3000

Thank you!! I am SO happy someone brought this up. For years now, I've been trying to find information about stevia affecting menstruation - but it's hard to find it listed anywhere as a known side effect.
Never in my life had I gotten my period early until I started using stevia. I first tried it back in 2005, after hearing it was a more 'natural' sweetener. I started substituting liquid stevia for sugar in my coffee, and a few days later, I got my period out of nowhere (2 weeks early)! I hadn't changed anything else in my diet at the time - nor did I have hormone issues, etc. I worked out regularly, so that wasn't the issue. I kept using it, and got my period AGAIN within two weeks. At that point, I researched it a bit, and saw some link to fertility issues, then stopped using it, because it freaked me out. As soon as I stopped, my periods came back regular again. Never again did I get my period early, until I decided to try Truvia when it came out several years later. I used just a packet in my coffee each morning, and BOOM... Two or 3 days later, I got my period again in the middle of my cycle. The same thing happened the following month, so I stopped. After that, my periods were regular again.
Just last month, I accidentally had some stevia in a drink and in some yogurt (companies are now adding stevia to so many products, teas, nutrition bars, etc.), and got my period two weeks early again. So annoyed. Now I have to read every label, and avoid it like the plague. You can show me a million studies, but I am convinced it affects my menstruation. You're right - some people may not be as sensitive as we are to it, but everyone is different I guess. Thank you again for posting! I realize now I not alone...

SLLRunner

Never mind. Very old conversation.