Low Carber Daily Forum

_jayciemarie_ · June 2015

This is a question for women, unless you are a brave man and want to respond with factual scientific info. Lol

I'm not on BCP and my cycles have been fairly regular as I keep track with an app. My average days between cycles is 32 days. Well, I started LCHF May 4th. I have lost 20lbs in that time, but my cycle just started today--which was 13 days late and 47 days between cycles. Is this a side effect of the diet due to the insulin messing with hormones?

SlimBride2Be · June 2015

Yeah mine comes earlier now. People do mention it!

sweetteadrinker2 · June 2015

Yes. So many hormones are stored in fat. Mine can't make up it's mind right now, but fat loss (20 lbs sounds right) is a major change in hormone levels.

minties82 · June 2015

Mine is the same in frequency (aka random as hell) but it's a lot heavier now. I think that is a good thing. It was very light before. I suppose my body is making a more appropriate amount of cushioning for a potential baby.

fitter_happier94 · June 2015

I also have an app that tracks my cycle. I'm on day 10 of keto and I've been "on" for 6 days now. I'm usually on for 4 days max. I just attributed it to such a huge change in my diet (former carb fiend). It's freaked me out a little though, hoping it doesn't stay this way

AngInCanada · June 2015

I think there's a lot of estrogen stored in fat so when we lose fat, that estrogen needs to go somewhere else in the body so it's normal for your cycle to be off for a bit till the body regulates itself.

auntstephie321 · June 2015

Mine fluctuated at first and was heavier but seems to have normalized now

_jayciemarie_ · June 2015

Thank you everyone!

BookAngel_a · June 2015

Mine came early my first month but seems to have normalized now, although it is heavier than it used to be, which I think is a good sign of improvement in my health compared to where I was before.

mlinton_mesapark · June 2015

AngInCanada wrote: »

I think there's a lot of estrogen stored in fat so when we lose fat, that estrogen needs to go somewhere else in the body so it's normal for your cycle to be off for a bit till the body regulates itself.

Holy moly, that explains so much about the past few days for me. Thanks for the insight!

tlflag1620 · June 2015

My first cycle after starting low carb was about ten days "late". The only other times I had been that late resulted in children, lol. The next cycle was right on time, and they have been ever since (well, I'm currently pregnant, but you get the idea). I think between the stress of a major change in diet and as someone else mentioned, the increased estrogen in your system associated with fat loss temporarily messes things up.

lauraesh0384 · June 2015

I can honestly say that being on a keto diet hasn't effected my cycle. My period comes every 28 days like clock work and lasts for 5 days. I generally have heavy periods for the first 3 days, but taking a combination Magnesium, Calcium and Zinc has really helped with that. In fact, the first month I took the combo I didn't gain any weight at all. The second month I ran out and completely forgot to get more, I was up 2 lbs. I took it for 5 days before and also during. I use an app to track my start date and it's always spot on.

GSD_Mama · June 2015

I was late as well when I first started, it mole less regulated now and for some reason lasts longer, I don't know if I like the longer part lol

AngInCanada · June 2015

"Estrogen likes to store itself in fat tissues so there is a problem for some people when the fat breaks down (through nutrition, exercise or other methods) it releases the estrogen back into the system. If the estrogen doesn’t have a pathway to use to be excreted from the system the estrogen floats around until it is soaked up again somewhere else in the body, all the while causing an estrogen imbalance. This applies to both males and females."

http://robbwolf.com/2011/12/29/hormones-disrupted-decadent-depraved/

DianaElena76 · June 2015

Fascinating. I *think* I'm back to normal now, whatever that is, but when I started this WOE and the baby weaned from breastfeeding (pretty much happened simultaneously), I started getting TOM every two weeks like clockwork and it was heavy. It's been 3 (I think) weeks since the last time, so we'll see where I end up on the continuum of "normal" cycles. I used to be around 45 days but have never really been regular. I've also always eaten mostly carbs.

_jayciemarie_ · June 2015

Well...this WOE has probably had an impact on me. Or, I'm getting to that midlife time (just turned 39). It was almost 2 weeks late and was somewhat heavy for 2 days and then spotting for the rest. Just plain weird.

Sugarbeat · June 2015

TOM is just weird all the way around. I've recently noticed it's heavier and either sooner or a little more frequent. Nothing horrible, just weird.

KnitOrMiss · June 2015

I'm just glad with after my Inositol adventure (it fixes and balances hormones, but I am on continuous birth control to NOT have a bleeding cycle - and let's just say it saw that not having a cycle as broken and unbalanced and tried to fix it - ugh - bad planning on my part!) that I'm back on track with fewer mood swings and all of that. It's shocking what we all put up with on this front, isn't it?