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Has anyone skipped a menstrual cycle due to low carb?

stacicali
stacicali Posts: 137 Member
edited December 2 in Social Groups
First, please understand I am a huge fan of low carb and am not trying to discredit the lifestyle. I am looking for guidance regarding where my carbs should be for optimal health. I started low carb (50-80 g per day) in Feb and have had wonderful success. I've lost 16 lbs and am of a healthy weight (5'9, 152 lbs.) But I've skipped a cycle. Just had a dr's appointment last week, and she was unconcerned. I found this article about low carb and skipping cycles: https://authoritynutrition.com/low-carb-and-womens-hormones/
I'm thinking about raising my macro goal to 100g - 150g of carbs to see if it helps but hate to slow down my weight loss (weight goal is 145.) What do you ladies think? Has anyone else experienced this?

Replies

  • landiodo
    landiodo Posts: 69 Member
    I haven't missed any. In fact I thought I was starting menopause, but after going low carb, my TOM came back with a passion. I had to supplement with iron because I was losing so much blood. Each month gets a little better. Give your body time to figure out what's going on and things will go back to normal again.
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    My cycle went crazy for a bit but then regulated itself. I had two periods in a span of 28 days and they started super heavy which had never happened before. This happened while on hormonal birth control.

    It is your hormones trying to work themselves out. Barring any medical history with menstruation, it works itself out after a few months.

  • anglyn1
    anglyn1 Posts: 1,802 Member
    I have had several early periods and two in a month a few times. I do think this diet impacts hormones more so than others and it takes a bit for hormones to level out.
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    no mine did the opposite - In the year since starting this woe I had 17 periods :confounded:
    recently had a hysterectomy though so no more for me...
  • raine291
    raine291 Posts: 14 Member
    edited June 2016
    I have not and I usually consume approx 15-60 net carbs a day on average. Usually, missed menstrual cycles are due to eating too little fat, too little calories, overexercising, psychological stress, or hormone derangements independent of your diet. Disruption in female hormones or thyroid hormones can cause missed cycles. Usually one missed cycle is nothing to fret about. However, I would consider going to your OBGYN to have some blood work completed. Congratulations on your success.
  • Shantabulous84
    Shantabulous84 Posts: 13 Member
    I have an IUD and hadn't had a period in at least 3-4 years. Since starting keto, about 3 months ago, I've consistently had periods (granted very light ones, but a bit beyond spotting). I have not had the bloating, severe pain, or irregularity I experienced prior to IUD. I can't say with certainty that my diet is the cause, but it seems likely.
  • amb961
    amb961 Posts: 51 Member
    I started lchf in October and haven't had a period since December. Have been throughly checked over by the doctor, full bloods and some scans, all fine and I'm not pregnant or menopausal. The doctor only seems to think it's a problem if.I want more children (which I dont) so I've decided not to worry about it. X
  • auntstephie321
    auntstephie321 Posts: 3,586 Member
    I had a late cycle when I first started but then they regulated to 26-29 days. Most women will skip about one cycle a year, regardless what diet they are on, it's perfectly normal.
  • Ange_Armano
    Ange_Armano Posts: 5 Member
    Shantabulous84 wrote: »
    I have an IUD and hadn't had a period in at least 3-4 years. Since starting keto, about 3 months ago, I've consistently had periods (granted very light ones, but a bit beyond spotting). I have not had the bloating, severe pain, or irregularity I experienced prior to IUD. I can't say with certainty that my diet is the cause, but it seems likely.

    Me too! A month into it and my period came back. Havent had one, or missed it, in three years. Needless to say i was NOT happy
  • erinseattle
    erinseattle Posts: 105 Member
    About 6 weeks after going LCHF, my period went haywire. It regulated itself in 2 months. That was 20 months ago, and I have had 2 breaks from LCHF & each time I go back, I have some spotting. I think it's what happens when your eating directly affects your insulin, which is a hormone.
  • RowdysLady
    RowdysLady Posts: 1,370 Member
    I'm 7 weeks in and I've not noticed anything yet.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,103 Member
    @baconslave I don't have any of the previous threads on this topic, but we should likely create a summary topic as this subject keeps coming up...for better and worse. :)
  • Sarahb29
    Sarahb29 Posts: 952 Member
    It happens to some and it evens out around 3 months in, give or take a month. If you have PCOS some women who haven't had much success getting pregnant find themselves pregnant, not sure if the cysts heal or what happens.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1334192/
  • neelia
    neelia Posts: 750 Member
    I haven't completely missed a cycle, but it did go out of whack for a bit when I first started. I am normally 28 days on the dot, and when I started keto it came 5 days early. I've heard from other members that this can happen sometimes.
  • KarlaYP
    KarlaYP Posts: 4,436 Member
    Every cell in your body needs fat to be healthy. Once you begin giving your body what it needs there is an adjustment period for the hormones to regulate. Also, when burning fat the hormones stored there are released, and you sort of get a big influx of them, causing things to go haywire for a little while. It usually evens out within a few months.
  • noclady1995
    noclady1995 Posts: 452 Member
    Yes my cycle went out of whack when I first started keto. Then regulated itself after a couple of months and at the time I was averaging 20 net carbs. I went off keto after being in the hospital. But went back on it recently. These days I'm higher on carbs (around 30 or so) but thankfully I haven't had issues with my cycles going out of whack again. I think my body acclimated to this way of eating.
  • genmon00
    genmon00 Posts: 604 Member
    Sarahb29 wrote: »
    It happens to some and it evens out around 3 months in, give or take a month. If you have PCOS some women who haven't had much success getting pregnant find themselves pregnant, not sure if the cysts heal or what happens.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1334192/

    Both of my children of boys when conceived when I was managing my weight with low carb diet. I had PCOS
  • DeSterren
    DeSterren Posts: 8 Member
    I started LCHF 5 weeks ago and have missed a period. Glad I'm not the only one.
  • DietPrada
    DietPrada Posts: 1,171 Member
    Phrick wrote: »
    no mine did the opposite - In the year since starting this woe I had 17 periods :confounded:
    recently had a hysterectomy though so no more for me...

    I had the same problem. Since going keto I've had bleeding pretty much 3 weeks out of 4 (for over two years). Before that I was regular. A month ago I had my tubes tied (chemical birth control was making me sad) and also had an ablation. It's kinda too soon to tell, but other than light bleeding for about 10 days after surgery, I'm completely bleeding free.
  • m_puppy
    m_puppy Posts: 246 Member
    I would love to hear more about this topic and the impacts non-organic meat consumption can have on estrogen. I'm definitely a meat eater but I don't buy grass fed beef due to price. About 3 months after starting this LCHF I started getting my period every 3 weeks but for a short number of days. I went to the doctor last month and it turns out I have a uterine polyp which I read can be caused by an increase in estrogen. These things very well may not be related. Anyway, would love to hear more on this topic. For any of you who had periods stop and then come back from this WOE, be kind to yourself and go to the doctor. Get checked out. Irregular periods are the only symptom for a number of very serious health issues.
  • zoink66
    zoink66 Posts: 116 Member
    I'm with your doctor - I wouldn't worry at this point. Did you start an exercise program the same time as keto? I've never missed a period due to eating low-carb, but I missed two in a row when I started working out. My body eventually regulated and sorted itself out, but oh boy, the number of pregnancy tests I took!! I was on the pill at the time as well.
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