Shark week and depression on keto
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My mood is great on keto but my periods are the worst. Not only are they several weeks late, but the cramping and cravings are UNBEARABLE. I haven't really been able to maintain a keto diet for longer than a month because of it.0
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btw I really do think there needs to be a better name for this. I immediately knew what was meant when I read "shark week", however, "shark week" is also a week-long event on the Discovery channel all about shark attacks and the infamous moving Sharknado. So many guys hear "shark week" and think "oh yay, a thread about something cool let me peek in". Maybe we should continue with TOM (time of the month).0
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Haha, in all honesty I almost put MEN BEWARE: at the start of the thread title but the title was going to be crazy long then so I didn't.1
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This subject comes up on this forum at least once a quarter. There is NO SUCH THING as TMI when you are worried about your health.
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My mood is great on keto but my periods are the worst. Not only are they several weeks late, but the cramping and cravings are UNBEARABLE. I haven't really been able to maintain a keto diet for longer than a month because of it.
This was the reason I quit eating VLC the second time. It took me 18 months and 3 separate tries before this woe finally stuck for me. After my third foray into eating VLC i finally toughed it out and after 4 months my cycle finally evened out. If you think this woe is right for you, hang in there, it should normalise eventually. 9 months after things evened out, I've been fine ever since.2 -
I have to admit my experiences have been the other way around, the lower carbs I went the better I felt, when I was doing Zero Carb my depression symptoms disappeared completely and shark week I had no cravings at all - something I am anxious to get back to3
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@Carnivorekat - It is a very N=1 thing. It is very individual. Everyone's body and health and metabolism and medical conditions are so different. Basically, my understanding is that keto in general tries to "fix" everything, and for a lot of us who have taken hormonal birth control for any length of time, things get worse to repair before they get better, and our perspective is skewed due to medication, etc. I think if we all stick with things long enough, and go for whole body health, it helps.
Like I said that the beginning, so much comes back to the gut. If you don't have gut issues (like leaky gut and stuff) and you don't have the genetic component that makes you susceptible to low neurotransmitter stuff, and you don't have medical conditions that affect the conversion (low stomach acid and about 10 other things), you may never be at risk for those. People usually fall one side of the spectrum - better or worse. I don't hear of many folks without any changes...unless they were pretty spiffy in the first place. LOL1 -
Weird about keto making things worse. My TOM is significantly better since starting keto...not sure if it's just coincidence/age being a factor (pre-menopause?) ...but I've always been sort of lucky in that mine last no more than 6-8 days, only light cramps the first day or two, but pre-keto, I was PMS-y AF. I would be irritable for no reason, argumentative, mentally fatigued/spacey, having cravings, a lot of bloating, plus back pain 3-1 days before, and usually acne.
Back pain and bloating are reduced a lot now (probably because I am managing my electrolytes better and not retaining as much fluid as before--I was always water-logged) and I still get acne between two weeks and 1 week prior, and there's more of it now since starting keto, but again...not sure if that's age/hormones at play, or the diet.
I still have like, one day in the middle of my period where I don't have any flow at all, not even spotting, and then it resumes for the next 2-4 days. But that has been a constant for me since as long as I can remember (I used to call it my sex day... lol. I don't have sex much these days though, fml. I'm 1 more hour of watching cat videos and looking at Pinterest away from being a forever spinster).2 -
And the really great new is some day all y'all will be as old as me and won't have a thought or hardly a faint recollection of those days gone by.
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My situation is a bit different from most women I've spoken to. Right from the start when I was 11 my period's been every three months. Don't know how many times I've had docs check the innards and hormone levels lol. But all has appeared normal. Serious endometriosis runs in my family, in fact, I have no female relatives that have gone thru menopause naturally - all has been yanked out (speaking metaphorically). So in this respect I guess I'm lucky as 1/3 of the uterine lining growth has happened in my case. No endometriosis at all. There may be other factors at play. For a couple years in my mid 40's I was a 32 day regular but that was just before I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia that came on after a serious lung infection, and inconclusive DX of celiac disease. For the past 8 yrs or so I've been back to quarterly periods and since I have no comparisons for menopause timing who knows how long this might go on. I have never used hormonal bc (barrier methods sorry TMI) so I'm sure that could make a difference too. With my luck I will be fertile til I'm 65 (!!!! Please God, NO!!!)
OK sorry for the long story. Keto/LC hasn't affected shark week at all, except that when I find myself insanely wanting airpopped popcorn, toast, or tortilla chips chased with a ton of old cheddar and shooters of Frank's Hot Sauce often for 3 or 4 days, shark week will soon follow. Weird thing is sometimes that happens on my two 'off months' as well. I'm also more easily overwhelmed & depressed for those few days but I don't think that has to do with LCHF/Keto.
Meh it's 1am, not sure if I'm just rambling lol. Shark Venting.....2 -
Oh, sorry, I thought it was a typo for "Shart"...
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PaleoInScotland wrote: »My mood is great on keto but my periods are the worst. Not only are they several weeks late, but the cramping and cravings are UNBEARABLE. I haven't really been able to maintain a keto diet for longer than a month because of it.
This was the reason I quit eating VLC the second time. It took me 18 months and 3 separate tries before this woe finally stuck for me. After my third foray into eating VLC i finally toughed it out and after 4 months my cycle finally evened out. If you think this woe is right for you, hang in there, it should normalise eventually. 9 months after things evened out, I've been fine ever since.
That's good to know. Thanks.0 -
Weird about keto making things worse. My TOM is significantly better since starting keto...not sure if it's just coincidence/age being a factor (pre-menopause?) ...but I've always been sort of lucky in that mine last no more than 6-8 days, only light cramps the first day or two, but pre-keto, I was PMS-y AF. I would be irritable for no reason, argumentative, mentally fatigued/spacey, having cravings, a lot of bloating, plus back pain 3-1 days before, and usually acne.
Back pain and bloating are reduced a lot now (probably because I am managing my electrolytes better and not retaining as much fluid as before--I was always water-logged) and I still get acne between two weeks and 1 week prior, and there's more of it now since starting keto, but again...not sure if that's age/hormones at play, or the diet.
I still have like, one day in the middle of my period where I don't have any flow at all, not even spotting, and then it resumes for the next 2-4 days. But that has been a constant for me since as long as I can remember (I used to call it my sex day... lol. I don't have sex much these days though, fml. I'm 1 more hour of watching cat videos and looking at Pinterest away from being a forever spinster).
@bjwoodzy - Isn't that odd? I have the NON-DAY in mid-cycle, too, at least when I'm not taking continuous pills to prevent it. Day 3-4 usually for me was nothing. Not even spotting, then vengeance for more days. I always thought it was just my broken PCOS/IR body...
My acne got worse, too, and only now am I getting it under control. Seems to have to do with skin PH for me, more than anything. And excessive dehydration. Also, not since before my daughter was born (I was 24 then) have I had as horrible an experience (I used to have to miss school, my cramps/bleeding were so bad, debilitating and such)... Since then, not much, but yes, full on PMS AF... So much so that I went through every diagnosis. PMS, Severe, PMDD, depression, atypical depression, estrogen dominance, bipolar, bipolar 2, ADD, ADD with control issues, to hypothyroid induced mental F Upped person... I, yeah. Now, I have a 1-2 day 2-4 hour mild borderline hypomanic spin.. Don't know what it is or anything...
Definitely more leveled out the rest of the time, but that time, which I don't even really have warning of anymore physically, is horribly chaotic...
Just thought I'd share...1 -
Haha I have a mid cycle non-day too, thought I was just a weirdo. This month it was on my boyfriends birthday, I jokingly called it a "birthday miracle".3
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »Shark Week is called that "jokingly" because sharks go after blood, and blood happens on a woman's period. Therefore, to speak of it in mixed company, it is often called Shark Week (also ties into presumed aggressiveness with PMS) or a visit from Aunt Flo (flow?). It is an American attempt at humor in misery, @pacific904
Bob refers to it as my 'Special Lady Time'. 2 -
I get the pause mid cycle too...thought I was the only one!0
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