Intermittent fasting diet - 1 week and why i quit
Nanananaba
Posts: 12 Member
Hello everyone,
I tried intermittend fasting diet for a week. (Window 16:8) It was a short one and i had to quit even though i was seeing a great result! I lost a little more than 1 kg (58.6kg to 57.2kg / height 168cm) during that short time and i was happy losing it, until i miss my period following week.
My period have been super regular for years so it made me freak out a bit when it wasn’t happening. Tested pregnancy test and it came out negative, and now i’m nervously waiting for my period to come back. I stopped IF diet and eat at times i’d normally would, in fact, i even eat extra calories but still there’s absolutely no sign of coming!
I thought about many reasons but i feel like IF diet may have broke the cycle in my body, because i sometimes fasted until 2pm which never have happened in my entire life. 😞
What’s your thoughts on this? Please if you know how to go back to the regular cycle, and get my period back, i’d love to hear! Thank you
I tried intermittend fasting diet for a week. (Window 16:8) It was a short one and i had to quit even though i was seeing a great result! I lost a little more than 1 kg (58.6kg to 57.2kg / height 168cm) during that short time and i was happy losing it, until i miss my period following week.
My period have been super regular for years so it made me freak out a bit when it wasn’t happening. Tested pregnancy test and it came out negative, and now i’m nervously waiting for my period to come back. I stopped IF diet and eat at times i’d normally would, in fact, i even eat extra calories but still there’s absolutely no sign of coming!
I thought about many reasons but i feel like IF diet may have broke the cycle in my body, because i sometimes fasted until 2pm which never have happened in my entire life. 😞
What’s your thoughts on this? Please if you know how to go back to the regular cycle, and get my period back, i’d love to hear! Thank you
18
Replies
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I would ask a doc, i don't think this has to to with IF21
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I dont think it was IF. I've done 5:2 for quite a while, without affecting my period. (I've also done weirder/stricter diets several years ago).
I think you have to be very extreme to affect your period in only a week, so I would definetely seek a doctor, as you always should when something like that happens1 -
How old are you? If your period has always been regular then I would see a doctor.7
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If you're worried, talk to your doctor. Missed periods are a known side effect of IF. Here's an article about IF for women: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-for-women#bottom-line12
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If you're worried, talk to your doctor. Missed periods are a known side effect of IF. Here's an article about IF for women: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-for-women#bottom-line
That days there's anecdotal reports. It doesn't say anything about how many anecdotes, nor how many calories the women who report this wete consuming or for how long.
I doubt OP has messed up her cycle after a single week.
OP, have you repeated the pregnancy test using first morning urine? I would start there and then schedule an appt with your doctor/gynecologist. You didn't mention your age, but sometimes our bodies just decide to do something different. Particularly as we get older.13 -
Nanananaba wrote: »I thought about many reasons but i feel like IF diet may have broke the cycle in my body, because i sometimes fasted until 2pm which never have happened in my entire life. 😞
What’s your thoughts on this? Please if you know how to go back to the regular cycle, and get my period back, i’d love to hear! Thank you
I think it would take longer than a week of eating differently to dramatically affect your menstrual cycle permenently.
It is probably not a huge cause for concern until you miss your period for a couple of months. Since it is only a week late you might wait and see for a bit or just go see a doctor and get checked out. Are you having other symptoms? How old are you?
An irregular or missing period could be many things.
When my previously regular period became irregular I went to a doctor. I'm in my 40's and pregnancy was not a possibility. I had other symptoms like exhaustion and migraines. In my case, I was diagnosed hypothyroid. My period became more regular after being treated for that.4 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »If you're worried, talk to your doctor. Missed periods are a known side effect of IF. Here's an article about IF for women: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-for-women#bottom-line
That days there's anecdotal reports. It doesn't say anything about how many anecdotes, nor how many calories the women who report this wete consuming or for how long.
...
Yes, the author calls them anecdotal, but they also see fit to mention them in the article in question, and at least one other author mentions it in an other article on the subject on the same site. My point is, it's been known to happen.
But of course there are many thing that can effect your period. Stress, for example, is known to mess with your period, and a missed period causes stress. Hang in there.6 -
Chances are slim-to-none that it has anything to do with a week's worth of I.F. especially at 16:8. Cessation of the menses is a factor when women drastically under-nourish themselves over extended periods of time. Highly unlikely in your case.
The fact that you did a pregnancy tests tells me that you thought this could be the reason. I suggest you repeat the test. Doing it too early after a missed cycle, or not using morning urine for the sample could have given you a false negative.
If the second test comes out negative, call your doctor.
If the second test comes out positive, call your doctor.
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This may be more about how much you are eating in general or how much body fat you still have. Women will stop menses if/when their nutrition and/or body weight gets too low. It's a survival thing.
Are you already at the low end of the BMI scale?8 -
cmriverside wrote: »This may be more about how much you are eating in general or how much body fat you still have. Women will stop menses if/when their nutrition and/or body weight gets too low. It's a survival thing.
Are you already at the low end of the BMI scale?
Just checked her stats. Her height and current weight have her BMI in mid-range normal.2 -
Many people across the world eat 16:8 as a natural part of life without thinking of it as a "diet plan". It's basically just not eating breakfast and a midnight snack. One week of that most likely did not cause a 1 kg loss and most likely did not mess up your cycle.
If you have always been so regular that your period has never been delayed a few days, and you are nervous about it, you might want to make a doctor's appt to be sure.10 -
Thanks for your replies everyone! I’m 30 years old, and yes, have never experience that my period being late this much (i probably have experienced maybe one or two days of delays when i was teen but not so sure). Pregnancy test was done in the morning when i woke up with the first urine (googled it so i knew) 🤔 i can test again but not so sure if it is the case because it came out negative previously, and I absolutely have any other signs that i maybe pregnant.
Just one more thing that may have caused this delay is antibiotic pills that i’ve been taking twice a day for a full week. I had minor infection in my ear and doctor prescribes those pills but didn’t mention about side effects. But i’ve had experienced side effects from those pills (fever, nausea and mood swing, mainly. These made me think i thought i maybe pregnant but pregnacy test was negative). I googled the specific name of the pill and confirmed that what i experienced was some side effects that quite common. But no search mentioned that this antibiotic can cause the delay menstruation cycle.
When I googled IF diet’s side effect though, missing period was on the list. So i ended up posting here wanting to see if anyone have experienced this during their specific diet. 😯 i know i only did it for a week. I ate about 1300kcal a day, workout only twice during that week. Too bad i’m off from the diet so soon. I was feeling great during that time. I’ll have to see my doctor if i miss my period again next month. 😞 thank you!2 -
I would still repeat the pregnancy test. False negatives do happen. I don't know if you're on birth control, but antibiotics can mess with those. I'd be hesitant to blame the IF after just one week. Doesn't sound like you were seriously under eating during that time.8
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IF isn't a diet, it's just a pattern of eating to help create a caloric deficit primarily for most people to lose weight. Doctors going to have more answers than google, follow others advise.3
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Any time I have been on antibiotics, the pharmacist has said that it pretty much VOIDS the birth control if you were on it, you may want to try another test. The way my eating habits work I am pretty much IF at 16:8 as well, and its probably not drastic enough to mess with your cycle - but agree with others to also check with your Dr. if you have one available.2
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babydaisy81 wrote: »Any time I have been on antibiotics, the pharmacist has said that it pretty much VOIDS the birth control if you were on it, you may want to try another test. The way my eating habits work I am pretty much IF at 16:8 as well, and its probably not drastic enough to mess with your cycle - but agree with others to also check with your Dr. if you have one available.
Yeah, that rang a bell for me too...1 -
I always miss a cycle when I start a calorie deficit. It just appears to be how my body reacts to the stress.
You didn't break your cycle with a week of IF. Our bodies are much more resilient than that. There are numerous possible reasons for a delayed start, most of them nothing to be concerned about. However, if you are in doubt, obviously a trip to your doctor is a good idea.2 -
It could be stress. I used to skip periods whenever I was in a high stress situation or at a time of change in my life.1
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nutmegoreo wrote: »If you're worried, talk to your doctor. Missed periods are a known side effect of IF. Here's an article about IF for women: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-for-women#bottom-line
That days there's anecdotal reports. It doesn't say anything about how many anecdotes, nor how many calories the women who report this wete consuming or for how long.
...
Yes, the author calls them anecdotal, but they also see fit to mention them in the article in question, and at least one other author mentions it in an other article on the subject on the same site. My point is, it's been known to happen.
But of course there are many thing that can effect your period. Stress, for example, is known to mess with your period, and a missed period causes stress. Hang in there.
Pretty much any two things you can think of have been known to happen together. That doesn't mean one caused the other. Correlation in small N of cases with no control isn't proof of anything, much less causation. Plural of anecdote isn't data.1 -
Ive done fasting all my life and its never caused issues for me.0
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It's all about calories, and if your deficit is too big, your period will stop... It happened to me when I was at my lowest and my deficit was still 500 calories a day. I started eating more, and it came back.
I don't think it has anything to do with IF.1 -
16:8 is like eating dinner at 6pm and then breakfast at 10am. Many people eat like that inadvertently. It's highly unlikely that doing this for 1 week stopped your menstrual cycle so I would definitely investigate other possible causes.4
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So this may be a combination of things that people are mentioning that created the perfect storm for you. Have you been losing weight or did you start trying to lose weight with IF? Have you been at all stressed lately? Are you eating too few calories?
I've noticed that when I start losing weight, my cycle shifts by about a week. If you have been losing weight and your stressed and you aren't eating enough, all of it could be compounding the issue resulting in a late period.
Another thing to think about is that, while people are saying to retest whether you're pregnant, you may have to wait a week or two. If you got pregnant this cycle and your only a week late, you may only be about three weeks pregnant. Some pregnancy tests won't detect pregnancy hormones until about well five of your pregnancy when the hormones have built up a little more.
Either way, I would say that it can't hurt to do another pregnancy test, but it also wouldn't hurt to see your GP out your gynecologist. There is obviously a reason you tested for a pregnancy, meaning your sexually active and could be pregnant. But, I would go to the doctor in case it's indicative of a bigger issue.0 -
I doubt it was IF. People think 16 hours is a long fast for the body....you’re still digesting and performing metabolic processes during those 16 hours....
Also, if your calories were the same, it shouldn’t make a difference. There’s prob something else going on. If 16 hours of not eating illicits a skipped period, then there would be alottttt more issues with women in this aspect. 16 hours is nothing for the body4
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