No period for about 1 and a half years? Hopefully not TMI!! ;) page

[Ika]

I was on birth control for about 5 years (the Nuva ring), and stopped it about a year and a half ago due to side effects that were bothering me (weight gain, moodiness). I had one episode of "breakthrough" bleeding after taking the last ring out, but since then I have not had a single period or even spotting, nothing! I stopped the birth control about June or July (last summer), and then changed my diet to Primal about November (before I was eating a more WAPF style diet). Now I eat a pretty strictly Primal diet--meat, seafood, veggies, berries, and some nuts and dark chocolate, with dairy occasionally as a "cheat". I supplement with Natural Calm magnesium about 300mg per day, 4000iu of vit D3 per day and 12.5mg of Lugol's Iodine per day (which happily cleared up my fibrocystic breast tissue!)

I did a little research and it seems like it can be normal for it to take a while to get your period back after stopping long-term hormonal BC. But I'm just getting a little worried since its been almost two years, and that is the longest I've ever heard of it taking for anyone.

My guesses are that its just taking my body a long time to re-adjust after the hormonal BC, or maybe because I naturally have a farily low percentage of body fat (I am 6' tall and weigh about 132lbs), or maybe because when I started Primal eating I lost about 15 lbs (but it was mostly inflammation and belly fat I think), which I've heard can cause women to lose thier periods.

Does anybody have any idea what could be going on? I'm thinking about going to the Dr. maybe, just to see what they think, but I tend to prefer figuring out as much by myself as possible
Thanks in advance and hopefully not TMI!

[uccella]

Ika, I don't have an answer for you, but I am definitely looking for a similar explanation. My periods used to be fairly regular, but they have stopped for about two cycles now, which is not very long, but the longest I've ever gone without it (and I did take a test; it was negative). I stopped BC when I switched to primal (but was on the pill for a really short amount of time anyway). I'm 5'7", 116 pounds. Are you training hard? I thought I was overtraining for a bit, have toned it down but it hasn't brought it back.
Anyway, I've heard of primal helping a fair number of women regulate their period, maybe your body is just taking a while to recover and readjust hormonally? I hope someone else can shed some light on this.

[Debbie]

When I was 116 pounds, at 5'9", I was tiny. I was not incredibly fit, just very slender. In fact, in boot camp, I got up to 124.

Looking at your height and weight, I think you two need some more body fat to get those female hormones to kick in.

Just my humble opinion. Have you seen your gyno about this?

[CinnamonGirl]

Considering your ht/wt ratio, I'd say % bodyfat is too lean to sustain normal female processes... I think the minimum is 15%- may want to go get that checked- caliper pinch test at the gym (if done properly) can be pretty damn accurate and could give you a good starting point of reference.

[cillakat]

My guesses are that its just taking my body a long time to re-adjust after the hormonal BC, or maybe because I naturally have a farily low percentage of body fat (I am 6' tall and weigh about 132lbs)

+1 on the suggestions of needing more body fat.

Best,
Katherine

[The Big L]

My guesses are that its just taking my body a long time to re-adjust after the hormonal BC, or maybe because I naturally have a farily low percentage of body fat (I am 6' tall and weigh about 132lbs), or maybe because when I started Primal eating I lost about 15 lbs (but it was mostly inflammation and belly fat I think), which I've heard can cause women to lose thier periods.

I'm not sure about the last point, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if your hormones are all out of whack due to the BC drugs you were taking. This seems to an issue for many, many women I've talked to who went off hormonal BC after many years taking it. No cycles, months between cycles, extremely irregular cycles, anovulatory cycles, etc. I really don't know what % of women are affected in this way, but I'm shocked at how often I encounter it. Usually I hear about it when friends of mine reach an age when they want to start having kids. Wife goes off BC, and the cycles just don't come back right away. Sometimes it takes 6 months, sometimes a year or two, and sometimes they get tired of waiting and turn to ovulation-inducing injections from a fertility doctor.

[Zoë]

I suggest staying out of Ketosis. I'm actually beginning to think that females in general do poorly in ketosis and we are better suited to eat 60-100 NET carbs/day or more. I've found that months where I end up lower in carbs, I skip my cycle all together and can't lose weight. My best guess it that thyroid hormones are involved (TSH and T3) but I'm still doing some research. I think adding back some carbs can also help increase your body fat (if it is too low) or help you loose fat (if it is too high). In the same way that the PB works for both hard-gainers and individuals who need to loose weight, our bodies will balance out to an optimal composition (and therefore support optimal hormone levels) over time if we eat appropriately.

[cillakat]

I suggest staying out of Ketosis. I'm actually beginning to think that females in general do poorly in ketosis and we are better suited to eat 60-100 NET carbs/day or more.

My experience has been so different than that.

However, I'm pretty meticulous about making sure my micronutrient needs are met regardless of carb intake and that could be one difference for me. It did take me 8 weeks to ketoadapt but once I did, everything improved: mood stability, body composition, inflammation etc....

My best guess it that thyroid hormones are involved (TSH and T3) but I'm still doing some research.

I would suspect that thyroid involvement as it relates to low carb would be nothing more than selenium insufficiency showing up. This is easy to fix with increased seafood, increased organ meats, a supplement or a couple of brazil nuts every day.

There may also be other hormonal functions at work (thyroid or not) that involve potassium and magnesium insufficiency as those are two that folks don't get enough of generally and really don't get enough of when low carbing. Though like the selenium issue, this has some pretty simple dietary or supplement work arounds.

http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogsp...n-ketones.html

I've found that months where I end up lower in carbs, I skip my cycle all together and can't lose weight.

A month, though, may not be enough time for your body to ketoadapt. And if nutrient density/micronutrient intake isn't given due attention, then there are confounding variables at work.

But I'm glad you found what's working for you. At the end of the day, that's what counts!

[Ika]

Thank you so much for the replies!

I was thinking maybe my % body fat was too low, however before the hormonal BC, in highschool, I was actually a little thinner than I am now, but still had a regular menstrual cycle. So, why isn't it enough now I wonder!? Hmmm..! Plus, this is kind of the weight that I naturally arrived at by just eating healthy--I wasn't ever actively trying to lose weight. So you would *think* that I would be able to function normally hormone-wise at my current % body fat!

I don't usually add up how many carbs I eat per day, but my typical day (for just carby things) would include maybe
1-2.5c veggies (depending on if they're cooked or not), 1/2c coconut milk, 1/4c toasted coconut, a few nuts and/or a couple pieces of 80-90% dk. chocolate and/or some dried figs, 3/4c berries...all other food would be either meat, eggs, or seafood.

I haven't seen a gyno about it yet; I kind of want to do as much as I can to figure out what I can on my own, so at least I can be well-informed if I do make an appointment with a Dr.

It just feels so frustrating just waiting it out...I want to be doing something LOL! Especially since I was going to start fertility charting, but now I can't really until I get my period back! :S

[lizch]

Might be worth charting anyway. Do you have the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility, by Toni Weschler? Amazing book. Talks about all the different signs of fertility and was such an eye-opener for me.

You might get a sense from charting about whether your cycle is ramping up to get started, or whether you're not making any progress toward ovulating again.