Has your monthly cycle changed due to food changes?

[WildIris]

Has anyone changed their food, either taken foods out or added foods into diet, and found that it changed their monthly cycles in a significant way?

I wrote a loooooong post about this but lost the whole thing before I could post it. Grrr, don't you just HATE when that happens?

Anyway, the shorter version: I had a lifetime of always-like-clockwork-28-day-apart cycles, followed by about two years of suddenly shorter cycles (21 to 24 days apart) during which time I was dealing with thyroid issues. Also documented to have low progesterone. Then in January '08 discovered food allergies. Started avoiding corn, wheat/gluten, most grains except rice, coconut, dairy, and the onion family. With these food changes I noticed my cycle normalizing and lengthening, more like 24-26 days typical. Mostly I was eating a very low carb Paleo-type diet: eggs, meat, veggies, with the occasional rice, potato, and fruit.

Now, this summer, I've been eating less meat and much more carbs in the form of fruits and veggies (due to all the local fresh stuff available). Also more carbs in the form of baked goods (experimenting with GF flours, making my own pizza crust, cookies, etc.). Also added limited dairy back in (raw butter, raw cream) just a couple weeks ago.

Now I'm at least ten days late for my time of month. And getting a tiny bit worried! Pregnancy is highly unlikely, since DH had a vasectomy 5 years ago. (I guess there's always a tiny chance it didn't take (?) but I don't feel pregnant.)

I think it's more a hormonal thing, and wondering if it's food related.
Or could be age related (I'm 43), maybe this is pre-menopausal stuff?

Anyway, I don't know why but this has me worried just a bit, and I'm just wanting to know other people's experiences with food changes and if there's a connection there.

[Ruthla]

I've had much lighter, less painful cycles when I'm gluten-free and sucessfully avoiding my known allergens. LAst months' period was more painful than has been usual for me, but I was testing GF oats. This month was so light that I've only needed one single anaprox pill- normally I take it for 2-3 days; last month I took it 4 or 5 days. I'm on day 2 of my cycle (normally my heaviest day) and I have almost no cramping.

In your case, I would guess that either you've had too many total carbs/not enough protein and fat, or you're having a negative reaction to one (or more) of the new GF flours (or dairy) you've been experimenting with.

[Sk8ermaiden]

When I cut fast food almost completely out of my diet, my temps are WAY more stable, meaning that my hormone levels are much more stable. This also gives me a stronger temp shift, which is a good thing too.

My job I just quit required me to be in my car almost 12 hours a day and I was eating an obscene amount of fast food. My charts looked like the rocky mountains.

I don't think that's exactly what you're looking for, but it was a definite link between my cycle and my diet.

[Shelsi]

I started having really long periods of fertility (like weeks on end of fertile mucous) which totally SUCKS since dh and I use NFP to avoid. I figured out though in my case it was because I was not getting enough (or maybe not even any?) iodine because I had removed all traces of corn from my diet. It was messing up my thyroid. I added iodine back in and sure enough I got normal again, or at least what is normal for me. I notice that often times if I slip up and forget to get enough iodine I fall back into this issue.

[kjbrown92]

I had always been a 45-54 day cycle. DS was born (with food intolerances) 8 years ago. DD was born (with even more food intolerances) 3.5 years ago. In between that, I started getting non-stop UTIs, chronic horrendous back pain, and the last 2 years, my cycle has been 28 days apart and sputtering (3 days on, 3 days off, 2 days on, 3 days off, 1 day on). The last 5 weeks or so I have been gluten, dairy, soy free. I'm off my back pain meds, my cycles are 29 days, and no sputtering (of course I've only had 2 cycles during that time so hardly a trend). As soon as I get back from our summer place, I'm going to go off my abx and see what happens with my UTIs (I am on them year-round). So, yes, so far, I've noticed a change in my cycle with food intolerances.

[Wugmama]

OT, I know, but had to chime in that my dd is almost 11 months old and i STILL haven't started re-menstruating!!!

~Tracy

[Ellien C]

:

I'm trying to become MORE fertile if anyone has any advice....

[WildIris]

Thanks to everyone who replied.

My TOM still has not started and I'm getting kinda worried. I just had to say that outloud to someone. I'm not sure how long to wait before I go talk to my doctor about it.

[mommydancer]

Is there a chance you aren't getting your nutritional needs met and your body doesn't feel is has the surplus for cycling? In extreme cases, i think the body looks out for itself. My cycles have been slightly less heavy, but on a similar time shedule. I restarted when DS got his 1st cold and due to nasal congestion, his nusing dipped.

[WildIris]

Originally Posted by mommydancer

Is there a chance you aren't getting your nutritional needs met and your body doesn't feel is has the surplus for cycling?

Good question. I think I'm getting my nutritional needs met but I just don't know. : I mean, I think I do a pretty darn good job of eating a balanced and varied diet, despite my food restrictions (avoiding corn, onion family, coconut, gluten, most grains, excess dairy). Especially right now, with lots of fresh veggies and fruits available. I can't think of anything I might be missing nutritionally....

Okay, I'll just go ahead and say what I'm really thinking. What I'm really stressing about is, what if I'm pregnant? DH had a vasectomy 5-ish years ago but he never went back to have his sperm samples checked to make sure it was accurate. So now that is ALL that I keep thinking about, night and day... why have I missed a period? What if his vasectomy didn't take? What if I'm 43 and pregnant, just when we thought we were done having kids and life was finally getting much easier? We have no more baby stuff, money is ridiculously tight, I'm too old for this, how would I ever deal with a pregnancy and deliver a baby with all of my allergy issues, etc.

Of course, the first day this what-if-I'm-pregnant thought occurred to me was the very same day when DS, age 9 and our only boy, with two sisters, for some reason suddenly blurted out, "You know, sometimes I think it would be kinda nice to have a little brother." :

Then another night recently I dreamed I was combing the hair of a little wispy blond-haired baby.

So I'm freaking out just a little here.

Someone please tell me it's probably just perimenopause or something....

[tanyalynn]

Well, my mom was well into perimenopause by your age, so it's definitely possible. But it sounds like a pregnancy test would ease your mind considerably, and if you're already late, then it should be accurate (well, I know some women can still test negative when they can no longer see their feet, but that seems pretty rare) and I think the generic tests at walmart/target type places aren't that expensive. At your age, and after 5 years, the perimenopause theory, or the other-health-nutrition-aspect theory both seem more likely than the pregnancy theory.

[Chinese Pistache]

I've either been pg or nursing so in these two (even longer if you count when I started dairy-free) allergy-avoidance years, I can count the times I've menstruated on one hand. So, I'm no help.

But, I did want to say that *I* think it's very unlikely that you are pg, and I think you should poas just to have some peace of mind.