Paleo Women/Diet and Menstruation

Still thinking about some of the things posted in this thread.

Odyssey said:
I have noticed that when I am very low or no carb for a while my interest in sex is very low. Sexual thoughts increase with more carbs.
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I've found this to be the case as well and wonder if what we are led to believe in terms of libido is also incorrect? Perhaps people in general aren't meant to have such a strong interest in sex as we are currently led to believe.

Below are two abstracts that seem to point to the effects of an increase in carbs on hormones. Not completely sure if their methods are sound so for what it's worth:

_http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1387870

_http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3573976
 
Odyssey said:
I have noticed that when I am very low or no carb for a while my interest in sex is very low. Sexual thoughts increase with more carbs.
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truth seeker said:
Perhaps people in general aren't meant to have such a strong interest in sex as we are currently led to believe.

_http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1387870

_http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3573976
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This is a thought I had some months ago, so thank you truth seeker for sharing yours and for the links, the second one is really interesting, and "more accessible" to understand the meaning.
 
I wanted to quickly note that I just had my first menstrual period with zero cramps and emotional upheaval. Absolutely zero! I even questioned whether it was my cycle at first but it was. It had been gradually getting better over the few months with the diet but I still had slight discomfort. So I never imagined it could be without some discomfort.

BTW the carb and sex thoughts may also be due to effects on dopamine which can also trigger sexual arousal by its regulation of reproductive hormones.
 
brainwave said:
I wanted to quickly note that I just had my first menstrual period with zero cramps and emotional upheaval. Absolutely zero! I even questioned whether it was my cycle at first but it was. It had been gradually getting better over the few months with the diet but I still had slight discomfort. So I never imagined it could be without some discomfort.
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So glad to hear it! I too got mine around 6 weeks ago but wanted to wait to see if it would come again the next month which it hasn't. :/

brainwave said:
BTW the carb and sex thoughts may also be due to effects on dopamine which can also trigger sexual arousal by its regulation of reproductive hormones.
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Interesting, thanks!
 
brainwave said:
I wanted to quickly note that I just had my first menstrual period with zero cramps and emotional upheaval. Absolutely zero! I even questioned whether it was my cycle at first but it was. It had been gradually getting better over the few months with the diet but I still had slight discomfort. So I never imagined it could be without some discomfort.
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I second the above; my last menstruation was pain free. No cramps or headaches.

I have had pretty bad experiences with my menstruation since it started when I was 13. For the first few years, I had it twice a month that caused my body to lose energy to the point where I could not run or do physical hard work. One day I woke up in the morning, rolled my eyes back and fell on a floor. At the point my mother realized that I was in a serious condition so that she took me to the hospital. My doctor diagnosed me and told me that I had severe anemia. Since then I had taken iron pills on and off for many years which I never liked because it made me want to throw up. Despite I took irons pills for long period of time, I would still occasionally fainted many times in a class, train, supermarket etc. So it was quite amazing for me to feel no pain that I used to have during my period.

The study about the menstruation does not cause anemia is fascinating. Now I think that the whole problem was eating carbs in the age of puberty and damaged my gut badly. I am curious to read Dr. Clancy, K. book and find out more about it.

Also, I would like to say thank you to truth seeker for sharing the great information.
 
truth seeker said:
My period stopped for 6 months but now seems to have returned regularly so hang in there - I think yours will probably regulate itself as well.
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Truth seeker! Guess what? My period started today :D after 6 months of absence, just like you! Just thought I'd mention :)
 
Mrs. Peel said:
Gah, I can't belive you people are happy to have a period. :P
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Lol! Well inconvenience and cost aside, it's really not so bad when you don't have to deal with all the emotional and physical upheaval. I'm actually enjoying this particular lesson! :)
 
Yea same here! In a way it's fun to observe what the body goes through on this diet, and to see that some others are going through the same; it's an interesting adventure :)
 
MK Scarlett said:
I also am probably in this "menopause period" and was asking to myself why I did not have my menstrual cycles anymore, by thinking there maybe was a link between paleo diet (started at the middle of the last October) and this fact. This is a very interesting "correlation", thank you for this thread I did not read in totality yet (I need more time because of language barrier).
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Eight days after this message, I had again my menstrual cycles (each month form this time). I noticed on this return no "bad humor" and no pains except a few hours front, forerunners, but then nothing. No unpleasant sensation. From this return, the cycle came twice on February. On February 26th, I had pain during several hours, so I decided to stop this very painful "experience" by taking 1g of Ascorbic Vit. C each hour until pain gone. It worked very well, but I had to think about this pain and why it was come back with all this physical suffering...

I thought it could have a connexion with my digestive system which is in detox and maybe the fact my right ovary is situated behind my womb and that it can provoke unusual frictions. It is the question that I rested several times to specialists, nobody was ever able to answer me... :mad:
 
Like others here, I can report that the dietary changes of eliminating carbs (and/or adding good fats?) had a big effect - over the last year, PMS totally disappeared, bloating, irritability, etc. I wish I could have had a 6 month break but I had no change in that department, everything has been like clockwork. I also found eliminating caffeine a few days before made a huge difference in the irritability factor. Also libido has dropped, I hadn't thought to attribute this to diet, interesting.

I do still have a fair amount of pain for a couple days a month...any ideas, for others it sounds like all symptoms disappeared at once? Can Vitamin C help with this? I have not been supplementing much b/c it irritates my stomach, maybe two grams of C a week. I am taking ibuprofen to get through those two days, but I'd like to go off painkillers entirely.
 
Weller said:
I do still have a fair amount of pain for a couple days a month...any ideas, for others it sounds like all symptoms disappeared at once? Can Vitamin C help with this? I have not been supplementing much b/c it irritates my stomach, maybe two grams of C a week. I am taking ibuprofen to get through those two days, but I'd like to go off painkillers entirely.
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I'm not sure if vitamin c helps with pain, perhaps others will be more knowledgeable. I have found, however, that regular use of magnesium has helped with any feelings of bloat. How long has it been since you changed your diet? Depending upon the individual, some changes may take a bit longer than others.

Added: Here's a thread on Vitamin C that you may find helpful. Just for your information, I believe some have experienced the same or similar difficulties with it that you have. :

http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,13208.0.html
 
Thanks for the link on Vitamin C, truth seeker. I didn't realize the quantity of Vitamin C some folks have been taking. I'm about a year into a (mostly) paleo diet...cheating is occasional potatoes and rice but managed to get rid of all sugar, wheat and dairy for the last 10 months. I am less than diligent about magnesium supplementation so I'll try to be more better about this too - I have fibroids and wonder if lack of magnesium may have contributed to this, the fibroids probably make the pain worse. I've started to eat more miso and other Vitamin K2 sources, hoping this will help. Thankfully, bloat, tenderness and other PMS-cranky-pants symptoms are totally gone, which is SO great, just the pain is left.

As someone who followed conventional nutritional supplementation guidelines for a long time, the degree of supplementation that some folks are doing gives me the willies, swallowing so many pills and powders seems unnatural but I do see the value of it. I also read recently that Vitamin C and bioflavonoid supplements can help with reducing flow as well, so that's an added incentive to supplement more. Given the improvements so far, I will keep at it.
 
Weller said:
Thanks for the link on Vitamin C, truth seeker. I didn't realize the quantity of Vitamin C some folks have been taking. I'm about a year into a (mostly) paleo diet...cheating is occasional potatoes and rice but managed to get rid of all sugar, wheat and dairy for the last 10 months. I am less than diligent about magnesium supplementation so I'll try to be more better about this too - I have fibroids and wonder if lack of magnesium may have contributed to this, the fibroids probably make the pain worse. I've started to eat more miso and other Vitamin K2 sources, hoping this will help. Thankfully, bloat, tenderness and other PMS-cranky-pants symptoms are totally gone, which is SO great, just the pain is left.
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You probably know this, but potatoes are not only carbs but are in the nightshade family which many people are sensitive to. In addition, my current understanding is that because rice is a grain, it also holds some gluten content. Based on my own body's reactions, I'd say that it views any carb as sugar and fibroids in particular will feed off it so you may want to completely get rid of them. Miso, I think, is also usually made from either rice, barley or soy and so you may also want to let go of that as well. My guess is that this may be why you're still experiencing pain. Your body may also still be in an adjustment phase.

Weller said:
As someone who followed conventional nutritional supplementation guidelines for a long time, the degree of supplementation that some folks are doing gives me the willies, swallowing so many pills and powders seems unnatural but I do see the value of it. I also read recently that Vitamin C and bioflavonoid supplements can help with reducing flow as well, so that's an added incentive to supplement more. Given the improvements so far, I will keep at it.
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The initial supplementation was used by many of us because we were still learning and adjusting to getting rid of soy, gluten, dairy, sugar and corn and I think has lessened greatly now as we seem to be able to get adequate vitamins/minerals from protein and fats. We've been learning so much about what nourishes us in the past year and the information is being constant updated so what may have applied last year this time, may or may not apply now. It depends upon the individual. I'd say just take your time with it, keep reading and hang in there. I'm sure you'll keep experiencing improvements. :)
 
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