Thank you, thank you so much to all who responded so quickly... I already feel so much better just hearing your comments and same experiences and seeing the pom poms!! Thanks for suggestions too. It is so helpful knowing others take it seriously enough to think it over with me.. really.
I had been getting more and more down as the weeks went by about this and worried... finally today, while reading other threads for general LC support and interest, I decided to put my frustration out there and I am so glad I did, Thank you for helping.
Talon, nope can't be pregnant, but I thought the same thing! Sounds like a classic case didn't it?
Red: Thanks for all your comments and the water idea... I actually realised I had cut way, way back on water as I felt so gross and discouraged and didn't want any more water weight!! I was hungry and was going for food, not water... how silly we get.. I am chugging now.. thanks for the important reminder.
Demer: very interesting your comment about estrogen in fat. The week before this I had a big whoosh and was at my lowest weight and felt very trim and fit, not jiggly and joggly as now. (Had lost 6 pounds that month, which is a lot for me.. usually 3 or 4). Maybe that big loss had put out more estrogen and the balance was off and stalled out TOM..?? BUT LISTEN TO THIS!!! Just tonight I was listening to the 6 o'clock evening news and Dan Rather did a piece on one particular hormone that is in red meat that they now think is a real problem and mainly because it too is an estrogen and is related to increasing cancer... it's also getting in the water of lakes and streams and messing up the reproductive cycles of fish! (hey! didn't we used to be fish? tee hee) This really caught my attention because.... before starting Atkins months ago, for the past thirty years, I rarely, really never, at red meat... a bit of chicken/turkey, but I was so serious about low fat/low cal and I (like the majority of misinformed Americans) thought red meat equalled heart disease. Now, of course, I eat a lot of red meat.. in fact, just before my period I often get especially hungry for it.. so.. my point here, when all this hunger and PMS came down hard I really upped my red meat consumption the last three weeks (thinking maybe the iron would help.. ha). I even bought and ate meat lower quality than ususal (at a steak house a couple of times, and bought some on sale meat, etc). I wonder if doing that put even more estrogen into my system and it was sort of like taking hormones and then not stopping the estrogen to let menstruation occur??! I know this seems a bit far fetched.. but maybe possible? Maybe already alot of extra estrogen from the big loss the week before it happened, then, MORE extra estrogen from the red meat increase? Maybe I just happened to get some meat from cows who had been especially treated and had an especially high level of that estrogen hormone or something? Maybe those of you who said this happened to you also happened to get more estrogen from weight loss and/or hormone rich red meat those particular times you had same experience? I'm sure it's not that simple, and that my body is also doing it's own hormone thing, but I am always very stable that way and this was so weird.
Anyway, I will drink more water and now, for the next weeks be very careful about the meat I eat.. I've always known I should get hormone free meat now that I'm eating so much, but it's more difficult to get and more expensive. This has motivated me however and I will simply plan ahead and go to the whole foods store.
I know this is 100% anecdotal and NOT scientific, but... you know how with birth control pills they have to reduce the estrogen for a few days to give the message that it's TOM time.. maybe my estrogen stayed too high and didn't give the OK. Hmm.. just strange timing to hear that piece on the news tonight as I had been eating so much extra red meat lately to try and help get TOM! ha!
OK Well.. I'm done ranting here... just got me thinking about hormones... I know milk can have alot of sex hormones (as they use them to get higher milk production from the cows), so I have always stood firm there and only bought organic milk for my kids... guess it's time to treat myself as lovingly and get the meat without estrogen myself!
Thanks again for all your responses. I am definately reenergized to hang in here longer now... try a couple of new things and "lay off the estrogen" if I can!! smile
Thanks again.. feeling much more like my "old" self, even eithout TOM now! Cheers to you all,