Geez, seems like the board has been innundated with TOM questions and comments---apologies to all the males! This is really an indicator, I think, as to how big an issue TOM is while LCing.

I want to ask any of you to comment who have had something like what I'm experiencing. (sounding like a broken record...sorry if you've heard my woes before..) After having been LCing for 4 1/2 weeks, my TOM is now 2 1/2 weeks late. Any of you who experienced a period being extremely late while LCing, can you tell me when it finally DID arrive? And when it did, what was it like? I'm expecting to wake up one morning with my bed looking like a lamb was slautered in it! And.....was it just as you were beginning this WOE, or did it take some time for your periods to get wacky?

Please give me your stats----I'd really love to hear from those of you who've had a similar experience to mine.....

This probably won't help any, but now that I remember, mine was late by a few days but the flow seemed normal. I'm normally on a 25 day cycle, and it came in 28. I thot that maybe I was going back to a normal 28 day cycle but the one after that was back to 25.

Sorry to not be of more help.

Echo

My problem has been the opposite -- I used to be on a 28 day cycle but since LCing it's gone to 26 (yeah, it's a great month when I happen to have a period twice! ugh!).

Are you exercising a lot, maybe? If I remember high school health class correctly, if you don't have enough body fat and/or are exercising strenuously then you can experience amenorrhea (loss of period).

Apparently estrogen gets stored in fat and when you start to lose fat, the estrogen gets released into your blood stream. This can affect your TOM for one or two months. Take it as a sign you are losing fat!

2 1/2 weeks is pretty late.

Could you be pregnant? Have you taken a pregnancy test?

I can see being a few days to a week late from Atkins, but 2 1/2 sounds like you're pregnant to me.


BTW - I was 3 days late this month, but that's it. It was normal. I'm not too regular.

I've had months where I've skipped entirely, months where I started two or three days earlier than normal, and months with very heavy flow and very light flow. In nine months of LC, I've probably had two or three "normal" periods -- all the rest of them have been a bit wacky. Of course, I've lost almost 50 lbs. in that time, and weight loss is a big stressor on your body. Estrogen is stored in fat cells, so when you start losing a lot of weight, you're releasing a lot of extra estrogen into your system and all sorts of TOM wackiness can ensue. Emotional stress doesn't help much either, and changing your diet can definitely induce that.

I know you want some hard and fast answers about what to expect re TOM and LC, but I really just don't think there are any. Everyone's body is different, and even any given body behaves differently at different times and under different circumstances. I would just accept each month's cycle (or lack of) as it comes and not worry about it, unless a) you could possibly be pregnant; or b) you miss several periods in a row.

My first month lcing Tom was about 2 weeks late. When it did come it was very heavy. This month Tom was right on time but very heavy and I feel very tired and cranky.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by atlee
[B]I've had months where I've skipped entirely,

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Well, it's good to know someone is in the same boat as me.....the fact that you actually had months where you had no TOM at all tells me that maybe I'm in for that this month and that I'm not alone.

And NO, I'm not pregnant. Took a pregnancy test just to be sure (I'm had an extreme tubal ligation--so pregnancy is a near impossibility for me).

Thanks for all of your replies...

I'm in my fourth month of Atkins. Last month, my period was 2 week late. A normal period, just late.

This WOL can really play havoc with your hormones in the beginning. I also have heard that it is due to increased estrogen levels due to losing fat stores.

K.

This is my first month LCing again and I'm late by a week. So I find all this interesting. I'd kinda like it to and just get out of the way.

When I first started low carbing I actually missed my TOM and then they were late for a few months after that. Now my TOM is like clockwork mostly. Sometimes its early.

THANKS SO MUCH!!!!! Boy, it is so nice to hear other who've had the exact same thing!!! Glad to know it has happened to others.

Thanks a ton for responding...

My first cycle after starting this WOE was late by about 2.5 weeks too. I was expecting a horrible week but it turned out to be a normal flow. My PMS on the other hand lasted almost 3 weeks instead of just the one. It seemed like my body kept 'gearing' up for it and AF just didn't want to arrive. I had some of the worst cramps I've ever experienced in the past 15 years...I hope it gets better from here on out.

HTH, Linda

Me too! TOM skipped a month during induction... now, TOM arrives on time! I just figured my body had to adjust... no worries, viv