Quote:
Originally Posted by Athena31
Now I'm really curious what it is that's happening inside our bodies on Atkins that there would be fluctuations like this....Now I'm thinking this plus the super light cycle -- hmm, am I losing my estrogen along with the ketones?
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There have been many threads on mid-cycle bleeding and general TOM weirdness. I searched this site with "mid-cycle bleeding" and "TOM" as search terms, and found a
lot of info which really set my mind at rest. Women's bodies respond in a huge variety of ways to the low carb diet. It puts some people's cycles right, for the first time in years--with others, it screws them up for a while. Still other women experience no change whatsoever.
When you LC you are massively changing your hormone balance, going from (usually) high levels of insulin, to low levels of insulin and high levels of glucagon. Since insulin is involved in many body functions and cycles, that may be part of the explanation.
Another explanation I've seen is that bodyfat, especially visceral (abdominal) fat, is a repository for estrogen. As you lose weight and your fat cells release their contents into your bloodstream, your hormone balance can be thrown out of whack. Simply put, there can be too much estrogen floating around for a while, until your body adjusts. This can cause various symptoms, the most common of which seem to be midcycle bleeding, persistent spotting, extra-heavy periods and extra-long periods.
There is also the explanation that deliberately eating less than you take in, for months at a time, is in and of itself a stress on the body. And chronic stress can also screw up your cycle. All the more so if you begin an exercise program along with your diet.
Who knows what it is. I'm hoping and expecting that mine will straighten itself out over the next couple of cycles. If not--well, that's why I'm seeing the gyno when I go back to the States in October.
Emily