I will be 39 yrs old next month. I have never been on birth control in my life. I was married quite young and had my tubes tied after the birth of my last child. (15 yrs ago)
I have been doing Atkins for 3 months now! I have had my tom 3 times during this plan. My tom is out of control.I have had to go to the Dr's. each time. My flow is soooo heavy it makes me weak and dizzy. My Dr. says it is causing anemia..I am losing far too much iron. I'm sorry to get so technical and graphic but I am blown away here.... I use a super plus tampon and a maxi pad....and together they last maybe an hour.... but more like 40 minutes.
I am having trouble at work over it. I work in a production atmosphere.
Yesterday my Dr. put me on birth control. I don't want to stall my weight loss as it is sooo very slow as it is. Do most women on birth control have problems with their loss? I would love to hear from them.
I am so nervous as I have been putting in a true effort with this woe ..I am honest to the plan and enjoy it. But I want so bad to lose this weight. Please.. advice anyone?

You might talk to your Dr. about Novasure. Its a procedure (simple) that helps with periods such as yours. you can look it up online. A friend of mine is having it next week. You just dont want to have this if you want more children. Hope you feel better soon....

I was about your age when I started having the same problem. I suspect it has nothing to do with this WOE...it's quite possibly peri-menopause. And, yes, it can start that young I'm afraid.

HI I have already been diagnosed as peri menopause about 6 yrs ago as I already suffer hot and cold flashes and severe pms... but not until I did this woe did my tom go out of control. The cramping is unbearable. I am just really curious as to how many women on birth control are having effects to their weight loss because of it!

I have always had irregular periods, heavy and such....

when I started eating this way they were so out of control..even on BC

but I still lost weight, though later I decided to go off just because I had been on them so long

I think after awhile your body normalizes to this woe and they should calm down....

eat lots of iron rich foods, like red meat, green veggies, and yes chocolate LOL I was anemic for over a year and even when you are feeling better you should still take iron for awhile as my doc said it takes a full year to rebuild the bone morrow after being anemic!!

anyway if you stay on bc don't panic you should still lose weight maybe just slower than you want, good luck !

I so understand the being tired, don't overdo things and eat your veggies (sound like a mom huh )

oh ya take a supplement for you immune system!! when I was anemic my immune system was so weak I got every cold, flu etc going around!! so start building yours up now so you don't have to go through every sickness!!

Thanks ndhulst...Raindrop and pookalee!

BCbeauty.... Just a thought and my experience here, from a fellow BC'er. Have you had a recent pap? The reason I ask is that at 33, I was dx with peri menopause (I'm 36 now) and my cycles went nuts, just like yours, floods, cramps, the works. I went in for pap and had class 3, pre-cancer. Doc told me that the bad pap was making the cycles even worse.

I opted for a hysterectomy (in Feb 04) rather than two separate procedures which probably wouldn't have solved the problem.

You seem pretty sure you have finished growing your family and if this is something you might consider and want to discuss privately, PM me.

Take care,

Julie

I haven't had a pap for nearly a year now...and my Dr did say he wants to do one as soon as my tom is done away with..(probably in a week or so)

My two cents - I am 52 - had been irregular for about 4 years, diagnoses and menopausal but since I never went a year without a period was not officially in menopause. I had been 6 (SIX) months with no period when, after two months of LC I had a period - and had another one 25 days later. It's been 32 days since then and no signs of anything but I just found it interesting that it would come back after 6 months and I do attribute it to this WOE. I'll get to menopause eventually, but now I have to remember a whole new date for that inevitable question at the doctors (when was your last period...)

That said, definitely keep seeing your doctor - don't assume it has anything to do with this WOE because the two could be completely unrelated!

Good luck,
PecanPie

I'm a BC'er, actually I've used BCP and the patch. I started them at age 17, I had painful, irregular TOMs for years, so my OBGYN put me on them to get some regulation. I am regular, but every now and again, I get a heavy flow for 2 weeks! I've had that problem more so with the patch than with BCPs. I do not recommend the patch while losing weight. The estrogen in the patch is absorbed by the fat cells in your body, (why you wear it on your hips or fatty areas of the body) When I had higher BF%, they worked, but as I lost weight, they were not as effective in controlling TOM. So BCPs are a lot more effective, hence why just this week, I've gone back to them.

All this was to say, I still lost weight while on BC, even before I started this WOL

Hi Bcbeauty,

It may not be the diet that is doing this to your tom. I had a very similar experience last year one week before turning 39 and I was not on Atkins then. MY GP took me off bc because my blood pressure was 130/90. As soon as that happened I started having really heavy periods exactly like you describe. It was horrible and causing me to miss meetings at work. It went on for weeks without stopping. I finally got an appt with an ob/gyn as my regular doc couldn't do anything. One visit to the ob/gyn and I was in surgery the next day. Turns out I had uterine polyps. They are very common. The only way to diagnose was via ultrasound. I have not had any problems since the surgery, but my periods are slightly heavier than they used to be, but nothing like what caused me to have surgery. I don't think you mentioned if you were seeing a general practioner or an OB/GYN. If it is not an OB/GYN, I would recommend seeing one asap! MY GP let me go on like that for 5 weeks, the OB/GYN was shocked I hadn't been in sooner.

As for the BC, I lose weight steadily each month. It does not seem to have affected my weight loss.

I would encourage you to ask your doc for an ultrasound if you haven't already had one. If you are already anemic, it is time to get this under control now.

I use tricyclin, and I haven't had any problems with weight loss...

Thanks all... I guess I'll ask my Dr to refer me to an OB-GYN. Here in Canada we have to be sent by your reg. Dr. You can't just make an appt with a obstetrician. (so inevitably it will be up to him)

My SIL is 47 and doing SB. Her TOM went out of control, a D & C didn't help and after her summer vacations are over she is having hysterectomy. She is an RN so has access to a lot of info. I'm 51 and was on HRT untill Feb, dropped the HRT got back the hot flashes but not TOM so no personnal experience.