Over on the main IF subreddit I see so many women (myself included) making posts that largely get ignored that something weird has happened with our periods.
Some women got theirs very early, some of us have had a period very very late, and some of us have skipped ours entirely for the month.
Those of you that have been doing IF for awhile now - have you had this happen? What was your experience?
Obviously any of us who are deeply worried about it should double check with doctors that everything is actually okay
But I really want to hear first hand experiences of what’s happened with the women here.
I’m in late-stage perimenopause so my periods are totally random. I tend to go two months maybe without one which I love.
IF has nothing to do with my weird cycles. In fact, I wonder when I have shaved off (a horrifying amount) body fat things will improve. Doesn’t excess body fat produce more estrogen or something? 🤔
I’m guessing they don’t get a lot of attention because it’s all very individual, and there can be multiple conflicting reasons for what results one person has vs another. There won’t be a “right answer” to those.
Fat contains estrogen, so using/losing fat may mean you have to deal with extra estrogen that cycle, and whatever that does to your period. Some people only feel better menstruating when they eat carbs, or other extra food. Some get way fewer and less harsh symptoms when they’ve been fasting more, or on keto. Insulin resistance can mean your reproductive hormones are suppressed, because insulin overpowers most other hormones - and most obese people have insulin resistance. But then insulin resistance can be less of a factor when you’re menstruating because that uses so many calories immediately.
Best I can recommend is just to watch for whatever patterns seem to apply to your experience, and extrapolate from there.
I haven’t t had much change. I’m pretty regular and use a copper iud. I think the biggest thing was one month I was 4 days late. So glad there wasn’t baby number 3 in there!! But I have noticed fasting is easier in the first half of my cycle. It’s just slightly harder right before my period. I used to be into lifting weights (I really want to start again) and I noticed I was a lot stronger beginning of my cycle as well. I think it’s the same reason whatever it is.