Low carb + amenorrhoea?

I'll start by admitting that, when I began low carb, I was well beyond the age of being concerned about menstruation, but at least my comments will bump up your post.
As you say, you are not particularly low carb, at least not compared with the less than 30g a day crowd and, in all the reading I have done on the subject I have never come across anything suggesting our periods are influenced by the amount of chips/spuds/bread or pasta that we choose to eat. However, as I'm sure many women will confirm, stress, excess physical challenges, changing circumstances, rapid or extreme weight loss can all have their effects. And then there is the cause, which I must raise as diplomatically as possible, AGE. You don't give your age and the average age for menopause is, I think, something in a woman's 50's, but this is an average. I had a much earlier menopause, all gone by 40. Nothing the matter with me (I'm not diabetic), just the way I'm made and now, roughly a quarter of a century on, I'm fit and active and people often take me for younger. Could this be the road which your body is travelling? No harm in asking your doctor.
Sally

I have heard of many different causes of amenorrhoea (pcos, being underweight or over-fit, plus various other wimmins stuff and hormone stuff), but I've never heard of LC as being on the list. So I am very interested if it should be! I had no periods for 20+ years, due to a prolactinoma and PCOS. Happy days. But obviously, if it is due to a health issue, then it isn't ideal! I'm currently lower carb than you and in ketosis, and the dratted things turn up like clockwork.

Just off the top of my head, i would speculate that IF LC were going to affect periods, it would be ketosis, not the 70-130 range - but that is mere speculation, and obviously not the case for me.

I'd get thee to a doc for a checkup, with some hormone investigation.
Hope everything is OK, and please let us know how you get on?

catapillar said:

In March/April I decided to try to reduce my carb intake a bit - before thinking about reducing it, standard carb intake was probably 150 - 250 a day.

So I've tried to find lower carb alternatives. I wouldn't say I'm especially low carb. Usually around 100 per day, but anything from 70 - 130.

Low carbing hasn't especially changed my diabetic control to be honest.

I've lost about half a stone - I'm 5 ft 1, my weight is now fluctuating between 7 st 10 and 8st. BMI is about 21 - bang in the middle of a healthy range.

I try to work out at least 5 times a week. But that's not a change on before.

Nb) I'm very single - seriously, there's no chance I'm pregnant.

I've not had a period since end of April. I've had a couple of occasions when my blood sugars been doing funny things, and I've felt a bit premenstrual. But no actual period. I'm a little bit irregular by a couple weeks here or there. But is not standard for me to just not have anything for so long.

Do any ladies have any experience on whether this is a low carb thing? And if so, whether that's inherently a bad thing, if I'm not especially fussed about fertility?

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Catapillar, like others on here, due to both age and the fact I had a sub-total hysterectomy some years ago, I can say with confidence I have not, personally, experienced any interruption in menstrual cycle.

When you say you've reduced carb, and give their ranges, the 100gr you cite a day. How variable is that, on a day to day basis?

My only stab in the dark would be to look back on my food diary, assuming you do one and see how often you go to either limit. Perhaps (pure speculative thought) your body is a bit befuddled and going into some form of protective mode.

You say you've lost around 7lb; are you currently stable (accepting your 3lbs might be your healthy day to day variances), or are you still losing, or pretty steady? Are you surprised by how much weight you dropped or didn't drop?

In the past, did your weight vary much through each cycle, maybe peaking in the pre-menstrual days and tapering off when the big event occurs?

Sorry, I "do" questions.

I've never seriously low carbed for any length of time, but I do,read up a lot about diets hoping to find the magic answer as I'm sure we all do. I also did extra reading when I was pregnant, including reading about optimum carb amounts and Paleo.

I don't know how true this is or whether studies have been done, but I came across more than one site that said women on Paleo should eat more carbs than men to,preserve their fertility. That site suggested things like sweet potatoes and fruit, and stressed that women's carb intake should be higher than men's.

That made intuitive sense to me. Periods are a sign of fertility and 'being ready to carry a pregnancy'. I personally believe that that requires a certain level of carbs and a certain level of calories. If your body thinks there's some kind of famine, it's going to make sure you don't get pregnant.

If it was me, I'd monitor my carbs and eat a consistent amount to,see if that helps. If it doesn't, a trip to the doctors would rule out any hormone issues.

You could also try slightly cutting down on your workouts. There's nothing at all wrong with exercise but if your body is kind of teetering on the edge of a period, extra rest and extra carbs and calories over a few weeks may help 'reassure' it and start up your cycle again.

I'd also add - try not to think about it. That's guaranteed to mess things up! I speak from experience!

I thought that 'women need more carbs than men' thing had been thoroughly debunked, but since fertility has never interested me in the slightest, I have never taken much notice.

I'll tag @Indy51 in case she knows more. Her knowledge of Paleo blogging (and many other subjects) is VAST.

Brunneria said:

I thought that 'women need more carbs than men' thing had been thoroughly debunked, but since fertility has never interested me in the slightest, I have never taken much notice.

I'll tag @Indy51 in case she knows more. Her knowledge of Paleo blogging (and many other subjects) is VAST.

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The site was pro-Paleo, but just recommended more carbs for women. I've just tried to google it but I'm getting muddled with all the pregnancy stuff I read and can't remember the name of it : (

As @catapillar has rightly or wrongly connected her issues with a drop in carbs, it makes sense to consider it and is worth a try.

azure said:

As @catapillar has rightly or wrongly connected her issues with a drop in carbs, it makes sense to consider it and is worth a try.

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Absolutely. Everything is worth considering.

There seem to be varying schools of thought - even more than carbs, it seems that overall calories and over-exercise are considered to blame. It's a common condition with female athletes apparently. I'm way past the age of having to worry about such things, so haven't really paid all that much attention. You might take a look at Leanne Vogel's Youtube channel - she has a lot about balancing hormones for females - https://www.youtube.com/user/healthfulpursuit