The FastDay Forum

did you talk about it to your GP ? Maybe taking some vitamins or iron could help...

My blood tests are OK. Diets tend to change periods...

I guess it's only during the first months after it should go back to normal. It's what my doctor told me anyway... Maybe find something to ease the cramps would help...

I do take painkillers and use hot bottles but I find it annoying that my period lasts for 7 effing days! Still, I lost weight and I want to lose more so it is something that I have to do no matter what!

I fast during my period but only because I have noticed they are not as painful as usual. Strange isn't it?

How's the mooncup, sugarjunkie? I've considered getting one but seems like it's a bit of a faff with all the sterilising etc. Better environmentally though so I might rethink.

I have used one for about 7 years now and would never go back. Absolutely brilliant, and certainly not a faff at all. Can't recommend it enough.

Personally,I can't fast when I have the stomach cramps. I end up in a nightmare of the hunger pangs trigger the cramps which trigger my IBS which triggers more cramps... not worth it for me but I can go 6 months without a period and when they do arrive vary ridiculously PCOS makes things very unpredicatable.

Always had extremely heavy periods (to the point of anemia in my 20s) with horrible cramping. I find it the perfect time to fast since the bloating and cramping mean I am not feeling hungry and just inclined to not eat healthy food anyways. I think it makes me cramp less and feel better since I have less swelling in my gut.

As to "needing more nutrients" -- I think that is based on faith not science since, as it has already been said, the nutritional investment has been made over the whole of the previous month, not during the period. I do make sure to drink plenty of water.

Losing fat, esp breast and visceral, will reduce estrogen which can affect your cycle.

"Losing fat, esp breast and visceral, will reduce estrogen which can affect your cycle." It will eventually, but as you are losing fat the estrogen stored in the fat will be dumped into your bloodstream, increasing your Estrogen temporarily, messing hormonal balance up.

If you are past wanting anymore children and you have the kinds of periods that have you using tampons, pads and sleeping on towels at night, and that makes you aneamic, then an operation is available that stops the bleeding but doesn't involve a hysterectomy. Its called a Trans Cervical Resection of the Endometrium. TCRE for short. It involves a general anesthetic, and they do something similar to a D&C but whilst doing it they cauterise the lining of the womb. This stops the build up of blood and hence the cessation of your periods and the cramps, whilst keeping your ovaries intact for good health.

"Losing fat, esp breast and visceral, will reduce estrogen which can affect your cycle." It will eventually, but as you are losing fat the estrogen stored in the fat will be dumped into your bloodstream, increasing your Estrogen temporarily, messing hormonal balance up.

I'm not sure I agree. Yes, fat stores estradiol, but more importantly it produces it. Taking out those little factories can quickly outpace the amount dumped in. I tried to do a lit search but couldn't find a good quantitative result aside from a study on obese post-menapausal women who lost weight. In them they found that for each point in BMI lost their blood estradiol level dropped on average 12.7%. That's pretty substantial and I have a hard time believing a greater amount was released in ~5lbs of fat statically. Plus, that lost fat is "the gift that keeps giving".

Given that I've lost 30lbs in 4 months, I think it's fair to assume the shut down of factories is trumping things and that I have lower estrogen levels now than 4mo ago. Changes in my cycle and migraines also hint at a lower rather than higher average estrogen level.

If you know of a good study of have numbers to back your position up, please share because I readily admit I only have bits and crumbs to form my opinion. I would LOVE to have a ballpark figure for how much estrogen is release per pound of fat and how much estrogen each pound produces.

I am seeing my Gynaecologist in September so I will ask him if he knows. I have just had bloods done to send to him and have a history of regular ones to look back on and compare. I will come back to this when I have answers.

I do wonder if this is affecting the men in any way?

@Manderley - I'd be really interested to know a bit more about the Sabina - what strength you take, how many and for how long?

I have really bad period pains and have got some special tablets (Mefenamic Acid)from the GP but would like to take something more 'natural' in the hope that I don't feel so 'washed out', have disturbed sleep so feel too tired to exercise etc. I still have to take pain killers on top of these tablets to kill the pain.

I take Sabina 9CH (don't know if it's the same everywhere), 5 homeopathic pills 4 times a day from the first day of my periods until the third or fourth day, depending on how I feel and how strong they are.

I can't give any scientific reasoning for my response, but as a fellow sufferer of painful periods, I think it's important to take care of yourself. I know I don't usually have a sweet tooth, but when it's my period I crave chocolate.

[carorees]

"Losing fat, esp breast and visceral, will reduce estrogen which can affect your cycle." It will eventually, but as you are losing fat the estrogen stored in the fat will be dumped into your bloodstream, increasing your Estrogen temporarily, messing hormonal balance up.

I'm not sure I agree. Yes, fat stores estradiol, but more importantly it produces it. Taking out those little factories can quickly outpace the amount dumped in. I tried to do a lit search but couldn't find a good quantitative result aside from a study on obese post-menapausal women who lost weight. In them they found that for each point in BMI lost their blood estradiol level dropped on average 12.7%. That's pretty substantial and I have a hard time believing a greater amount was released in ~5lbs of fat statically. Plus, that lost fat is "the gift that keeps giving".

Given that I've lost 30lbs in 4 months, I think it's fair to assume the shut down of factories is trumping things and that I have lower estrogen levels now than 4mo ago. Changes in my cycle and migraines also hint at a lower rather than higher average estrogen level.

If you know of a good study of have numbers to back your position up, please share because I readily admit I only have bits and crumbs to form my opinion. I would LOVE to have a ballpark figure for how much estrogen is release per pound of fat and how much estrogen each pound produces.

According to thisstudy:

Oestrogen is stored in the form of 17beta-oestradiol fatty acid esters, which have a long-lasting oestrogenic effect. The esters are transported in serum lipoproteins and thought to be sequestered in adipose tissue...The ratio of esterified to free oestradiol in plasma increased with decreasing oestradiol level from 0.5% in pregnant, to 15% in premenopausal and 110% in postmenopausal women.

Thus, the adipose tissue is a substantial store of oestrogen. Losing adipose tissue, therefore, can represent a big decrease in oestrogen stores. This is why losing weight can reduce the risk of developing oestrogen-dependent cancers, such as many types of breast cancers.

I did find this paper which measured the oestrogen stored in fat and found

In premenopausal women the average E2 [oestradiol] ester in fat (sc [subcutaneous] and omental [abdominal]) is 957 +/- 283 38 fmol/g (SEM); in women who are menopausal less than 12 yr, the E2 ester in fat is 669 +/- 158 fmol/g; in women who are menopausal at least 15 yr, the fat level is 399 +/- 146 fmol/g.

So, this gives the amount of oestrogen per gram of adipose tissue but the previously mentioned study tell us that how much is released into the circulation depends on the menopausal status of the woman in question and so getting a figure for how the oestrogen content of adipose tissue affects circulating levels as we lose weight is not so easy.