For the ladies only
 

I just started ideal protein 9 days ago. Possible for diet to mess up my cycle? I feel like I'm getting my period early? :/

Yup. Totally possible and, in fact, very likely. It's not so much Ideal Protein, per se, as it is losing weight quickly. It makes our hormones go a little bonkers, and that can mean for a lot of women that not only will you get your period early, you'll get it a lot more frequently. Sigh. (I've also heard people say that hormone-based birth control loses its effectiveness on IP too, so be careful everybody!)

Im on the Mirena too which my periods finally just started getting shorter and only spotting. I hope it smooths out! (I'm getting cramps!)

Yes, be prepared for a lot of weird stuff with your cycles on IP. I've had 10 day periods on IP...bleh. I've also had cramps and moodiness which I never experienced pre IP. At least it's just a temporary thing. :)

I am also on Mirena (since 9/2013)...um, yah. I have gone from minimal PMS / spotting every 25 - 28 days (pre-IP) to full-blown cramping, pad-soaking periods - gak!!!!! Oh, and spotting occasionally in-between

2 months IP tomorrow

NOOO! Tell me it was temporary?

I am only 2 months / 8 weeks in so I am not sure - I can tell you it's occurred both Feb / Mar - have to wait and see what happens in April.

I would guess though that as the weight loss becomes less dramatic, so shall the visits from Aunt Flo

Last time I did IP I had two periods per month, and the cramping was a little worse than normal during my "main" period. (REALLY only a little.)

Hormonal birth control definitely cannot be trusted while doing IP. (Mirena's its own thing, of course, but pregnancies HAVE circumvented it in the past, on very rare occasions.)

Within a month or two of stopping IP, my cycles went back to normal. :)

OMG thank you for that hope! Yes my coach told me birth control will be not as effective on IP. (specifically she said the pill, not the Mirena)

Mirena is an IUD, so it SHOULD stop pregnancy just by its very existence, but my gyno told me that there have been babies born holding an IUD in their hand, in the past. (She wasn't a very good gyno; discuss with your own before worrying too much, I think.)

The reason I went with Mirena instead of a copper IUD, back when I did that, was because it also has a small hormonal component to it. (That's why it only lasts 5 years, instead of 10.) It releases a small amount of progesterone into your uterus, a much smaller dose than the pill (which was also important to me; I fly a lot and am afraid of blood clots), because it's more targeted.

I know IP messes with "hormones," and I've even heard "estrogen" called out specifically, but I do not know what its effects are on progesterone. It sounds like it's having an effect for Hysteria, though.

Since progesterone is the first defense of Mirena--decreasing the odds of ovulation and the buildup of the uterus lining--if you rely on Mirena while on IP, you are losing a lot of that first line of defense and pretty much just relying on the physical IUD portion of it. I still think you probably won't get pregnant! It's just important to know that you've changed the odds by a significant amount, and (keeping in mind that I am not a doctor) it seems to me that you've got the same risks of (for instance) an ectopic pregnancy that you would if you were just using a copper IUD.

What I'm really saying is go see your gynecologist, and talk this over with them.

Yes! I had my period early AND for a two weeks and heavy the last week when I first started IP. I asked my coach at the time and she said it was due to releasing estrogen on the diet. It messes everything up. I am on the Nuvaring, and I'm supposed to be able to leave it in all month without a period, but I get a period anyway because of the diet. It sucks! I also have super low weight loss the week of my period starting.

Thanks all! I feel better!!!

Yes, hormones are stored in fat - so the more fat you lose and the quicker it goes, the more you will notice weird changes to your cycles. DO NOT take any birth control chances if you would be upset about getting inadvertently pregnant. It is quite common in IP actually. They do warn you right at the beginning in the online coaching videos, and your clinic should be emphasizing that too. It will get better as your body fat levels drop and get closer to a normal BF percentage.

Liana

Glad I found this thread. I'm on the pill and cycle through my periods having only one every quarter. I was due for my period 2 weeks into starting IP and it was pretty normal. However I started spotting just a couple weeks after (a week early) even though I'm still on active pills and it's turning into a very light flow with cramping.

I thought it might have something to with excess hormone. I'm quite glad to know I should be using a back up method to not take any chances. Yet again, canadjineh to the rescue!

I guess I'm the weird one. I'm not on any form of BC anymore, and haven't experienced any cycle strangeness while on IP. I'm only in week 5, however, and should be having TOM in the next couple of days. Hopefully I don't have any weirdness. Mid-40s already gives me enough of that...