Girls! Raw food diet and low estrogen levels? Or any difference in Girly things? Also join my group RAW WOMEN

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Permalink Reply by bueller on February 13, 2008 at 6:09pm

This absolutely fascinating. I hope more women comment. My FSH is normal so that actually falls in line with what the article says. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by bueller on February 13, 2008 at 6:17pm

He's just jealous.

:-)

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Permalink Reply by Wendi Dee on February 13, 2008 at 2:28pm

I've experienced problems with my menstrual cycle since it first began. I have low estrogen, but my estrogen is still dominant above other hormones (if that makes sense). My cycles were never regular since they started. I bled for 28+ days as a teen, with about a week of no bleeding, and then it would start again. It's as though I had a backwards cycle. The *#&@(#&! doctors in the very small country town where I lived convinced my mother that this was "just normal" for me.

When I went to college I started on the birth control pill for a year and I had regular cycles, but it caused me to become paranoid and filled with extreme ups/downs and depression. My cycles didn't stay the same, either, after stopping the pill after a year. Sometimes I wouldn't bleed for 50+ days, sometimes one cycle would end and a week later another would start. It was completely erratic and followed no pattern. I saw doctor after doctor for over 25 years, trying to find out what was wrong with me. One doctor wanted me to get a DNC, another suggested a hysterectomy. All along I was filled with worry about what was wrong with me, but filled with an inner belief that diet could help me be "normal".

I was a vegetarian before my first period started, and vegan off and on for many years. Diet never seemed to help much at all. A few years ago I went to a midwife center to get my yearly exam and *finally* someone listened to me. I said that I knew I should see an endocrinologist, but all the gynecologists always insisted that I didn't need one. Well, the midwife I saw (I wasn't pregnant, just going there because I was told it was amazing to work with these women) was furious along with me that I had gone my entire life without being properly diagnosed. So, she wrote out a referral to see an endocrinologist!

There were lots of tests done and I was given a diagnosis: PCOS (even though I didn't have all of the typical symptoms, but I did have some) that was caused by hereditary insulin resistance. She said insulin resistance was my problem since I was a very young teen, and that I was most likely born with it. I was given a drug (Metformin) to take that is given to diabetics (which I wasn't), but that has shown tremendous help with those who have insulin resistance. I had never taken drugs other than the birth control for that one year, some antibiotics as a kid, and Advil, so it was a big decision for me. I decided to try it and if it worked, it would prove what the endocrinologist was saying--that I have insulin resistance. So, I took it and within a few months I had 28-day cycles! I was regular and didn't have spotting, or anything! However, that drug made me feel awful--my heart was giving me problems and I was feeling like my body was always retaining water. So, I talked with the endocrinologist about ways to work on insulin resistance without drugs. She said it's impossible, that no one can do it. Well, I'm not one for taking drugs, so I decided to research to see if raw foods would help. I slowly stopped taking the medicine.

Here I am, years after taking that Metformin, and over one year 100% raw. I can say that I have regular cycles, now (about every 32 days), but I'm still spotting/bleeding slightly between cycles. On day 14 I usually start spotting and that lasts, off and on, until my cycle starts around day 32. Then it's all great until day 14, again. I did have a few months where I had no spotting and I was super excited, but then that didn't last. I'm still convinced that 100% raw foods is going to help me get to completely normal cycles, it's just not going to happen overnight. Currently, I'm slowly cutting back on my fat intake to see if that helps me gain better health.

I had a sort of "message" come to me one day that when lemons tasted sweet to me, I'd be on the right path. Well, I love lemons, now. I crave them. They aren't very sweet to me, though. ;-) But, I found it fascinating that Raw By Default was writing about lemons here.

Anyway, that's a super long reply. Sorry about that. Diet and menstrual cycles is something I'm very interested in learning a lot about. I look forward to reading what everyone shares about this.

Lots of love to all of you,

Wendi
XOXO

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Permalink Reply by bueller on February 13, 2008 at 6:13pm

Thank you Wendi. That is extremely helpful to me and I will talk to my doctor about that. Insulin resistance runs in my family and I have had problems with insulin despite being underweight, so I find this to be extremely on point and helpful. I have also been diagnosed with PCOS in the past , although I dismissed it out of hand. I should perhaps re-examine that. I appreciate you sharing and being so thoughtful in your response. I love that you took things into your own hands. That's great.

Bueller

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Permalink Reply by Wendi Dee on February 13, 2008 at 6:39pm

Beuller, I was never overweight when I experienced the problems when I was younger. So, don't let the doctor shrug you off and tell you that you don't have a problem. It's a good idea to get tested (search the next to find the correct way to be tested, though, since some of the tests will give false results) to at least be able to rule one thing out that may be causing the problem.

I think many people think insulin resistance only happens later in life to those who are overweight (or to younger people who are overweight). For me, it makes a lot of sense that it is hereditary and not food-related. I may have it in my DNA that my body doesn't work well with insulin, but I think an ideal diet like raw foods can help manage the problem so that I don't suffer. I'm on my way out, but if I remember I'll come back and share what I read about a possible cause for hereditary IR.

I did gain weight later in life, though, after my daughter was born. Raw foods has allowed my body to heal itself, however, in a relatively short amount of time. I look forward to the day when I am completely well--and to me that will be when I no longer spot/bleed between cycles. :-D

Have to run...

XOXO

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Permalink Reply by bueller on February 14, 2008 at 1:52pm

Thanks Wendi!

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Permalink Reply by Jef on February 13, 2008 at 9:42pm

HI Wendi,
Im' curious if you had any trouble getting pregnant?? my sister has PCOS and tried everything except invitro to get pregnant. I talked to her one time about diet, and she read a few books that said diet could cure/reverse PCOS but she was either not interested or not motivated enough to try it. Now they have adopted a sweet little baby boy, so there is no way I would say anything, but I was just curious about you.

I'm so happy to hear about people in my sister's shoes who have taken the matter into their own hands and cured themselves. I wish my sister could have/would have done the same! Yiiiippppeeee good for you!!

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Permalink Reply by Wendi Dee on February 14, 2008 at 10:26am

Hi Jennifer,

My husband and I were never overly careful and I didn't get pregnant until we actually tried for some time. It must have been luck, however, because we tried for a long time after our daughter was born to have a second and it never happened.

We continue to not be overly careful, so that's not a good thing at this point in our lives. Our daughter is almost 13 years old and I have a heart problem (made worse by the Metformin) that has gone from mild to moderate and I was told it's not a good idea to have a baby (as my heart might not be strong enough).

The PCOS comes from insulin resistance, which not everyone realizes. So, diet *can* help a great deal if people stick to it. I can't imagine ever eating cooked foods again--I feel more alive than I ever did my enitre life. I am present, focused most of the time, and so much more. :-)

I hope your sister can find herself at a place where she wants a healthier body, even if it's not for the sake of getting pregnant.

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXO

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Permalink Reply by John Coleman on June 11, 2008 at 8:39pm

Hi Wendi, I had a prior g/f with PCOS and M.E.

Did you find raw food diet cured the PCOS, or r u just claiming it lowerd the IR and that helped? many thanks, love u2

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Permalink Reply by Wendi Dee on June 12, 2008 at 8:44am

John,

I can never know what exactly has happened as far as the healing. I'm thinking raw has helped my body become better at working with insulin, which in turn helped my hormones/ovaries function properly. I definitely ovulate each month (I start spotting when I ovulate), which is a HUGE difference before raw. My period is regular (for the first time ever in my life, other than when I was on the Metformin and the short time I was on the pill when I was younger).

My body still isn't completely healed, however (I've been raw about 2 years). I continue to spot off and on from the time of ovulation until my period starts. I'm going to be picking up some Vitex and Ashwaghanda in the next few days to help with progesterone levels, which my holistic doctor thinks is the problem. We'll see how it works--Bueller says the Vitex has helped her out.

Anyway, I can only guess what has happened. But, I do know there was some major healing/correcting that took place with eating raw!! :-)

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

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Permalink Reply by Wendi Dee on June 12, 2008 at 11:42am

No problem, RawZi! I figure with all of us sharing, we may collectively figure something out that helps all women in the future! Wouldn't that be fantastic?!

I have no idea what the sizes of the herbs are, since I haven't picked them up, yet. I'm headed to the health food co-op today, or tomorrow, to purchase them. They come in different forms, I think. I'll most likely find some veggie caps and take them that way. Ashwaghanda grows in India, I know, as well as some other mid-Eastern climates. I'm not sure about the Vitex (which is also called chaste berry).

Metformin was the pharma. drug I used, just to see if it did anything in the way of narrowing down what was wrong with my cycles my entire life. By taking the drug, I was able to determine that my body doesn't process insulin correctly--it wasn't working well with insulin since I was a young teenager (and I wasn't overweight then). The endocrinologist said that it's a hereditary/DNA kind of problem with insulin resistance. Anyway, once the Metformin worked, and I finally knew the root cause of my irregularities since my periods first began, I stopped taking it. It's not a healthy drug to take, particularly if you have a heart condition (it caused my mitral valve prolapse to become a moderate (as in worse than mild!) mitral valve regurgitation).

Thanks for the wishes for my continued healing. I am feeling FANTASTIC on raw and can't imagine ever eating cooked again. I didn't feel good on cooked, I WASN'T well on cooked, and raw has helped my body heal soooooo much! I do, however, have some more healing to do--even after about 2 years raw.

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

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Permalink Reply by Jef on June 12, 2008 at 12:31pm

Wendi,
Do you know if the Metformin causes heart problems in all people, or just makes it worse if you already have one? I think my sister is on this permanently, for "pre-diabetes". that is really scary to me.
She's on so much stuff, I'm afraid of her dying young.

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