5 replies to this topic

[radgirl]

I wasn't really sure where to put this, so I thought here would be a good place. For those of you while still consuming gluten, did you notice your PMS symptoms to be far worse than they are now? I'd love to hear some insight to see how gluten affected our monthly cycles and if finally getting off gluten helped.

[CCM]

I don't know if this is the right place for this thread either (there might be more in the pregnancy section?), but I will say that my monthly cycle is doing so much better since I went off gluten at the beginning of the year. I had a blood test done in July, but had to wait until after Thanksgiving for the endoscopy. No one told me how much wheat I had to keep eating until then. Soooo....I ate a ton, purposely making all the dishes I knew I wouldn't be able to eat again. I had already decided that I was going gluten-free after the biopsy based on how badly I felt. I just did not understand that my PMS problems were directly related to gluten at the time.

So for two weeks of every month between the summer and the end of the year, I think that I really became another person...that is how bad the PMS was, I guess they call it PMDD. Mood swings, irritability (an understatement), terrible sleep (lack of), severe depression and suicidal thoughts, I hemoraged a week's flow all in a day and half (sorry for the graphics, but I really could not leave the house). I spent the other two weeks of the month dreading the next two weeks about to come back. I also had a miscarriage four years ago that I relate to all of this now. Did I mention zero sex drive yet?

gluten-free since January: immediate relief from PMS, mood swings, imsomnia, depression, low libido (OK, I also cut back on caffeine and took more vitamins). Menstrual flow is slower to recover, but much lighter and now spread over four days. I am hoping that I might still be able to get pregnant in the next year or so....

[Lukalovescats]

So glad you all posted something. I've had horrible cramps for years, they thought endo, but never found any cause. Would take 3-4 darvocet a day for them. Over the past few years the periods got much heavier as well. My gyno put me on Prozac last summer for the PMS/PMDD. I've been on 4 different pills including NuvaRing and now Lybrel to end the periods. I'm at the point where I'd like them to just do a hystrectomy, but have been thinking about stopping the pill altogether and seeing if anything had changed since I went on the diet. I think you all helped me make the decision. I was thinking of trying accupuncture if the cramps are still bad.

[SpikeMoore]

Hi
I believe the site is endo-resolved.com...there is a diet section there and it says to avoid wheat and dairy. I was a cheese lover also, but now find much less pain when I eliminate or reduce it (I don't have a sensitivity, but the milk fat converts to inflammatory prostaglandins in your body and they cause the pain).
I had high hopes that going gluten free would resolve the cycle problems of increasing pain, heavy flow and infertility, but alas no, I need to be on the pill to control the symptoms. But at least that works--minimal pain and tolerable flow. I tried to go off of the pill with continued strict avoidance of cheese and gluten, but within two cycles, the heavy periods had returned.

[writer73]

I've been gluten free since Sept 2012 and I did so suspecting my skin rashes, which were horrid, might be related to wheat/gluten. My skin is much better. I had terrible PMS also - and this has pretty much resolved. My PMS would start a week prior to my period - irritability, bloating, and indescribable "pressure" kind of all over that wouldn't go away until I had my period. I had to take an antidepressant to take the edge off with my irritability. Now, I might feel a little irritable a day before I get my period - but nothing major & no other symptoms. My periods are lighter and don't last as long also. I don't need the antidepressant either. I am so relieved to have found the answer to all of my problems! My energy level has improved also.

[nvsmom]

I have a bit less bloating and cramps. My greatest improvement was in the headaches; I used to get a migraine for a week. Since going gluten-free I have had a two day headache for pms once.