Has Anyone Had Issues With Menstrual Cycle

[smile]

For about 3 years now Ive had very irregular periods sometimes going 6 months between periods and before then my cycle would be around 46/47 days.

Earlier this year I was told I had PCOS, diagnosed by symptoms, scans showed a bulky ovary (no cysts)and low progesterone suggesting Ive not been ovulating.

I was give Provera tablets to induce a period and was told I would need to do this every 3 months for health benefits eg cut the risk of womb cancer. I took tablets once inducing a period, now Ive had a second period just 35 days apart. Ive not had that short a cycle in years. The only difference in recent weeks is that Ive been gluten free for 2 weeks. I know Ive read that coeliac disease can cause irregular periods or missed periods, but I can't believe this has happened. Could this happen in the space of 2 weeks? Has anyone had the periods return to a regular cycle after going gluten free. I guess I will only see if this has happened if I were to have another period in a months time. It will be so interesting to see.

[shopgirl]

Interesting. Ever since I started showing serious symptoms for Celiac early this year, my periods went from a minor annoyance to a majorly painful event every month. The cramps were unbearable and my normally clockwork system went haywire. The gynecologist found an ovarian cyst and told me I might have endometriosis but that I was too young to be tested for it (whatever that means). I went on birth control pills but they haven't done much yet

[jessicalw28]

I have had irregular periods for about 2 years now. It started with spotting in between periods that turned into having a period every other week. Now sometimes I get really long periods (10-14 days). I had a hysteroscopy and D&C to look for fibroids and polyps, but nothing was found. I have switched birth control pills several times and still have not found a solution. I am in the process of getting tested for celiac, as I have many other problems that could be related. I have had my hormone levels checked and everything was normal. There is a family history of endometriosis, but the GYN doesn't think I have that. My cramps and back pain have been getting increasingly worse the past few months. I have not been able to start a gluten free diet because I am supposed to have biopsies done soon. I can't wait to try it and see if it helps my menstrual symptoms as well as my GI and other problems.

Hope you get better soon! Lady problems are no fun

[shopgirl]

I have had irregular periods for about 2 years now. It started with spotting in between periods that turned into having a period every other week. Now sometimes I get really long periods (10-14 days). I had a hysteroscopy and D&C to look for fibroids and polyps, but nothing was found. I have switched birth control pills several times and still have not found a solution. I am in the process of getting tested for celiac, as I have many other problems that could be related. I have had my hormone levels checked and everything was normal. There is a family history of endometriosis, but the GYN doesn't think I have that. My cramps and back pain have been getting increasingly worse the past few months. I have not been able to start a gluten free diet because I am supposed to have biopsies done soon. I can't wait to try it and see if it helps my menstrual symptoms as well as my GI and other problems.

Hope you get better soon! Lady problems are no fun

Yup, the increasingly worse cramps and back pain is what I've been getting too. Much heavier periods, spotting before they were supposed to start, irregularity. And I went from taking a couple Ibuprofen a month to several a day to the much stronger Naproxen

[ScullyFord]

My periods have gotten heavier over the last 2-3 YEARS with increasing pain that rolls from my back to my sides and then cramps down hard. They are rhythmic and can be timed. Goes on for sometimes hours. My periods have lasted 5-15-20 DAYS and gets progressively heavier as the months wear on. I thought (thinking otherwise now) that it was early menopause. And I may only go a few days between cycles. This is interesting. I get tested in November as I've had suspicions lately of at least a gluten intolerance. Perhaps there is a connection....? If going gluten-free would resolve those issues, I'd be most happy!

[SaraKat]

The only thing I have noticed is that sometimes it comes early. This started about a year ago, I was always very regular (never on the pill either). I would get it 28-30 days. Last summer I started getting it at 24 days. Since then they have anywhere from 23-30 days. I wonder if celiac has anything to do with it. I was just dx'd 2 months ago.

[Hamster101]

My periods were always irregular and very heavy, lasting at least seven days, until I went on the pill. That seemed to regulate them effectively for me, though I did have on every month whereas you are having them very sporadically. I cant say the pain has improved since taking up this diet, butit might in the future, as this is my first whilst eating a gluten free diet.

[SGWhiskers]

We know that endometriosis is suspected to have an autoimmune connection if not being an autoimmune disease in its own right. We also know that PCOS is related to diabeties and that diabeties can be related to Celiac. It does not surprise me that either of these conditions would respond to a gluten-free diet. The malnutriton that celiac causes can also have an affect on menstural cycles.

I have endometriosis which did see a mild improvement in pain levels after going gluten free. My cycle length/frequency/ and strength also changed after going gluten-free, but it may be that I was approaching peri-menopause. Of course it may not be since instead of menopause, I wound up happily pregnant. Come to think of it, that's a pretty big change in the menstural cycle as a result of gluten-free.

I've seen several of you post about endometriosis. Like celiac, it is often overlooked and has a multi-year lag between when the disease affects a person's life and when it is diagnosed. My experience has been that doctors are either ignorant, incompotant, or uncaring in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. After years of suffering undiagnosed with it, I learned about the disease and put the pressure on my doctors for a diagnosis and better treatment. While it's been 10 years since my diagnosis, my understanding is that the only test for the disease is a diagnostic laparoscopy. Without one, doctors can't say you do or don't have endo. The problem with doing a diagnostic laparoscopy on anyone that might have endo is that a) it's major surgery and it causes scarring which causes adhesions which cause pain. It really is a balancing act by the ob/gyns to figure out the best timing for the laparoscopy becuase during one, they can treat the endo and hopefully reduce the pain levels and restore some fertility. Menstural pain is the hallmark of endo and hormonal treatments like birth control pills are the best method of controlling pain and preserving fertility. In retrospect, if I had been aware the symptoms and the full spectrum of damage of endo, I would have insisted on starting birth control pills even when I didn't need them for actual birth control many years sooner. Even if I was just suspicious of the disease. Oh, and reproductive endocrinologists are the experts in endometriosis. You don't have to be trying to get pregnant to see one.

[Coolclimates]

these last few months have been strange for me. My periods are almost always very regular but a couple of months ago, I got one and kept bleeding for well over 2 weeks. I wasn't bleeding very hard but it went on and on. My gyn seemed to think that it was due to not ovulating. Then my last period came early but other than that, there was no problem. This period came very late and I had a good 2 weeks of PMS and cramps before it even started. Well it finally started last week but it's been 7 days and I'm still going very heavy. Usually my periods are over in 5-6 days. The cramps have died down but I'm concerned about the heavy bleeding. I've been under a lot of stress lately, but not more than I am usually under. I've been on the gluten-free diet for over a year now. I have diagnosed Celiac Disease and it's been really slow to improve.

[ncarolinian]

Just thought I might share my own personal experience on this topic...

I started my gluten-free diet about 6 months about. Before starting the gluten-free diet, I had gotten blood work done which the doctor used in a PCOS diagnosis for me. I had maybe 4-5 menstruation cycles a year which were very heavy, painful, and would last for two or more weeks at a time.

Since starting the gluten-free diet, my period has been regular and normal in duration and intensity for the last five months..I started the gluten-free diet about 6 months ago. (My menstruation cycle has never been regular since it started and I'm 28 years old now)

My skin rashes have mostly disappeared too!! (except for when I accidentally eat gluten of course..)

Just thought I'd give some of you hope out there! Thanks!!

[1desperateladysaved]

I was having some extreme heavy flows before gluten and grain free. Five years back it was almost every month, but with supplements it was occassional. Now, I have not had a heavy one for 6 months since going gluten free. I was thinking there is a connection.

[peacefirst]

I think it does have a connection. My periods were like a clock every 28 days most of my life and about a year ago they went on totally weird timing. I even thought I had early menopause. Then slowly I started getting digestive symptoms too. But very soon since I started gluten free I got a normal period and now had it twice -even with a white head pimple -complete

[kittty]

About ten years ago my periods became really erratic. My old doctor put me on the pill as a way to even them out, and it worked, but she never bothered to figure out what was causing the problems. I wouldn't have a period for months, and then I'd have two in a single month. There was no rhyme or reason to it.

[DandelionH]

I don't have one . I lost it when I stopped drinking soy about 4 months ago (hurts my stomach. Drank it for about 5 years). The exact month I stopped. Perhaps coincidence but who knows.

Admittedly I have a BMI of about 15 still (healthy! happy! active! eating! More than most people, in fact. Just never gained it back after being sick for years)...

I was actually hoping it would come back because I'm so well-nourished and all other things are good but I guess I should purposefully gain weight. Bother.

I'd like to have kids soon so it's a bit of a worry...

[Corie]

I have never had classic Celiac symptoms, instead I was hit with a wave of vague broad "period" symptoms for two weeks every 7 weeks. I had a menstrual cycle that was 45-55 days long. 

Since I was 16  ( I am 29 now) I have had crushing, debilitating, crippling menstrual cycles.  My mother just told me it ran in the family. Doctors told me i 'just had bad periods' Gynecologist after gynecologist put me on a new birth after new birth control every year. I started getting blinding headaches, they told me i could no longer have estrogen based hormones. None of the methods helped my periods. I would get sick weeks before I actually bleed. It was like my body was fighting the period. Fatigue, vomit, diarrhea, crippling pelvic pain, abdomen pain, and swelling joints that would seize up entirely. Every teacher in college knew that i would disappear for weeks sometimes, I would work with them through emails. Every employer either learned to love me and allowed me the extra time off or fired me rather fast. 

Plagued with crippling pain and fear and finding no help from doctors, I turned to self-diagnosing myself from the internet. I was convinced I had endometriosis, but gyno after gyno dismissed me. I finally found a birth control method that seemed to help my period but the crippling pain remained.  I found a doctor that also was convinced I had endometriosis, she was willing to skip the laparoscopy and just start treating me with drugs. I requested the diagnostic laparoscopy. They found nothing.

After that, my primary care ran a full autoimmune disease blood panel. It was three weeks later that I went in for a biopsy and then another week till I was finally handed the diagnosis of Celiac disease.

That was a month ago. I just started my first gluten-free period. It surprised me, suddenly starting. Im having a mild cramping feeling in my lower body that i've never noticed before because it was always drowned out by the crippling other symptoms.... I feel slightly bloated but my joints aren't locked up. I can walk straight with out shooting pains running up and down my legs and spine. 

I cant wait to find out what my life is going to be, maybe I can finally leave the cycle of crippling pain firmly in the past. 

[cyclinglady]

13 hours ago, Corie said:

I have never had classic Celiac symptoms, instead I was hit with a wave of vague broad "period" symptoms for two weeks every 7 weeks. I had a menstrual cycle that was 45-55 days long. 

Since I was 16  ( I am 29 now) I have had crushing, debilitating, crippling menstrual cycles.  My mother just told me it ran in the family. Doctors told me i 'just had bad periods' Gynecologist after gynecologist put me on a new birth after new birth control every year. I started getting blinding headaches, they told me i could no longer have estrogen based hormones. None of the methods helped my periods. I would get sick weeks before I actually bleed. It was like my body was fighting the period. Fatigue, vomit, diarrhea, crippling pelvic pain, abdomen pain, and swelling joints that would seize up entirely. Every teacher in college knew that i would disappear for weeks sometimes, I would work with them through emails. Every employer either learned to love me and allowed me the extra time off or fired me rather fast. 

Plagued with crippling pain and fear and finding no help from doctors, I turned to self-diagnosing myself from the internet. I was convinced I had endometriosis, but gyno after gyno dismissed me. I finally found a birth control method that seemed to help my period but the crippling pain remained.  I found a doctor that also was convinced I had endometriosis, she was willing to skip the laparoscopy and just start treating me with drugs. I requested the diagnostic laparoscopy. They found nothing.

After that, my primary care ran a full autoimmune disease blood panel. It was three weeks later that I went in for a biopsy and then another week till I was finally handed the diagnosis of Celiac disease.

That was a month ago. I just started my first gluten-free period. It surprised me, suddenly starting. Im having a mild cramping feeling in my lower body that i've never noticed before because it was always drowned out by the crippling other symptoms.... I feel slightly bloated but my joints aren't locked up. I can walk straight with out shooting pains running up and down my legs and spine. 

I cant wait to find out what my life is going to be, maybe I can finally leave the cycle of crippling pain firmly in the past. 

Wow!  So glad you shared your story.  It is bound to help someone with comparable issues.  It is shocking how celiac disease can affect people so differently.  

Keep us posted on your progress.  Learn about follow-up care:

http://www.cureceliacdisease.org/faq/how-often-should-follow-up-testing-occur/

 

[Corie]

Thank you! I have already finished my cycle! it lasted only three days, it blows my mind.  Before I would bleed lightly on and off for weeks after my period started.  This was the simplest period i've had in over 10 years.  

I will keep updating in hopes it will help someone in the future. 

[MADMOM]

On 8/27/2012 at 10:28 AM, kittty said:

About ten years ago my periods became really erratic. My old doctor put me on the pill as a way to even them out, and it worked, but she never bothered to figure out what was causing the problems. I wouldn't have a period for months, and then I'd have two in a single month. There was no rhyme or reason to it.

my period stopped at age 47 - early 47 and prior i had cycles spot on every 28 days - i’ve been gluten free for 6 months now feelimg wonderful and about 2 weeks ago i felt pms symptoms all over again - tender boobs heaviness tired moody and crampy - as i used the bathroom one day to urinate i wiped and saw pinkish twinge on paper which only lasted one day - for a week after i had nothing and 3 days ago i see dark brown twinge in my discharge - i called the gyno who has no knowledge of my celiac snd she said because i went through menopause on the younger side i could have awakened it - my pap smear was aug 2020 all normal and so i’m not so concerned but i did read that if u chsnge your diet and eat cleaner you can awaken ur cycle which makes total sense - i’ve been gluten free 6 months - i’m wondering if my cycle is actually returning !!!