Hi lovely ladies!

I have a 2-part question... the first is that since going on the Candida Diet I have missed 2 periods. I have never ever once missed a menstruation or rarely been a day late and the first month I only had my period for one day and the next month none at all. I am waiting to see if next week I will get it as planned. I am also on the pill so it comes like clockwork. Could this be because of my dietary changes? I haven't stuck to the diet 100% over the past month though...

Ok, and the 2nd thought I was having:
I have been on birth control for 12 years now, non stop. Many times I will start a new pack without letting myself have my period in between (I take 3 weeks of pills and then start a new pack). I used to do that quite often and it never caused any problems, but now I am wondering... could this possibly have caused my candida build up? Just a thought and I don't know if anyone out there knows anything about that.

Either way I am not skipping them anymore... just hoping I get one soon!

Thanks for your help, I'm not quite sure where to turn or when to ask a professional?

Hi there,

Welcome. There are many versions of "The Candida Diet." If you look in our diet section you'll be able to see if what you are doing is close to what we recommend. Losing too much of your body fat can cause your period to stop and eating too lightly can as well. Also, when women use psyllium based cleansing products to detoxify the colon, this can cause temporary menstrual irregularities.

If you miss more than one period, I'd get in to see a doctor and I would always, always take a break so that you can have a period. Your uterus cleans itself this way. I'm not a doctor and cannot explain the consequences of taking the pill back to back but I would not think this is a healthy choice.

Take good care,

Tarilee

PS To learn about our program, check out the posts in the Getting Started section.

Hi- I realize that this is an old post, but is this really common for people here? I was on the body ecology diet for 4 months and recently switched to wholeapproach. My first period on the diet was very light and then skipped the last 3 periods completely. I thought that this was because I lost some weight, but have been trying to put more weight on- still no period. I am doing colon cleansing- how does this effect periods? thanks for any more information- my monthly cleanses are super important to me (all cleansing is beneficial, especially when fighting off yeast).

Hi there IHS,

Weight loss and colon cleansing are both well known to contribute to a cessation of the period.It is not unusual for folks to experience a variation in their cycle or a missed period here and there.

If you've missed three periods, I'd strongly encourage you to see your doctor for a check up, to make sure that everything is ok.

Do check back with us and let us know how you make out will you?

Take good care,

Tarilee

thanks for the reply. I have seen my doctor (N.D.) who switched me from the body ecology diet, to this one- she thinks that BED was too restrictive for my body and that this diet will help....I just don't know if it is THE solution. I am liking the new diet though so will keep it up. In the meantime, I was hoping to find some miracle to start my periods again (I hate the thought of trying to gain weight to get my periods back!).

There are some herbs that are said to start bleeding. One is skullcap but it is also a sedative. You could try researching herbal medicine for Dysmenorrhea. You may also wish to see a Chinese Herbalist as Traditional Chinese Medicine may have some helpful remedies. If you do use TCHM, do make sure to buy only from companies that use third party tested products certain to be clear of contaminants of all types.

Take good care,

Tarilee

thank you for the herbal info- I'll look into it. Have you found this to be a common problem? I just don't understand what the underlying cause is and hate to treat a problem without figuring it out first. I'll check into the herbs

Cessation of the period is more of a common issue with weight loss than with cleansing.

I agree that it's a very good idea to try to assess the cause. Sometimes it's a reasonable approach to try eliminating causes to see if the problem is resolved but with serious symptoms like this, a doctor's check up is well advised as well.

Tarilee

thank you. I think maybe I should see a second doctor. My ND is trying a 'wait and see' on me. She modified my diet to correct the constipation and to help me gain a bit of weight and thinks the periods will come...but I don't really want to keep waiting around. thanks for your response
-Sara

Hi Sara,
I thought I'd let you know that I started the whole approach plan several years ago and stopped getting my period for 2 years! This was very unusual for me. In retrospect, I think it was that I lost a fair bit of weight and was overcautious when it came to limit foods. Meaning, my carb intake was really too low; I rarely had a limit food, naively thinking that this would help me get healthier more quickly. After about 6 months without a period, I started thinking that I wasn't taking the right approach with the diet plan. So, I started introducing myself to foods I hadn't eaten in a while, neglected the plan for another while, gained my weight back but STILL my period didn't come back. I saw MDs and NDs and very little changed as nothing showed on my tests and they had very little to say, in fact. Finally, I saw a doctor of TCM and a month later my period returned and has been with me ever since! That was almost 2 years ago now. And, only now am I feeling strong enough to start back on the diet plan again (although I've been following a Stage 3-ish diet for a while now). So, I think the fact that you don't want to keep waiting around is a good thing. I think I stressed my hormones too much and it caused a toll on my health, even though it was with good intensions. Good luck!
Meg

Hi Meg, thanks for sharing your experience. So even when you added some foods back into the diet and got your weight up, your periods didnt come right back? What did your new doctor recommend? 2 years is a really long time! You've motivated me to find another doctor. It sucks to work so hard to be healthy and to have such 'resistance' from my body. *sigh*

right, adding foods back and gaining weight back didn't work for me, although i'm sure everyone is different. i think with the candida i was already weak and, as i said above, i think i was too strict in my avoidance of limit foods. this, i think stressed out my already stressed body and it just struggled as a result.

my md wasn't helpful and said it was likely stress and that my period would come back in time. i saw a few doctors and some thought i had polycystic ovarian syndrome but others didn't and personally i think they were just looking for a reason and they didn't really have one so came up with that.

needless to say, after 2 years without a period i was worried! so finally i tried the doctor of traditional chinese medicine and she gave me some herb teas to drink. within a month i had my period! unfortunately, i can't say what the teas were made of as basically i told her all my symptoms and she prescribed the tea. too bad you dodn't live in my city because my friend also didn't have her period for a little bit and she went to see her and it came back for her as well. what some other NDs have said to me since then is that doctors of chinese medicine seem to generally be quite good at hormonal regulation. and that in this case the herbs are important, not just the acupuncture.

let me know if i can help in any other way. and, as i said, everyone is different but i wanted to let you know because i remember it being a stressful time for me.

good luck! meg

thanks for the information Meg! There is a great herbalist here- maybe that will be my next stop.
-Sara

Woo-Hoo! Guess what I got for New Years?! After missing my period for 5 whole months I got it right in time for the New Year: I'm so excited that I wasn't bummed at all about all the diet restrictions last night (lots of great food and drink that I couldn't enjoy)! YAY!
-Sara

That's great news!

There definitely ARE herbs that can encourage bleeding and seeing a herbalist and or acupunturist is a great idea! I'm so glad you gals are sharing your stories here.

Cheers!

TLC