Hello lovely fasting ladies,
I've seen other women post this in other fasting subreddits, but I wanted to contribute my experience as well.
I started keto one month ago. I've had some carby meals when my hormones politely demanded it of me. But I didn't experience any strange hormone changes on keto alone.
I started alternate day fasting (ADF) (36 hour fasts) 10 days ago. I've done intermittent fasting in the past, but this is my first go-round with intermittent fasting in a while. I like ADF for all the time spent in autophagy. With the keto-ADF combo, I've lost 5 lbs and lots of inches.
I track my body temperature and ovulation as a hormone-free birth control. So I have lots of data about what symptoms to expect on each day of my cycle.
Where I currently am in my cycle, I should be totally symptom-free. I'm nowhere near ovulation or my period. Yet I'm having ovary and uterine pain, not unbearable, but notable. I don't usually experience this pain anytime during my cycle. My lower back hurts. I have breast pain, irritability, and that ravenous feeling you get right before your period.
Tonight I've had a big refeed meal with carbs in response to all these wonky hormones.
I've read some theories that as we lose weight, estrogen stored in our fat cells is released which can cause strange symptoms.
I intend to continue keto and ADF, as I feel this experience is part of the growing pains of adapting to keto and fasting.
But have you had an experience like this? Do you have any ideas of what causes this?
Happy fasting!
Answer
So, essentially, yes. I’m on mobile though and would rather have a keyboard to fully answer :)
The more your body gets efficient with fasting, bring healthier, leveling out all the hormones, etc, you’re likely going to experience random weird thing. Obviously medical professional if some of the issues are alarming or not going away, but generally weird non super alarming changes are normal…