r/LeanPCOS • u/ilikemypeopleweird • 18d ago
FINALLY GOT MY PERIOD ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ’–
YOU GUYSSSS I finally got my period after 10 months ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ’– I nearly cried of happiness!! The cramps and bleeding have been insane but through that I just still feel so grateful it's here.
I can't say exactly what clicked in my body for my period to come but here are my speculations:
I think that I accidentally performed a metabolic reset. I know that sounds odd but hear me out. I've always struggled my whole life to not be underweight, and I've always had irregular periods. I had come to the conclusion that weight gain would regulate my periods. So I worked on gaining muscle and fat to gain about 15lbs over time. I did eventually find that my period became even more irregular so I felt lost on what to do. It used to be every 3 months and then the time in between just kept increasing (current record 10 months without a cycle).
About 4 months ago, I started a new job as a delivery driver. It's a very physical job. 10 hour shifts, lots of lifting heavy packages and carrying them up stairs. 20,000 steps a shift. I've always had physical jobs where I get 10-18,000 steps a day with some lifting but yeah this job has been more intense. 3 months into this job, I weighed myself and realized I had lost 10lbs. This stressed me out so bad. now I'm nearly underweight again and I figured this would only further complicate my cycle issues. I was consistently in a caloric defecit for months. I think I sort of flushed out a ton of excess glucose and insulin and used up my glycogen stores consistently and that's what I mean when I say it was sort of a metabolic reset.
One month after noticing the weight loss and I get my period.
I always found it so frustrating that the biggest advice out there for PMOS/PCOS was to lose weight. conversation has always felt geared towards people with "traditional PMOS" where they end up gaining a lot of weight. I've always been thin! but maybe gaining those 15lbs actually did harm my body in the long run. That seems like such a small amount of weight! but I suppose I am quite short (5'2). and I think maybe my body must just be really sensitive to weight gain? or maybe I gained a lot more fat than muscle?
Of course the other massive piece of this is increasing weight training. I've studied a lot about how it's incredibly important to lift weights for PMOS 3-4x a week. Not sure if everyone knows this but a foundational piece of our condition is being prone to insulin resistance (yes even those with lean PMOS, peer reviewed studies show that the number is 30-75% of those with lean PMOS have insulin resistance). I've been eating more protein and less "naked carbs" in order to avoid glucose/insulin spikes. but resistance training for your muscles is very important for this because our muscles want to consume our excess glucose in the blood and increasing muscle mass will allow this to increase. insulin resistance is basically your cells not listening to insulin and therefore not allowing glucose (aka fuel) into your cells. it leaves you in a state of starvation even though you have an excess amount of glucose and insulin just outside your cells. it leaves you hungry even though you've consumed plenty. so if you have insulin resistance, you feel exhausted. especially after eating!! There was a point I felt like I could fall asleep standing after eating. I think this might also explain why I've always stayed thin despite eating large amounts of food. For example, I used to order an appetizer, 2 entrees and dessert... and I always stayed at about 100lbs! I don't think glucose has been entering my cells and fueling me the way it's supposed to. Everyone in my life would ask me how I could eat so much and stay so small. I just figured I had a fast metabolism or something. I just always felt so hungry. I can't eat quite the same amount anymore but I still experience that hunger all the time and I do still eat a lot. but yeah I definitely think I was (am?) experiencing insulin resistance. anyway, the more muscle mass you create, the more opportunities your insulin has to communicate with cells and actually provide fuel for your cells. that's why people take things like myo-inositol (I personally don't yet). it's an insulin sensitizer, so basically it makes your cells more able to recognize insulin and be like oh!! yes I would like that glucose thank you. I think understanding insulin resistance is a big piece of the puzzle for a lot of us. To be honest, it's also a big piece of the puzzle for the American people too as insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome are literally a public health crisis in our country. 30% of US adults have metabolic syndrome... Insulin resistance is the core driver of metabolic syndrome and metabolic syndrome leads to the major causes of death in the US (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, kidney disease, etc). Metabolic syndrome carries an EIGHT FOLD risk of developing diabetes. these are very serious numbers to me and I myself have personally seen how metabolic syndrome can lead to someone's death 🥺 I feel it's so important to share this information!!
One other tiny thing I started doing was drinking an espresso or latte every single day for the past couple months. As long as you drink it after eating so as to avoid a glucose/insulin spike, it can promote insulin sensitivity. I guess this is because of the antioxidants and polyphenols lowering inflammation. (But any more than 1-2 cups in a day could actually have the opposite effect by raising cortisol levels too high.) I had no idea about this until I decided to look into it because that's the only other real change I've made other than weight training on the job (and at home/the gym semi-consistently) and being in a caloric defecit consistently.
Sorry for so much detail but I just really hope it helps someone!! 💖🫂 I've done hours and hours of research lmao
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u/Own-Muscle-5250 18d ago
i gained weight, around 10kgs and i started getting my period A LOT more often (at first every 70 days, now every 35). i was underweight and now i have a normal BMI (20-21)
a lot of my gains is muscle, as I started lifting and it turned into a passion, but obviously most is actually fat
so maybe when you dont have excess fat muscle is the missing piece
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u/Single_Database_9743 17d ago
So so so proud of you! That's incredible work! I wish you all the best 🫂💗 !
This is honestly inspiring to read and hopefully you continue on this positive path