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lack of cycles= vegetarianism

5201 Views 46 Replies 23 Participants Last post by  Debrah
Hello, I posted a while back about problems related to my menstrual cycle, but I have a few more questions about how vegetarianism relates to menstrual cycles. I'm 16 and have only had two cycles this year. I became a vegetarian last November, and the loss of my cycle seems to have coincided with going vegetarian, although I had seemed to start to get irregular the summer before. It seemed like when I became a vegetarian, though they totally dissapeared and were gone for 6 months. I went to a doctor who put me on a high dosage of vitamin D which she thought would correct my lack of cycles, and I did get 2 periods which were very light. I have been getting periodic bloodwork, and my testosterone keeps going up. I have gained 15 lbs this year. I have not had a period since early August. Yesterday my mom realized that this has been going on too long, and she made me an appointment with a gynocologist. They had an opening for today, and I went in and they examined me and ran more blood work and I am getting an ultrasound next Monday. They are hoping to get to the bottom of this soon. They think it is either an ovarian cyst that will need surgical removal or a hormonal imbalance such as PCOS. I asked them if they thought that this could be related to my diet and they said that they are almost sure that it isn't. My chiropractor, however has been telling me how vegetarianism is so unhealthy and that my cycles will probably start if I eat red meat. She believes that people really need animal protein in their diets. I'm not sure if being a vegetarian can cause problems or not. I am an ovo vegetarian, but I actually have started to include fish oil in my diet from the insistance of this chiropractor. What do you all think of this? Do you think that sometimes animal food is necessary to maintain hormonal health?
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hopejoy,

sorry if i miss some points, but i am just replying quick.

a diet alteration often causes a change in your cycle, but nothing that would be detrimental (sometimes a lighter flow, or an early period for a few months).

if you are getting adequate nutrition and eating properly, then your vegetarianism has nothing to do with what is going on. it's good you saw a doctor.

i would go over the diet with them, if you are concerned.

other than that, if you have PCOS or a cyst, it's good to find out.

as for your last question, no, you do not NEED anything animal derived for anything.
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if she is at risk for arthritis, fish oil supplements increase protection for bone health.
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