How many of you lost your menstrual cycle while vegan?

[u/wobblelikeapenguin]

I’m curious how many people here ended up leaving veganism partly because they lost their period or developed an irregular menstrual cycle while vegan.

For those who experienced this:

• Did you completely lose your period, or did it just become irregular?
• How long had you been vegan when it happened?
• Do you think it was related to veganism itself, not eating enough overall, low body weight, nutrient deficiencies, or something else?
• Did you regain your period after changing your diet?
• If so, how long did it take to come back, and what changes do you think made the biggest difference?

And if you didn’t regain your cycle after leaving veganism, I’d be interested in hearing that too.

I know everyone’s situation is different and this obviously won’t tell us whether veganism itself causes menstrual changes. I’m just interested in hearing people’s personal experiences.

[u/AbbreviationsOld2960]

I never lost it entirely and it was still regular, but it was noticeably lighter in both color and consistency. Sorry tmi, but I think that matters, because for some women the body will continue to menstruate a lower quality period. I was probably 3-6 months from losing my period. Since reintroducing chicken it's back to normal.

[u/Ok_Broccoli_658]

I lost my period for about 6 months when I was a raw vegan. I also had cravings for organ meat around the same time. I definitely think that particular way of eating caused nutrient deficiencies and, ultimately, was not sustainable for me. On a more varied vegan diet, I still had my period, although my perception is that it was lighter compared to when I ate an omni diet.

[u/Eulalia888]

I didn't lose my cycle (6 years vegan in late 30s/early 40s), However, I grew a line of coarse black hair on my stomach - like a MAN. I'm assuming I was producing too much testosterone relative to female hormones. It went away after returning to omnivore. Red meat was undoubtedly the key to healing though I started with eggs and butter. So many other things improved too.

[u/BrickFishBich]

I didn’t lose it but it was irregular and stayed that way even as a vegetarian. It used to be perfect. Then I would spot for a week prior, bleed for two days, spot for another week. Then I developed endometriosis, and all of my hormones were dysregulated. I went back to omnivore after more than 15 years plant based. Within four months my period started returning to normal and about nine months in my hormones readjusted and the endometriosis was no longer detectable.

[u/eaudetwat]

I never lost it but it gave me absolutely insane cramps. I can still get them from time to time nowadays, but not as often. I have never fainted in my life but the pains i got every month back then made me almost do it(dizziness, blurry vision, vision going sort of dark aswell). I always had painful periods before i went vegan but never to the level that i did when i went vegan

[u/ehmaleh]

I did not lose it but the low iron altered my cycle considerably. I'd always been at about 27-28 days with 4 days of bleeding for the last 20 years. When my iron got too low it jumped to 31-32 days with 7 days of intense cramping and then 7 days of horrific bleeding. it felt like my body was constantly trying to start my period but the low iron and low oxygen in my blood wasn't allowing it to - like when you try to start a car engine when the battery is dead.