I was wondering how many people had a PROLONGED period when they started this diet? Mine has been going for about 9 days now, which is super odd. I'd think it was done, then I start cramping all over again.

Mia

I have never heard of this, but there is a theory that menstrual blood is actually a form of detoxing, so maybe it is a result of that?!? Just a guess.

Hi Mia,

That's a super long time. You might want to drink some fresh Young Coconut Milk to replace the blood loss.

Mine are irregular and a few have been almost back to back with only a few days' break. When I was on Birth Control, I bled for 2 months straight and became anemic. I told the doctor that I kept bleeding. She told me that I had to wait it out. I got fed up and stopped taking the pills which were supposed to regulate the irregular periods rather than screw me up more.

With the periods that were almost back to back while Raw, I released what looked like growths. It was solid skin rather than just a blood clot. I pulled on the first one with toilet tissue and found that it was if I was pulling on my finger rather than breaking up. I've released 5 of these since I turned raw 2.5 years ago. The sizes ranged from the size/width of my pinkie to my thumb. The last one was about a month and a half ago. I took a picture to keep record of it. It's pretty disgusting. Sorry.

Anyhow, back to you. Please consider rebuilding your blood either through added chlorophyll which will help your regenerate your blood or through drinking fresh Young Coconut Water. I suggest at least 2 coconuts or large glassfuls. If you know how to muscle test, use this method instead to determine how much you should drink. On each of the past events, 2 were the number I needed. You may need another one if you've been bleeding that long. I didn't like the taste of Young Coconut Milk but I drank it anyway. It really helped bring the color back to my face and gave me more energy as I was so weak.

Take care.
Therese

Oh Therese!

Thanks for the reply. The odd thing is that today I started craving coconut and coconut water. I put some in my shake tonight. This entire period I've craved things heavy in iron and fat. I wondered if my hormones/blood loss had something to do with it.

I wondered if, perhaps, I may be doing the same thing. The blood, instead of getting darker, kept going away/coming back bright red...which is odd. It is now darker, but still intermittant and crampy. I feel like something is JUST STARTING.

I will try to buy more coconut water Monday when the organic store is open again.

Mia

its not uncommon to crave iron rich foods after losing blood ...i used to dive head first into the spinach patch before i got fixed hehe

Hey mia...yeahi have heard it is detox as well...hmm i started the other day as well as you can see in my journal haha..but it is really heavy and i hate that...i have had my period last 6 months well almost 7 and like therese said the dr told me to wait it out as well and i was 13....it was scary to have my period for so long...ever since i was about 10 i have had really HEAVY crazy long periods...so for as long as i can remember i have been anemic....like 7's.....it is so horrible i know what you are oging through..i go through a tampon and pad in 30 minutes it is the worst...and i can never swim no matter what i am not like other girls who have the fix of the tampon for like 8 hours...it costs me a lot to have my cycle too...my mom used to buy the bulk boxes from sams club..like 10 boxes at a time cuz i go through at least 2 boxes of 100 plus count each month...plus about same amount of pads...and so anyway the moral of that was..i think that the cycle is def part of detox....my body has been very health challenged since a young age of 2 and full of toxins from meds and what not...and since my body was unable to lose weight i have tons of built up toxins in my body and i think that my body's last resort to releasing the toxins was my cycle so it used it to it's advantage....releasing as much as it could before i was deathly ill you know??? that is why i think now that it is soo heavy and so long every month since i was 10...it was like some people's body has a last resort with acne and what not mine was the cycle saying hey body we need to get these toxins moving out!!!!!!

.when i went raw the first month it disappeared and slowed down the next month wasn't very heavy only lasted a few days...then last month it skipped and this month IT"S BACKKKK...heavy as ever...so i know it has to be detox and my body getting rid of stuff..it is horribel but i am trying to live with it and embrace it like a h/a or running nose...or constant bm's haha..it is all part of cleansing the body and getting healthy!!!!

so good luck to you and i know what you are going through it is crazy but think how great we will feel once we push past this!!!!....

hmm also interesting you guys mention that it is not uncommon to crave things...cuz the past 3 nights since i started i have been eating heads of spinach and khale and collard greens haha..at least 2 heads a day...and usually i don't crave the spinach so much.....i mean i went out and centered my evening around it haha....so that is interesting it is my body sayng hey give me some good stuff!!!!

hey jgunn i am interested to know about this skin thing...i have things that look like large chunks but i think they are clots....sometimes they are huge though......i am talking like they could be weighed haha....i know it is probably sick to some people but hey whoever is reading these knew what they were getting into they saw the menstrual question title haha....

well everyone i hope that my story helps all of you too!! to understand it more and be more accepting...i know it is tough ahha i am dealing with it too..but i try to keep positive about it
good luck
take care

love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxoxox

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

I haven't - yet, but I imagine it's different for every person. Mine have been the same, shorter, and/or longer apart.

Sarah
[goingbananasblog.com]

When I was young I had five day periods. A cycle of first day-light , second and third-a little heavy and fourth day-light and fifth-just some brown ending it off. I barely had cramps and hardly any blood loss. Last year at 37 I was bleeding so much that I couldn't use tampons anymore and would go through pads in less than an hour. I would go for five extremly heavy days. I would be weak and anemic all the time. I longed for the periods of my youth. When I went mostly raw in August my periods immediately got better. I would alternate. One month I would have a three day light period and the next month I would go five days and heavier but never like what I was going through before. I had never gone only three days before. When I go five days and heavy now the second day is a little rough but other than that not much of a problem. I didn't have a whole lot of detox to go through. My diet wasn't SAD and I am very small, 5'2" and 110 pnds, so I think detox was less than some people.

hi wow ive had exactly the opposite problem,, i wasnt getting my period,, i hadnt gotten my period normally for about 1 1/2 years,, i started getting it when i was 12,, but then it stopped wen i was 15, im now 17,, since i started raw its come back again!!! but the only problem is that it only lasts 1-2 days,, i kno this isnt normal,, my sister who is alot smaller than me and younger gets her for 5 days,, i obviously hav some hormonal issues,, has anybody out there had this problem? can u offer any advice,, bc i kno my hormones are out of wak,, will maca help? thanks!

fuzzy,

It is very normal for women who are 100% raw vegan to stop menstruating and still be fertile. Don't worry. Since I'm not 100% raw vegan at the moment, my periods are still irregular.

You can drink Shepherd's purse tea or Lady's Mantle tea to regulate your hormones. I buy these dried herbs from the bulk aisle. Frontier is the distributor. I also heard that Black Cohosh is supposed to help. I've done all three. The two teas helped the best. Within a day or so of drinking the teas, I would get my period. I wouldn't be concerned, though as your body on raw will cleanse and get to a stable point. If you really want to regulate it, you can drink Lady's Mantle every day. Personally, I wish my periods were as light as yours. I feel for you regarding the raging hormones, though.

You can reference this website: [www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com]

Also, if you read Dr. Arnold Ehret's "The Mucusless Healing System", he describes women that were 100% raw vegan that only had a mucus cycle. They still bore beautiful, healthy children.

Hope that helps.
Therese

wow now that was an interesting article thanks Therese

THANKS for all the replies. I finally stopped bleeding, though I can still feel hormonal surges...it is like I've still got PMS. My entire body is shifting and today I've a huge sore throat/chest/achey.

Mia

spring hormonal shift? with the earths' increasing fertility?

i hate pms. i'd rather be pregnant. i only get the curse every eight weeks, so it's not that often, but it's so bad that my husband requested i get pregnant so he doesn't have to deal with my moods. sending some beauty and peace your way-

peace-

I am just getting over a horrible period. I am so glad they are better than they used to be. I am looking forward to continued healing through raw.

Thanks for that link life 101, it was inspiring.

super weird ,mine is a few hours. I hate periods, I really do, 9 days, wow, Ibet its heavy too and feels like @#$%&. How do you cope?

Pmt hey? Well, i used to get it really bad, then on this diet, it all went a lot better, but now I notice that if I slip on my diet it seems to have an even worse effect on my pmt. As if now I have become so super sensitive. so I think, for me anyway, its important to stick to a healthy diet especially on those days, now more even than before.

It was over on day 9...I was suffering so bad. It went away and then I went IMMEDIATELY into this horrible detox. It has been sore throat, fever, lethargy, body aches for 3 days now...then today I CRAVED BALONEY. I HAVENT EATEN BALONEY SINCE CHILDHOOD...GROSS!

The more fruit I eat, the more I detox. I am determined not to take anything. I have the worst headache today as well.

Mia

poor mia!
sounds like your body decided to do a major detox. probably all related, some sort of breakthrough, physically. you know, your body realized you were cleaning up seriously, and waited until now to release this store of built up crap. because you can handle it.

this too shall pass. and if you keep eating fruit like you are, it shall pass in a matter of days!

peace-

Mia, one of my girls has the same kind of detox symptoms as you. She is always saying it's not detox when she has it the two days after a cheat. Coincidence?It was great to read her your post and say 'look, she is just like you.' Different people have different symptoms. Thanks.

My periods have been irregular ever since 2001. Sometimes I'd have my period every two months. Once I had my first child in 20023, it got even crazier. Sometimes it's last for 3 days and sometimes for 7. One year, I had it for 2 days.

Last month, I started taking Apple Cider Vinegar in 8ox of water and 1 tsp of Baking Soda. I did this a week before my period started NO CRAMPS OR PMS! Not one abdominal twinge.

When I went raw, my period symptoms improved...but if I cheat, all those yucky PMS symptoms come back.

I just started a mostly raw/living foods diet (mostly juicing) about a week ago. I've been drinking water 99% of the time for several weeks. Friday, the 27th, I started my period, and tis been very heavy ever since. Yesterday, I thought it was over (hadn't bled for several hours), and then it started up again. = (

A little background:
I'm 26. I'm morbidly obese, and fed up with being fat. I've been fat all my life. I hurt my back and knees in January of 2001, and am unable to exercise to lose the weight. I didn't have my first period 'til 18, and I took pills (can't remember what they were now) to even get that. Back then, they thought I might have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) but, I moved out of state before I could see a specialist. My periods have never been regular. I've gone as long as three and half years without one (May 2002-late 2005). The one I'm on now tis the first since late 2005, so I've had three periods in five years. I was finally diagnosed with PCOS in late 2004.

Since I hadn't started the raw food diet yet when the period started, I'm thinking drinking all that water was what started the cleansing of my body with the period. Now if only the period would end.

I've never had a problem, my flows have always been light, regular, and uneventful.

I think it has something to do with my bodyweight, bodyfat, and high fiber diet. I'd expect much more problems with a higher level of bodyfat: more estrogens and progesterones in the body.

hey howlingmoon...i have pcos as well as number of other health challenges...are you taking the meds or you hoping raw will help it out?? good luck to you...would love to talk with you more and bea support system for you!! take care and good lukc
love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxoox

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

Earthangel, I stopped taking the meds shortly after being diagnosed. I listened to a couple friends in the medical profession that told me they were for diabetes, not for PCOS. I should have read up on it myself, now that I have years later.

I haven't worked for four and half years due to my knee and back problems, so tis hard for me to afford medical bills so I can get a new prescription (old pills are two and half years old now). I'm mostly hoping that the juicing will help me lose weight so I can start exercising and get back to working again.

Would love to talk to you as well. I'm looking to make friends in the living foods world. = ) Goddess knows I could use all the support I can get. LOL

hey there i am going to send you a pm so check it lol..
love earthangel
xoxoxoxox

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

I have PCOS, as well. I was finally diagnosed with it after having *very* irregular periods since they started when I was 13 years old. I saw an endocrinologist who finally diagnosed me about two years ago. What I have learned from her (she's a specialist in this area), and through other research, is that PCOS actually comes from insulin resistance (IR) (even if you've been tested and the results say you aren't IR, you probably really are). I didn't have the obvious signs of facial hair (because of my blend of nationalities).

My entire family shows signs of PCOS/IR. The men in our family always go bald at a young age. The women have irregular cycles, many eventually getting hysterectomies, among other things. Many people believe that it's what a family eats that really causes things to look like they are hereditary, when really they are symptoms caused by the diet. This isn't the case, however, since I was a vegetarian before I was ten years old, living in a home with others who consumed very unhealthy foods.

I found a really interesting article about why IR probably started in people (I can't remember where I found it, and I never saved the link). It pretty much said that the less food your ancestors had, the more likely their bodies adapted in a way to store fat for survival. They became slightly resistant to insulin as a way to survive.

Anyway, I was prescribed Metformin for the PCOS. I never took anything other than Advil before, so I didn't want to take the medicine. However, I decided to try it just to see if it made a difference. Within a few months, I was experiencing 28-day cycles for the first time in my life (I'm 41, now)! I couldn't believe it--someone had actually figured out what was causing my cycles to be so awful since they started at 13.

So, I stayed on that for about a year. Then once I knew without a doubt that I now had the answer to my problem (it was IR causing PCOS, which was causing my irregular cycles), I decided to stop the medicine. The medicine made my heart (I have a heart defect) feel heavy and sometimes gave me pain. Plus, it just didn't feel good to be on that medicine. I felt like I was retaining water, too. I researched diet and IR and found a book called the "Insulin Resistance Diet" and started following that. It helped me lose weight, and my cycles weren't awful, but they still weren't 28-days. I still spotted between periods.

Then I went through a lot of growth last summer (spiritual, emotional, etc.) and I felt a calling to eat raw foods, again (I had done it before, but not for more than three months, I think). So, I slowly transitioned to being raw. I've been raw for about five months, now. My periods are still not "normal" and I still spot between them. However, they seem to be getting more and more regulated (at least that's what I hope I've been seeing).

Having a regular cycle is one of my reasons for trying raw again (the main reason being overall health and longevity). I have made myself a goal of one year raw, with the option to continue after that year if I decide it's something I want to do. I have a feeling that eating in a natural way, the way we would if we were wild animals, will cure my body of whatever is wrong. We'll have to wait and see. I'm willing to try this experiment because it feels so right and natural.

I have continued to lose one pound per week while transitioning and being raw. I have no idea what weight my body will eventually be, but I trust that it knows what to do and can do it if I fuel it properly.

Best wishes to those with PCOS. My heart goes out to you because I know what it's like.

Lots of love to all of you,

Gypsy Ardor
(I'm sproutingalive on LiveJournal, but I don't know how to link that)

p.s. I'm sorry this ended up being so long.

Gypsy Ardor-
wonderful post. very interesting and open and i loved it. where are your people from? truly gypsies? peace and blessings on your raw foods journey.

HowlingMoon-
welcome as well. and i hope you find a lot of support here. earthangel is such a wonderful woman, and she knows a lot about what you're going through, it seems.

and i'm just laughing cause i have another two years before i have to worry about a period. ha!

peace-

Don't mean to alarm you, but see a doctor because prolonged periods is a symptom of uterine cancer, though this does not mean that there aren't other, more common causes. But just something to be alerted to.

Still on my period. Today's day 11. = \ I decided if I'm still bleeding on Friday (two week point), I'm gonna make an appointment with... what kind of doctor ? OBGYN ?

Thank you for the welcome. = ) EA's been a lot of help already. = )

hello, Im new to this forum.

I just started on raw foods, its been 5 weeks, the last 3 weeks were pretty solid.

My breasts were killing me. Before they were a tiny bit sore during my periods. I waited it out and it finally went away, I figured it was an adjustment phase.

So far my periods have been pretty normal. The only real problem Ive had is gas and breast tenderness. The gas is insane. I added back home made 24 hour fermented yogurt this week to see if that helps. I know its not a raw food, but I spent a few years on scdiet to repopulate my gut with helpful bacteria and I never, ever farted on that diet. So I find it extremely odd that I have severe gas now.

Last night I snuck off to the bathroom to fart and hubby ran to the window thinking a taxi was beeping outside.