Help with cycles + belly fat

[grumpyblob]

Hi everyone. I'm at a bit of a dead end and looking for some help!

When I was a kid, I was lean. As soon as I hit puberty, I a) got uneven cycles and b) gained belly fat. And by belly fat I mean I look pregnant even though I'm not - my stomach is disproportionate. It's one thing to lose weight, but even when I do, I am just thinner all over - but it doesn't stop being disproportionate.

Obviously, this is hormonally linked, hence the uneven cycles. But when I was young at home, we never cooked with PUFA - only olive oil and then later coconut (well before we even found Ray!) So before I got my cycle, there wouldn't have been much PUFA to absorb. In which case, why did these problems appear from nowhere?

As of now, I've been eating this way for around 4 years. Temps and pulse are pretty much right on. Energy is great, and I eat lots of protein and coffee and milk, liver, oysters, etc. Digestion is good, mood is good, etc. But nothing seems to work for a) my cycle and b) the belly fat.

On the cycle, if I am too physically active (e.g. ski too much) my cycle stops. They did test once and found that I wasn't producing progesterone at the right time, hence the delays (i.e. it wasn't triggering ovulation) but again, not sure how to fix.

On thyroid, I do know my TSH is too high, and even if this is a blip, FT3 is also too low / RT3 too high.

I've tried a few supplements and none of them have ever done anything.
- Progesterone: tried Health Natura, Progest-E, and Progestene, including up to 30 drops a day.)
- T3: tried Tyronene
- NDT: did get my TSH down to 0.x once, but then it went back up.
- Methylene blue, Tocovit, etc.: nada.
- and ditto for pretty much any other supplement I've tried. I don't feel a thing when I take any of them, no matter how much of it I take.

Would anyone have any suggestions? There's obviously an issue with my thyroid and hormones somewhere, but I'm at a loss as to what to do about it!

Thanks!!

 

[L_C]

Usually belly fat is associated with cortisol. Did you get the blood work for that? Other hormones might be good to check as well like prolactin, serotonin...

 

[grumpyblob]

Yes I did do cortisol a while back and it was normal. But why would my cortisol and estrogen have been elevated since age 12?

I have had a few instances of high prolactin but calcium took it down. Also, I do have high ish cholesterol which fits with my thyroid not working properly, but can't seem to fix it.

 

[L_C]

The only thing that comes to my mind are the diet and lifestyle. How was your diet growing up? Did you eat cereal, nuts, beans or seeds? Traditional meat & milk are full of hormones. Did you drink city water? That's full of fluoride & chloride that affect thyroid. Were you under stress growing up? Have you taken birth control? These are the questions you need to ask yourself. To me just driving through the city is stressful.

Not sure if cooking with olive oil is peaty or not...

One thing I noticed when I had my hormonal panel done by LabCorp is that what they consider normal is actually way out of range. You need to Google what normal range is. So, if the blood work says cortisol is 'normal', it might not be.

What is your diet now? Also I recommend reading the book by Danny Roddy - hair like a fox.

 

[grumpyblob]

yes fair point... We didn't discover Peat till much later, so definitely not perfect. But we were always further along than others and very health conscious, so we also weren't nearly as bad as others.

- Some cereal, but not much.
- Some nuts and beans, but not really seeds.
- We are in Canada, so not as many issues with hormones and meat here, but we did move to organic and grass fed relatively early, although not before I hit puberty obviously.
- Always filtered and boiled our water.
- Never been on birth control.
- Olive oil is not Peaty, but it was the best we knew at the time, and it wasn't PUFA. We did switch to coconut a few years before Peat.
- yes I had a somewhat stressful childhood... but at the same time, this all started when I was like 12, and it was very clearly triggered by hormones...

One thing I noticed when I had my hormonal panel done by LabCorp is that what they consider normal is actually way out of range. You need to Google what normal range is. So, if the blood work says cortisol is 'normal', it might not be.

ok good to know, thank you! Although if normal is not actually normal, how do I find the correct numbers on Google? Let me know if you have an idea of where I should start to find the right ranges :P

 

[Dr. B]

Usually belly fat is associated with cortisol. Did you get the blood work for that? Other hormones might be good to check as well like prolactin, serotonin...

i dont know if theres any way to accurately test cortisol... but its probably elevated in many people especially excess belly fat people with cushings like symptoms

 

[NodeCerebri]

Do you know of any inflammation or underlying infection going on in your system? I also had issues from early puberty on, though very different from yours, the underlying mechanisms seem to be similar. I had elevated inflammation markers and everything else was ”fine“ (yeah, totally). Now I got the inflammation under control (which I suspect was a mixture between some things in my colon and systemic candida) every other thing also came to place. Sorry to always refer to my experiences, but I thought this might make it more clear for you.
Maybe check:
-Vit D3 and K
-antibacterial, antimicrobial stuff: monolaurin, caprylic acid, oil of oregano or clove (with caution)
-B vitamins in general
-also electrolyte status and maybe balance

Just food for thought. Hope this helps.