MC and menstrual cycle and MTHFR
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
MC and menstrual cycle and MTHFR
Hey all! I haven't had a menstrual cycle since this current flare (8 months) and I am only 33. I also think I have the MTHFR mutation (my sister has it) and I am just sort of trying to link everything together... Does MC effect hormones? I am having acne issues like never before also. Any insight is so appreciated! Thanks all!
Hmm...I'm not sure about links between those, but I know that for me personally, I lost my period for a few months after I'd unintentionally lost too much weight. It came back after I realized what was going on and put more focus on upping my intake of healthy fats and carbs. I don't know whether that would be a concern for you or not.
Kristen
Kristen
Hey there!
I am 37 years old and also experiencing horrible acne. This is probably from a healing gut that is getting rid of toxic gluten ( GF for 5 months now). Also I think when your gut is angry it shows on your skin. I never had this problem before and the acne is so bad it is scarring my face. It is getting better slowly but the scars remain. I have questions about hormones also. I was tested for MTHFR and was thankfully neg. My periods however are getting closer together 23-25 days and lighter. Used to be regular 28 days right up until diagnosis last february of CC. Coincidence or is this a sign of perimenopause. I have no other symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes or insomnia. I would also love any insight on how this disease affects your hormones. The cylce change did not happen until I got really sick. Thanks!
I am 37 years old and also experiencing horrible acne. This is probably from a healing gut that is getting rid of toxic gluten ( GF for 5 months now). Also I think when your gut is angry it shows on your skin. I never had this problem before and the acne is so bad it is scarring my face. It is getting better slowly but the scars remain. I have questions about hormones also. I was tested for MTHFR and was thankfully neg. My periods however are getting closer together 23-25 days and lighter. Used to be regular 28 days right up until diagnosis last february of CC. Coincidence or is this a sign of perimenopause. I have no other symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes or insomnia. I would also love any insight on how this disease affects your hormones. The cylce change did not happen until I got really sick. Thanks!
Vanessa
-
Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
There can be lots of reasons for the fluctuations/changes in menstral cycle.
and a bit like the myriad of things that happen in MC world, it is the same for MC'ers when it comes to hormones/thyroid.
the long story short of all of this regardless of the issues each person has, is inflammation and deficiencies
minimise the inflammation, treat the deficiencies.
In the case of MTHFR, it would be good to know for sure if you have MTHFR mutation, and if you have one or both. Further, it would be awesome to have some functional tests that show mineral levels, B12 levels, Iron etc and any heavy metal toxicity as this will provide the science to know what corrections will work best.
(NB as the MTHFR continues to have impact, cell health deteriorates, deficiencies increase, the bodies ability to clear toxins and heavy metals reduces and this is one of the key reasons for menstral issues, thyroid issues etc)
I am in the process of doing up some MTHFR deficiency basics for JoAnn and Donna. There are general supplement approaches for MTHFR. For optimum wellness, each individual needs to look at their symptoms, how their body is being affected, so that a tailored approach can be done.
For some there can be toxic metal overload and they need the right supps to extract these
for others there can be low copper which a different approach is needed.
Acne is an indication of Zinc, Vit C and magnesium deficiency. (very common for people with IBD's)
Zinc - have 1-1.5mg per kilo of body weight per day
Vit C - 1000mg-1500mg per day
Magnesium - 600mg - 800mg (higher dose for 8 weeks would be good if you can handle it)
if you are worried about laxative effect of oral, use the spray /epsom salt baths
and a bit like the myriad of things that happen in MC world, it is the same for MC'ers when it comes to hormones/thyroid.
the long story short of all of this regardless of the issues each person has, is inflammation and deficiencies
minimise the inflammation, treat the deficiencies.
In the case of MTHFR, it would be good to know for sure if you have MTHFR mutation, and if you have one or both. Further, it would be awesome to have some functional tests that show mineral levels, B12 levels, Iron etc and any heavy metal toxicity as this will provide the science to know what corrections will work best.
(NB as the MTHFR continues to have impact, cell health deteriorates, deficiencies increase, the bodies ability to clear toxins and heavy metals reduces and this is one of the key reasons for menstral issues, thyroid issues etc)
I am in the process of doing up some MTHFR deficiency basics for JoAnn and Donna. There are general supplement approaches for MTHFR. For optimum wellness, each individual needs to look at their symptoms, how their body is being affected, so that a tailored approach can be done.
For some there can be toxic metal overload and they need the right supps to extract these
for others there can be low copper which a different approach is needed.
Vanessa, ongoing inflammation, leaky gut will affect each of us differently. for some it is skin, for others it is thyroid, for some it is a multitude of issues ending up with multiple AI diagnosis. Vit D3 is essential for all forms of inflammationAlso I think when your gut is angry it shows on your skin.
Acne is an indication of Zinc, Vit C and magnesium deficiency. (very common for people with IBD's)
Zinc - have 1-1.5mg per kilo of body weight per day
Vit C - 1000mg-1500mg per day
Magnesium - 600mg - 800mg (higher dose for 8 weeks would be good if you can handle it)
if you are worried about laxative effect of oral, use the spray /epsom salt baths
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Yes it does. And hormones affect MC. Also, if you are taking a corticosteroid, remember that corticosteroids affect hormone production. It's well known that corticosteroids can exacerbate acne, for example.Toritagg wrote:Does MC effect hormones?
The hormonal association is why pregnancy brings temporary remission from MC for some women, while symptoms become worse for others. And it's why so many of us become hypothyroid (we're about 7 times as likely to have thyroid problems as someone in the general population).
Some members here cannot attain remission as long as they are taking an oral contraceptive or HRT. A few members have even tried transdermal HRT and found that it prevented them from reaching remission until they discontinued it. That's not to say that HRT affects everyone this way, but it appears to be true in the majority of cases.
This is just one of my theories, but I have a hunch that survivin, a special protein known as an Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAP) is involved with this phemenon. Survivin protects against apoptosis (programmed cell death), and it's the primary way that cancer cells defend themselves from the immune system (by expressing survivin). Without survivin, cancer cells would normally be destroyed by the immune system. But the immune system ignores a cell that contains survivin. And this is also true of fetuses, during pregnancy. Survivin protects the fetus from destruction by the mother's immune system.
But it turns out that researchers have recently discovered that survivin is present in the autoreactive T-cells that promote and perpetuate most of the inflammation associated with many (probably all) autoimmune diseases. If it weren't for the survivin, the rogue T-cells would never be able to escape apoptosis in the thymus (the organ responsible for training, maturing, and selecting T-cells for use by the immune system). I don't have time to describe all the details, complete with references here, but you will find them in my new book, as soon as I can get it finished.
At any rate, I have a hunch that with MC (and possibly other AI diseases), some of the rogue T-cells that are able to express survivin manage to make their way to various other organs in the body (remember that MC can affect virtually any organ in the body), and when they reach the reproductive system, the expression of survivin (if strong enough), could conceivably convey a perception of pregnancy to the immune system, thus terminating menses, at least on a temporary level. Does this make sense? I'm guessing that in about 50 years, medical researchers will probably be able to verify that this is what actually happens.
I hope I haven't just confused the issue.
Tex
P. S. Polly, if you happen to read this, do you have any thoughts on the plausibility of this explanation?
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Vanessa,
I'm the same way sometimes when I come across research that appears to be compelling and profound, and everyone else seems to be either overlooking it or ignoring it.
I just hope I'm not barking up the wrong tree.
You're most welcome.
Tex
I'm the same way sometimes when I come across research that appears to be compelling and profound, and everyone else seems to be either overlooking it or ignoring it.
I just hope I'm not barking up the wrong tree.You're most welcome.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hmmmm...very interesting Tex and others that have chimed in. I too lost my period about a year prior to my diagnosis, which is almost 4 years ago. I"m not post-menopausal and I'm now 47. I lost a significant amount of weight during my flare ups, although I'm now at a healthy weight but my periods have not returned. Of course, every doctor that I've seen attributed my lack of periods to my weight loss but I did not get a period even when I weighed significantly more (140 lbs.) Although my endo attributed my loss of period to my LC, my GI laughed and said and I quote, "Your LC was not serious enough to cause your reproductive system to shut down". I knew there was a correlation, just wasn't sure what had caused it and your explanation Tex makes a huge amount of sense.
Cathy,
Thanks for adding your insight. Your GI doc is quite a comedian. She/he is probably right of course (that LC won't cause a patient's reproductive system to shut down), but that's irrelevant because what she/he doesn't seem to realize is that the disease is certainly capable of causing one's reproductive system to shift into a different mode of operation. It doesn't shut down — it shifts gears (so to speak). It seems to me that a lot of our systems shift into a sub-normal mode of operation (all the way up to and including the brain and the central nervous system) when MC really gets going.
Tex
Thanks for adding your insight. Your GI doc is quite a comedian.
She/he is probably right of course (that LC won't cause a patient's reproductive system to shut down), but that's irrelevant because what she/he doesn't seem to realize is that the disease is certainly capable of causing one's reproductive system to shift into a different mode of operation. It doesn't shut down — it shifts gears (so to speak). It seems to me that a lot of our systems shift into a sub-normal mode of operation (all the way up to and including the brain and the central nervous system) when MC really gets going.Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hello!
I came across an article as I started researching MC and hormones because I use a Bioidentical Transdermal Hormone Replacement Cream. I wanted to read more about the suggestion that HRT could play a role in preventing complete remission of MC. It seems kind of contradictory to me because of the typical onset age for females being in 50s or older which is also when hormone levels are dropping due to menopause. Then I came across this article that states:
Estrogens and progesterone have been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and epithelial barrier-enhancing properties in experimentally induced colitis in rats [Günal et al. 2003; Karatepe et al. 2012; Moussa et al. 2012], and the fall in hormone levels at menopause could theoretically explain the peak age of debut of MC in middle-aged women [Pardi and Kelly, 2011]. However, no differences in reproductive factors between CC and LC, or between patients with MC or healthy controls, could be identified [Roth et al. 2013c].
Here is a link to the article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4265085/
What do you all think about this? Am I understanding it correctly?
I came across an article as I started researching MC and hormones because I use a Bioidentical Transdermal Hormone Replacement Cream. I wanted to read more about the suggestion that HRT could play a role in preventing complete remission of MC. It seems kind of contradictory to me because of the typical onset age for females being in 50s or older which is also when hormone levels are dropping due to menopause. Then I came across this article that states:
Estrogens and progesterone have been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and epithelial barrier-enhancing properties in experimentally induced colitis in rats [Günal et al. 2003; Karatepe et al. 2012; Moussa et al. 2012], and the fall in hormone levels at menopause could theoretically explain the peak age of debut of MC in middle-aged women [Pardi and Kelly, 2011]. However, no differences in reproductive factors between CC and LC, or between patients with MC or healthy controls, could be identified [Roth et al. 2013c].
Here is a link to the article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4265085/
What do you all think about this? Am I understanding it correctly?
Reading that study I think it says not to worry about hormones and MC. I wouldn't worry about them at this time.
I've been on bioidentical hormones for 7 years and they have not stopped me from going into remission.
The female/male discussion is interesting.
I'd concentrate on diet, stress relief etc and not worry about the hormonal thing. If you are still not healed
9-12 months down the road it is something to take a look at.
I've been on bioidentical hormones for 7 years and they have not stopped me from going into remission.
The female/male discussion is interesting.
I'd concentrate on diet, stress relief etc and not worry about the hormonal thing. If you are still not healed
9-12 months down the road it is something to take a look at.
Hi Brandy!
That’s the same thing I take from the article as well. And yes, continuing in my path. I just wanted to do some research about the hormones to satisfy my curiosity and reassure myself that I don’t need to be worried about it at this point. And I wanted to share what I read. I’m having a good day today!
As always thanks for your reply!
That’s the same thing I take from the article as well. And yes, continuing in my path. I just wanted to do some research about the hormones to satisfy my curiosity and reassure myself that I don’t need to be worried about it at this point. And I wanted to share what I read. I’m having a good day today!
As always thanks for your reply!