soy and menstrual cycle
okay so i have an idea and I was wondering if anyone else had tried it.
I generally don't eat much soy.
I'm on birth control to help regulate my hormones.
Well. 2-3 days before my period starts EVERY MONTH I get a 2 day migraine and nausea.
I've read up on this and what I've found, which is what I was suspecting, is that my migraines are probably due to the dip in estrogen. The treatment, if i were to go to a doctor would be that they would give me a low-level estrogen pill to take during this time frame. I already take 2 pills a day, I don't want to take another. I hate feeling drugged up.
I have read that tofu has estrogen in it. I am wondering if anyone has had luck with soy lessening their PMS symptoms. Like...if i eat more soy than usual before and during my period, could i stop these darn headaches naturally...
Any thoughts?
I have the same issues - my body is addicted to estrogen - and when it doesn't get it, I get killer migraines. I used to have an estrogen patch I'd wear during the week I was off the pill. It was actually for post menopausal women, but it kept the headaches at bay. And unfortunately, I don't think the soy has enough estrogen in it to make a difference - I eat soy all the time.
I don't get migraines, but I haven't noticed any change/decrease in my period issues, and I eat quite a bit of soy.
eh maybe it's wishful thinkin but it's worth a shot if it means fewer drugs
While soy contains phydoestrogen it is not the same nor is it metabolized like human estrogen. In fact most plants contain phydoestrogen. While I do believe there are things you can eat to help minimize the issues I doubt anything will make it go away. The pills are causing a hormonal imbalance that causes spike or dips that causes migraines.
My recommendation is to get a Mirena IUD since it has a slow constant release of horemones and you wont have lows or highs like the pill.
While soy contains phydoestrogen it is not the same nor is it metabolized like human estrogen. In fact most plants contain phydoestrogen.
Bravo! I am constantly trying to squash this misconception.
Plant estrogens, human estrogen, two different things! We can't use phytoestrogen the same way we can't use chlorophyll or plant enzymes. We're not plants! Maybe plants have more phytoestrogen than other plants (is THAT where the misconception comes from?), but eating soy beans will have no more impact on your health than eating other beans.
The pill is defiitely the cuplrit.
I know the pill is causing the problems, i was hoping i could eat lotsa tofu to help solve the problems---just wishful thinking though. I'm probably gonna have to be poke prodded and drugged some more.
I was just talking about this issue yesterday to a male friend who was concerned about the estrogen in soy making him more emotional. Exactly as KMK said- plant hormones have no affect on us. Everyone should really be much more concerned about the MAMMAL hormones in milk, GMO foods and things that have been fed steroids or sprayed with chemicals. Damn dairy industry funding all of these "studies" to make people concerned about soy. >:( It's funny, if you google "soy", mostly negative hits come up - "Why soy can damage your health", and "Soy is making kids gay". Those links don't pop up first by accident. Those sites are paying to have keywords bring up those links on the first page. The politics of industry....grrrrrr.
But anyway, back to the migraines. I was on the pill for years and had the same problem with migraines. I tried Seasonique (the one where you get your period once every 3 months), but then switched to Loestrin which is a steady low dose of estrogen throughout the entire cycle so there is no dramatic drop in hormones levels. I was still getting migraines at period time though, so my gyno actually had me taking the pills straight through packs and discarding the white placebo pills so I wouldn't have periods. I know, it sounds weird- but when you're on the pill, the periods you have aren't "real" periods anyway, they are forced "pill periods", so you don't really need to have them. That seemed to work well for me. Your doc would have to call your insurance company to have them cover it in a different way though since each pack of pills would only be 3 weeks worth instead of 4. I had it worked out where I would get 4 packs of pills for one $10 copay!
i'm on the pill so that i do have periods so i'm not sure if that'd work for me..... I may try toughing it out another couple of months and then seeing if I can go off of the pill entirely.....hopefully my system will have fixed itself by then.
i'm on the pill so that i do have periods so i'm not sure if that'd work for me..... I may try toughing it out another couple of months and then seeing if I can go off of the pill entirely.....hopefully my system will have fixed itself by then.
That may work too! I got off the pill and haven't had any problems with migraines. Personally I think cutting dairy out of my diet had a huge impact too. When I was vegetarian but still ate a lot of dairy the migraines were horrible (as you know- night ruiners!). I used to get a prescription for Imitrex every month. But since being veg I haven't had any, it's amazing. Hopefully since you recently cut dairy out of your diet you'll see the same result in time!
That's a good point. Dairy can trigger migraines, and the one I had this month wasn't as bad as others---maybe it will resolve itself. Only time shall tell! I am surprised to see how many people get these headaches!
Aren't phytoestrogens recommended for women going through menopause, because it has some effect? I thought that was the deal with them.
Due to my (former) issues I read a LOT on the subject and after weighing all the evidence I felt that plant estrogen simply is not and does not react the same as human estrogen. It never had any effect on my problems either, which probably was the most important part for me. I think its important to do a lot of research, on both sides of issues, when things are directly affecting you. I did mine and formed my opinion as stated above.
Things I read were: China Study, BCG's Soy Cooking for a Positive Menopause (cookbook but has loads of info) and plenty of web sites but I dont have links, sorry!!
you know I used to be on the pill too and I would get headaches and horrible cramping when i actually got a period. I got off the pill and i still had weird no period cycles. then I went lacto vegetarian and i actually regulated and my headaches weren't as bad. Now that I went vegan I'm hopeing they'll go away. I do eat a lot of soy too.
AHH!! When I was on the pill and eating a lot of soy I started getting migraines EVERY time I would eat. I didn't know what was going on. I had an MRI done- lots of blood work, and finally I got rid of soy all together. Well I definitely did not like that so I decided to get rid of the birth control. I've been off BC for over a year now and feel great- never have migraines (BTW- it's REALLY dangerous to be on the pill if you do get migraines because you are at an increased risk for stroke, so make sure you tell you GYN that you're getting migraines...) and I love not putting extra hormones in my body. There are a few other options for BC...and I totally recommend that you talk to your doc.
GOOD LUCK!
Oh and PS- the migraines are caused by too much estrogen- between the soy in your diet and the estrogen in your pill. There are progesterone only pills and that could be an option for you...
Maybe a little off topic, but related to the confusion of plant estrogens and the bad rap soy products get. One of my friend's doctor who has a number of health problems and is a breast cancer survivor was put on the Atkins diet to lose weight. Then she was told to avoid soy because she's had breast cancer and was told eating soy products might increase her chance of getting cancer again because of the estrogens in it. Don't you just love the misinformed nutrition advice given out by doctors who have no nutrition training? :o Good luck in treating your migraines.
Plant estrogens can DEFInitely affect hormone levels, especially when one is taking BCs. I have very bad effects when I eat soy, hemp, flax, dates, and other foods that are high in plant estrogens. The effects range from menstrual spotting, menstrual-type cramping (not during period), sore breasts, etc. So they definitely can affect some people!