First of all, thank you for caring enough about women's sexuality to do all this fine work for us! Apparently the drug companies think it's not as important as men's sexuality.

I took out my IUD that had hormones on it after 5 years. Within a week, I was a wild woman, after 5 years of not menstruating or desiring sex. During this sexual rave, I found your diet and started the regimen while I wait for my bookstore to receive my order.

Things have been absolutely marvelous, but now that I'm having my period, I have absolutely nothing. In fact, my skin has gotten dry and itchy again, and my mood and self-esteem has also suffered. My husband wanted some the other night, and thought watching a little YouPorn would be a good starter. Instead, it made me feel insecure and withdrawn, rather than interested.

I did have an occasional coffee, but have been trying to stick to hot cocoa in the morning. Again, occasional pasta for dinner or rice, but usually in general balance with veg and fruit.

Is this rollercoaster response normal? I'm so afraid it won't come back again, that it was just a result of being off hormonal birth control.

Every woman has hormonal fluctuations during the month that affect her libido (if she's not on hormonal birth control). Usually the bigger drop is after ovulation, but the general cycle is a couple days before menstruation and first day or two, VERY horny, then a drop, then at the first sign of fertile vaginal secretions increasing horniness until ovulation, another high libido time. Then after ovulation, a couple days with nothing with a gradual increase up to a moderate level until it's time to menstruate again.

Of course every woman is different, but that's the general outline.

Usually it takes a couple weeks on the full dose of the fish oil for a woman's body to have a baseline.

If you can, try taking some of the DHA an hour or two before you want to have sex.

Thanks for your encouragement, I hope you're right. I was so shocked to see the dry skin return along with the confusing mood swings AFTER menstruation. I thought my skin and mood would remain constant. And the pendulum swinging so far in either direction is also quite unnerving. Makes you think that it's only a temporary fix.

Do you think it matters when you take the magnesium? My zinc is solo, so I take that in the morning, then I take the calcium/magnesium in the evening.

Finally, I took valerian root to counteract my foul mood. Do you think that's ok?

Thank you for your prompt reply. I wish you tremendous continued success.

If you are going to take a relaxing herbal, why not take a pro-sexual one like damiana rather than valerian? Valerian is more of a sleep aid. With either, don't drive after taking.

As long as you are getting the RDA of calcium/magnesium/zinc the timing doesn't matter.

That's a good point, I'll try damiana instead. Bad mood/touchiness has faded, but desire still not coming back. It has been less than a month since I've started the supplements and only a few days since my menstruation ended, so I'll keep you posted.

If you've already been on the full dose a couple weeks, you should definitely see an improvement around the time of ovulation. Report back in another week!

Hi Marenna,

I got the book (why doesn't Borders carry it?) and I noted that you strongly suggest quitting smoking. I smoke less than half a pack a day, but I am quite desperate to make this work. I am considering using the patch. Do you think this will interfere?

I've been on the fish oil since early October with no results. Had my period around 2 weeks ago, however, since I've been on hormonal BC up until mid-Sept, I can't tell if I"m ovulating now or not. I should be, but who knows. When I first went off the BC, I was on fire, but now I'm cold as ice. I feel like a shell of a woman, esp. since I now have something to compare it to.

My skin's not really getting oily, could it be that I'm not metabolizing the fish oil? I use GNC, get mild burps, should be working.

I know you said we don't need herbs (the damiana had no effect whatsover), I was wondering about Mucuna Pruriens (velvet bean).

<<c. These preparations claim to contain standardized dosages of L-DOPA in enteric-coated capsules. The dosage claimed is usually about 50 mg per capsule, and the recommended dose is two capsules per day. A third product, "L-Dopa," marketed by Unique Nutrition, claims a higher effective dose of 250 mg. American Nutrition also carries a Mucuna Pruriens standardized to 40% L-DOPA under its NutraceuticsRx label.
Some of the claims made for the use of these supplements may have validity, whereas many do not. Among the most common claims are that the supplements will increase libido and aid in body-building (presumably by increasing testosterone in both cases). The long-term consequences of the use of these supplements by healthy individuals remains to be seen.>>

It should be working. I have had problems with smokers on the diet, but you said yourself that your libido did spike up there for a while, so the smoking shouldn't be affecting things too much.

For some women, the diet doesn't work, maybe one out of four, one out of five. I'm very curious about those women, generally they tend to have low testosterone or relationship/religious upbringing issues or are on antidepressants or are heavy smokers. But some I just can't figure out why.

Just checking, how much EPA and DHA are you taking a day?

I'm 5'0", 116 lbs. Here's the laundry list of supplements I'm taking:

GNC fish oil — EPA 360, DHA 240. 3 in the AM, 3 in the evening, with food.

A daily multiple which includes 18 mg iron, 400 IU Vitamin D, 15 mg zinc, and 50 mg magnesium

I take a magnesium/calcium supplement which has 1000 mg calcium, 800 mg Vit D and 500 mg magnesium

Zinc - 30 mg

Also, I recently added two damiana capsules (800 mg per) The bottle says to take 2 capsules x 3, but I only take it at night, since that's what you thought.

As I mentioned earlier, when I went off the hormonal IUD and I became extremely horny (which led me to your board/book), I started the fish oil/zinc/mag right away. My skin was oily and I felt great. As my period set in, the oiliness disappeared, along with any sense of libido. It's been two weeks since it ended, and now I have what you coined as "sexual amnesia". I don't even really remember what it was like, all I know was that I want it back.

My plan: I'm keeping a food diary, since I hadn't really followed the no-carb portion of the diet (although when I went off the BC, it didn't matter what I ate). I am also eating the chocolate, since I don't know if the hot cocoa gives me enough.

Also, I'm keeping the cigs down to 5-7 per day, but would like to know if I can use the patch. They probably have seratonin in them, so that's probably not a good idea. i'll wait to hear from you about that.

As far as religious - no
relationships - my husband is really supportive, but can't hide his disappointment
I have two kids who are hard to handle, but other than that, I'd say my stress is fairly low compared to other times in my life.

I exercise 3 times a week, a class that combines aerobics with weights. My body fat is kind of high according to that little machine at the gym. However, I look pretty normal except around my tummy area.

I guess I'll stick with it till my next period, and then, who knows what? I am really depressed and frustrated over the whole ordeal. I was a new woman, and I thought I found the answer. I'm crushed that it doesn't work for me.

Let me know if you need to know anything more. I sincerely appreciate your willingness to assist me with this problem.

Stop taking the damiana every day, that was just for a once in a while thing, a change of pace. That in itself might be hindering the diet, over time the body gets resistant if taken on a daily basis. I'm sorry I wasn't clear when I recommended that.

Check the label carefully on the GNC. Some types of fish oil the serving size is two capsules.

Also, you are so tiny I would take the zinc every other day.

You should have gotten a libido boost at ovulation, very odd. I wonder if you are ovulating? I don't know enough about IUD's, if there is a time period after removal before ovulation starts.

Fish oil is one capsule per serving. So I should be getting enough I assume.

I haven't taken damiana every day either, sorry to mislead. But since the dose on bottle says 6 caps and I've only taken 2 at any given time, should I up the dose?

I can cut the zinc in half, it's a decent-sized tablet.

Mirena IUD info:
* The levonorgestrel in Mirena reduces the monthly thickening of the lining of your uterus
* Less thickening means less menstrual flow
* Eventually your menstrual flow may stop completely
* Once Mirena is removed, your menstrual cycle will return to the way it was before you used Mirena. After that, there is a quick return to fertility, and you can begin trying to get pregnant right away.

My period completely disappeared on Mirena. Apparently you can ovulate right away (which I what I attribute to my libido flare in Sept/early October)

I did a little poking around about removal of the Mirena. You might find this thread interesting

http://community.homeandhealthtv.co.uk/eve/forums/a/tpc...96101191/m/483101612

That concurs with my instinct on this, I think it might take a while for your body's hormones to adjust.

whew, I didn't even know I HAD a problem except for the low libido. I gained weight that would not come off, esp. around the middle, (lost 2 lbs. already) lost hair (which has finally stopped) and have been quite irritable. (I'm still kinda Jeckyll and Hyde, but have more moments of sanity now than before.) Unfortunately, my poor kids have had to feel the brunt of that. They're sure to have fodder for the therapist someday, and I can tell them to blame in on Mirena.

I'm not happy to see that it can take months, or even a year for the hormones to regulate, but I am pleased to imagine that there is still hope. I was feeling like a freak of nature.

Marrena, you are such an angel, thank you again and again. I will keep you posted when I get my groove back.

I'm sure you will get your groove back, just give your body time. And I would love to hear what happens!