I will say that for me I got a ton of relief from cramps, etc., by taking zinc and magnesium supplements. I only take the zinc a few days before and through the duration of my period. Magnesium I take daily. I also cut back on caffeine during my cycle. (All this based on a few menstruation-related threads here, though I don't have the links for you.)

FWIW, I have had terrible cramping (to the point of passing out several times) and other menstrual symptoms since I started menstruating. My period still lasts a long time, but the symptoms are MUCH more manageable now. Paleo did nothing to help, but the supplementation did. I suspect I was magnesium-deficient before.

Your hormones are balancing out & different women have different experiences initially when going Paleo/Primal.

Also body fat is a storage site for estrogen & by losing body fat, you may have temporarily become estrogen dominant, which matches the symptoms you describe.

As blueballoon stated, Magnesium & Zinc can help. 200-600 mg Mag Citrate or Glycinate daily. 50-100 gm Zinc Picolinate prior to menstruation (or 50 mg daily, if you suspect a long-term deficiency.)

Also, get your D3 level tested. D3 is a precursor for hormones and you sound like your system needs more of the building blocks of hormones so it can balance itself. 50-60 ng/ml is the blood level to aim for via sunning and/or supplements.

Personally, I would avoid Chinese herbs at this point since this is a recent change. I suspect things will sort themselves out in a few months, if you focus on replenishing nutrients.

I eat VLC except the week of my period. Usually I keep carbs under 20 grams per day, but my cramps, mood, bloating were notably worse than before.

I stopped this by adding more carbs: from the 2 days before my period through the end I up that to a minimum of 100 grams. I get the additional carbs from fruit and vegetables.

I've done this for 2 cycles now and it has normalized my 'period symptoms', your mileage may vary, but it definitely has made a difference for me.

I take Chinese herbs to control the super heavy, massive clotting, anemia causing periods I have had since puberty. I can now make it through my period without changing my sheets daily. It's still heavy, but about half of what it was before. There are quite a number of herbs available online and in health food stores. Google "heavy periods herbs" and you find all sorts of information.

Are you eating a lot of flax by any chance? I found out that I'm sensitive to the phytoestrogens in flax--8 weeks of very heavy bleeding stopped as soon as I stopped eating flax daily.

I still have flax but only occasionally now.

Thats interesting. I have been Paleo for nine months, since going paleo my actual periods are MUCH better I used to have to take a sick day at work because of extreme cramping, vomiting, I would get the cold sweats, you name it. Now I have less cramping and flow. But the week before my period starts I have been experiencing weight gain, acne, body aches, breast tenderness basically all the PMS symptoms that you can think of. This is whats weird, before I went paleo, I never noticed problems BEFORE my period started BUT my period was TERRIBLE and unbearable when it was going on. Now that I am paleo, I have more symptoms just less severity. I will take the latter any day. Its been interesting to me to see how my hormones have changed.

being past all that myself, you have my sympathy; at a guess I would think it is part of the de-toxification; it is just that the uterus/ovaries runs on a much longer cycle than many other systems. 2nd on the micro-nutrient supplementation; and don;t forget your iron as well as Mg, K and such. Hope that helps! stay strong.

I am so glad I read this! I just went to my primary and she put me on BCP because my PMS was horrid. It was the worst depression/anxiety/mood swing of my life. It makes sense that it's from the flux of hormones related to weight loss, I'm down 28 lbs in just 3 months.

I had started a B6 supplement and Vitex to regulate and I read that was supposed to help with PMS but it hasn't yet.

I have been doing paleo for 2 weeks now. I have had my period 2 different times in 2 wks. I have been on the mirena IUD for 3 yrs which had made my period virtually non existent so now having heavy periods back to back is a bit of a shock. If estrogen is stored in the fat this makes sense since I am overweight and have already lost 10lbs. Just hoping things settle out quickly.

Have you lost any weight? Sometimes when I have a big weightloss month my cycle gets a little wonky. I've read that estrogen and hormones are in your fat tissue so maybe it's being re-released back in your system. Also, sometimes when you're suddenly getting the fat soluables vitamins your body needs, it can take a couple months for your hormones to adjust. My cycle is much better eating clean, but it often does calm down for most people I've talked to. Good luck!