I've been eating some version of a paleo or semi-paleo diet for about three years. I fall off the wagon sometimes or experiment with additions to or subtractions from my diet, but generally avoid gluten, dairy, added sugars, and any kind of chemical additive. I eat a lot of meat, eggs, fish, veggies, healthy fats, nuts and seeds, a bit of fruit, and sometimes grains like teff, millet, or rice. I try to only eat safe fish, grass-fed meat, and free range chicken.
When I first started I experienced dramatic health improvements (end of chronic fatigue, improvement of digestive symptoms, clearer skin, better athletic performance, end of brain fog and confusion, easier and more regular menses).
About two years ago I moved abroad, and struggled to maintain my dietary ethics because of financial restriction, inability to read/fully understand food labeling, unavailability of certain foods I was accustomed to, etc. I started to experience a resurgence of some problems - acne, erratic appetite, bouts of feeling extremely faint, constipation, bloating, terrible gas. These problems improved a year later when I moved back stateside and got back on track with my diet, but some of them have continued to improve and resurge over and over in a pattern I can't correlate to my diet.
Now I've been having problems with acne for several months, as well as some bouts of minor depression, and a really erratic appetite. Having been on some form of a restrictive diet for years, I'm not a stranger to dealing with issues of satiation/deprivation and so on, but I've found myself unable to get a handle on these cravings. I crave specific macronutrients and continue to feel terribly unsatisfied until I've consumed what I crave to what seems to be excess. I haven't had a dramatic change in my weight, but I seem to have accumulated more fat on my belly than normal.
And finally within the last few months I've started having really unpredictable menstrual cycles. Sometimes coming really early, sometimes having a regular period, stopping, and then having another lighter period again a week later.
To me this signifies some kind of hormonal problem. I'm not really sure where to start, and being generally skeptical about mainstream medical treatment, I'm not ready to dive blindly in to lots of doctors and testing.
Any advice about what kind of testing might be helpful, or any natural methods that might be beneficial?
