Female problems with weight loss? TMI WARNING (guys beware!!)

Hi everyone!! First let me apologize for the way too much TMI.

I have been getting my period regularly for a few years now, besides a month or two every year where it would arrive later than usual. I am obese (started at 297 pounds) and lost 17 pounds last I weighed in. I'm sure once my period goes away it will be more that I lost. I have been losing weight for a couple of months now.

The problem is my period now. Typically it is medium flow, some cramping, lasts 5 days. Nothing too bad. Last month it came and was mostly just light spotting and was just very light, I didn't even have to wear anything (pads/tampons) with it for the majority of the time. I even thought I might have been pregnant but tested negative. I have never spotted before. This month was the same way, spotting for one week. Except then it went on to being super heavy and clotty. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since it started, with the spotting then heavy. No end is in site yet. :(

I know hormones can get messed up with weight loss. I'm just wondering if anyone experienced anything similar and how long it took to "even out." I'm not on BC and don't want to go on it because I'm getting married in July and will be trying for a baby after.

I would make a doctor appointment but I don't have insurance and I really think its related to my weight loss.

Does anyone have similar stories to share? Thanks so much and sorry again for TMI!

Replies

  • theawill519
    theawill519 Posts: 242 Member
    edited January 2016
    My period was wonky for a couple months after I got started. I was very heavy, too, at 299 lbs. I went from eating 2,200+ calories a day with no exercise to netting 1,200 and exercising almost everyday. I think it's normal for your body to react to extreme changes like that.

    If your cycles don't even out after 3 months, I'd definitely see a doctor. You're going to have to get insurance eventually if you want to have a baby, so you might as well do it now.
  • thunder1982
    thunder1982 Posts: 280 Member
    When I was a teen I went on bc to stop my periods during my highschool finals (drs advice- long story). After skipping my period for 3 months it broke through anyway and I bled for 2 weeks straight. (My period was usually 3-4 days of pure hell, horrible cramps, heavy bleeding).

    A few years ago I had lost about the same amount of weight I've just lost but through heavy exercise. My periods which are usually 3 days of heavy bleeding/clotting became quite short & relatively light (like 1 day of bleeding) and my cycle was all over the place, I'd traditionally had longer cycles (31days) but some were really short (21 days). I fell preg around this time so never experienced a 'catch up' which i'd expected like when I'd previously skipped cycles.

    If it goes on much longer (2 weeks since heavy flow started) I'd see the doc. But you will probably find it will settle down. I have to deal with a 25day cycle now though bleeding is still only 3 days and its actually much lighter than prior to kids (I've been told most people find theirs heavier after kids but I always suspected I had endometriosos but doc didnt think it was serve enough to be that) . One thing I have found that being active during helps, otherwise mine can go on for 5 days if I haven't moved much or can stop start which is really annoying when you think its finished and then a day later you start bleeding again.
  • cJOYv6881
    cJOYv6881 Posts: 72 Member
    edited January 2016
    I am so thankful for this thread, because I was worried too! My period has never been regular, some months I get one, some I don't, some I get two. Sometime it's light, sometimes heavy. Anyway, I started MFP in early January, and went down from over 2000 cal to between 12-1300 cal per day, in about 3 days. I bled for 15 days in January! I got so worried! It was a week on, then nothing for a week, then another 3 days on, 4 off, then on for another few days, just...all over the place, but very light flow. It's always been crazy, but this was really, really crazy. I am glad I am not the only one who has experienced strange periods after starting losing weight! It might just be one of those things that happens!
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    What you are experiencing is within the realm of normal for your age and may not have anything to do with your weight loss.

    However, since you want to have children, it is a good idea to take care of anything that might alter your fertility. You could have something going on which needs to be monitored or treated, and sometimes sooner is better than later.

    By the time you get married and get down to an appropriate weight for a healthy pregnancy, you are going to be at least a year out, so being on hormonal birth control during that time might be a good answer for you.

    While it probably isn't an emergency, in your situation, I would want to see a GYN. Have you checked with Planned Parenthood to see how much they would charge for an out-of-pocket visit? I think that their services are on a sliding scale and very reasonably priced.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member

    While it probably isn't an emergency, in your situation, I would want to see a GYN. Have you checked with Planned Parenthood to see how much they would charge for an out-of-pocket visit? I think that their services are on a sliding scale and very reasonably priced.

    What she said.
    I've always had hell periods, but they aren't regularly every month. Sometimes, I'll have a "good" period. Sometimes, I'm on prescription muscle relaxants and curled up in a ball on the floor. If your body is doing something new, it may be changes in diet and exercise. Or it could be something more. Better to be sure.