Amenorrhea
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TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »to be honest, i would be more interested in what the gynaecologist says, as they are a specialist, over a GP.
Really? I mean what I dont get is why I need to gain weight when I am definetely not under weight
Thanks for answering again btw !
You're at the low end of a healthy weight, which is fine in general, but if it is that which is causing you problems, you need to weigh up the benefits of gaining a little. how long have you been maintaining for?
For about a year .. I dont want to look like I couldnt keep the weight off and I worked so hard to get here
what you 'look like' to other people shouldn't be a consideration in doing whats best for your health.
4-5lbs may well be enough to get your hormones back to normal?
why are you so against taking the till if that may help?
I know but I am really really happy with my body and feel very healthy and better .. i am not against it but like my gynecologist said, it will not solve the problem but it will just cover it
that's understandable (about the pill) but doesnt leave you many other options.
gaining a couple of pounds shouldn't make you suddenly feel unhealthy, as you wouldn't stop eating nutritious food or stop any of your exercise
But if I gain , I would end up where I was and would have done all this for nothing and just end up feeling like crap again
how much have you lost altogether?
Was 58kg ( was not overweight but I was chubby since I am short) and I am now 49-50kg.0 -
You can gain several kilograms in the form of muscle. It doesn't have to be only fat.5
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healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »to be honest, i would be more interested in what the gynaecologist says, as they are a specialist, over a GP.
Really? I mean what I dont get is why I need to gain weight when I am definetely not under weight
Thanks for answering again btw !
You're at the low end of a healthy weight, which is fine in general, but if it is that which is causing you problems, you need to weigh up the benefits of gaining a little. how long have you been maintaining for?
For about a year .. I dont want to look like I couldnt keep the weight off and I worked so hard to get here
what you 'look like' to other people shouldn't be a consideration in doing whats best for your health.
4-5lbs may well be enough to get your hormones back to normal?
why are you so against taking the till if that may help?
I know but I am really really happy with my body and feel very healthy and better .. i am not against it but like my gynecologist said, it will not solve the problem but it will just cover it
that's understandable (about the pill) but doesnt leave you many other options.
gaining a couple of pounds shouldn't make you suddenly feel unhealthy, as you wouldn't stop eating nutritious food or stop any of your exercise
But if I gain , I would end up where I was and would have done all this for nothing and just end up feeling like crap again
how much have you lost altogether?
Was 58kg ( was not overweight but I was chubby since I am short) and I am now 49-50kg.
No one has said you have to gain all that back... plus your self esteem shouldn't come from a number on the scale anyway!1 -
TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »to be honest, i would be more interested in what the gynaecologist says, as they are a specialist, over a GP.
Really? I mean what I dont get is why I need to gain weight when I am definetely not under weight
Thanks for answering again btw !
You're at the low end of a healthy weight, which is fine in general, but if it is that which is causing you problems, you need to weigh up the benefits of gaining a little. how long have you been maintaining for?
For about a year .. I dont want to look like I couldnt keep the weight off and I worked so hard to get here
what you 'look like' to other people shouldn't be a consideration in doing whats best for your health.
4-5lbs may well be enough to get your hormones back to normal?
why are you so against taking the till if that may help?
I know but I am really really happy with my body and feel very healthy and better .. i am not against it but like my gynecologist said, it will not solve the problem but it will just cover it
that's understandable (about the pill) but doesnt leave you many other options.
gaining a couple of pounds shouldn't make you suddenly feel unhealthy, as you wouldn't stop eating nutritious food or stop any of your exercise
But if I gain , I would end up where I was and would have done all this for nothing and just end up feeling like crap again
how much have you lost altogether?
Was 58kg ( was not overweight but I was chubby since I am short) and I am now 49-50kg.
No one has said you have to gain all that back... plus your self esteem shouldn't come from a number on the scale anyway!
Yes but since I did not have much to lose , i will end up looking like I was. I dont know it just seems ridicolous that I cant be slim and its really making me go nuts0 -
healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »to be honest, i would be more interested in what the gynaecologist says, as they are a specialist, over a GP.
Really? I mean what I dont get is why I need to gain weight when I am definetely not under weight
Thanks for answering again btw !
You're at the low end of a healthy weight, which is fine in general, but if it is that which is causing you problems, you need to weigh up the benefits of gaining a little. how long have you been maintaining for?
For about a year .. I dont want to look like I couldnt keep the weight off and I worked so hard to get here
what you 'look like' to other people shouldn't be a consideration in doing whats best for your health.
4-5lbs may well be enough to get your hormones back to normal?
why are you so against taking the till if that may help?
I know but I am really really happy with my body and feel very healthy and better .. i am not against it but like my gynecologist said, it will not solve the problem but it will just cover it
that's understandable (about the pill) but doesnt leave you many other options.
gaining a couple of pounds shouldn't make you suddenly feel unhealthy, as you wouldn't stop eating nutritious food or stop any of your exercise
But if I gain , I would end up where I was and would have done all this for nothing and just end up feeling like crap again
how much have you lost altogether?
Was 58kg ( was not overweight but I was chubby since I am short) and I am now 49-50kg.
No one has said you have to gain all that back... plus your self esteem shouldn't come from a number on the scale anyway!
Yes but since I did not have much to lose , i will end up looking like I was. I dont know it just seems ridicolous that I cant be slim and its really making me go nuts
how will you end up looking the same when you aren't gaining all the weight back?1 -
TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »to be honest, i would be more interested in what the gynaecologist says, as they are a specialist, over a GP.
Really? I mean what I dont get is why I need to gain weight when I am definetely not under weight
Thanks for answering again btw !
You're at the low end of a healthy weight, which is fine in general, but if it is that which is causing you problems, you need to weigh up the benefits of gaining a little. how long have you been maintaining for?
For about a year .. I dont want to look like I couldnt keep the weight off and I worked so hard to get here
what you 'look like' to other people shouldn't be a consideration in doing whats best for your health.
4-5lbs may well be enough to get your hormones back to normal?
why are you so against taking the till if that may help?
I know but I am really really happy with my body and feel very healthy and better .. i am not against it but like my gynecologist said, it will not solve the problem but it will just cover it
that's understandable (about the pill) but doesnt leave you many other options.
gaining a couple of pounds shouldn't make you suddenly feel unhealthy, as you wouldn't stop eating nutritious food or stop any of your exercise
But if I gain , I would end up where I was and would have done all this for nothing and just end up feeling like crap again
how much have you lost altogether?
Was 58kg ( was not overweight but I was chubby since I am short) and I am now 49-50kg.
No one has said you have to gain all that back... plus your self esteem shouldn't come from a number on the scale anyway!
Yes but since I did not have much to lose , i will end up looking like I was. I dont know it just seems ridicolous that I cant be slim and its really making me go nuts
how will you end up looking the same when you aren't gaining all the weight back?
How much do you suggest I gain?0 -
VeganRaptor wrote: »I also have amenorrhea.
Even if you are technically at a healthy BMI, your weight could be too low for your body personally, which could be causing the issue. You could also have been putting your body under stress due to your weight loss. Amenorrhea can be really harmful for your body and can actually result in osteoporosis if sustained for too long.
I would personally be concerned and would work with your gynecologist to gain a little weight- your bone health is a lot more important than the way you look or what other people think about your weight- not that it's any of their business anyway.
Please do what's best for your health! Good luck
^^This.^^
I developed amenorrhea years ago from under eating and over exercising. And yet my weight was solidly within the normal range. Thankfully a very wise gynecologist put the fear of God into me (about being able to conceive, which we were trying to do at the time) and convinced me that my body knew a lot more about what was healthy or not for it than did any height/weight chart or BMI calculation.
Listen to your gynecologist. Amenorrhea can have several long term consequences.
Nobody can tell you how much (or how little) you need to gain to resolve the problem. Just lighten up on the burden/stress you're putting on your body until your periods come back. For me that took several months and IIRC about ten pounds. But you may be totally different. We're all unique.
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OP, just get to your doctor...
A quick 10 minute blood test done at your GYNO will give you proper diagnosis a lot better than we can here in a public internet forum.. And just know this may or may not be related to how much you weigh on the body scale. In most case of healthy young women, how they diet and exercise contributes to most of this.. Not knowing anything about your dieting and exercise or levels of stress in your life its hard to give proper information other than to refer you back to your personal female doctor..4 -
VeganRaptor wrote: »I also have amenorrhea.
Even if you are technically at a healthy BMI, your weight could be too low for your body personally, which could be causing the issue. You could also have been putting your body under stress due to your weight loss. Amenorrhea can be really harmful for your body and can actually result in osteoporosis if sustained for too long.
I would personally be concerned and would work with your gynecologist to gain a little weight- your bone health is a lot more important than the way you look or what other people think about your weight- not that it's any of their business anyway.
Please do what's best for your health! Good luck
^^This.^^
I developed amenorrhea years ago from under eating and over exercising. And yet my weight was solidly within the normal range. Thankfully a very wise gynecologist put the fear of God into me (about being able to conceive, which we were trying to do at the time) and convinced me that my body knew a lot more about what was healthy or not for it than did any height/weight chart or BMI calculation.
Listen to your gynecologist. Amenorrhea can have several long term consequences.
Nobody can tell you how much (or how little) you need to gain to resolve the problem. Just lighten up on the burden/stress you're putting on your body until your periods come back. For me that took several months and IIRC about ten pounds. But you may be totally different. We're all unique.
Thanks a lot for this im still hoping I wont have to gain weight though hopefully
And I dont want kids so its not that huge of a problem except for the risk of softening bones0 -
OP, just get to your doctor...
A quick 10 minute blood test done at your GYNO will give you proper diagnosis a lot better than we can here in a public internet forum.. And just know this may or may not be related to how much you weigh on the body scale. In most case of healthy young women, how they diet and exercise contributes to most of this.. Not knowing anything about your dieting and exercise or levels of stress in your life its hard to give proper information other than to refer you back to your personal female doctor..
I already did so and the test just said I have a low eastrogen which was because I was under eating
She did not specifically tell me to gain weight but she weighed me and told me I was under weight which is weird because on her scale my weight marked 47kg and at home I used 2 different scales and theh both marked 49.5kg !1 -
Look up female athlete triad.
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/fitness-menstrual-health
http://www.femaleathletetriad.org/for-professionals/what-is-the-triad/
What it boils down to is that you're under fat, exercise vigorously, and under eat.
You may believe that abs and a hard body makes you look good. Maybe it even does do so. Who am I to dispute that!
But your body is interpreting it as dire times! Time to shut down all stuff not essential to survival just so that we can make it through.4 -
healthy491 wrote: »OP, just get to your doctor...
A quick 10 minute blood test done at your GYNO will give you proper diagnosis a lot better than we can here in a public internet forum.. And just know this may or may not be related to how much you weigh on the body scale. In most case of healthy young women, how they diet and exercise contributes to most of this.. Not knowing anything about your dieting and exercise or levels of stress in your life its hard to give proper information other than to refer you back to your personal female doctor..
I already did so and the test just said I have a low eastrogen which was because I was under eating
She did not specifically tell me to gain weight but she weighed me and told me I was under weight which is weird because on her scale my weight marked 47kg and at home I used 2 different scales and theh both marked 49.5kg !
that's quite a lot different to what you have said in previous posts...
just read your other response, and if you have no intention of gaining any weight, what are you going to do?0 -
Look up female athlete triad.
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/fitness-menstrual-health
http://www.femaleathletetriad.org/for-professionals/what-is-the-triad/
What it boils down to is that you're under fat, exercise vigorously, and under eat.
You may believe that abs and a hard body makes you look good. Maybe it even does do so. Who am I to dispute that!
But your body is interpreting it as dire times! Time to shut down all stuff not essential to survival just so that we can make it through.
I dont have abs and I do have fats and I do not have a hard body .. not at all .. thats the thing0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »healthy491 wrote: »OP, just get to your doctor...
A quick 10 minute blood test done at your GYNO will give you proper diagnosis a lot better than we can here in a public internet forum.. And just know this may or may not be related to how much you weigh on the body scale. In most case of healthy young women, how they diet and exercise contributes to most of this.. Not knowing anything about your dieting and exercise or levels of stress in your life its hard to give proper information other than to refer you back to your personal female doctor..
I already did so and the test just said I have a low eastrogen which was because I was under eating
She did not specifically tell me to gain weight but she weighed me and told me I was under weight which is weird because on her scale my weight marked 47kg and at home I used 2 different scales and theh both marked 49.5kg !
that's quite a lot different to what you have said in previous posts...
just read your other response, and if you have no intention of gaining any weight, what are you going to do?
Why is it different ?
Maybe wait it out or increase fats in my diet and increase the calories a bit?0 -
Even if at the weekend you average 2500 calories (and we can't be sure because you don't track) and during the week it's 1000, you're averaging 1640 calories per day. 45 minutes a day on the elliptical as you've stated on other threads before. You could well still be undereating.3
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First, yes, LONG term loss of cycle can be an issue health wise but 8 months is far from long term. You are right to be addressing the issue now but you do not need to panic.
Weight loss has definitely caused my cycles to change. And definitely being too low (even the low end of normal) can be an issue for some women. That is all true. But my experience in dealing with hormone issues is how much fat a woman has in her diet is a huge factor. Hormones are processed in the liver and are directly affected by dietary fats. The combination of being on the low end of weight and not having enough healthy fats in your diet can be a double whammy on your cycle. I would encourage you to significantly increase your intake of dietary fats. Evening primrose oil is an omega 6 that can really help balance out female hormones in particular. It can take about 6-8 weeks to see the change but it would be worth trying. The general recommendation is 1300mg per day. Omega 3's will increase fat intake as well. Normally, I would suggest getting the increased fats from food but you are on a low enough calorie intake a few days a week that you may not want the calories as fat. If you find that to be the case you can take EPO, omega 3's, and coconut oil in capsules without taking a hit to your calories. Food wise you can look at things like avacados, nuts, coconut oil, fish, etc for getting good fats from foods.
*If* it were me I would try the fats daily for 6-8 weeks and see if you begin to notice any changes in your hormone levels or if your cycle outright starts again. Changes you would look for would be an increase in your normal signs that you are about to start a cycle (that can vary from acne, to water retention, moodiness, etc. whatever YOUR normal signs are). If you start to see that even if your cycle doesn't start right away (it's kind of like going through puberty again) then you'll know the issue was not enough fat in your diet and continuing the fats should fix it. If you don't see any changes heading that direction then I would suggest gaining a few pounds with the added fats and seeing what that does. It could be that increasing your good fats and only gaining 2-3 pounds will make the difference.
Given that your body is not exhibiting crisis mode (and you're not currently trying to get pregnant), I think you have some time to try a few things out before having to look at hormones to induce a cycle.
I tend to avoid specialists because they tend to be far more interventionist then a GP is. However, I think if you run this by either of your doctors they would probably agree it's both safe and worth trying before intervening with the pill (which correctly will only cover the issue).
I don't think you need to panic, but you do need to be proactive like you currently are in trying to fix this. You said your estrogen is low - did they also check your progesterone bc that can also be an issue.
1 -
Look up female athlete triad.
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/fitness-menstrual-health
http://www.femaleathletetriad.org/for-professionals/what-is-the-triad/
What it boils down to is that you're under fat, exercise vigorously, and under eat.
You may believe that abs and a hard body makes you look good. Maybe it even does do so. Who am I to dispute that!
But your body is interpreting it as dire times! Time to shut down all stuff not essential to survival just so that we can make it through.
Ah. Was typing when this posted. This is absolutely dead on. Body fat, weight, dietary fats. All related to hormones. Sorry for the repeat info. She beat me to it.1 -
I just say I am 65...I have bad bones from early onset menopause . You don't want to affect your bones. I am paying the price now with arthritis. Listen to your gynecologist. A few lbs won't hurt you and should not change your appearance. Get yourself healthy then continue to work with your doctor to stay at a good weight you can be happy and healthy at.4
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healthy491 wrote: »Look up female athlete triad.
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/fitness-menstrual-health
http://www.femaleathletetriad.org/for-professionals/what-is-the-triad/
What it boils down to is that you're under fat, exercise vigorously, and under eat.
You may believe that abs and a hard body makes you look good. Maybe it even does do so. Who am I to dispute that!
But your body is interpreting it as dire times! Time to shut down all stuff not essential to survival just so that we can make it through.
I dont have abs and I do have fats and I do not have a hard body .. not at all .. thats the thing
OP, I am going to quote myself from the thread you posted in Motivation asking about eating disorders yesterday:Amenorrhea can be caused by low energy availability, which is the difference between calories in food eaten and exercise calories expended. The tipping point is EA at levels below 30 calories per pound of LBM. There is evidence that your body reacts to low EA within 5 days of it beginning. If you routinely eat 1000 calories through the week, that could absolutely be causing your amenorrhea.
As PAV pointed out, read up on the female athlete triad. You do not need low body fat in order to have it. It is a very serious thing to deal with. You are risking your long term health by continuing to stick your head in the sand and deny a problem every time that somebody points out to you that you have a problem.
I don't think you'll actually watch any of this but maybe it will help somebody else. Here is a good set of videos from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital that discusses FAT:
http://mdvideocenter.brighamandwomens.org/specialties/orthopedic-and-arthritis/female-athlete-triad-recognition-treatment-and-prevention/item/18 -
Hi OP,
I am currently in the same boat as you are, but I haven't had a period for a year and a half. I just want to encourage you to do what is best for your body, even if it means gaining weight. (SPOILER ALERT: it does) If your body has ceased to have it's normal menstrual cycle, something is wrong.
I was overweight in my teens (almost 200lb) and lost a lot of weight until I was 103-107lb(I'm 5'8
) and lost my period at about 118lb. I had gained back to about 113 but I still wasn't getting my period, and I was evaluated and diagnosed with a type of restrictive ED. Like you, my hormones (including estrogen) were very low. Your body has to have fat cells to produce hormones, and I didn't have enough! And I thought I was just being healthy!
Over the past four months I have gained about 15 pounds which I know is very healthy for my body. I'm in a healthy weight range now, but still have not gotten my period and will likely need to gain another 10 before my body thinks it's out of "famine mode." I just want to encourage you to GAIN THE WEIGHT YOUR BODY NEEDS, even if it's scary, even if you simply can't imagine gaining another pound. DO IT FOR YOU. Recover for your future!8
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