secondary amenorrhea

Brooke4206

Has anyone been diagnosed with this? I was told I had secondary amenorrhea last october. Since then I have not regained my period. I was told there was a possibility that my body would adjust to the amount of exercise/calories i was eating. My doctor told me that there are no long term affects, but i'm doubtful now. Has anyone else been to a doctor? My primary concern is losing fertility permanently. I used to do 2-3 hours of cardio work everyday and ate 1200 or less calories. I dropped from 130-110. I now don't do any cardio and lift 5 days a week and eating anywhere from 1400-1900 calories a day. Lifting doesn't seem nearly as strenuous on my body, but am I mistaken? I'm still continuing to lose weight. I am currently 108. I know most of you all will say to just eat more.. but when you work so hard to lose the weight it's easier said than done. I'm looking for tips and advice. Thank you!

mariposa224

I've not been diagnosed with it, but this is some info I found when I Googled it:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001219.htm

"You are more likely to have amenorrhea if you:

Are obese
Exercise too much and for long periods of time
Have very low body fat (less than 15% - 17%)
Have severe anxiety or emotional distress
Lose a lot of weight suddenly (such as with strict or extreme diets or after gastric bypass surgery)
....
Treatment depends on the cause of the amenorrhea. Normal monthly periods usually return after the condition is treated.

A lack of menstrual period due to obesity, vigorous exercise, or weight loss may respond to a change in exercise routine or weight control."

I would guess, from what you've said, that it could have been caused by the extreme exercise you had been doing in conjunction with not eating enough. Also, if you want to correct it, you need to change those things. It sounds like you're eating more, but probably still not to where you should be if you're lifting heavy 5 days a week. In order to change it, you've got to make changes. And I know that losing isn't easy. I've no idea how tall you are or what your BMR or TDEE are. But I will say that, should you decide to try increasing your calories, do it slowly. Up your calories by 100 or so per week for a few weeks to get to what your maintenance TDEE is. Then go from there.

3laine75

You said it yourself, you need to eat more.

It doesn't have to be scary - raise calories gradually till you have a small surplus where you are adding MOSTLY muscle (this shouldn't be a problem if you're resistance training).

You can still eat healthy, just eat more. If you're adding muscle, you'll probably be delighted with the results. You're going to gain some fat too but you obviously need it if you've lost your period.

You might find the 'women who bulk' group helpful. Good luck with it.

SomeNights246

I did as a result of my eating disorder. I went quite a while without having one. i remember having one in the early stages of my ED that was so heavy I was actually scared. After that, they just ceased.

When I entered recovery, I didn't think about it much. I know it sounds bad, but not having one didn't bother me (gender identity issues). However, due to fertility, I can certainly see why it would bother some people. The good news is, I did start getting them again. They are unpredictable (I used to have one every month, the same time every month, for the same amount of days, with the same level of pain - now, I cannot predict any of that and I still do skip or just 'spot' sometimes). To do so, of course, I had to up my calories.

Gaining a few lbs back may help, too.

You stated yourself you need to eat more. 1,400 is still a deficit for most adult women.

fleetzz

Not only do you have secondary amenorrhea, you may have the female athlete triad--which includes osteopenia. Not having enough nutrition also weakens muscles, joints, and contributes to injury.

While many women would relish not having a period (I know that never bothered me), the long term effects of this are not good. Look into a visit with a sports medicine doc, who have training in this.

AlwaysInMotion

I second fleetzz's comment.

linap3004

I have diagnosed with secondary amenorrhea last September. My doctor says that is not a permanent condition but i REALLY know how stressful is this condition. Since then i am under birth control pills treatment until my weight as always.
I used to weight 47-48 kilos (about 130-105 lb) but i overdone with exercising and not eating (about 850 kcal per day) plus a heavy job program. Last summer i was only 38.5 kilos (about 85 lb). It was hard, it's still hard to eat more and more. I always ate only when i was hungry. I tried really hard and i gained 5 kilos but then i start losing again without lowering my daily calories (about 1500 per day).
Today, i'm 42.3 kilos (93 lb) and i still have less fat than i must have (less than 5 kilos - it must be at least 10-11).
As you can see i really can understand you. It's so difficult to gain weight, maybe more difficult than losing but you have to try since amenorrhea will be past.

MissBabyJane

I have diagnosed with secondary amenorrhea last September. My doctor says that is not a permanent condition but i REALLY know how stressful is this condition. Since then i am under birth control pills treatment until my weight as always.
I used to weight 47-48 kilos (about 130-105 lb) but i overdone with exercising and not eating (about 850 kcal per day) plus a heavy job program. Last summer i was only 38.5 kilos (about 85 lb). It was hard, it's still hard to eat more and more. I always ate only when i was hungry. I tried really hard and i gained 5 kilos but then i start losing again without lowering my daily calories (about 1500 per day).
Today, i'm 42.3 kilos (93 lb) and i still have less fat than i must have (less than 5 kilos - it must be at least 10-11).
As you can see i really can understand you. It's so difficult to gain weight, maybe more difficult than losing but you have to try since amenorrhea will be past.

Similar thing happened to me. I lost my period when I became 47kg. I went to a doctor he gave my birth control pills and said that I need to eat more (and I'm taking currently these pills) Now I weight 50kg, and my period is slowly coming back. It's very irregular.

gabrielleelliott90

My period is very misarray, however I have not been diagnosed with it. Mine comes eventually, I think it will take awhile for your body to adjust again back to eating a normal amount and doing less exercise, but I do see lifting as strenuous so possibly cut back on it.

Galatea_Stone

It happens more in teens than women. It happened to me when I was a teen and got too thin and got my body fat percent below 15%. It did come back when I put on some weight.

Fuzzipeg

I read the onset of menstruation occurs at 7 stone or just over. it cones down to body fat ratios. I agree there are long term issues with this condition.

I recommend you get another opinion. If you have access to a sports specialist this would probably bet the best option.

runningcat76

I have lost my periods too. Just over 1 year now since I lost weight. I still exercise a lot (most days) and am maintaining at 112lbs (I am 5' 7") so I know its too low but it is so hard to think about gaining weight.

joverw50

I am struggling with this same thing right now too. My last cycle was Nov 2012 but we are trying to having another child so I've have been trying to increase my calories, decreased the length of my long runs averaging 25 miles a week yet, and not pay attention to the scale. How long has it taken others to re-gain a cycle after increasing calories and modifying exercise routines? Typically I had been between 1400-1500 net and have increase it 1800. Is that enough? I have even attempted a progestrone challenge and not had a cycle. Anyone else experience this?

Linnaea27

Has anyone been diagnosed with this? I was told I had secondary amenorrhea last october. Since then I have not regained my period. I was told there was a possibility that my body would adjust to the amount of exercise/calories i was eating. My doctor told me that there are no long term affects, but i'm doubtful now. Has anyone else been to a doctor? My primary concern is losing fertility permanently. I used to do 2-3 hours of cardio work everyday and ate 1200 or less calories. I dropped from 130-110. I now don't do any cardio and lift 5 days a week and eating anywhere from 1400-1900 calories a day. Lifting doesn't seem nearly as strenuous on my body, but am I mistaken? I'm still continuing to lose weight. I am currently 108. I know most of you all will say to just eat more.. but when you work so hard to lose the weight it's easier said than done. I'm looking for tips and advice. Thank you!

As you guessed. . . I think you should, and could, eat a bunch more. I understand how hard that is psychologically, as I have begun feeling the hormonal effects of being a bit too thin myself. I have not lost my period but I can see how if I didn't try to gain a couple pounds right away, I might as it was abnormally short this month. I'm freaked out at the prospect of losing my period and potentially my fertility, even though I look good (not overly skinny) at this size. I am eating more and exercising less in hopes of gaining some weight and reversing this before I get to the point you've been at.

Especially if you are lifting, you can eat much more and continue to have a slim body, but your muscles and strength will grow, at least from what I've heard on here. How tall are you?

I'm 5'1" and 102 lbs at the moment and that's too thin for me to feel good. 105 is better. If you're any taller than 5'2", I'd say you're at too low of a weight especially doing that much strength training. That does sound like a lot of strength training to be doing-- I feel like the programs I've encountered (and briefly used) recommend no more than 3 days a week.

Gaining weight is a very strange mind game. I've been thinking of quitting the logging while I try to gain, because it is so weird for my mental state. But I like having data to go by to help me figure out what I should be doing! Sounds like that's what you need to be doing too. Good luck!

uglyclub

I lost my periods due to an eating disorder before (I relapsed and lost it again this year, sadly) and the only way I managed to get my periods back was to gain weight and reduce/stop exercising.

wantwhatiusedtobe

I have a similar story. Was training for a half marathon (between the age of 15-23 I was always around 54kg) eating and body image never crossed my mind. I was a witness to a car accident when I was training and completed first aid on the lady who was hit by the car. She died in my arms and I was forced to run 16km home covered in blood. I was traumatised and never stopped running after that day. Within 6 weeks I was down from 54kg to 44kg. It was the I realised I had a problem. I almost ran myself to death and stopped eating.
At my lowest I was 43kg and was hospitalised by choice. I was in hospital for 4 weeks and put on 5kg. I was released at 48kg and was able to put on another 15kg with the help of my amazing husband to get back at 54-55kg. I held the weight, didn't exercise (and I am a physical education teacher so only exercised when I was teaching) I got back into short bike rides and it took 3 years for me to run again - I still have nightmares to this day about the accident.
The last 9 moths I have been on a slow but steady down hill, loosing weight because I am struggling to eat during the day. All of the bad habits and thoughts slowly return. I'm scared now because I went off the pill in December 2013 ( my last period was 20th oct) and now - 21st June, 7 months later I haven't had a period! When I was at my lowest weight and losing weight before I was on the pill so was still having my period. Now nothing! I am trying to put on weight, having protein shakes and eating more at night when I can eat. I know I need to force myself to be strong and eat during the day and I really want to have kids in the next year or two. I'm so scared with what's going on wig my body. I'm not exercising any extra apart from work.

Has anyone else come off the pill only to realise they aren't getting their period and what weight were you when it returned?

- want what I used to be -

Fuzzipeg

I can sympathise with anyone in this position, Unfortunately gaining to a more usual body fat composition is probably the only solution. I know it is hard to eat more please try to go for the richer calorie foods. Avacardo being a seed casing is rich in most nutrients. The hardest thing for me to understand is the weight/health advice of the 1960's is not quite right, it has a place in our understanding of health, but we need to keep up with modern knowledge. Fat in food is not always unhealthy. The female body needs a higher amount of healthy fats than the male to function. Please try to permit yourself the fuller fat in dairy and other foods. I do not mean freely eat questionable foods, Know your preferred foods and take the better option for you.

Hope you can work this through. (There are long term effects of this situation, I'd put it at 30 years absence and irregularity, from personal experience but mine was related to undiagnosed low thyroid)

7 to 7.5 stone is said to trigger onset in the pubescent girl added before pressing the button

that_fitness_girl

I have also been diagnosed with this recently after roughly 18months or no period. My bmi has never been unhealthy, I'm not overweight but I love exercising and lift every day with cardio 3-4times a week. I eat completely clean, and have done the the last 2years, yet the doctor seems to think it is due to this. I have just started to increase my carbs even more so I'm hoping that will help as I don't think I could handle cutting the exercise.

As for the down sides, people with amenorrhea tend to developed osteoporosis (the loss of bone density) -which is why it's important to regain your period

-update-
I have also never been on the pill or any birth control