Amenorrhea (no period) experiences?

jett254

Hi,

I've been experiencing Amenorrhea (loss of period) for a while. Yes, I've seen my OB/GYN but she wasn't very helpful. I'd heading to the endocrinologist in a few weeks but was looking for others that have experienced this or know about it to do my own research in the meantime.

Details:

- I'm 5'1'' and weigh 100 lbs. I started at around 115 last April and dropped 15 lbs over 5 months
- I'm 36 years old and have two kids - my youngest is 2.5 years old.

- I am honestly not trying to lose any additional weight at all - I am very happy with my body and I am trying to maintain.
- I am definitely small but I am very muscular

- For workouts, I do MAX 6 days per week with MAX 1 hour group fitness class (a mix of cardio and sculpting classes). I never workout more than one time per day and have no desire to do that.
- I definitely started off lower on my calories at the recommendation of MFP but I'm currently eating around 1900-2000 calories and am maintaining.

- Aside from the lack of period and the lack of sex drive (sorry - maybe TMI but maybe relevant), I feel totally fine. I have energy and no problems.

As I said, the doctor was not very helpful. She said I was not underweight and ran bloodwork which showed low levels of LH, testosterone and maybe some other hormones but she didn't get my a copy of my lab work yet. She said my thyroid was normal.

My diary is public. I've been wearing a bodymedia fit because I wanted to see if that would help explain my issues like if I was eating too little. I have no desire to have an eating disorder but I did view my diet and exercise changes as long time lifestyle changes and I don't feel like just blowing them off to see if my period returns. The bodymedia makes my diary look a little strange because it makes an "adjustment" from the 1670 goal that MFP set that I can't seem to change, so I just ignore it and eat 1900-2000 calories per day.

I'll take honest answers. Thanks in advance for any help. I'll emphasize again that I am going to see an endocrinologist (and perhaps a registered nutritionist) but thought others might have had this same experience or be knowledgeable on the topic.....

Thanks!!!

AnninStPaul

I have no experience with amenorrhea as a result of weight loss.

That said, in this situation, I would calculate my body fat percentage ( http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/ ) to see if low body fat is a culprit.

Also, ask about a bone density scan when you see the endocrinologist -- bone density declines as a result of menopause, and if you've gone into early menopause you might need to compensate for that. Is there any family history of early menopause?

ldrosophila

I'm on the other end of the spectrum mine caused from obesity. Never been blessed with a kid.

Just a thought but sex hormones are composed from cholesterol try some vitamin D supplements and make sure you are getting at least 30% of fats into your diet.

What does the composition of fat look like in your diet?

Oh nvm I see you are getting a D supplement. How many IU are in there? Out of curiosity why are you following such a low fat diet? Why not add a whole egg into there? Some nuts? Maybe start looking at the full fat yogurts.

Brianna72994

I would leave it up to the doctor to diagnose.


But maybe it's all the exercise. I heard that alot of female athletes don't get their periods because of all the activity level? Not sure if it's true or not but maybe that has something to do with it!

jett254

I'm on the other end of the spectrum mine caused from obesity. Never been blessed with a kid.

Just a thought but sex hormones are composed from cholesterol try some vitamin D supplements and make sure you are getting at least 30% of fats into your diet.

What does the composition of fat look like in your diet?

Oh nvm I see you are getting a D supplement. How many IU are in there? Out of curiosity why are you following such a low fat diet? Why not add a whole egg into there? Some nuts? Maybe start looking at the full fat yogurts.

Honestly, I don't really ever focus on the macro breakdown of my diet but I was starting to wonder if maybe the low level of fat in my diet might be the culprit as opposed to the amount of calories. I think I will try to increase the fat in my diet. Right now, I was just eating what I liked, not picking it because of the fat content.

ldrosophila

I'm on the other end of the spectrum mine caused from obesity. Never been blessed with a kid.

Just a thought but sex hormones are composed from cholesterol try some vitamin D supplements and make sure you are getting at least 30% of fats into your diet.

What does the composition of fat look like in your diet?

Oh nvm I see you are getting a D supplement. How many IU are in there? Out of curiosity why are you following such a low fat diet? Why not add a whole egg into there? Some nuts? Maybe start looking at the full fat yogurts.

Honestly, I don't really ever focus on the macro breakdown of my diet but I was starting to wonder if maybe the low level of fat in my diet might be the culprit as opposed to the amount of calories. I think I will try to increase the fat in my diet. Right now, I was just eating what I liked, not picking it because of the fat content.

Of course speak to the endo! But I was just thinking wouldnt have to be much either. Add some nice quality nut oils to your veggies, a half an avocado, nuts, beautiful pieces of cold water fish like haddock or salmon. If you enjoy dairy maybe try the 2%. Whole eggs the yolk is loaded with B vitamins and cholesterol which may not hurt. Smart Balances makes a really nice spread that has a great mix of poly and mono fats.

jett254

I'm on the other end of the spectrum mine caused from obesity. Never been blessed with a kid.

Just a thought but sex hormones are composed from cholesterol try some vitamin D supplements and make sure you are getting at least 30% of fats into your diet.

What does the composition of fat look like in your diet?

Oh nvm I see you are getting a D supplement. How many IU are in there? Out of curiosity why are you following such a low fat diet? Why not add a whole egg into there? Some nuts? Maybe start looking at the full fat yogurts.

Honestly, I don't really ever focus on the macro breakdown of my diet but I was starting to wonder if maybe the low level of fat in my diet might be the culprit as opposed to the amount of calories. I think I will try to increase the fat in my diet. Right now, I was just eating what I liked, not picking it because of the fat content.

Of course speak to the endo! But I was just thinking wouldnt have to be much either. Add some nice quality nut oils to your veggies, a half an avocado, nuts, beautiful pieces of cold water fish like haddock or salmon. If you enjoy dairy maybe try the 2%. Whole eggs the yolk is loaded with B vitamins and cholesterol which may not hurt. Smart Balances makes a really nice spread that has a great mix of poly and mono fats.

I eat fish frequently so on those days, my fat level is much higher. I think I will try to incorporate eggs, nuts and higher fat yogurt into my diet daily. I just made an appointment with a registered nutritionist for next week so hopefully they can review my diet further and give me some additional insight. Thanks!

IndigoFlowers

In the past year since losing weight I have experienced very odd fluctuations with my period.... Last year I bleed for an entire month, got on BC to see if that would fix it... It didn't, I just continued to bleed for another 3 months. Once I finally stopped the BC my periods instantly went back to normal and were clock work (which was a huge relief after bleeding for 4 months!!)

However this year my periods are becoming more and more irregular, sometimes being late for upwards of 10 days most months. I don't have a complete loss of period, but I have been a little worried at what my body is doing. My period symptoms are changing too. I will go to the doctor if this persists, but it is frustrating since I used to have periods that would come every 27 days no matter what! Now it is a guessing game!!!

I think it may have to do with environmental factors, because the months where my period is over a week late I have had to deal with a death, midterms, finals, vacation, etc. But stress never affected my periods before :frown:

mink63

I'm 5 foot 6 and my skiinniest was 101 pds. 11% body fat ( from illness not dieting or anorexia). I looked like skelator, but I still got my period. I had a friend in high school with a small build and extremely muscular from sports and she didn't get her period. I think it might have to do with a lack of fat rather than just a low weight. I think its common for woman who have less than 12% body fat.

jaf320

I've had an amenorrhea episode too...started several-ish years ago during college. I'm 5'4" and prior to some weight loss was about 140. I remember deciding after one reallly indulgent xmas break that I was going to be "really healthy" in the new year. I'd always exercised in college (started at the end of high school) - it was usually about 30 mins of elliptical treadmill most days of the week and I walked around a (very hilly) campus quite a bit. However, during my healthy phase I was pretty much doing 1 hr of intense elliptical work 6 days/wk and decided that I would eat 1800 cals/day. I think the 1800 was loosely based on something that I had in my head from a few years of on-and-off reading of magazines like Shape/Self/etc. I had one "cheat day" a week where I DID eat whatever I wanted. I remember getting down to about 123. I think I stayed close to 125 for the last year and a half or so of college-I remember my period getting realllly irregular (we're talking completely skipping a month, 6 wks apart) a few months into my new, intensive routine. I don't remember the exact date that the complete disappearance happened, but it lasted for 6-8 months. Yikes!!

The funny thing is, I KNOW (and knew then) that that is hardly a dangerous BMI for my height. In retrospect, though, I think my body just *likes* to be a little bigger than that; perhaps even more importantly, it seems that it doesn't respond well to intense cardio like that and needs probably 2000ish or more calories/day if that level of cardio (especially with an active lifestyle) is approached.

Toward the end of the 6-8 month period, I was pretty freaked out and went to my doctor. All of my tests (hormones, thyroid, electrolytes, etc) were normal. She basically wanted me to "wait and see" if my period returned after a few more months. However, I found it interesting that she told me that some women have a hypothalamus that is more sensitive to any perceived form of stress and thus will stop menstruating more readily than others. It could have been that my body was sensing the "new" calorie restriction (thinking I ate 2000 or a little more a day before??) and more intense exercise as a stressor and that the whole hormone loop was disrupted.

By this point, I 1) wanted my period back! 2) was kind of sick of allll the cardio 3) was realizing I was more hungry more often than I would like to be-which was creating binge-like periods on my "free" days and 4) was loving yoga more and more-it was doing great things for my body-sculpting and giving me definition that the elliptical never gave. Sooooo....with these realizations, I scaled back the cardio. I work 3 12hr shifts/week and exercise on my off days, now doing roughly 2 days/week with 30 mins of elliptical and 2 days/week with pretty intense hour-long vinyasa yoga classes. Unlike during my more restrictive college days, I NEVER push myself to do elliptical + yoga in the same day. For a while, and frequently now too, I eat closer to 2000. My period actually finally returned/became quite regular when I was around 130-135. I'm now slowwwwly coming back down to 130 from 135 and my period just came-right on time. My tiny weight loss this time is NOT going to be accomplished through crazy cardio-but just through more mindful eating and little tweaks in my daily habits.

I realize that I have probably rambled on a LOT, but all of this has taught me that not having your period is NOT okay, and your body is probably trying to tell you that you are doing something it doesn't like! I think it took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that I was NOT meant to be 125 or 120, and that is totally okay! (Conversely, I have realized that my body/mind don't really like to be 140ish, either). You don't have to "let yourself go" - maybe just creep up your calories a little with healthy foods or relax your exercise routine a bit (extra rest days?). I can honestly tell you that I now am more comfortable with my body that I ever have been, I really LIKE most of my exercise (yoga in particular has been a godsend-my core actually has some muscle!), and I have a healthier and more balanced relationship with food :-)

Good luck to you!

Cheeky_0102

I had a baby 9 months ago, it's like it's never coming back, but I'm fine with that!

jett254

Thanks everyone for the support and experiences. I'm meeting with a nutritionist on Tuesday to review my diet in more detail. In the meantime, I've upped my calories and am focusing on adding good fats - nuts, avocado, olive oil, whole eggs, coconut oil, full fat yogurt.

I'm hoping I can get my period to return without too much trouble. This is stressing me out. My BMI is at the bottom of the healthy range but clearly my body disagrees.

I saw my PCP yesterday for an already scheduled physician and he reviewed my blood work. As he explained to me, everyone's body is different and even though he would agree that it seems like I am eating enough and not over-exercising, it might be too much for my body. I'm going to try to cut back slightly on intensity at the gym or perhaps drop down from 6 days to 5 days in addition to the diet adjustments. I have the endocrinologist appointment at the beginning of May so I'm hoping that making these adjustments now might make things look better by the time of that appointment but maybe I am being naive and it is going to take more than that....

Jen

shorty458

Before I gained my weight I was 95lbs and I'm 5 feet tall. I was 95lbs probably until I was 21 - and I never missed a period. Now that I am heavier, I do notice it's heavier though.

tvanhooser

I was amenorrheal back in the mid-90s when I went off of the pill and started trying to get pregnant. Longest period of no period was 119 days which wasn't very helpful to our goals. It never did go back to normal until after my son was born in 98 and doctors and nurse practitioners, male and female alike, were NOT very helpful like you said. Just said it's normal, happens sometimes, nothing to worry about. Here take some prenatal vitamins, won't hurt and you'll be healthier when you do get pregnant. Yeah OK, whatever. I'll take the vitamins but that doesn't solve the essential problem. I guess we just finally hit the "magic day" by accident to conceive our son cause we just stopped trying after a while. When my period returned after that pregnancy though, everything was back on a normalish schedule. Best thing I have come up with for an explanation is that it had something to do with going off the pill after being on for a few years. So that's MY experience with it.

That being said, it sounds like your case might be different than mine. I am 5'2" so not much taller than you so the healthy weight range for us is pretty similar and I can safely say that at 100 lbs., you are riding the line of being unhealthy on the low end. I ran your numbers and your BMI does come out underweight. "Ideal" weight calculators peg your healthy range as 100-132. So it's good you don't plan on losing anymore weight. You say you feel fine and healthy except for the amenorrheal thing and reduced sex drive....but your doctor told you some of your lab tests are cause for concern. SO if I were you I would try to head for a weight more in the mid range of healthy and see if that doesn't clear things up in the cycle department because I have read that heavy exercise or athletic training that results in a very low body weight and body fat % can disrupt the menstrual cycle. Plus, do whatever your doctor recommends regarding your abnormal tests. If that doesn't solve your issue, your doctor will best be able to advise you on how to proceed and maintain your health.

under1star

I'm really glad your gong to be seeking a professonal whom specializes in this area. Have you done any urinalysis in the last few mths. You could buy chemistry test strips test by your pharmacist and this will analize what's gong on. If your losing weight this is a sign of ketones in your body. I was told you don't want to lose weight so it's a good way of making sure your not in starvavtion mode. It also checks glucose,ph,traces of blood,ketones,wbc and nirtates.Another inportant to monitor is if you find protein in the urine which isn't a good sign. Sometimes it wlll only have traces which is normal. Just look at the bottle and the color indicaters. This is a good way to see what your kidneys are excreting.

litatura

I'm also not underweight as I'm 5'3" and about 121 lbs. I exercise most days of the week, but only for about 30 minutes. My period started going wonky pretty early on in my weight loss journey and I haven't had a period in a little over a year. I am a runner and my period seems to have disappeared completely around the same time I started running.

weesinglane

I'm also not underweight as I'm 5'3" and about 121 lbs. I exercise most days of the week, but only for about 30 minutes. My period started going wonky pretty early on in my weight loss journey and I haven't had a period in a little over a year. I am a runner and my period seems to have disappeared completely around the same time I started running.

This is a common phenomenon with well-trained athletes, but you should definitely go see your PCP for this.

BinaryPulsar

I also agree that you are not underweight. I am 5'2" and I weigh 100 pounds. I also eat around 2000 calories a day (often more). I am 35 and a mother of two (all my hormones are healthy and I don't take birth control). So, I think you should go to your follow ups and gather more info about what could be causing this. Everyone is a little different in terms of what weight is too low for them when taking body composition and frame size into consideration. But, your doctor should know based on evaluating you.

AmbyrJayde

I have no input to this thread, (recently) but when I was younger (14 or so) I had a doctor tell me about Amenorrhea and I could never remember the word. Thank you for posting this so now I know the word again >.<

Well I sort of have input, when I was healthy weight I wouldn't have mine regularly, when I was bigger I was mostly regular, and its going back wonky again as I lose weight. Its weird, but yeah

cococa

I can't offer medical advice, but you're definitely not the only one to experience this. I'm 5'5" and around 115. I lost 10 lbs over 6 months. Historically, I was around 110 for a decade without any problems and my BMI is near the low end of normal. I upped my training for my second half marathon back in January, but it wasn't anything more intense than I had done before. Apparently my body disagreed, but instead of missing a period I had a period that lasted 21 days (wish I had just skipped one instead!). I called the nurse's hotline and she really scared me talking about all sorts of possibilities. I went to the OB/GYN, ran some tests, and everything looked normal. She put me on birth control, I didn't have any withdrawal bleeding the first month, but I did the second. My next half marathon is coming up at the end of this month, and everything looks to be in order again. Hopefully it will stay that way! Hope you figure things out and know you're not alone!

jzammetti

I have read that amenorrhea can be caused by overtraining combined with not eating enough. How much are you eating?