OBESE + ABNORMAL PERIODS. My story. Support?
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WeightingForSara
Posts: 122 Member
I stopped having my periods all together back in early 2009. In November 2009, after 10 months of having no periods and tons of testing, I was diagnosed with Amennorhea, which is a condition that happens to women with abnormal estrogen levels that comes from being extremely overweight or underweight.
The way my doctor explained it, is that your fat cells produce estrogen. If your cells are stretched too big, (being severly obese like I am) it causes them to overproduce estrogen and so, in return, your body thinks it does not have to ovulate. The same thing happens if you are UNDERweight and your cells don't produce ENOUGH estrogen.
Long story short: I cannot concieve a child because I am overweight.
My physician told me to get on a weight loss plan and I would have to lose at LEAST 80lbs. So far, I have lost 61. My period has appeared sporatically throughout this time. Right now, I have one about once every 3 months. Though I am not hoping to concieve a child at all in the next few years, It scared me to death that when the time DOES come that I want to have a child, that I would not be able to do that for my husband all because I was being selfish and lazy with myself.
So any other ladies here had experience with this also?
The way my doctor explained it, is that your fat cells produce estrogen. If your cells are stretched too big, (being severly obese like I am) it causes them to overproduce estrogen and so, in return, your body thinks it does not have to ovulate. The same thing happens if you are UNDERweight and your cells don't produce ENOUGH estrogen.
Long story short: I cannot concieve a child because I am overweight.
My physician told me to get on a weight loss plan and I would have to lose at LEAST 80lbs. So far, I have lost 61. My period has appeared sporatically throughout this time. Right now, I have one about once every 3 months. Though I am not hoping to concieve a child at all in the next few years, It scared me to death that when the time DOES come that I want to have a child, that I would not be able to do that for my husband all because I was being selfish and lazy with myself.
So any other ladies here had experience with this also?
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I stopped having periods 5 months ago and after 2 weeks of exercise and eating right I just had one. I'm anxious to see if it comes again in 28 days? Good luck to you!! btw...I went to the doctor and he said it was because of my weight gain after all blood work came back normal.0
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I stopped having my period a few years ago, due to some serious problems with my thyroid and also because I lost too much weight in a very short time. I hadn't one for over a year. Then it just started again and since then it's normal. It's surprising how fast the human body can recover, even from such things. I'm pretty sure you will have a normal period again. You just have to give it some time. Patience is the key... and a healthy lifestyle =^_^=0
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Can't say I have but I wanted to congratulate you on the 61lbs, thats AMAZING! Good on you and keep it up
You are an inspiration.0 -
I've always been overweight, for every year of my life I gained another stone of weight, so when I turned 16 and hadn't even started my periods I was already 224lb's
Doctor sent me for some hormonal tests and they all came back normal. Sent me for an ultrasound scan and it came back that my ovaries look slightly enlarged. Their best bet was Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome as this too is strongly related to weight and they stook me on the pill to give me periods.
Of course they stook me on the pill Dianette which is supposed to relieve some of the extra symptoms of PCOS but not supposed to be given to obese patients ^_^ ah well!
It didn't really bother me at the time because I was 16 and headstrong and adamant that I really didn't want children! I piled on the weight. However I'm now 23 and married and am so broody for a baby. Oh yeah, and 110lb's heavier than I was when I was 16 and not having my period. You can probably guess, I'm still not having periods.
That's one of the reasons I started this in the first place. It's going to take years to undo the weight damage. My doctor is following me closely. I did have another ultrasound scan, and this time my ovaries definitely looked cystic and not just "slightly enlarged". Once again the hormonal tests came back with everything being within the "normal" healthy range
I have the odd spot maybe once a year which at least reassures me everything down there works as it should do, in theory anyway ^_^ now just to loose all the weight...178lb's or so left to go...if I haven't started having my period by then, well I'll probably be off to see the gynaecologist about some fertility treatment. I hope it doesn't get to that and my fertility returns (or becomes for the first time!) to normal naturally. All in all the fact that I have to loose this weight sets me up pretty neatly though. There really can't be any accidents and by the time I'm fertile and ready to spawn (lol) we'll hopefully have gotten into a better financial position anyway, so I'm not looking at this as a bad thing per se, just looking at it as God's way of keeping me from rushing into something we couldnt cope with just yet.
He knows very well that if I was fertile, I'd be popping babies out every two seconds. I'm so broody lol!0 -
I've always been overweight, for every year of my life I gained another stone of weight, so when I turned 16 and hadn't even started my periods I was already 224lb's
Doctor sent me for some hormonal tests and they all came back normal. Sent me for an ultrasound scan and it came back that my ovaries look slightly enlarged. Their best bet was Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome as this too is strongly related to weight and they stook me on the pill to give me periods.
Of course they stook me on the pill Dianette which is supposed to relieve some of the extra symptoms of PCOS but not supposed to be given to obese patients ^_^ ah well!
It didn't really bother me at the time because I was 16 and headstrong and adamant that I really didn't want children! I piled on the weight. However I'm now 23 and married and am so broody for a baby. Oh yeah, and 110lb's heavier than I was when I was 16 and not having my period. You can probably guess, I'm still not having periods.
That's one of the reasons I started this in the first place. It's going to take years to undo the weight damage. My doctor is following me closely. I did have another ultrasound scan, and this time my ovaries definitely looked cystic and not just "slightly enlarged". Once again the hormonal tests came back with everything being within the "normal" healthy range
I have the odd spot maybe once a year which at least reassures me everything down there works as it should do, in theory anyway ^_^ now just to loose all the weight...178lb's or so left to go...if I haven't started having my period by then, well I'll probably be off to see the gynaecologist about some fertility treatment. I hope it doesn't get to that and my fertility returns (or becomes for the first time!) to normal naturally. All in all the fact that I have to loose this weight sets me up pretty neatly though. There really can't be any accidents and by the time I'm fertile and ready to spawn (lol) we'll hopefully have gotten into a better financial position anyway, so I'm not looking at this as a bad thing per se, just looking at it as God's way of keeping me from rushing into something we couldnt cope with just yet.
He knows very well that if I was fertile, I'd be popping babies out every two seconds. I'm so broody lol!
I'm definitely NOT fertile at all! My husband and I have been completely unprotected for 5 years now, granted the first three I was on birth control. All my tests came back totally normal too, so after ruling out PCOS, the doc just looked at me and said, "Well, looks like you and the gym are going to have to become BFFL if you want to have children in the future."0 -
Can't say I have but I wanted to congratulate you on the 61lbs, thats AMAZING! Good on you and keep it up
You are an inspiration.
Thank you!!!!!0 -
Hearing your story I think my cousin has a similar problem. She is 18 and has probably had about 8 periods in her life and that's in about 6 years. She's also severely overweight. Her doctors put her on birth control and it just made her miserable. She had only been on it a couple months when I last talked to her and out of the two periods she has had on it they were abnormally long and heavy and she had severe cramps the entire time. I know its not exactly the same but now that I hear your story I think it's because of her weight that she's having this problem.
I find it interesting that it isn't an exact science at all. I'm overweight myself (I may even weigh more than my cousin but she's carries her weight in a more obvious way) and I have had pretty regular periods since I was 12. I had one time where I didn't have it for about 3 months a few years ago but it came back and it's been regular ever since.
Has anything gotten any more 'normal' since you lost weight? Like has you doctor been able to tell whether or not it will ever be normal.
Congrats on your progress!! 61lbs is awesome.0
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