Ladies--TOM

healthyandthin
healthyandthin Posts: 104 Member
edited September 25 in Health and Weight Loss
What are some side affects of missing periods due to weight loss?
My mother, a former doctor, cautioned me that I would age faster if I am not menstruating. While I trust her, I can't help but think of my athletic friends who haven't gotten their periods in a year or two and the effect it has on them too. It's probably more dangerous for us to miss periods but how could athletes live with that?
I feel like it's a double edged issue. I'm watching what I eat and exercising everyday to lose weight but at the same time I don't want to lose my youth and health if I'm not menstruating.

Replies

  • hottamolly00
    hottamolly00 Posts: 334 Member
    I've never heard of this. DId you ever check with a doctor about this?
  • SaraTonin
    SaraTonin Posts: 551 Member
    If you're eating enough calories, you still menstruate. This is actually why I started MFP, because I wasn't eating enough for my exercise over the summer and it made my period something like 40 days late!!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    You won't lose your period if you are eating enough. A calorie deficit of 500 calories per day (enough to lose 1 pound per week) should not cause you to lose your period unless you have some other health issue.
  • Erindipitous
    Erindipitous Posts: 1,234 Member
    Estrogen helps your body absorb calcium. If you aren't menstruating, you aren't producing enough estrogen, and you're not absorbing the calcium.

    I didn't have my period for a year when I was anorexic in 2004-2005, and when I checked myself into treatment and they did a DEXA scan, I had (and still do) severe osteoporosis of the spine. I was religiously taking calcium during that time, but my body couldn't do anything with it. Caffeine during this time also didn't help with that.

    If I knew then what I know now, I would have gotten help a lot sooner.
  • squimother1
    squimother1 Posts: 17 Member
    if you are losing weight appropriately and eating properly, your menstruation pattern should not change. amenorrhoea is associated with rapid,excessive weight loss and not a healthy sign at all. it is the rigour for the gymnasts/athletes that puts them into this state.
  • ebergmann
    ebergmann Posts: 14
    my doctors scared me when they said if you lose menstruation it can have some effect on fertility later in life? but other than that, it's your body's way of telling you you need to eat more.
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