Warning TMI, haven't gotten my period since I started counting calories
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Eh, I skipped my period this month and I'm a precious virgin. NO chance of being pregnant here...
Starting an extreme workout can cause your body to go 'let's put the babies on hold for now'. Are you working out more than usual? Stress can also make your body decide that babies might not be so important right now.0 -
When I first started working out and losing weight my period got weird, I was also under a huge amount of stress because my husband was in the hospital with Listeria poisoning. I went from normal 28 day cycles to 14 day cycles for two months, and am now back to 22-28 day cycles. Increased exercise, weight loss (even minimal), stress etc can all effect your hormone levels and your cycle. My suggestion would be to keep track of your exercise, food intake, any weight loss and run it by your doctor just to make sure that nothing else is going on.0
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Hi. I feel you. That time of the month I have fits of anger. My one work partner, who is male, is now knows that waaaay too much about me lol.0
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I'm still leaning towards pregnancy. Are you sure you're not pregnant? Condoms aren't 100%
On that note, what do you mean you can't take birth control? Can't or won't? There's tons of options if you really, really want to not be pregnant.0 -
If you miss a third period you should go and see your doctor to see if there is an underlying cause. This happened to me 10 years ago (I was normal weight at the time) and the cause turned out to be a pituitary tumour. I'm not saying this to frighten you but just to reinforce that you should go and get it checked out if it happens again next month. There are all kinds of potential causes, most of which aren't serious, but it shouldn't just go unchecked (although I understand it can be tempting to just think: "Yay, no periods!"). There's a good explanation here on the Mayo Clinic website:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/amenorrhea/basics/definition/con-20031561
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Anything can happen in this area!
1) Stress (even if you stress at losing weight)
2) Hormone fluctuations
3) Prego (again stressing am I or am I not?)
4) Putting your body through a new change such as eating less food/nutrition...
5) Coincidence, maybe the month of February being short caused it, maybe it is too cloudy...
Not to be blunt, but you have to listen to your body. Determine the amount of time it has been and based on your concerns and time line, if you need a need a doctor or not...
Pay the doctor or keep buying preo tests...
No one can tell you if eating 1200 calories is causing you not to have a period or not. No one body is the same...
People in cyber space can't diagnose a medical condition (physical or phycological/emotional)...1 -
MeganMoroz89 wrote: »So definitely not pregnant here, no birth control, no breast feeding. Since I started eating 1200 (60 days) calories a day I haven't gotten my period. Am I missing something in the nutrition department that is preventing this from happening. Don't get me wrong here, not a fan of the monthly visits but I'm having to constantly check if I'm pregnant out of paranoia. I cannot take birth control so just condoms over here.
While I don't know the specifics as to how, I do know that the type of food that you eat/how much food you eat can affect your hormones and I agree with segacs, I think that 1200 is too low for your body. While I'm not trying to lose as rapidly as you are (only .5 lbs a week), my daily goal is 1350 and I'm 5'3'' and weigh about 125. So I feel like your calorie goal should maybe be more around what mine is. -- based off of this, I feel like, since you know that you're not pregnant, that's most likely the reason why you haven't gotten your period since you started your weight loss journey.
Anything can throw it off, including stress. So as much as it's hard not to feel paranoid and stressed out, try your hardest not to - the only times that my period has been late was when I had a reason to question whether or not I was pregnant, which just made it take longer for it to come.
After reading your comments I think I'm going to up my calories at least until I get in to see the nutritionist.
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I was just reading something online about functional amenorrhea.
"There is a threshold of energy availability, roughly 30 kcal/kg LBM. d for most women, that must be met for normal menstrual cycling. The threshold is not the same for all women: But if that threshold is met, the restoration of cycling will occur if previously energy deficient and functionally oligo/amenonrrheic." Quote from: http://tinyurl.com/kzmxved
What this means is that most women need to be eating a minimum of 30 kcal per kilogram of lean body mass (not total weight) in order to have regular cycles. It is possible that an individual woman's threshold may be higher or lower than that, but for most women 30 kcal/kg LBM per day is the minimum.
While you are waiting to see a doctor about your condition, you need to at least increase your caloric intake to that level, at a very minimum.
You said that you weigh 178.8 pounds, which is 81.1 kg. That is your total body weight. To calculate your lean body mass, you need to estimate your body fat percentage. You can go to an online calculator to get an estimate (e.g. http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy) or if you have a body fat scale you can use that.
But for illustration purposes, let's say that you have a body fat percentage of 40%. That means that your lean body mass is 60%.
Multiply 81.1 kg by 60% to get your lean body mass in kilograms: 48.66 kg. Now multiply 48.66 kg by 30 kcal to arrive at a minimum intake: ~1,460 kcal per day.
If I were you, I'd stop dieting altogether until you've consulted with your doctor, but certainly don't eat less than whatever you calculate as 30 kcal/kg of lean body mass per day.0 -
You've lost 30 pounds in 60 days???0
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You don't want to be asking internet strangers this, see a doctor.
I'm perfectly comfortable with the fact I have a period, it's a natural thing that I had hoped some other women on this site may have experienced. If I'm not mistaken this forum is for motivation, support and advice. If you don't have any productive input, why bother?
That poster did give you advice though. If you are concerned, see a doctor.
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I've lost mine before, but only when I was quite underweight. Honestly I didn't mind and I was a bit disappointed when it came back :P anyway, I agree that you should see your doctor!0
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MeganMoroz89 wrote: »So definitely not pregnant here, no birth control, no breast feeding. Since I started eating 1200 (60 days) calories a day I haven't gotten my period. Am I missing something in the nutrition department that is preventing this from happening. Don't get me wrong here, not a fan of the monthly visits but I'm having to constantly check if I'm pregnant out of paranoia. I cannot take birth control so just condoms over here.
While I don't know the specifics as to how, I do know that the type of food that you eat/how much food you eat can affect your hormones and I agree with segacs, I think that 1200 is too low for your body. While I'm not trying to lose as rapidly as you are (only .5 lbs a week), my daily goal is 1350 and I'm 5'3'' and weigh about 125. So I feel like your calorie goal should maybe be more around what mine is. -- based off of this, I feel like, since you know that you're not pregnant, that's most likely the reason why you haven't gotten your period since you started your weight loss journey.
Anything can throw it off, including stress. So as much as it's hard not to feel paranoid and stressed out, try your hardest not to - the only times that my period has been late was when I had a reason to question whether or not I was pregnant, which just made it take longer for it to come.
After reading your comments I think I'm going to up my calories at least until I get in to see the nutritionist.
That's a great idea. Are you eating back exercise calories, or just a straight 1200/1400 cals per day?
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It happened to me, turned out it was lack of fat, as soon as I introduced some healthy fats into my diet all was sorted and back to normal!0
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The general guideline my doctor gave me is that once or twice isn't a big deal but more than three or four months without one warrants testing.
Same here. My doctor told me that after 3 months (I think that was the number) without a period, it meant that my body hadn't ovulated. Turned out some hormonal stuff was going on. All is well now.
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The opposite of this happened to me from Sept-Dec of last year. I started out at 170 and lost 15 pounds in 1 month. I wasn't even calorie counting for this loss, I basically realized I was eating way too much food in one sitting, so I cut my portion sizes. I also started eating healthier, cutting refined carbs (I ate a large amount of pasta every day) and all of the sweet tea I was drinking. I'm sure I created a calorie deficit by doing this, causing me to lose weight easily.
Anyways, my cycle went crazy and I was having a period every 12-14 days (bleeding for almost 10 days at a time). Obviously, I freaked out. I went to see my doctor to get checked out and she told me it was my diet and weight loss causing me to not ovulate, but to have frequent and long periods. She gave me a long explaination about what happens to your hormones when you lose body fat, but told me that it would level out and my cycle would go back to normal in a few months. Which it did, I'm back to having a normal cycle every 27-29 days.
I know this was probably way TMI, but I'm just letting you know that this sort of this happens with weight loss. Visit your doctor for reassurance and know that your body and hormones will soon regulate and balance out!0 -
I've heard many women having cyclic changes because of things like stress, or diet and exercise. Personally, though, in the 22 years that I've had my period, going through times of extreme stress, or drastic weight changes, the only thing in my life that has derailed my menstruation was pregnancy.
I do believe that diet is behind many of our bodies issues, though.
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Also, if you're exercising to excess (whatever that is for your body), that could cause amenorrhea, especially combined with a steep deficit. It sounds like you're going to add more calories back in, so if you're exercising a lot, I might scale that back a tiny bit too. You could do it in small increments to find your sweet spot.
Reproductive health is important! I'm glad you're looking into it.0 -
If you are super stressed that may also cause them to not show up. I'm sure constant worry about being pregnant may play a role but I'd maybe go and see your OB/GYN. They may be able to take a look just to make sure everything is okay and they can maybe let you know what some of the possibilities may be. Better safe than sorry!
I hope you find the answers you are looking for!
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I agree with the concensus that it's probably your low calorie intake. Many times I notice a change in my cycle based on how much I'm exercising also... but everyone's different. I would start by upping your calories a little and see if that helps. If not, probably best to ask your doc.0
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if you're not preg or have PCOS/other hormonal issues, i agree that it's likely to be hypothalamic amenorrhea due to combo of stress, diet and exercise. my period decided to go on holiday for 10 months and i went through the same panic of doing multiple pregnancy tests - had to eat more/cut back on exercise quite a bit for them to return. best to see a doc, but here are some useful links that may be useful x
http://paleoforwomen.com/overcoming-hypothalamic-amenorrhea/
http://www.theholisticnutritionist.com/hypothalamic-amenorrhea-2/hypothalamic-amenorrhea-what-to-do-first/0
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