Warning TMI, haven't gotten my period since I started counting calories

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  • blakexx3
    blakexx3 Posts: 89 Member
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    A change in diet and/or exercise may be the reason. I usually find the opposite problem, when I started working out and changing my diet I had a lot of breakthrough bleeding.
  • SophiaSerrao
    SophiaSerrao Posts: 234 Member
    edited March 2015
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    It's NOT a coincidence 77. Sheesh...

    The same happened to me when I started losing weight. It's directly related to eating at a calorie deficit and/or to working out. It's like our bodies get stressed and just focus on dealing with these changes, I guess. Totally normal from what I've read... and I read a lot when it happened.

    The most my delay lasted was 54 days. And that time I had a one day long period which was very light. Nice, but odd.

    It suuuuuucks when you're having sex though. You can't quite enjoy the "no period" of it all D:>
    lol
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,721 Member
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    zcjthi2 wrote: »
    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/

    These are some excellent links. I had HA for a year and a half and I never was really "underweight" but had cut my calories to ~1200 for a year. It took 7 months of eating "normally" and putting on 10 pounds to get my periods back.

    That is one of the reasons I'm wary of losing too much weight at once now and why I keep my calorie average higher than 1200.
  • taymam
    taymam Posts: 55 Member
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    Thanks ladies, this is really helpful info.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited April 2015
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    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    We have this word in the English language that, sadly, many folks don't understand.

    The word is: "coincidence".

    I've even heard of folks blaming toenail fungus on diet. <boggle>

    Sometimes random events just happen at the same time.

    No causal relationship.

    Not even correlation.

    Just random ... coincidence.

    Now go head on down to your Doc's office and pay an arm and a leg to get a professional diagnosis. Odds are, it's the same.

    In fact, it's likely NOT a random coincidence. The two things do seem to co-incide, yes, but not randomly.

    OP: It's probably fine (but not a random coincidence).
    For everyone in this situation:
    it's best to check with your doctor. Have your blood work done if you can. Be sure to tell her how many calories you think you used to eat, and how many you're eating now. If your diet has changed significantly in other ways, tell her that as well.
    If your activity level (exercise etc.) has changed significantly, tell her that as well.

    I would bet that the missed period is because you're not eating enough.


    PS: toenail fungus (depending on the type) may or may not be diet related.
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,779 Member
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    epawelek wrote: »
    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!

    This was helpful because I've been freaking out over my 22-24 day cycle. Still going to bring it up at my checkup, but I was scared that things were starting way early for me.
  • GA_belle
    GA_belle Posts: 22 Member
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    50452 wrote: »
    He said that they, the doctors, didn't worry about it when you don't have a period; they worried about it when bled too much. < Do not take this as medical advice.

    I don't know how long ago this was, but you should worry if you go too long without a period. As someone who was diagnosed with PCOS almost 20 years ago, I spent many years without any periods. My doctors, as I saw several over the years, prescribed medications to induce menstruation. My doctor recommended that I take the medication in order to induce a period at least every 2-3 months.

    I'm not suggesting the OP has PCOS, it sounds like you have been very regular before this. I just wanted to point out to anyone else reading this that a lack of periods may be a cause for concern and should be checked out by your doctor.



  • BigLifter10
    BigLifter10 Posts: 1,151 Member
    edited April 2015
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    B) If all it takes is counting calories.....man, I'm IN! I'll have to do that before vacation time!
  • BetterThanExpected
    BetterThanExpected Posts: 104 Member
    edited April 2015
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    An abrupt change in calorie levels can sometimes cause your period to stop showing up. I'm not actually sure if it'll come back if you just keep going, or if it'll stay gone. Either check with your doctor, or raise your calorie levels to 1500 for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference.
  • stickingwithit48
    stickingwithit48 Posts: 3
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    I used to have regular periods, but more recently it's a little more choppy. I can go a few months regularly, and then maybe not see one for 2 months or so at a time. I'm convinced it is my diet - I'm either eating poorly, or like now, trying to sort myself out and eat healthy (which I suppose becomes a slight shock to my body), so it never has an overall regular routine.

    It always comes around again, so it isn't something that bothers me hugely.

    As some others have said, I'd (personally) wait another month or so and see if it happens.

    I actually wasn't going to reply to this thread, but after reading some of the comments, I thought I may as well. Some people seem to miss that the idea of this thread was to ask for other (ideally women) similar experiences. Sometimes it is nice to know that, whatever the reasoning, someone else has had a similar issue to you and to maybe see how they dealt with it. Even more so when a majority on this forum are trying the same thing with calorie counting ; could it have been something that is commonly related to this method of losing weight?

    Anyway, good luck and I hope it sorts itself soon for you :).
  • cdn_beaver
    cdn_beaver Posts: 130 Member
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    You're eating 1200 calories which is really low. Are you exercising as well? If you are, are you eating back the calories you're burning? I'm guessing you're just at too much of a deficit for your body.
  • qn4bx9pzg8aifd
    qn4bx9pzg8aifd Posts: 258 Member
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    BetterThanExpected wrote: »
    An abrupt change in calorie levels can sometimes cause your period to stop showing up.

    This is true...


    taymam , while there are numerous resources which can go into some detail regarding this, the following (from the online materials associated with a university nutrition course) is something I thought I'd go ahead and simply post the link to (along with an excerpt), so that you can at least get a cursory overview of some causes of amenorrhea in "active women", and some nutritional advice associated with such...

    ...and please note that all of the information associated with the following link (and excerpted below) was (per the relevant credit noted at the bottom of the link's page) excerpted from materials written by Nancy Clark (and per what I discovered, is most likely from her multi-edition -updated "Sports Nutrition Guidebook")... and Nancy Clark (whose name I didn't know until looking at the link-referenced page, and whose credentials I found by looking online) is a Registered Dietician (RD), is board-certified in Sports Dietetics (CSSD), publishes materials that are used by other nutrition professionals, provides nutrition counseling for athletes of all levels (including Olympic athletes), and is the Team Nutritionist for the Boston Red Sex... and thus, this information is from a noted professional source with expertise in nutrition --

    http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ntr301/AMNRRHA.HTM
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    If you are an active woman who previously had regular menstrual periods but currently have stopped menstruating, you have amenorrhea. You may believe the amenorrhea relates to being too thin and exercising too much, but that may be incorrect. [...]

    The question arises: Why are you experiencing menstrual problems [...]? The answer may relate to your eating habits.

    [...]

    2.If you have weight to lose, don't crash diet. Instead, moderately cut back on your calorie intake by only about 20%. Severe dieting commonly results in amenorrhea, suggesting that amenorrhea may be your body's way to adapt to a calorie deficit and conserve calories. By following a healthy reducing program, you will not only have greater success with long-term weight loss, but will also have energy to exercise well. [...]
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    With 1200 calories being as low as it is, and its likely representing well over a 20% cut in calories from the previous norm, the body (and in particular, aspects of the endocrine system) can seemingly 'interpret' this as the body suddenly experiencing 'starvation', and subsequently engage in what appears to be a form of 'going into survival mode' -- and for women, that can (and more often than many realize) include a likely-endocrinologically-triggered ceasing of menstruation.

    And lastly... in case it isn't clear, and just to confirm -- the occurrence of amenorrhea is not some sort of 'coincidental' anything that randomly affects women...
  • retropactum
    retropactum Posts: 75 Member
    edited April 2015
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    SergeantSausage wrote: »
    We have this word in the English language that, sadly, many folks don't understand.

    The word is: "coincidence".

    I've even heard of folks blaming toenail fungus on diet. <boggle>

    Sometimes random events just happen at the same time.

    No causal relationship.

    Not even correlation.

    Just random ... coincidence.

    Now go head on down to your Doc's office and pay an arm and a leg to get a professional diagnosis. Odds are, it's the same.

    ^THIS. This is exactly what happened to me. I skipped two periods and my doc basically looked at my like 'and you're here because...' It's nothing to be alarmed over. If you're not pregnant, talk to your mom. She'll probably have a good laugh then tell you a story about the 10 times it's happened to her. Sometimes you just don't ovulate like you're supposed to. As much as I do think you're deficiency is too drastic, I don't think it's related. Once I spent months eating 600 calories a day and still ticked like clock work down there lol.

    See a doctor if you're truly concerned because no one her can tell you what's going on with your parts.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    You can safely ignore sausage - it's not a coincidence, losing period/period irregularity is very common with weight loss.
  • dswope85
    dswope85 Posts: 9 Member
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    I had that issue BEFORE I stared mfp I went 3 months with out one I was so scared I went to my gyno he gave me a pill to make it start then I went 2 MORE month without one. 3 days after started exercising and using mfp its back to normal ! I then went back to my gyno and then my pcp to make sure I was ok and they both advised me as long as you have a cycle at least once every 3 months your ok , if longer get checked out . I love mfp
  • SophiaSerrao
    SophiaSerrao Posts: 234 Member
    edited April 2015
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    girlviernes wrote: »
    You can safely ignore sausage - it's not a coincidence, losing period/period irregularity is very common with weight loss.

    This. At least a girl calling it a coincidence is better than a guy... :neutral: , but as many have said, from their own experience: calorie deficits and increased activity affect your cycles. Basically cuz these things are a new stress on the body.

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