Female Lifters, Amenorrhea and/or missed periods.
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bbell1985
Posts: 4,572 Member
Hi all. I'm looking to hear from fit, relatively lean women in a healthy weight range who weight train. I understand this excludes many, but this is my case and most other stories will not be beneficial to me (you are still losing a large amount of weight, you are under weight, you are overweight, you are new to exercise).
That said. After years of having a regular period, it stopped last July. It came back in October, I thought I was regular again, but I have still missed two of the months since then. I've basically had one regular cycle since last July, a 3 month period without, and two that were over 40 days apart.
Yes, I have been overweight but my weight has been lost for awhile. I bulked last winter from 128 to 144, tried to cut last May. Hit 137 and went back up to 144. I don't think that weight gain or fluctuation has anything to do with it.
Also, I'm not ridiculously lean. I have a decent amount of fat.
The only thing that has changed is my specificity of weight training to prep for power lifting competitions. I lifted all through weight loss, so exercise is NOT new. The frequency, intensity and volume have changed though.
I do NO cardio. It's not like I'm crazy over-training here.
I have been to the doctors. Everything looks fine. The ultrasound looked good. The doc said she could see that there were perhaps cysts that had burst, but nothing to worry about.
I thought that maybe the fact that I was eating a lot of soy, or basically overdosing on melatonin, might have had a negative affect on my cycle. I stopped with both and my period came back, but now it's being wonky again regardless.
Nutrition wise, my fat is typically up where it should be when in maintenance (which I am). Protein is fine, carbs fine. I eat a lot of veg, introduced more fruit back in a few weeks ago to help with IBS.
My mood during PMS has also changed from "a little cranky" to...psychotic. And because I don't know when my period is coming anymore, it's hard for me to write these moods off to hormones. I threw the hairdryer across the bedroom the other day into the wall as hard as I could and cried in my bed for 30 minutes straight because I was too embarrassed by the sight of myself to go to the gym or be seen in public.
I think the missed periods could be from lifting? But I really thought that women who experience this from training had low body fat percentages and were doing MORE than me. I mean training for marathons and competitive sports.
Anyway, that was long. Have any LIFTERS experienced this? I'm not talking about extremely lean ladies prepping for competition either. I am not that.
That said. After years of having a regular period, it stopped last July. It came back in October, I thought I was regular again, but I have still missed two of the months since then. I've basically had one regular cycle since last July, a 3 month period without, and two that were over 40 days apart.
Yes, I have been overweight but my weight has been lost for awhile. I bulked last winter from 128 to 144, tried to cut last May. Hit 137 and went back up to 144. I don't think that weight gain or fluctuation has anything to do with it.
Also, I'm not ridiculously lean. I have a decent amount of fat.
The only thing that has changed is my specificity of weight training to prep for power lifting competitions. I lifted all through weight loss, so exercise is NOT new. The frequency, intensity and volume have changed though.
I do NO cardio. It's not like I'm crazy over-training here.
I have been to the doctors. Everything looks fine. The ultrasound looked good. The doc said she could see that there were perhaps cysts that had burst, but nothing to worry about.
I thought that maybe the fact that I was eating a lot of soy, or basically overdosing on melatonin, might have had a negative affect on my cycle. I stopped with both and my period came back, but now it's being wonky again regardless.
Nutrition wise, my fat is typically up where it should be when in maintenance (which I am). Protein is fine, carbs fine. I eat a lot of veg, introduced more fruit back in a few weeks ago to help with IBS.
My mood during PMS has also changed from "a little cranky" to...psychotic. And because I don't know when my period is coming anymore, it's hard for me to write these moods off to hormones. I threw the hairdryer across the bedroom the other day into the wall as hard as I could and cried in my bed for 30 minutes straight because I was too embarrassed by the sight of myself to go to the gym or be seen in public.
I think the missed periods could be from lifting? But I really thought that women who experience this from training had low body fat percentages and were doing MORE than me. I mean training for marathons and competitive sports.
Anyway, that was long. Have any LIFTERS experienced this? I'm not talking about extremely lean ladies prepping for competition either. I am not that.
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Replies
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Me..... 6 years and counting, with the exception of 3 periods in 6ish weeks last year. Which happened after the longest training break I've had since starting weight training about 7 years ago. (3ish months}. It stopped when I was losing weight for my wedding. I wasn't particularly lean at the time.
I've been comp lean for a lot of time, but I've put weight/fat on to see if that helped, and stayed big, for me, for prolonged periods, I've eaten well, I've tried different diets, supplements, been tested, told I'm normal, you name it.
Training is the only thing I can attribute it to...0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Me..... 6 years and counting, with the exception of 3 periods in 6ish weeks last year. Which happened after the longest training break I've had since starting weight training about 7 years ago. (3ish months}. It stopped when I was losing weight for my wedding. I wasn't particularly lean at the time.
I've been comp lean for a lot of time, but I've put weight/fat on to see if that helped, and stayed big, for me, for prolonged periods, I've eaten well, I've tried different diets, supplements, been tested, told I'm normal, you name it.
Training is the only thing I can attribute it to...
So it didn't come back when you gained weight?
And I see that the period came back during a training break, then stopped again when you started training?
Interesting, thank you.0 -
@livingleanlivingclean During the times of missed periods, do you still ovulate? I guess as a woman I should know that. I just seem to read that you can ovulate and still skip a period, and sometimes I see that it is not possible.1
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That was me around 8 years ago. I didn't get periods for around a year, pms symptoms were crazy and I was just not a happy person.
At that time I was lean( but not super lean), ate very good and was training very hard.
To me, it was not worth it.
So I stopped counting calories, gained around 15lbs( I am 5'9ish), and took it easy on training. Have been doing that for around 5 years and everything went back to normal.
The last year I have gained 10lbs on top of the 15 I gained before, which I want to lose, but I am not going back to being lean and training like a mad woman.2 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Me..... 6 years and counting, with the exception of 3 periods in 6ish weeks last year. Which happened after the longest training break I've had since starting weight training about 7 years ago. (3ish months}. It stopped when I was losing weight for my wedding. I wasn't particularly lean at the time.
I've been comp lean for a lot of time, but I've put weight/fat on to see if that helped, and stayed big, for me, for prolonged periods, I've eaten well, I've tried different diets, supplements, been tested, told I'm normal, you name it.
Training is the only thing I can attribute it to...
So it didn't come back when you gained weight?
And I see that the period came back during a training break, then stopped again when you started training?
Interesting, thank you.
No, gaining weight didn't help.
I'd lifted between 4 and 6 days a week for years, then had a break where I did 2 or 3 30minute interval/cardio based classes a week. It came back, I started lifting again and *poof* it was gone...
At least I know my body can still work when it wants to? I have an appt with a Integrative Dr specialising in hormones/fertility/thyroid/sports performance to try and work out what's going on... In 6 months! None of the normal Dr's I've seen have any idea or seem to want to help. Im normal apparently!1 -
Leanness is not the only cause of amenorrhea. I've posted about it before but energy availability is a factor in losing your period. That's the calories you eat, less the number you burn in exercise. Once you go below a certain threshhold, you tend to lose your period and it can take a long period of eating more in order to get it back and keep it. I *think* I've seen you say that you maintain at 1800 calories (is that right?) and that number seems low for your activity and body composition.
Are you a member of Lyle McDonald's bodyrecomposition.com FB group? If not, join and do a search for energy availability or amenorrhea, as there have been some good discussions about it.2 -
@livingleanlivingclean During the times of missed periods, do you still ovulate? I guess as a woman I should know that. I just seem to read that you can ovulate and still skip a period, and sometimes I see that it is not possible.
I think I've read you can.... I'm not sure how to find out if you are or not (perhaps tracking temps?}0 -
Leanness is not the only cause of amenorrhea. I've posted about it before but energy availability is a factor in losing your period. That's the calories you eat, less the number you burn in exercise. Once you go below a certain threshhold, you tend to lose your period and it can take a long period of eating more in order to get it back and keep it. I *think* I've seen you say that you maintain at 1800 calories (is that right?) and that number seems low for your activity and body composition.
Are you a member of Lyle McDonald's bodyrecomposition.com FB group? If not, join and do a search for energy availability or amenorrhea, as there have been some good discussions about it.
So, I never said JUST being lean is a factor. I'm asking about training, and mentioning my stats so everyone knows they're not dealing with a stage ready lifter.
And if I'm eating 1800 and maintaining, how can we say I'm not eating enough? I'm also a *kitten* logger. In reality I probably eat more.
Yes I am a member of that group. I don't feel comfortable posting there until I've read more.2 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »@livingleanlivingclean During the times of missed periods, do you still ovulate? I guess as a woman I should know that. I just seem to read that you can ovulate and still skip a period, and sometimes I see that it is not possible.
I think I've read you can.... I'm not sure how to find out if you are or not (perhaps tracking temps?}
Oh I know when I am. I can feel it. I need to keep track of it better now. I felt myself do it late this cycle. I'll see if I do after this period.0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Me..... 6 years and counting, with the exception of 3 periods in 6ish weeks last year. Which happened after the longest training break I've had since starting weight training about 7 years ago. (3ish months}. It stopped when I was losing weight for my wedding. I wasn't particularly lean at the time.
I've been comp lean for a lot of time, but I've put weight/fat on to see if that helped, and stayed big, for me, for prolonged periods, I've eaten well, I've tried different diets, supplements, been tested, told I'm normal, you name it.
Training is the only thing I can attribute it to...
So it didn't come back when you gained weight?
And I see that the period came back during a training break, then stopped again when you started training?
Interesting, thank you.
No, gaining weight didn't help.
I'd lifted between 4 and 6 days a week for years, then had a break where I did 2 or 3 30minute interval/cardio based classes a week. It came back, I started lifting again and *poof* it was gone...
At least I know my body can still work when it wants to? I have an appt with a Integrative Dr specialising in hormones/fertility/thyroid/sports performance to try and work out what's going on... In 6 months! None of the normal Dr's I've seen have any idea or seem to want to help. Im normal apparently!
If you want to friend me and feel comfortable about talking about the results of the appointment, I'd love to hear. Same here...doc has nothing to say.
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Leanness is not the only cause of amenorrhea. I've posted about it before but energy availability is a factor in losing your period. That's the calories you eat, less the number you burn in exercise. Once you go below a certain threshhold, you tend to lose your period and it can take a long period of eating more in order to get it back and keep it. I *think* I've seen you say that you maintain at 1800 calories (is that right?) and that number seems low for your activity and body composition.
Are you a member of Lyle McDonald's bodyrecomposition.com FB group? If not, join and do a search for energy availability or amenorrhea, as there have been some good discussions about it.
So, I never said JUST being lean is a factor. I'm asking about training, and mentioning my stats so everyone knows they're not dealing with a stage ready lifter.
And if I'm eating 1800 and maintaining, how can we say I'm not eating enough? I'm also a *kitten* logger. In reality I probably eat more.
Yes I am a member of that group. I don't feel comfortable posting there until I've read more.
Sorry. Didn't mean to upset you. Nevermind.10 -
Leanness is not the only cause of amenorrhea. I've posted about it before but energy availability is a factor in losing your period. That's the calories you eat, less the number you burn in exercise. Once you go below a certain threshhold, you tend to lose your period and it can take a long period of eating more in order to get it back and keep it. I *think* I've seen you say that you maintain at 1800 calories (is that right?) and that number seems low for your activity and body composition.
Are you a member of Lyle McDonald's bodyrecomposition.com FB group? If not, join and do a search for energy availability or amenorrhea, as there have been some good discussions about it.
So, I never said JUST being lean is a factor. I'm asking about training, and mentioning my stats so everyone knows they're not dealing with a stage ready lifter.
And if I'm eating 1800 and maintaining, how can we say I'm not eating enough? I'm also a *kitten* logger. In reality I probably eat more.
Yes I am a member of that group. I don't feel comfortable posting there until I've read more.
Sorry. Didn't mean to upset you. Nevermind.
No I'm not upset. I'm just saying. I really would like to hear if you think I'm not getting enough energy even though I'm maintaining weight. I mean, if I ate more, I'd gain, right?
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Admittedly, I get upset when people pick at my TDEE because I am sad about it and jealous of others. But it's my reality Also, as I said, that PMS is just strong. I've felt miserable and out of control for days so even online I may come across short. 0
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livingleanlivingclean wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Me..... 6 years and counting, with the exception of 3 periods in 6ish weeks last year. Which happened after the longest training break I've had since starting weight training about 7 years ago. (3ish months}. It stopped when I was losing weight for my wedding. I wasn't particularly lean at the time.
I've been comp lean for a lot of time, but I've put weight/fat on to see if that helped, and stayed big, for me, for prolonged periods, I've eaten well, I've tried different diets, supplements, been tested, told I'm normal, you name it.
Training is the only thing I can attribute it to...
So it didn't come back when you gained weight?
And I see that the period came back during a training break, then stopped again when you started training?
Interesting, thank you.
No, gaining weight didn't help.
I'd lifted between 4 and 6 days a week for years, then had a break where I did 2 or 3 30minute interval/cardio based classes a week. It came back, I started lifting again and *poof* it was gone...
At least I know my body can still work when it wants to? I have an appt with a Integrative Dr specialising in hormones/fertility/thyroid/sports performance to try and work out what's going on... In 6 months! None of the normal Dr's I've seen have any idea or seem to want to help. Im normal apparently!
If you want to friend me and feel comfortable about talking about the results of the appointment, I'd love to hear. Same here...doc has nothing to say.
Of course... It won't be for a while though, unless I can *fingers crossed* get in a cancelled appt spot!0 -
After I had my son seven years ago I became extremely regular. I've been lifting for 4 years now and never skipped a period until two months ago. Too early to know if that's a pattern that will continue. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if it never came back.0
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ocrXfitter wrote: »After I had my son seven years ago I became extremely regular. I've been lifting for 4 years now and never skipped a period until two months ago. Too early to know if that's a pattern that will continue. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if it never came back.
Did anything in your training change in the past 3-6 months? Sometime different from the past 4 years?0 -
ocrXfitter wrote: »After I had my son seven years ago I became extremely regular. I've been lifting for 4 years now and never skipped a period until two months ago. Too early to know if that's a pattern that will continue. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if it never came back.
Did anything in your training change in the past 3-6 months? Sometime different from the past 4 years?
Not really. I've always done a pretty good mix of lifting and running. I've had times of more running less lifting, less running more lifting, and an even split (like now) but it's never seemed to affect my period before.0 -
Hi bbell1985,
I have had amenorrhea a couple of years ago when I went a little overboard with exercise and diet. I had a very hard time eating enough to fuel my workouts (lifting 3 times a week, running twice a week 4 km distance), sports training (field hockey 3 times a week) and daily trips to school (30 minutes cycling one way) and ended up at low body fat combined with high exercise load and inadequate diet, which eventually led to amenorrhea. Fast forward 1 year, I had cut my training load to nearly zero due to an overuse knee injury among others, gained a few kg and got my period back. This may not be exactly similar to your case but please hear me out.
Since then I have learned that amenorrhea occurs when you stress your body too much through physical stress (little body fat, inadequate diet, heavy exercise/manual labor) and/or psychological stress. You do not necessarily need to have an excessively low body fat percentage to become amenorrheic, it is usually due to a combination of factors and this combination may certainly be different for you than it was for me at the time, and is for others who are amenorrheic right now. E.g. Intermittent fasting, while it works for many men, may wreak havoc for women, so if you’re doing this, you may want to stop. Same if you are eating low carb, you need some carbs to fuel your workouts and brain. Low carb might not work for everyone. If you are eating low carb, try upping your carb intake to a more moderate level and also make sure you eat at least 4 meals a day with adequate calories to maintain your weight. I would calculate your TDEE and eat approximately that and make sure to track your intake reasonably accurately, if you end up eating less while maintaining weight, try reverse dieting, which is slowly upping the calories, it is said to be a trick to get your metabolism back to normal after dieting, however I have never tried it myself. Aim to keep your weight stable for a few months while reducing your exercise load, both volume and intensity, to allow your body to regain its balance. I do not know your schedule but if it's anywhere near 6 times a week 1-2 hours at a time it may be a tad much. Also, if you're suffering from psychological stress, aim to reduce this through for example talking it out with friends, dealing with your stressor(s) assertively and/or meditation.
It is really important to get your period back as soon as possible because your hormones, in particular estrogen, may be depleted/imbalanced and they play an important role in keeping your bones healthy. It is harmful not to have your period and has long term consequences if untreated: increased risk of osteoporosis and stress fractures. If you cannot get your period back within 6-12 months with lifestyle/dietary changes discuss with your physician if there is another way for you to balance your hormones until you do. In any case ask your doctor to check your hormones, vitamins and thyroid function, should be simple blood work.9 -
I was always irregular (both overweight and relatively fit). I started taking 5000IUS of Vitamin D, and I have been regular ever since. I lift heavy, do a moderate amount of cardio, bulked and cut...with no problems.
For me, the issue was the Vit D deficiency. That's a quick blood test at the dr's office.1 -
If you have possibly had ovarian cysts, you could have PCOS. Have you ever had your androgens tested? Also, second the vitamin D comment above.1
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