Periods, eating disorders and overtraining

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ceiswyn
ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
At about the same time that I started suffering from an eating disorder (binge eating, albeit not officially diagnosed because it is literally impossible to get an appointment with my GP), I stopped having periods. I've also ramped up my training this year for a charity hike in September, and that is similarly something that can have this effect.

The thing is, this is something that has seriously improved my quality of life. My periods were a right pig (in the sense of bleeding like a stuck one) and the pre-period food cravings and exhaustion weren't exactly fun either. And I was stuck with all of that because hormonal contraception makes me suicidal.

So while obviously I'm addressing the binge eating issues, and a bit concerned about whether I'm overtraining, I'm not particularly worried about the amenhorrea.

Should I be? Are there aspects to this that I could be missing? Is there anything else I should be doing or not doing, or can I just relax and enjoy the side effect?
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Replies

  • Hannahwalksfar
    Hannahwalksfar Posts: 572 Member
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    It indicates an imbalance in your hormones which can lead to other sideffects, the big one being infertility, and I was told it can lead to an increased risk of some cancers but I don’t know whether that’s right or not.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
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    You’ve not mentioned how a long you’ve been period free, but if it’s just months as opposed to years I suspect it’s just a response to you changing a number of behaviours such as eating patterns, exercise and calorie intake. It used to happen to me (I was also not bothered and just revelled in the lack of pain, mess and inconvenience) from time to time, through stress, change of lifestyle etc. I think the longest I went without was around 9 months before they re-established.

    I also don’t know how old you are, so there’s always early onset menopause, I guess?

    Either way, I would make a concerted effort to see your doctor. (although I share the problem of GP appointments being impossible!)
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    edited August 2019
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    Absolutely certain. 42 is much too early for menopause in my family, I haven't had any menopausal symptoms, and menopause doesn't turn off regular heavy periods like shutting off a tap.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    edited August 2019
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    Obviously seeing a doctor would be the ideal, but my concern is that it's not going to be worth staying on the phone for the hour necessary to get through to appointments, and then taking a morning/afternoon off work, if all that happens is that the GP says 'oh, it's probably due to your binge eating and overtraining' and gives me advice I could get off the internet :)

    If they're actually likely to be concerned and want to do blood tests and stuff, that's a bit different.
  • Hannahwalksfar
    Hannahwalksfar Posts: 572 Member
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    They did tests for me turns out I was very low in iron.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
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    What we’ve evolved to do with our GP is to actually go down to the practice and queue outside at 8am until they open the doors in the morning to try to get an appointment because, as you say, you can dial and redial for over an hour and by the time you do get through all the appointments that they are ‘releasing’ that day are taken! My daughter once counted 433 attempts before she got through!

    Obviously, I don’t know about your doctors but can you make an appointment for some future date, they must have some you can book ahead for routine matters rather than on the day ‘emergencies’ as it were. Or maybe a practice nurse would be good enough, at those appointments are a little easier to get in my experience.

    If you’ve been without periods for over a year I would think they might want to check your hormone levels and do some other blood work just to rule out other causes. I would give it some thought, anyway, although I do understand how it’s easy to feel that the whole process of getting to see someone is offputting.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    edited August 2019
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    Hannahwalksfar wrote: »
    They did tests for me turns out I was very low in iron.

    I gave blood a couple of weeks ago and my iron was fine. I have a generally healthy and varied diet, and take supplements a couple of times a week just to make sure.

    However if they are actually likely to want to do tests, rather than just writing it down to the obvious reasons, it might be worth having another go at the appointments line.
  • totem12
    totem12 Posts: 194 Member
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    You should double check that it's not being caused by low oestrogen levels as that can lead to osteoporosis - us women need all the bone strength we can get. I don't have experience myself to tell you whether they would do tests, but I do have a friend with an eating disorder whose periods stopped and her Dr did consistently tell her it was just her low weight and do no tests. I think if you mention eating problems, increased exercise and (I'm inferring) stress you will likely be told that's the cause. All thats said, I would still try, you never know and osteoporosis is no picnic.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    I would still suggest seeing a doctor or NP when you can--there are other causes of amenorrhea that could have longer lasting health implications--you'll at least want to rule those out.

    And since you have no plans for children any time soon--you might want to consider an IUD which can regulate your periods somewhat--there are some with very little hormone. Personally I have a Mirena (which is hormonal), but I haven't had periods at all with it--no bleeding, no monthly bloating, no moodiness--they last for 5 years and I'm on my second one. I know other people have had issues with it, but it's worth a consideration.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    edited August 2019
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    totem12 wrote: »
    You should double check that it's not being caused by low oestrogen levels as that can lead to osteoporosis - us women need all the bone strength we can get. I don't have experience myself to tell you whether they would do tests, but I do have a friend with an eating disorder whose periods stopped and her Dr did consistently tell her it was just her low weight and do no tests. I think if you mention eating problems, increased exercise and (I'm inferring) stress you will likely be told that's the cause. All thats said, I would still try, you never know and osteoporosis is no picnic.

    That is exactly my past experience with other issues, which is why I'm not particularly interested in going through all the effort required to see a GP (why did several people woo that, by the way? Is my GP's appointments system and opening hours pseudoscience?) if all that's likely to happen is that I'm told something I already know :)

    Given that there are not one but two obvious causes of my amenhorrea, I'm pretty willing to go with Occam's Razor for a bit. What I would like to know is whether there are any associated factors that I should be worrying about, and it sounds like there aren't.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    edited August 2019
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    mitch16 wrote: »
    I would still suggest seeing a doctor or NP when you can--there are other causes of amenorrhea that could have longer lasting health implications--you'll at least want to rule those out.

    And since you have no plans for children any time soon--you might want to consider an IUD which can regulate your periods somewhat--there are some with very little hormone. Personally I have a Mirena (which is hormonal), but I haven't had periods at all with it--no bleeding, no monthly bloating, no moodiness--they last for 5 years and I'm on my second one. I know other people have had issues with it, but it's worth a consideration.

    I have, in fact, considered this extensively. As a result, I've used a plain IUD for birth control for decades. I haven't tried a hormonal one because I would rather suffer PMS and fountains of blood once a month than suicidal depression and insomnia every day. Maybe the lower levels of hormone in a Mirena wouldn't trigger the same symptoms as other hormonal forms of birth control; but it's not worth the risk.

    All of which means that my options for not having the fountains of blood etc boil down to pregnancy, the menopause, or, as it turns out, this :)
  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,092 Member
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    OP. I understand the problems of getting to see an nhs GP. And they will probably tell you what you already suspect. But lack of periods is the sign something isn’t right with your body. Maybe you need some more specialist help around the binge eating.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
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    cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »
    OP. I understand the problems of getting to see an nhs GP. And they will probably tell you what you already suspect. But lack of periods is the sign something isn’t right with your body. Maybe you need some more specialist help around the binge eating.

    Yeah, trying to get to see a GP to talk about the binge eating was why I originally spent all that time on the phone trying to get through for an appointment. But given what I know about waiting lists for mental health issues in this area, I strongly suspect that I'm basically on my own for that one even if I could get past the first hurdle.

    And again, given that there are not one but two obvious causes of my amenhorrea, I'm pretty willing to go with Occam's Razor for a bit. What I would like to know is whether there are any associated factors that I should be worrying about, and it sounds like you don't know any more than I do about that.
  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,092 Member
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    Nope I don’t know yr right. I can only google as you can and that comes up with osteoporosis which is a concern. But if you do decide to go throghtbthe hassle of getting a Gp appointment you can insist on a referral to mental health services. I know there’s waiting lists. But at least you are on the road to getting the right help
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,666 Member
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    Osteoporosis

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