Hello everyone,
I come on the forum every now and then to see whats going on, and just recently found the maintenance forum! I just wanted to see if anyone else has had trouble with their periods? Well, I currently stand around 108 and I'm around 5'4". My original goal was 115, however, due to my running routine I lost a lil more. Well, to get to the point...I havent had my period in 3 or so months. Ive contributed this to my weight because Im not sure what else It could be...I know Im under alot of stress right now (graduating, wedding, and new house) yet Ive been dealing with this kind of stuff for awhile and still had my period. Ive tried to increase my food a lil, yet my period is still non existant. Ive been eating lower calorie and leaner meat choices in mantaining my weight...yet Ive been trying to raise the calories in fear of not having my period..yet nothing has changed. Anyone else having/had a similar experience?

Brittany

(I am assuming you have ruled out the obvious, like pregnancy or menopause . . . .)

I haven't had a similar experience, but I had a friend who did. She lost a lot of weight and did a lot of running, and ended up not menstruating. You probably know that this is common in ballet dancers, too, because they keep their weight so low.

Sorry I don't know exactly the way to fix it - more healthy fat in your diet seems like a good possibility though. Might be good to run it by your doctor.

Congratulations on the graduation/house/wedding! Stressful but it must be very exciting, too.

Hi Brittany. Congrats on forthcoming wedding!

Please consider seeing your doctor or gyno about this. You can "feel fine", deal with the stress and maintain a low weight for a long time, but once you cross that line where your hormones shut down, you're at the same risk for osteoporosis and loss of fertility that strikes eating disorder victims. Your maintenance plan probably needs to be a lot more generous, and you should probably be under the watch of a gyno or endocrinologist.

Best of luck to you, and keep hanging around the maintenance forum! Keep us posted!

I agree, you should get it checked out, especially if you are going to try for a baby anytime soon. I had problems due to PCOS which eventually got better, but it's almost a relief when I do come on now because I hated that time when I skipped periods. It's almost like it's not normal (which of course it isn't) do go get yourself checked out.

I agree about seeing a dr. or gyno, when it doubt it's definitly the thing to do!

Just curious, how many calories are you consuming in your maintenence plan? It may just be as simple as upping those and your fat a little (but still see a dr). The rule of thumb I always hear is to get at least 1200 cals in to stave off "starvation mode," and all that stuff, but I could be mistaken, so don't take my word for it (see a dr).

Congrats on the graduation/wedding/new house! My life was the same way last summer w/ wedding/new house (and graduation was a yr earlier). Wow, was it ever stressful! Good luck!

I really do appreciate all your replies everyone. I do realize even more now after your responses that I should and need to go see my gyno. I will do that and get back to all of you. And, yes, I did have the "oh no, could I be pregnant?" scare...but thankfully, Im not. And yes, my fiance and I do want to have children in the near future and it worries me that what Im going through right now might be jeopardizing getting pregnant. I'm going to set up an appt very soon, so thanks again everyone

I have PCOS and have issues with regular cycles. I lost my period when I gained too much weight. BUt also a very long time ago in my teen years I suffered from an ED and my body fat was so low I stoped menstruating... WHich could be your issue. But yes please do see a Dr. Hope it all turns out well for you!

I agree with others -- please be careful. Due to overexercising/dieting, I didn't have my period for quite a long time (perhaps nearly 10 years?). I have severe osteoporosis now (I am 37). I feel like I have worn my body out in many ways. My biological age may be 37, but many days my body feel like that of a 70 year old. Please don't make the same mistakes I did.

wow, how scary. I have a question. In hopes to recover my period, what kind of things could I be doing now in hopes minimizing osteoporosis in later life? Right now I drink alot of carb countdown milk and eat alot of yogurt, both with alot of calcium. What do yall think about that? And I guess I never did understand why loss of your period causes osteoporis? I know it has to do with loss of calcium absorption to your bones, but I dont understand the whole picture. Thank for the replies everyone! By the way, my appt is in 2 weeks.

Hi. I do think you should see your gyno, but I would have her check you body fat percentage. I don't think the problem is what you'r eating, so much as how your diet is effecting you body fat level.

It is normal for women to stop menstruation when body fat gets too low. This is the biggest reason that population had such a slow growth rate before the agricultural revolution. Women only had babies about every 5 years, mainly because they could only gather enough carbs (fruit & veggies) in spring and summer to put on enough fat to ovulate, get pregnant, & then nurse a child for 3-4 years.

I would continue to eat a diet rich fats and protein. I would not count calories. I would then count my lucky carbs and add in more fruit, veggies, and whole grains. This helped keep ancient women fertile, and it should work for you.

Remember, you'r body does not know that you are not a cave women

It takes awhile for the body to recover from amenorrhea related to stresses like rapid weight loss (whether from exercising or restriction), and nutritional deprivation. Keep eating more foods and hopefully it will come back.
That's what I'm doing but no sign of it yet.

Another possibility is you might simply be too thin for your body. You would have to gain some weight back to restart your period. 108 lbs at 5'4 is underweight for the average, and your body might have an above average set point. Clearly you can see the problem if this were the case . My weight is similar and I'm 5'5, and also amenorrhetic. I'm currently eating more foods and hoping that as I maintain it will come back... and trying to gain weight (but must admit I really really don't want to and am not trying as hard as I could be ). If it doesn't come back I'll eventually put on weight but right now I'm still to insecure with weight maintenance to do that.

I don't know how afraid you are of slipping and regaining out of control. If you aren't I would suggest putting on some weight back ASAP. If you aren't then for now just try to eat more calories, reassure your mind that this won't make you lose control and gain... and then when you're ready, you can feel confident enough to gain a few pounds. In the meantime you might want to investigate getting on birth control to supply your body the hormones it needs that it isn't producing.

This is my biggest fear
Might I ask what the nature of your diets were? Were they starvation bouts, and similar disordered behavior... or were they healthy?

I know that eating disordered people who lose their periods are at an extremely high risk of osteoporosis... but in the back of my mind I've always questioned if the osteoporosis was REALLY from the lack of hormones or if it was a consequence of being in a chronically nutritionally and mineral depleted state (which can be avoided/minimized greatly if one obtains the weight they like slowly and healthfully eating a lower energy diet high in protein, fats, and minerals). I know estrogen has a positive effect on building and maintaining bones but even if in estrogen deficit due to low weight, if one has adequate nutrition to maintain bones is osteoporosis really that likely?

I'm still amenorrheic as well after losing 40-something pounds and I'm at a perfectly normal weight (5'4, 122-125). Mine is most likely due to overexercise and underfueling - I've corrected that situation and it's still not back /sigh. I'm at 2K+ calories a day and a reasonable amount of cardio/weights. Thyroid is fine, other things fine. It's been over 6 months .
My MD thinks it will just take time for the body to kick back in to producing the proper hormones. BC Pills are an option, but I'm 37 and I'd prefer not to take em if I don't have to.
FWIW, it's not related to low carb - I followed a much higher carb plan, very similar to BFL and in maintenance I'm eating carbs at each and every meal.

Have anyone of your Ob's given you the shot to start TOM? I am also on day 43 over here and I am going to ob this wed for testing. I am not sure what's going. Though I did have fertilty issues getting pg w/ my daughter not the twins though! DH sneezed and I was knocked up.

The dieting was not very healthy. I consider myself to have an eating disorder (sort of undefined), and have been this way for more than 15 years. I agree with you that chronic malnutrition can certainly help to cause osteoporosis, amenorrhea, etc.. It seems to me that in most cases, if you lose your period, something is certainly not right. In the dieting/exercise/etc. case, your body is probably just trying to conserve what little energy you're giving it and thus shuts down "unessential" things like menstruation. Although I think there is some real scientific evidence that your bones don't absorb calcium at the same rate when you aren't menstruating (or something of that sort, I'm certainly no expert). I am currently taking Fosomax and hope that will at least stop the loss (and hopefully actually increase my bone density somewhat).