Will a break from cardio/exercise get my period back?

Hi guys,

New member, I've been lurking a bit, though, reading posts and so forth. So I see a lot of women trying to reverse secondary amenorrhea. I was just wondering if a complete break from exercise has ever worked for anyone?

A bit about me: I don't know that I have an ED but I think I'm flirting with one and it terrifies me. I am currently at 112 and 5'5" up from a recent low of 107. My lowest weight was 100 pounds as a teenager and my highest was 150 at the age of 24. I'm 29 now.

What began as being healthy, cutting back on drinking, getting exercise etc., has become somewhat compulsive. Okay, very compulsive :( At my "worst" behavior I averaged around 800-1000 cal a day while exercising for about 2 hours a day. I went from a healthy 5'5" and around 125 to 107 over the course of six months.

This is a bit complicated by enormous personal stress since this past January, when I found out my little brother has terminal cancer. I am his sole financial support as well, and while I have wonderful friends, my family support system is nonexistent. I think this situation might have exacerbated a slightly OCD personality and sent it into full throttle.

I haven't had my period since I found out my brother was ill, at first I attributed it to shock and paid no attention. As I continued to overexercise and lose weight I realized I no longer had any idea how to reverse the amenorrhea since I don't know if it's low body fat, high stress, sudden weight loss or all of the above.

I am terrified of gaining more than the 5 pounds from 107 (it took me nearly 5 months to do that, starting and stopping, restricting and then not). I am seeing  therapist but can only see her every couple of weeks due to limited funds. I'm reading loads of ED books and some have helped a bit but nothing seems to help completely.

My last gyno visit they said I had low estrogen and Hypothalamic Amenorrhea. I've read exhaustively about these and have increased fat grams, lowered exercise some and tried to gain weight. 11 months later, still no period.

I currently do cardio (to the point of sweating heavily/ 75% heart rate /a decent work out) for 45 minutes on M/W/F, 30 minutes on T/T, and an hour on Sat and usually Sunday. I also do body weight exercises (lunges, pushups) for 20 minutes three times a week. I have a desk job but stay semi active outside of that, with dogwalking/house cleaning etc.,

If I took off an entire week, no exercise, not even much walking, and ate lots of fat, would that kick start my period, maybe? I feel like I'm getting signs that my body is trending toward it, more discharge, seems like slightly fuller breasts, some slight PMS symptoms each month. I feel that I'm right on the cusp and just need to kick it into gear. But I'm TERRIFIED of a whole week of no exercise.

Any help, advice, encouragement would be SO appreciated. Oh, I've not had my body fat tested but the online thing where you measure your hips/waist/wrist and give weight and height seems to think I'm at 19%.

Anybody else have any success reversing HA with no exercise? Anyone else manage to do so without going crazy? :)

My opinion is you certainly would have to take off more then ONE week of exercise to reverse the damages of losing your period. 7 Days just isn't going to make a miracle (well maybe, but I would find it be very rare.)

It's good you are upping your fats, etc...my suggestion is, yes, you may be working out too much and I would try limiting to maybe 3 days a week. If that is too trouble-some then I would suggest maybe doing more yoga and or walks (no running.) a little bit for no more then an hour each day.

After a few months if you still are not getting your monthly cycle then it's obvious you need to gain more weight from what you are. I know it's scary, but I guess the question comes down to "what is more important to you?" Is it keeping a low weight and remaining unhealthy (losing your period can not only cause fertility problems down the road if you do chose to have children later on...but also mess with your bones and could possibly cause osteoporosis. Fractures or broken bones will interfere with any daily activities you may want to do in the future." Or is it to be healthy, get to a healthier weight where you can have a normal amount of physical activity in your life, have your period and avoid any damage that may be occurring your body."

You have to sort out your priorities and do what is best for you in the long run. Take care of your body, you only have one.

My sympathies about your brother. *hugz.

Good luck.

Wow, you and me are almost one in the same.  I am 31 years old, ~110 and 5'5, and have not had a period since the end of january, when I quit BC pills.  I was also only eating ~1000cals a day pretty much at the most to maintain my weight.  I stupidly thought eating more would make me hugely gain.  I lost some weight before I got married 6 years ago.  Period never super regular before BC, but never nonexistent.  After I was ~110 lbs at my wedding, I DID NOT want to gain weight back!  I loved the way I looked, and still do...

I am not quite as obsessed with working out as you.  I do moderate cardio 2-3 times a week (step or spin), and weight train 3 days a week.  I personally hate cardio, and wouldn't have a problem cutting it back, but I have anxiety about cutting back on weights, as I love the tone of my muscles.  I have a scale that tells you approximate % fat, and it tells me ~18%; although who really knows the accuracy.

I honestly did not realize that I was malnourished until I didn't get my period on my own and started investigating causes of secondary amenorrhea and realized...holy sh**, I am malnourished!!!

I have recently started (and by recently I mean monday!) eating at least 1600cals a day to start, and more fat!!!!!  I have had cheese 2/day, milk 1/day, peanut butter 1/day (have not ha dpb in YEARS for fear of fat), and almonds 1.5 ounces to start every day.  Also cooking with olive oil, not just Pam...

I am eating every 2 hours, as I have NO hunger cues, but don't want to feel uncomfortably full.  It has been surprisingly not very stressful!  The food is tasting good, and I actually woke up hungry today!  I also noticed that I am less bloated in the mornings...Not sure if this was maybe b/c the biggest meal I would eat would be in the evening before..

I recently finished a 10 day Rx of progesterone (given by my OB to stimulate a "withdrawal bleed" within 3-10 days of finishing.  I finished them last thursday, and so far.....nothing!  and no PMS at all!  If I do not bleed, it means I have low estrogen, which I am sure I probably do.

TT\It is very important for me to turn this around b/c my husband and I want to get pregnant.

let's keep each other updated, yes?  Your story really speaks to me!  much luck

chrissy

Thank you guys, for the responses thus far :)

SilentDeadlyRose: I am definitely looking to cut down the exercise a bit long term but I'm actually super worried that short term it won't be enough and that a week off might get my head on straight as well. I'm equally worried that it will do the opposite and I'll go crazy with stress :( Eh...

Chrissy,

We DO sound almost exactly alike except that I have only been on BC twice, once when I was 18, for six months, hated side effects and went off, and once during this year. I went on Loestrin FE24 for all of three weeks. I got a wicked yeast infection, gained four pounds (which led to panic, restricting etc.,), was frighteningly angry (screamed at my cat) and then hit a depression that frightened me. On top of which my digestion slowed to the point where I was bloated like I was 9 months pregnant. That in turn made it hard to eat. It was NOT a good experience.

I have been diagnosed with low estrogen already, have a follow up visit with OB GYN in a week. I am hoping my hormone levels have stabilized and a good solid week of no physical activity (except for very short mile long dog walk once a day) coupled with plenty of fats, will make my body trust me again.

I don't want to gain weight, either, so we're the same that way. I am currently eating maintenance calories (which, depending on amount of exercise comes to between 1800-2000 a day) and aiming for 25-30% fat, which is difficult as I don't really like a lot of fatty foods. But yeah, am going to try to be better. I am mainly wanting to get my head on straight, so to speak. Like if I go out and have a few drinks then I typically overeat later, both through lowered inhibitions and lowered blood sugar. When I go over maintenance calories I feel disgusting and exercise and restrict until I'm back to my weight. We're talking small "binges" too, like 500-1000 calories over my daily allotment. Like two slices of pizza after drinks on a Saturday. I know that it's normal and healthy to make up for overeating one day by GENTLY limiting your intake the next. It's just the "you're so fat/disgusting" voice, coupled with the compulsive need to exercise it off and the core belief that I would look much better at my low weight that worry me.

So yeah: I'll totally keep you posted on my progress, maybe that will help us both? But I wonder if your amenorrhea, being partially due to BC (plus, possibly low weight/disordered eating) might be different than mine, which is partially due to stress (plus, possibly, low weight/exercise/disordered eating)?

Let's see :) Good luck, beautiful :)

xoxo

Just wanted to reply as this happened to me @ 5'7" and 125, but I had gained about four lbs! I didn't get my period for a year and everyone told me it was because I exercised so much (I ran every day, etc.)...

But I was realllly stressed, too. Mostly job stress. And then I had an accident and had to stop working for a bit. Within a week, my monthly visitor arrived, no kidding.

It's normal now. But it had been a year. And the doctors did run tests, btw. so, that's probably a good idea.

Thank you, Alyssa :)

You know, I've been reading a lot of interesting information about the effects of cortisol on estrogen levels and menstrual cycles. While exercise is good for lowering cortisol levels, intense cardio can actually raise them too much if you have other areas of your life that are high stress (emotionally, dieting, whathaveyou). Walking and yoga are recommended to lower cortisol and keep you fit so I'm going to try to stay away from my beloved sweatfests on the bike/ellipticals whathaveyou.

The takeaway I've gotten, for anyone (Chrissy--this is you, too, girl :) is that if you are a normal BMI (18.5 or above), normal body fat (I'm a little low but not bad) and getting enough dietary fats and calories then cortisol levels are likely the culprit.

It would seem that perhaps Alyssa's post might back this up? I'm excited by this possibility

I am going to go whole days without exercise, alternating that with light body weight work for limited time and walking. I'll try to afford some yoga classes but that might have to wait, so in the meantime, yeah, just nothing intense. Oh, and negative thoughts and body image OF COURSE raise cortisol levels, so I'm going to try to calm down on that, too :) And will try not to worry TOO much about where my period could be. That's the plan and I'll let you guys know how it goes. If I can spare one other woman this ordeal, or at least get them a way out, I would be so grateful :)

xoxo

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I have just started drinking Yogi Tea to see if that helps. It's called Moon Cycle and has all the usual recommended herbs (Dong Quai, raspberry leaf, chasteberry etc.,). The herbs are in far smaller doses than usually recommended for treatment of fertility problems/amenorrhea, but I've read several reviews on the web that say the tea alone has restored or regulated menses. I have also heard the same thing about Yogi Tea Raspberry Leaf.

I'm continuing to keep exercise to things that don't lift heart rate/raise cortisol, such as walking and bodyweight exercises. I am eating maintenance calories and at least 30% fat as well. Thought these teas might tip it over the edge so to speak :)

Oh...these are random questions that I'll likely repost elsewhere but...

a) Since I stopped intense exercise and kept to mild forms my appetite seems to be absolutely roaringly intense. It's difficult to stick to maintenance calories, which I don't like, since restricting my calories when I'm hungry seems like an emotional problem ED wise, even if I'm getting enough nourishment. Has this happened to anyone else? Cutting back on exercise and getting hungrier, instead of vice versa?

b) This is a silly question - I have had an intense craving for hardboiled eggs for about the past year. I've always liked them but now I eat like two a day and sometimes even four. The craving started with the intense exercise/very low cal regimen but it continues to this day. It is there whether I eat a lot of protein other than eggs, whether I put salt on them or not (so it's not a sodium craving), whether I'm eating enough fat...just huge huge huge hardboiled egg cravings. Does anyone know what this might mean? Thanks :)