Exercise Induced Amenorrhea

Help! I am a 28 year old woman weighing 128 pounds and am 5'5 (I a healthy weight for my height) for several years I have not had a period and am getting close to the time I want to have a baby. I have taken birth control to protect my bones but I am SO AFRAID my period won't come back. I exercise every day for at least 1 hour usually more like 2.....I desperately want to be healthy and have a family but I am also afraid that I am going to get huge if I cut back on exercise (which my doctor told me I need to do) Has anyone else had this problem and gotten their period back (to at least give me some hope) how did you do it? I am distraught.....

I lost my period for 7 months I was so scared.  So Then I took Yaz and got my "Period" but then 2 months later it stopped again.  So I decided I'll stop with the excercise for a week and eat more fats, I did and gained probably 2 pounds, But as a result got my period a week and aahlf later and this only happened 3 weeks ago =)  I was happy.

SO Ya I think 2 hours a day everyday is a lot.  45 minutes 4 days a week but I know it's addicting (Excercise) just try for 2 weeks not to excercise if you want your period to regulate good luck  =)

I just went to the gyno last week for the same thing. He said it was fine as long as I weighed enough and got enough calcium, but when I wanted to have kids (in the far future, as I'm 17), I'd have to ease up on the running and put on a few pounds. I winced at that idea, but then I realized that you gain like crazy when your pregnant anyway so who cares if you gain a little for a couple months before conception? He said most girls who run at a college level don't have a period. I guess it's more normal than I thought. Hope that helps.

I have no advice, but I'd for sure trade you my horrible period for your no period. :)

For the doctor to tell you that this was ok if you had no period stuns me.  I had no period for 10years...yes, it was accompied by a long battle with an eating disorder, but even as my weight was within the normal range, it took 3 years more after i stabilized for it to come back.  The docs always told me that this was not healthy..mine was also ammenorhea too..btw.  They said every month i did not have a period, my body was digesting heart tissue along with no hormone balance.  So, unless things have changed since then, I would say it would be something to go back and ask your doc about again.

It can be normal with athletes, because the body starts the menstrual cycle and the hormone levels goes up. and when the hormone levels drop suddenly, which is usually when the period begins. the levels drop slowly. so its not ammenorhea there is just no period. this is what my doctor told me.

Hey everyone - I haven't had my period since late 2004, the gyno is attributing it to low body fat and said I need to put on weight to help it come back. Like some other posters in this thread, I balked at that idea. I also know that I do not want to be put onto birth control to "force" a period. Does anyone know of any alternative medicine/holistic treatments for ammenorrhea? (other than weight gain?). Does anyone have a knowledge of vitamins and herbs? I never really like taking medicine for illnesses...

I would be interested in hearing about helpful vitamins as well. I am fearful that gaining weight and exercising less will still not bring my period back for a while. The last time I remember getting a normal period (without birth control) was about 10 years ago.

do you worry about ostereoporosis (sorry, my spelling is off) and losing bone density? Are you a runner? I always hear about calcium and vitamin d supplements being very important for women especially in relation to menstruation. I wonder how a lack of period affects bones and health in the long run?

I am not really concerned about my bones. I had a bone density test a couple years ago and my bones were fine. I have been on birth control to get the estrogen I need and yes, I am a runner. I have run marathons in the past. I just want to know that I can get pregnant in the next year or two!

In truth, the only healthy way is to increase your % body fat. Women were meant to produce babies, not to be strong and hunters (that's the men's job :) ) I know that in our culture, we are working away from this ideal and I definitely don't advocated us to sit on the couch all day. But, this is your body's way of telling you that it is not healthy enough to support life like it would in its main function. Just be cautious of your bone density. I went on birth control after no period for 2 years, and it has caused me to gain lots of weight and fat. But, I don't really have a choice. It's hard to accept, but if you look at what women looked like years ago- you can see that our culture's view of the "perfect body" is EXTREMELY distorted!

I'm sorry sweetie, but it's fact. You NEED to gain weight to get your period back. Plain and simple. I lost my period for 2 whole years due to my past ED and yes...keeping up a very long and consuming exercise regime. The only way I got my period back was by gaining weight. I was still exercising, just not as long. At 5'3 the doctors told me my healthy weight would be 115-118. With an ED I was like "No way!" and I fought it for the longest time. Oddly enough, when I finally gave into my health first instead of some distorted image at between those very weights suggested I got my period back. Been going strong now for almost two years. :)

Truth of the matter, the longer you go without your period the longer it's going to be harder to conceive if you do ever get it back. It's doing more damage to your body..far more then you even realize each and every month you do not have one. It's a sad thing, but it's true. A woman was built to have baring qualities to her it's how our bodies run. Without it working, then you can only imagine how confused the body is right now. It just simply doesn't have enough body fat to keep it's duties up.

You have to ask yourself what is more important here:

A few extra pounds with the chance to have a baby or to keep doing what you are and ruining your body and never having that chance for a baby? It's up to you.

There's always the invetro way..but it's very expensive....

You might try exercising an hour most days, instead of two just to see what happens. Have your doctors specificially found that you're low on a particular hormone? You might also, after you go off birth control, try charting your temperature to see if your body is able to ovulate and do what it needs to in order to sustain a pregnancy. Taking charge of your fertility is a helpful book for learning about that. I charted for about 10 months and found it very helpful in figuring out what my body was doing.

 

Just to encourage you, I'm 29, 5'6" and between 127-129 pounds. I exercise 6-7 days a week, usually for an hour a day, sometimes more if I do weights as well as cardio. I lost my period for a few years as a teenager due to an eating disorder, then got it back, and then was on birth control for several years. I've gotten my period regularly since I went off birth control last spring and my weight and exercise level haven't seemed to make a difference (I run as well). I found out right before Thanksgiving that I was unexpectedly pregnant and am now almost at 12 weeks along and still running 28-32 miles a week (with lower intensity, of course). You won't get huge if you cut back on your exercise some and your body will probably thank you (I know that it's hard and scary though).  Even going up a few pounds won't make you fat and might help start things up again. Good luck!