Yet another period question--sorry!

Hello--

Ever since I lost 10 lbs in my freshman year of college (through terrible eating habits), my entire system has been out of whack. From an original weight of 94 lbs, I dropped to 83 lbs in 1 month, losing hair and my period in the process. (I am 4 ft 9 inches).

I started my weight gain in November, and now have gotten back to 92 lbs, and have maintained for the past few months. However, my period has yet to come back! My doctor suggested that I take BC to jumpstart my period--but is this true? I know that the period experienced under BC is only withdrawal blood and does not reflect your true period. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks.

i think the best thing you can do is get up to 94ibs as you were before minimal , your bmi is only 19 you dont have to go under the lowest of your healthy weight by much for your periods to stop . so i would advice you to gain more .you will still be at the lowest healthy range. i think you will find they return. if not look at bc then h x

Probably you'll need to gain more weight and more body-fat to give your body the best possible chance of recovering.  A BMI of 20 is the bare minimum for someone in your situation and it may need to be 21 or higher before things return to normal.  In the meantime, listen to your doctor and follow their advice.... they're the experts.

Are you getting at least 30 percent of your calories from fat? If not, doing so might help restore your period.

How much are you exercising? Too much exercise - i.e., running every day, or lifting weights multiple times a week - could keep your period from coming back, especially if you're not eating quite enough to support the exercise.

How much are you eating? You could be eating enough to maintain your weight, but not enough to really restore your metabolism.  This is especially true since you're just a little bit under yo~ur previous weight - you're short, so a couple pounds means a lot. Plus, your natural weight at 18 might be a couple pounds less than your natural weight now (I'm not sure how old you are).

If you really want to get your period back ASAP, I would cut down on your activity, increase your dietary fat, and gain 2-5 lbs, by eating ~2500 calories per day. Gaining 5lbs, to 97, would only bring your BMI up to 21, which is still the lower end of the healthy range.

Hi guys, thanks for the help. Just a little bit more about me: I'm 19 years old, and the only form of real exercising I do is walking. I have no-sweat dance classes 3 times a week (an hour long each).  I actually don't count calories, but I try to incorporate as much milk, cheese, peanut butter, butter/oil in general, into my diet.

If you're not overexercising and if you're getting plenty of fats in your diet then the only base you haven't covered is to gain more weight and increase your body-fat %.

Just an additional question here - iceblue's doctor suggested the bcp to "jump start" her period...has anyone had any luck with that method?

I, too, am approaching my healthy goal weight, and I eat between 25-35% fat daily. I was just wondering if that might be a good way to go?