Amenorrhea problems-- any advice?

[wavywoman]

Hi everyone-- I'm new to this forum!
I've been posting around fitness boards, trying to get some advice from experienced fitness-minded people about this problem I have...
I've only had one period since last July! Right now I'm getting treatment via estrogen and progesterone, but I'm still curious as to how I got into this situation...
I'll give you as much info as I can to give you background info...
January 2000: I started working out at age 19. All of my childhood I was a slightly chubby couch potato. I was 5'3"-5'4" and about 120-125lbs, with a 19.5% body fat. I wasn't obese, but I wanted to look more cut, have less cellulite, feel a little better about my body (I knew I was infuriatingly close to looking "hot", but I was just a few pounds away from that point). I've mostly focused on aerobic exercise, and worked my way up from 15 minutes on stair climbers to 65-70 minutes on an elliptical trainer (for 900 calories or so, supposedly) most days of the week. Right now I'm doing the hour of exercise on the elliptical 6 days out of the week. I also do some weight training, although I only do a few reps two or three days out of the week. I currently eat about 1500-1800 calories a day. The lowest weight I was at was 107lbs last July eating on average about 1500 calories a day, then I balooned up back to 120 in January (when I got my period last) although I was smaller in size than I was when I first started working out, I was eating 2000 calories a day on average, and then I lost weight without putting a lot of effort into it (I kept up my workout regimen for the entire time this year, although the warm weather made it easier to eat more fruit and less chocolate, so I lost weight). Now I'm back down to 112. Generally I don't eat a lot of fatty foods or red meat-- I prefer a healthier diet by nature.
Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? What do you guys think you would do in my situation? Thanks for any help!

 

[Par Deus]

LH and FSH are under control of leptin, thus under control of your body's energy state -- both short and long-term. When your bodyfat level or calorie balance dips below a certain point, your body perceives itself as starving -- thus, it shuts down the reproductive system, because at that point obviously you cannot eat for two if you can't even eat for one.

I assume you have no desire to gain fat, so the only thing left to address is calorie balance. Incorporating a regular refeed into your diet can raise and maintain leptin levels. Basically, every 3-4 days, eat a ton of carbohydrates. You may find that this causes you to gain fat, if it does, do it less often, until you find what is optimal. On the other hand, if it does not cause you to gain fat, increase the frequency until it does, then adjust from there.

 

[MS]

I'll second Par Deus' advice. I have helped many women (including myself) diet to very low %bf for BB shows and, compared to many other trainer's clients, the women who follow a high carb feed every 3-7 days experience much fewer menstral irregularities. But the other side of that type of diet was that it had adequate fat in it. You really need some good fat in your diet to keep your hormones up to par and it will also assist with your fatloss goals. Of course we could both be way off the mark, and there may be some other organic problem that is undiagnosed. But it's gotta be worth a try?

 

[wavywoman]

thanks a lot!

Thanks so much for your input!
I have never heard of eating a lot of carbs every 4 or so days for menstrual irregularities! Of course, I'm pretty much a novice, so that's not too unusual I guess.
Right now I've been more conscious of adding good fats to my diet, since I tend to prefer low-fat foods-- I'm eating some peanut butter, maybe some nuts, every day. Then, of course, I might have chicken or something like that.
How many calories of carbs should I eat every four days? How many servings?

 

[Dingo12]

I am the same height as you and lose my periods when my bf goes below 22%. I lost mine at 122 lbs and went down to 90lbs before going back to around 120 where I stayed for 2 years. In total I had no periods for 5 years and as a result a bone scan showed that I had lost a significant amount of bone mass. You need to put on weight or take estrogen, progesterone alone was not enough for me. I think we are naturally meant to be a little 'plump'. All this nonsense about women being slim does not hold and makes women of a naturally healthy size, as regards fertility look and feel overweight. The estrogen makes it more difficult to keep you weight down but in the long term ensures you do not develop ostoeporosis which is crippling, in your early 30s.

 

[wavywoman]

I guess I'm probably fairly similar to you physically-- and I wouldn't be surprised if I had to have 20% body fat to mensturate, since when I porked out over the Christmas/Holiday months, I got one period in January.
However, I have a real aversion to gaining the weight back. It's so vain, I know, but when I had 20% body fat I had no muscle tone and a lot of flab in the wrong places (cellulite, etc..). Some people seem to be able to "get away" with higher body fat while still looking good! It's like I either have the choice to look sexy- or feel and be sexual. But looking sexy is also dependent on feeling sexy for me!
Anyhow, I've been on estrogen for two weeks, and I do feel better, weirdly enough. I haven't had any bad side effects at all that I notice. My skin's a little clearer, I have less body fuzz, my lower belly doesn't bloat up as badly (don't ask me why). Hopefully I didn't totally mess up my skeleton-- although going through this amenorrhea has made me super-conscious about calcium, D and k.

 

[FitFossil]

Wavywoman,

Cool name! My period stopped for about 1 1/2 years when I was anorexic (20 years ago). The doctor prescribed provera and it started back (I had also gained some weight.) I have no idea what my bodyfat was at the time. I am 5'5" had gotten to 85 pounds, but I think the periods stopped as I dipped below 100.

I am guessing my bf% when I was anorexic was actually higher than it is now. Sure, I was skinny as a stick, but with none of the definition and hardness I have now. The reason, I believe, I'm able to have periods now at such a low bf% is because even though I train intensly, I eat sufficient calories to maintain my muscle mass. When I do "cut", I do it very gradually, so my body never senses a crisis and shuts down my periods. I do not let my weight fluctuate very much.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding menstruation and bodyfat %. Some say it's relevant and others say it's related to things like diet, stress, frequent gain/loss cycles, etc. and not necessarily bf%.

From your description of your routine -

"Right now I'm doing the hour of exercise on the elliptical 6 days out of the week. I also do some weight training, although I only do a few reps two or three days out of the week. I currently eat about 1500-1800 calories a day."

I don't think you're getting enough calories, and you're doing too much cardio. Even if your body fat is not already low, this much cardio with so few calories is sending your body into starvation/stress mode. That's when the body starts clinging to whatever bodyfat it has and starts shedding the muscle, since muscle is calorically expensive to maintain. Your body is in a stressful state and, as such, shuts down your period as well. (It's still possible to get pregnant though!) All that cardio is burning up precious muscle mass, and you NEED muscle to burn calories and fat.

I know it's hard to believe that you could be eating more, doing less cardio and not get fat. Most of the women on this board will attest to being non-believers at first, but we now know the secret is MUSCLE! (and not necessarily a whole lot of muscle - unless you want it)

 

[wavywoman]

yeah! replies!

Thanks for the info!

I've heard that women can sometimes get amenorrhea from working out too much and eating too little to make up for it. I did eat more last winter, probably on average 1900 to 2000 calories a day-- and I did get my period, but the flab came right on! I'm sure I gained *some* more muscle mass, and doing weight machines was easier, but I felt like I was getting waaaay too flabby considering all the working out I was doing. I gained more than five pounds, which doesn't sound like a lot but I could definitely tell the difference on my body shape and muscle tone.
If I wanted to cut back on cardio, or eat more, how should I do it without immediately gaining fat?

 

[FitFossil]

"...If I wanted to cut back on cardio, or eat more, how should I do it without immediately gaining fat?..."

Read Temple01's thread - Help for beginners. She and others in that thread address this exact issue. Someone in there said "it takes a major leap of faith". That is SO true! (I can venture to say that 99% of us were non-believers at first! )

My advice is to increase your calories gradually, but make this increase consist mostly of protein, that's what you need to build muscle. Adding in EFA's (essential fatty acids) such as flaxseed oil will help too. These fats help your body burn fat AND they keep you from feeling hungry. Make sure the carbs you eat are good carbs (as described in Help for Beginners).

Cut back a day or two on your cardio and add a day to your weights. (For my workout, I do weights first 45-60 min, followed by cardio 30-45 min. I do this first thing in the morning M,T,Th,F on an empty stomach. Some people cannot do weights on an empty stomach. If you can't, do your cardio first on an empty stomach, then eat and do weights, or do weights later in the day. Whatever you do, DON'T do cardio first and then weights all on an empty stomach.)

Make sure you are lifting heavy enough so your muscles fatigue @ the 8-10th rep (maybe 15-20 for legs). Increase your weights and/or add more sets as needed. Like Temple's thread said, this will NOT make you huge. Muscle is heavier and denser than fat, but don't weigh yourself, have your bodyfat % measured at regular intervals or go by how your clothes fit. Your body will become tighter and harder.

If you follow this advice, there may be times you feel heavy, because sometimes fat doesn't drop as fast as muscle grows. BE PATIENT and keep training, eating, and DRINKING WATER - once that muscle gets established, it WILL help you burn more fat. (This heavy feeling might last a week or so.) As you gain muscle, you will need to INCREASE your calories to support it (again the gradual thing), and your new higher metabolism will continue to burn fat.

 

[wilson6]

amenorrhea

Personally, I think the negative consequences of amenorrhea in women who engage in heavy resistance training (and I'm not talking about those cock roach routines (i.e., bouncing around the gym doing multiple sets of exercises with next to nothing weights)) is overrated. First of all, is there any female out there that enjoys having a period? Ladies, yes or no? Secondly, while there is evidence that amenorrheal distance runners and swimmers have below normal bone density, increased stress fractures, etc., I haven't seen anything that shows this to be true in highly resistance trained women, especially those that eat well. In fact, one study years ago in women rowers showed that the amenorrheal rowers had higher bone density than eumenorrheal controls because they engaged in significant mechanical loading of the bone (rowing and resistance training). For those of you who also use AAS, this further reduces your risk of bone loss. The pro women bodybuilders we looked at using DEXA (bone scans) who were contest ready (3.5 - 5%) bodyfat, all had normal or above normal bone density. Probably a combination of AAS and heavy training. I also believe that diet has far more to do menstrual cycle regulation than body fat per se (to a point) and then there is the Leptin and probably other peptide controlling factors released from adipose tissue.

If anyone is really concerned about their amenorrhea/bone density and you are lifting heavy and eating well and all other possible pathological (disease) or disordered eating causes have been ruled out, then have a DEXA done at a university. Your doc can write an order for this. Check it again in 6 months, then once a year. Otherwise, enjoy the vacation from your monthly friend.

W6