Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below ok, i was having trouble losing those last stubborn pounds that i had put on when i went on the pill, so i went off and they went away, thank god! but, now it has been almost 4 months and i haven't gotten a period. i went to the doctor yesterday and she said to give it 3 more months but she doesn't think i will get one because my body fat % is so low. she also said that all forms of the pill and the shots and everthing would cause me to gain the weight back because of the progesterones and estrogen in all of them. she said to be healthy and to know my estrogen levels are ok, i need to have at least 3 periods in a year. what do you ladies do about menstrating when you get to such a low body fat? i don't want to gain that weight back and have to go back on. any advice????
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help ladies not getting periods anymore!
- Thread starter pumped55
- Start date
I'm not an expert but I don't think you have need to worry too much - I missed 3 periods recently and have just got one again due to increasing my BF% by a tiny bit.
All the research that I looked into when I skipped mine stated that it was ok to miss your periods as you can do this on the pill - in some ways not having a period is better on your body and can decrease the risk of cancers etc in that area (That's what i've read anyway)
All the research that I looked into when I skipped mine stated that it was ok to miss your periods as you can do this on the pill - in some ways not having a period is better on your body and can decrease the risk of cancers etc in that area (That's what i've read anyway)
hmmm.. complex problem
I have amenorrhea, too. About six months after I started working out, I stopped having my periods. Then after pigging out over the October to January holiday food "season", I gained all the weight I lost back (mostly fat, unfortunately) and got one in January, and haven't had one since! Now I'm back near my lowest weight (112 at 5'4").
My gyno has me on progesterone and estrogen, says my estrogen was a little low for my age (20). She says that having your period every three months isn't a problem-- but skipping periods for a long time is. This is because a lot of people in the med. establishment think skipping periods/low estrogen is linked to osteoperosis. This is why a lot of anorexic/bulemic women have bones like 80 year olds, and why post-menopausal women get osteoperosis really bad.
I'm in the same quandary as you, though. As much as I want to be "normal" I don't want to be a chubby lil brick house, either. Right now my bf % isn't that low, either. I think it's around 17.5% from using calipers/electronic devices- although they're not always accurate.
I have amenorrhea, too. About six months after I started working out, I stopped having my periods. Then after pigging out over the October to January holiday food "season", I gained all the weight I lost back (mostly fat, unfortunately) and got one in January, and haven't had one since! Now I'm back near my lowest weight (112 at 5'4").
My gyno has me on progesterone and estrogen, says my estrogen was a little low for my age (20). She says that having your period every three months isn't a problem-- but skipping periods for a long time is. This is because a lot of people in the med. establishment think skipping periods/low estrogen is linked to osteoperosis. This is why a lot of anorexic/bulemic women have bones like 80 year olds, and why post-menopausal women get osteoperosis really bad.
I'm in the same quandary as you, though. As much as I want to be "normal" I don't want to be a chubby lil brick house, either. Right now my bf % isn't that low, either. I think it's around 17.5% from using calipers/electronic devices- although they're not always accurate.
Sassy69
New member
RE: low body fat - from conversation & experience in contest prep, the general concensus seemed to be that you would temporarily lose your period when you hit around 11% bf and below -which is what happened to me while I was on my birth control. It also happened a second time at around 12% bf for another show, then came back a month later. I personally found it hard to maintain a body fat below 12% for any extended period of time outside of competition.
In the extreme case, as WW's doc said, those with eating disorders will experience brittle bones, etc. due to lack of menstrual cycle. Here is a good article on a growing situation among young women athletes called Female Athlete Triad - starts w/ eating disorders when the coach says they are "too fat" (for the camera, for society, for $$ commercial opps), then loss of menstrual cycle, brittle bones, osteoporosis, etc. (http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/jul_96/smith.htm).
I went off my birth control in February and was fairly regular (around 18%bf) until this past month when it stopped. Got all the usual symptoms of "that time of the month", except the actual "that time of the month". I did complete my 6 week winny cycle in mid June - thebabydoc gave some good feedback on this in another thread. There is a lot tied up with that miserable little week of every month and as nice as it is to not have it, the consequences of long term not having it are not good.
In the extreme case, as WW's doc said, those with eating disorders will experience brittle bones, etc. due to lack of menstrual cycle. Here is a good article on a growing situation among young women athletes called Female Athlete Triad - starts w/ eating disorders when the coach says they are "too fat" (for the camera, for society, for $$ commercial opps), then loss of menstrual cycle, brittle bones, osteoporosis, etc. (http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/jul_96/smith.htm).
I went off my birth control in February and was fairly regular (around 18%bf) until this past month when it stopped. Got all the usual symptoms of "that time of the month", except the actual "that time of the month". I did complete my 6 week winny cycle in mid June - thebabydoc gave some good feedback on this in another thread. There is a lot tied up with that miserable little week of every month and as nice as it is to not have it, the consequences of long term not having it are not good.
thebabydoc
New member
From the Help! contraception board....
Sassy:
It is probably a bad thing for me to be giving any kind of specific medical advice as that might constitute establishment of
a physician-patient relationship. But for the sake of example...
It is not unusual for patients on OCP's to miss cycles even while on them. Sometimes women will miss periods after
discontinuing them- "post-pill amenorrhea".
By decreasing BF%, the amount of fatty esters available to produce sex steroids (i.e. Estrogen and Progesterone) is also
decreased, resulting in a hypoestrogenic state (low estrogen). Without estrogen, the lining of the uterus does not grow
and amenorrhea (no periods) ensues. A big problem is the use of steroids, which I TRULY abhor from a medical
perspective. This contributes to another, more complex, problem which is caused by many factors, including the use of AS,
as well as low BF%, and excessive exercise called hypogonadotrophic amenorrhea, which simply means that it's coming
from the brain and not the ovaries.
Just remember... have you ever noticed that the first 4 letters of Amenorrhea are "AMEN"?
The only significant danger from hypoestrogenic amenorrhea is the risk of osteoporosis which is essentially negated by
the excessive weight-bearing exercises performed by BB's and Powerlifters.
-thebabydoc
Sassy:
It is probably a bad thing for me to be giving any kind of specific medical advice as that might constitute establishment of
a physician-patient relationship. But for the sake of example...
It is not unusual for patients on OCP's to miss cycles even while on them. Sometimes women will miss periods after
discontinuing them- "post-pill amenorrhea".
By decreasing BF%, the amount of fatty esters available to produce sex steroids (i.e. Estrogen and Progesterone) is also
decreased, resulting in a hypoestrogenic state (low estrogen). Without estrogen, the lining of the uterus does not grow
and amenorrhea (no periods) ensues. A big problem is the use of steroids, which I TRULY abhor from a medical
perspective. This contributes to another, more complex, problem which is caused by many factors, including the use of AS,
as well as low BF%, and excessive exercise called hypogonadotrophic amenorrhea, which simply means that it's coming
from the brain and not the ovaries.
Just remember... have you ever noticed that the first 4 letters of Amenorrhea are "AMEN"?
The only significant danger from hypoestrogenic amenorrhea is the risk of osteoporosis which is essentially negated by
the excessive weight-bearing exercises performed by BB's and Powerlifters.
-thebabydoc
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