What is Amenorrhea? What to Do If You Have It
I work with many women who tend to under-eat on a consistent basis. Very often when these women find me for coaching, they’re looking to reverse diet in order to speed up their metabolism.
Amenorrhea can result from not eating enough food for an extended amount of time. This is very common to see in women who tend to eat less than 1200 calories a day, although that number varies.
So what exactly is Amenorrhea?
Amenorrhea is the absence of menstruation, often defined as missing one or more menstrual periods in a row. The first time I heard about amenorrhea I was in college and while on my division 1 cross country and track teams. I decided to write a paper on it in one of my classes to bring awareness to the issue since many people had never heard of it at the time. Some of my teammates were experiencing it as well and as the captain of my team, I wanted to find out as much information as I could to help my fellow teammates find a solution to the issue.
Here’s what I learned: there are typically two types of amenorrhea.
The first is primary amenorrhea which refers to the absence of menstruation in someone who has not had a period by age of 15. The most common causes of primary amenorrhea relate to hormone levels, although anatomical issues also can cause amenorrhea. Women who are entering or who have started menopause will also experince amenorrhea as well as women who take certain birth control.
Secondary amenorrhea refers to the absence of three or more periods in a row by someone who has had periods in the past. This is often the category I see many women I work with fall into. Pregnancy can absolutely be a cause of secondary amenorrhea, although problems with hormones can also cause it. Most often than not, I personally see it in women who are under-eating.
There are certain lifestyle factors that can also cause amenorrhea. Those usually consist of:
Having a low body weight and low fat. Excessively low body weight interrupts many hormonal functions in the body, potentially halting ovulation. Women who have an eating disorder or have disordered eating habits often stop having periods because of these abnormal hormonal changes.
Overtraining. Women who participate in activities that require rigorous training may find their menstrual cycles interrupted. Several factors combine to contribute to the loss of periods in athletes, including low body fat, stress and high energy expenditure.
Stress. Stress can temporarily alter the functioning of your hypothalamus, an area of your brain that controls the hormones that regulate your menstrual cycle. Ovulation and menstruation may stop as a result. Regular menstrual periods usually resume after your stress decreases.
Hormonal imbalances. Such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), thyroid malfunction, having an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) or underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) or having premature menopause.
Treatment
Treatment of amenorrhea depends on the underlying cause of course. So treatment depends on the underlying cause of your amenorrhea. In some cases, birth control pills or other hormone therapies can restart your menstrual cycles and fix the issue. Amenorrhea caused by thyroid or pituitary disorders may need to be treated with medications.
What else should you do if you experience amenorrhea?
Strive for balance in work, training and rest if you have amenorrhea! Audit all areas of stress and conflict in your life and come up with actionable steps to make some changes. I recommend:
Cutting back hours of fitness training. Whether that be strength training, cardio or any other rigorous training you’re doing. Cut it back if you’re doing more than one hour a day.
Implement stress management throughout your day. Practicing things like meditation and deep belly breathing.
Start a reverse diet if you are undereating. I can help with this one! Contact me HERE to schedule your free strategy call today. We’ll get you started on a game plan ASAP.
Try a different birth control. If you’re taking BC and you’ve lost your period, try to experiment with different options by speaking to your doctor and voicing your concerns. They should be open and willing to switch you to another option for birth control.