Just like nobody ever suggested that the workouts could be the root cause of my missing periods for half of the year. All I had to do was eat the exact same pre-measured food for breakfast, snacks and lunch with only 1 square of dark chocolate after dinner and bike back and forth to work twice a day and workout twice a day (running, lifting weights or doing Pilates) while taking Allen for 2-3walks/day. As a result of this, a woman’s menstrual cycle can come to a halt. I started eating A LOT more fats. Hypothalamic amenorrhea, or “HA” as it is called for short, is the loss of a menstrual cycle. My scoliosis is still very much with me, so doing no exercise at all, which is usually the recommendation in HA, is not an option. But that’s a whole other post for another time! This is when I got into the Pilates world. I take it as a sign that we might finally see a change in the constant recommendation to eat less and eat harder, which is mindlessly recommended to most women with this condition. It’s important to me that she grows up with a healthy relationship with food and a healthy body image! I followed influencers on social media who had positive body image posts. I continued working out, but because I had developed a slight allergy to chlorine, I had to start looking at different sports. Healing Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA) is an 8-week, hybrid group and 1:1 coaching program (with supportive materials and workbooks) designed to help you recover your period while improving your relationship with food, exercise and your body. Especially when a woman with PCOS begins a new diet or a new workout routine, following her evolution closely for any symptoms that could show her new regime is causing more trouble, is crucial. Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. I’m not saying this is a cure for everyone, but I have always known I wasn’t digesting these well. During a few of them I had polycystic ovaries, so PCOS was suggested, though an official diagnosis was not made at the time. Thank you so much for your reply. It can also appear in times of acute stress, after a strong emotional shock, but also, due to chronic stress. I still had the odd binge episode but they were becoming less and less frequent. I had been doing really well in terms of stabilizing my weight and then it all started up again once the wedding was approaching. I'm the Healthy Sweet Potato and I want to personally thank you for coming to visit my blog. Your hypothalamic amenorrhea story isn't over the minute you get your period back. I was lucky because I had an offseason that was longer than the training season. It is sooooo much smarter than me. Something that not many people talk about is that the two conditions can co-exist. As a result, there isn’t enough LH or FSH for ovulation to occur. For the first few years, I was ok, or at least I thought I was. I had to unlearn that some foods are good and some are bad. I loved it, I would have spent all day every day in the water, so I was far from complaining! However, in that same year I remember eating a full meal and following that by a whole bag of chips, with cookies and sandwhich. The doctor did an ultrasound and didn’t see anything abnormal, so he decided to put me on the pill. Thanks to all the years of training, plus studying to be a trainer and a coach, I learned to listen to my body. I know one day you will get your miracle baby. Hypothalamic amenorrhea patients should be evaluated for inpatient treatment if they have an abnormally slow heart rate, low blood pressure, or an electrolyte imbalance. Lean women can have PCOS, and normal to overweight women can have HA. Hi I'm Jess! That’s because polycystic ovaries can be present in HA as well, though it is rarer. You can see how this is just a recipe for hormonal disaster. Watch out for any changes, both positive and negative, and when you see something negative, take a step back. I had been allowing myself to eat more during the week at this point, while still keeping a close eye on my calorie intake and tracking everything. Common misconceptions say with PCOS you’ll be overweight, whereas to have HA you need to be underweight. This was actually very cathartic for me. Keep exercise gentle. It has taken quite a few months since implementing all these changes, but I can say my cycles are regular for the first time in my life. I stayed on it for a few months, then quit, and the cycle of irregular periods, that would completely stop when I was exercising intensely, continued. However, I took a lot of care to eat enough. At 8-years old, I was diagnosed with scoliosis, a condition in which your spine curves into an S shape. From 140lbs after our honeymoon in September 2015, I hit 120lbs by summer of 2016. I remember at one point sleeping all day and only waking to eat one meal – a small veggie wrap for dinner. With PCOS there is usually one or more hormones that are high, such as luteinizing hormone (LH), or testosterone, in most cases of HA, hormones are low. Aside from a lack of period, HA is a sure sign your body doesn’t have all the resources it needs to function properly. I’d been feeling less and less well after HIIT, so I knew something had to change. The treatment and management of hypothalamic amenorrhea involves … I still love to exercise but my day no longer revolves around it. I thought I was doing everything right. Coming off the pill, I experienced something very common: my body didn’t know how to restart itself. By the age of 9, I had a pretty good swimming schedule. I had already been on birth control for about 4 years, which I started because I used to get very painful periods – but as far as I can remember they were fairly regular and nothing seemed abnormal besides the amount of pain I was in. stress. I was on birth control from age 16 until age 28, which masked my lack of period for god knows how long. Which I did. DES Info: “The fear is still there and the tears are still flowing” #TheDESTragedyIt’s interesting watching, I have severe gut dysbiosis, and suffer from frequent urination, sensitive bladder, and functional dyspepsia. The intensity of exercise does have an impact on hormone production. “I only experienced side effects to one brand, they’re not all the same”, she said. Lose weight, and all your hormonal troubles will go away. None of this was easy for me. A LOT of us chronic dieters have been here before, having our period go missing in a season of over exercising and under eating...OR, more widely understood, it can happen when we go chasing after the unrealistic standard of thinness presented to us in society. For the rest of the time, I continued with my irregular pattern of 35-60 days. A little pervy. I’m not going down that road again. Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA) implies two things. Then it went to only binging on one weekend day to eliminating them all together. This abnormality is attributed to poor diet, chronic stress, or too much exercise. Athletic Therapist and Kinesiologist, Pilates Instructor and Foodie. I changed the type of yoga and introduced yin and restorative yoga 2-3 times per week. I had to shrink my body and I had to do it fast in order to fit in and be a credible teacher to my students and peers. Maybe someday after I get pregnant, I’ll be able to tell my story. These lifestyle changes can be done in conjunction with fertility medications to help you to start ovulating and menstruating again. xoxo. With each new book, or new research article that I read, my mind was blown, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I had to stop exercising all-together (except for some light walking and. With this blog post I am going to start a series where I am going to tell you about the long recovery from hypothalamic amenorrhea which is the complicated name for what many women do to themselves with their starvation diets and strenuous training. I had been on it without a break for over 12 years and a few more years on and off before that. I can’t say for sure if these had any impact on my fertility or not… I don’t think they were necessary. While the low-calorie advice was ridiculous for obvious reasons in my case, and it made me turn my back to that doctor without any remorse, it did shed light on the most common (and most dangerous) advice women with PCOS receive: just lose weight. I had to trust that my body would tell me when I was hungry and when I was full and that eventually my weight would even itself out. This was unique to me, so I would make sure you get tested before self-diagnosing, as the symptoms are incredibly similar and overlap with HA. The chances of living a normal life post-surgery were small. Amenorrhea is a red flag that the body is not functioning to its full potential. Both stress, weight loss, and excessive exercise cause the hypothalamus to increase the production of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). xoxo. My doctor’s answer was more birth control, a different brand maybe. Prior to starting treatment, women with … Reversing hypothalamic amenorrhea is possible by examining your lifestyle for unusual stress factors, including extreme diet and exercise habits. Contribute now. I loved doing it and I decided to become a trainer. All the while my birth control had masked the hormonal imbalances I was causing as a result of my “healthy lifestyle”. Now don’t get me wrong, I am overjoyed that my body is able to grow a tiny human inside of it, I just didn’t expect the emotional toll it would have on me. I went 5 months without a period. You can see how passionate you are and how you love food and don’t fear it. According to leading hypothalamic amenorrhea researcher Dr. Nicola Rinaldi, a combination of five factors can lead to women developing this condition: Exercise : While the amount of exercise among women who develop hypothalamic amenorrhea can vary widely, many women with this condition share a love for high intensity exercise combined with inadequate fuelling for activity levels. If you want to start working out again – and most of us do – then finding the right amount of exercise is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. Overeating and not exercising is not healthy either. Because gaining weight can be more of an emotional and psychological challenge than it can be a physical one, I did a lot of things to help my mental health during this process: I’ve honestly never been happier in this body. I had high LH:FSH ratio, common in PCOS (but not completely excluded in HA). Learn how your comment data is processed. Both are false. This was the easiest way to add more calories while still feeling healthy. All in all, my tests looked very close to normal, except I wasn’t ovulating. Read More... © 2015 - Solo Pine. This is still a work in progress but I am getting better everyday. Designed & Developed by SoloPine.com, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), A Review of 2018 and Creating a Theme for 2019, 6 Surprising Ways Our Marriage Changed After Having a Baby, People CAN Change, But You Can’t Change Them, The calorie restriction got tighter where I would only consume 1200-1500 calories/day including the weekends, The exercise routine got heavier where I would workout out 2 or more times/day 7 days/week. Myth 2: Amenorrhea in athletes is unique to only endurance or high-level athletes. I started eating a lot more. You can clearly see a shift to the right, denoting higher exercise intensity when periods disappeared. Wanting to know the intricate details of other peoples’ lives. And I had to trust my body. I had a few more ultrasounds in the years that followed, at different times in my cycle. I knew it had to be done in order for me to be healthy. A great way to start is to throw out your scale and never step on one again! I stopped measuring my food and counting calories and macros, etc. It produces gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Nobody had ever even mentioned the risks of HA or taking birth control pills to “cover-up” HA. Most of the school year, I would swim 3-4 times per week, an hour a day and do some gymnastics at home on the other days. More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. Thank you so much Allison. *I will add that having a goal, like being able to have a baby made this process easier for me, I think. So far, I’m sure this is nothing out of the ordinary and is in fact something that most women with PCOS experience. Defining Hypothalamic Amenorrhea. At this time, this consisted of HIIT 1-2 times per week, strength training 2-3 times a week, and Ashtanga yoga (a dynamic, strong style of yoga) the rest of the time. Hypothalamic amenorrhea is a condition where normal menstrual cycles stop due to undereating, over-exercise, or stress (and often due to a combination of all 3). My LH/FSH/Estrogen/Progesterone and Testosterone levels were almost all zero. Due to my young age, there was a huge risk it would progress rapidly, and I would end up needing surgery. However, I can’t change the past and I hope that my experience will help you right now, so that you do not have to suffer the same way I did. I’ve struggled with similar food and exercise obsessions and have been so much healthier since having my daughter 3 years ago. We already know both are conditions that affect the reproductive system. It was during those years that I was introduced to the concept of hypothalamic amenorrhea. My cycles were never regular, but the doctor’s only solution was birth control. Some women might need even more, especially if they are ... Make sure you’re getting plenty of every macronutrient. Amenorrhea is sometimes experienced by women who have eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia due to hormonal changes influenced by low weight or excessive exercise. I allowed myself the occasional treats. Like, literally nothing at all. Also, nobody ever considered requiring blood work for me. Hypothalamic Amenorrhea...It’s the medical term for an AWOL period. Just look at all the people who saw me, who knew about my lifestyle, who had all the evidence right there in front of their eyes and they didn’t even consider the over-exercise (and subsequent weight loss) that happened when I was training could be to blame. It is, for the biggest part unclear whether I had true HA alongside PCOS, or I was just somewhere in the middle. It is in computer engineering, mind you, but the point is I’m a bookworm and research is my middle name. This is seriously an amazing story and really spoke to me! In a woman with hypothalamic amenorrhea, the hypothalamus doesn’t release as much GnRH. Halfway through, I realized I hadn’t gotten my period in quite some time, way longer than usual. Adolescence is a time in development that a positive energy balance is crucial for puberty, menarche, and regular menstruation. However, while you are seeking to rid yourself of hypothalamic amenorrhea, rigorous exercise will prevent your progress. This is why it is easily mis-diagnosed as PCOS. If you would like to try a gentler form of exercise, please check out my website: www.pilatesondemand.ca <3. Technically it wasn’t much, and it was certainly a reduction considering my background. And my word of advice for anyone with hypothalamic amenorrhea or anyone who is obsessing with exercise – give it up. Even after I had gained 15-20lbs, it still took me eliminating exercise all together in order to completely recover. In 2008 I was in my 2nd year of University. I think, inherently, we are all a little voyeuristic. I discovered fitness, and later yoga. Testing, My health issues began in June of 2017. Being on the pill, I had no way of knowing if my reproductive system was reacting or not. Amenorrhea again can be due to exercising too much for your body, under-fueling, high stress, or a combination of these factors. It is, for the biggest part unclear whether I had true HA alongside PCOS, or I was just somewhere in the middle. There are so many women of average weight who still suffer from HA. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Thanks for sharing and your kind words! Hypothalamic Amenorrhea is a condition where menstruation, your period, stops for several months due to problems involving the hypothalamus. No wonder I had no sex drive, felt cold all the time and had no period. As many of you probably know after reading My Fertility Journey Part 1, I suffered from Hypothalamic Amenorrhea or “HA” for 10 years without even knowing it. I think I went so many years not trusting my body that I forgot how smart it was. It was only many years later, while I studied to become a health coach and a fitness trainer that I became more interested in the relationship between hormones and workouts and learned about hypothalamic amenorrhea in female athletes. However,  I was still exercising obsessively 7 days a week, and my body weight had levelled out around 135lbs. Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea is a disorder of chronic anovulation caused by suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis from body weight loss, excessive exercise… We are not funded and accept limited advertising. However, it is undeniable that high-intensity exercise affected me each time. Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and How To Exercise I get asked this question A LOT. Hypothalamic amenorrhea is most common in patients who exercise to excess and/or have eating disorders, caloric restriction, and psychogenic stress. amenorrhea body dysmorphia body image eating disorder exercise addiction food guilt guilt hypothalamic amenorrhea February 5, 2020 By JessD Share Tweet Pin it +1 HA happens for one reason and one reason only: STRESS. With PCOS as my main diagnosis, I was, of course, encouraged to continue my normal exercise routine. The signs through which it is often diagnosed will also vary. The hypothalamus is in the center of the brain and controls reproduction. To recover my health, I decided to take the middle ground. The surgery is not without risks, and the prognosis, at least at that time, over 20 years ago, was not good. If you’ve just started exercising and are experiencing amenorrhea, for instance, you don’t have to stop exercising, just take a step back, exercise one day less, do something less intense, or use a lower weight. Heart rate increased significantly with exercise in both groups (P<.01), but the increase was smaller in subjects with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (P<.01). Before this time, my weight had fluctuated a lot. I love your blog and Instagram. For my PCOS, I went ahead and eliminated foods that I was somewhat intolerant to such as cow’s dairy, gluten, and sugar. I had to get over my fear of food and carbs. As the years went on, I switched contraception brands until I finally found one that worked for me. I felt like I didn’t fit in. Hypothalamic amenorrhea is … I think I may do a blog at some point just to show that women who were of average weight have it happen to them too (even though I know you mention it above). My passion lies in health and fitness and I have dedicated my life to help myself and others get healthy and strong! In my 5’7″ frame I was down to 127lbs. I hope this post has taught you a little more about HA and that if you are suffering with it, just know that you need to let go of this “ideal body” image you have in your head in order to get healthy. I had to indulge in cravings because it’s what my body needed. While PCOS is an endocrine disorder with unclear causes, HA is triggered by lifestyle. I mean, that sounds like a super realistic workout schedule right?? I only discovered its absence once my husband Mike and I decided to start trying for a family. Again, I was faced with the same issue: nobody questioned me about my lifestyle. And I cannot wait to read your blog post when that day comes. But I had to look my best and I remember feeling so determined to get to my goal of weighing 125lbs. My thyroid was normal, and so was my prolactin. Your email address will not be published. I decided to go against every advice I’d heard for PCOS and cut back on everything except yoga, which I now do daily. Finally, after about 2 or 3 months after the swimming season had ended, I got my period back. The season ended, and a few more weeks went by, and still no period in sight. What I am saying is that the way this problem is perceived is dangerous and unhealthy. Each point shows the percentage of 278 women who described the average intensity of exercise they performed prior to having hypothalamic amenorrhea compared with the average intensity when their periods were missing. What is Hypothalamic Amenorrhea? There are millions of women suffering out there, and together we can all help each other get through it. But in the end I just ended up spending a lot of money when I could have committed to the items above a lot sooner. Hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) is characterized by anovulation and absent periods. I also saw a naturopath for a year and did acupuncture weekly, took countless supplements and drank a lot of nasty teas. Laura helps women with PCOS take charge of their health by finding a sustainable lifestyle, that makes them feel strong, confident, and happy. As soon as I read the description I knew I had it: Hypothalamic amenorrhea is associated with: According to leading hypothalamic amenorrhea researcher Dr. Nicola Rinaldi[1], a combination of five factors can lead to women developing this condition: Essentially, in a normal menstrual cycle the hypothalamus (the part of your brain that regulates sleep, hunger, body temperature, and your menstrual cycle) releases gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which stimulates the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)—both hormones essential in the ovulation process. Then, I experienced the first “odd” thing. I had to get over the fear of gaining weight. I had to know that my body needed this food as fuel and that it was going to help me be healthy. Eating every superfood you could imagine, having green smoothies, working out and being as fit as I ever had been before. Had I known what I know now, I would have started to make changes in my lifestyle a LONG time ago. I think this had more of an impact than I realized at the time. When I had to throw that all away, I felt like I lost myself. So I shrank, and I shrank fast. The most common type of amenorrhea in athletes is known as FHA, or functional hypothalamic amenorrhea. When I left for university at age 20, I decided I would stay on the pill. Technically my BMI was never underweight, yet I still didn’t get my period. I would always get mood swings coming off it, and I wasn’t having any of that in a new environment. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. For instance, insulin resistance is very common, along with excess weight, but someone with no insulin resistance and at a perfectly normal weight could have it as well. My testosterone and DHEA-S were normal, my androstenedione was on the high end of normal. The hypothalamus is a pea-sized part of the brain. #1) Your hypothalamus – the control center in your brain that regulates many physiological processes, including reproduction, is not functioning properly.-resulting in-#2) Amenorrhea – you don’t have a regular cycle, specifically you’ve missed at least 3 menstrual periods in a row During many of these years, I continued training intensely. However, it is undeniable that high-intensity exercise affected me each time. A few months after coming off the pill, I had blood work done and I began working with a naturopath, trying to understand what was going on. It involves a change in the way the hypothalamus releases hormones, resulting in a low estrogen balance. You have to trust that your body knows best. I’m going to start by sharing my struggle with HA, then discuss exactly what HA is and how I recovered with some tips that will hopefully help you if you are struggling too. It’s located just under the surface of the brain, underneath the thalamus, and above the pituitary gland. Again, it was well beyond 3 months since I had had a period. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. On further investigation, it would appear that I have a condition known as, Hypothalamic Amenorrhea, otherwise known as no periods- and I’m not the only one. Thanks for sharing! All of my posts are intended to motivate you grow to be a happy, healthy person and some are just for fun :) Hope you enjoy! Ultrasound revealed cysts, but not 25+, only about 15. I would go through periods of extreme calorie restriction followed by a period of overeating to the point where I felt physically ill. I didn’t know how much weight I was going to have to gain in order to get my period back, but I had to trust the process. If you have experience with PCOS and/or HA: share your story with us. It’s hard to see your body change in any circumstance, but having a really good reason to gain or lose weight makes it so much more attainable and helps ease some of the emotional aspect of it. Then, 3 months per year I would train intensely, swimming 2-3 hours per day, usually 6 days a week. If you have hypothalamic amenorrhea, it means that you are not getting enough calories in your body, which is why it is common in women who are anorexic. After doing a lot of research I came across something called hypothalamic amenorrhea. This is the fancy term for when a woman loses here period because she is under a weight that HER body wants to be (and is not dictated by BMI charts) or because she is exercising too much/too intensely. My story is slightly different though. At that point, I had almost reached 150lbs. I ended up gaining between 20-25lbs in order to get my period back and like I said earlier and like so many people in the fitness and health industry, we pride ourselves on looking a certain way. The latest research says you need to have 25+ follicles (commonly called cysts) on your ovaries to have PCOS. Never put a … I used all my new free time to reconnect with Mike, friends and spend more quality time with Allen, I’m free of having to fit my body into a certain stereotype. I started doing a lot of research about hormonal health, PCOS, and HA – and I do mean A LOT. Gentle exercise only. For instance, I discovered raw vegan cakes which make me feel amazing and are perfect for my sweet tooth.