HEY.
WHAT’S UP PARTY PEOPLE?! Happy almost Friday!
It’s also a great day for some thinking out loud, because this one’s important. Thank you to Amanda from Running with Spoons for allowing me to share my random thoughts of the week.
Sorry to all my male readers out there, we’re talkin’ about some lady problems today.😉
After reading Robyn’s post yesterday about amenorrhea, I couldn’t help but see this: “Periods. They’re annoying, yet amazing all at the same time. I never appreciated my period until I didn’t get it regularly for over three years”.
I stopped and sat back for a minute. I just gained back my period after 3 YEARS of not having it. Whoa, small world right? This is something I hadn’t shared on the blog befpre about my disorder, but with the dramatic loss of weight came the loss of a period too. It happens often to those suffering from anorexia because their bodies aren’t producing enough fat or hormones to maintain a healthy cycle.
At first, I didn’t even notice it was gone until I realized that I had stopped tracking it on my calendar. First things first: blood test. Negative. Huh…I wasn’t pregnant…what was it? I was eating normally, right?
Not really. Note the difference in pictures. The right one is when I was at my lowest weight, but I was seeking help.
Amenorrhea is the absence of a woman’s menstrual cycle – at least 3 consecutive ones. Sometimes this happens to athletes who have a very low body fat percentage, but it’s still not normal. But I didn’t worry. It was fine, right? Usually it comes with pregnancy, which is called natural amenorrhea, but there are other lifestyle factors that cause it to be more serious: low body weight, excessive exercise, and stress. At that time, I was experiencing these three things. I can’t tell you how many blood tests I had trying to determine what the issue was, but only ONE healthcare professional asked me how often I exercised.
And then she weighed me.
And then she became my saving grace, a.k.a. my nutritionist (hi Lori!)
Fast forward another year to when I had been eating more, exercising a little less, and trying to take better care of myself. Still no period. I had a relapse during this point because I was so frustrated with seeing the number on the scale go up, but again, shouldn’t I have gained back at least something? Nope.
Fast forward to this year when I had gained all of my weight back and I was healthy again. Woooooop!! But hold on, where was the period?! Trust me, I didn’t mind AT ALL. This was great, especially being a dancer! No cramps, no pains, no PMS?! NO PROBLEM. But, as Robyn points out, “…not having your period is convenient, but it has long term health consequences. So when I was continually assured that not having my cycle ‘was no big deal,’ I began to wonder…how is a process that reproduces other humans no big deal when it goes absent?”
Shoutout to my mother for forcing me to go to the gynecologist because there was clearly something wrong with my body. Oh yeah, I know! It’s called the lack of estrogen, a.k.a. our female stress hormone. Not having enough of this deteriorates our bones and could even lead to osteoporosis. Not that I thought or cared about that during my disorder, I just really wanted to stay thin. Sometimes I wish I could go back and smack myself and say, “WAKE UP!”
Fast forward to 3 months ago when my doctor prescribed me for a “progestin challenge“, a 10-day regimen that is supposed to kickstart your period. Guess what? It didn’t. WHAT THE HECK. At that point, I just really wanted to be NORMAL again and not have to worry about what my body was doing. I tried the challenge again, but this time she added an estrogen pill to be taken as well. Then one morning on the last day of pills…
…BADA-BING! There it was! Thanks estrogen, love you. It only took 3 years, right?
Bless you if you made it this far, but here’s the point of my rant: I now realize more than ever that an absence of a period, no matter how convenient, is NOT healthy for your body in the long run. “But instead of just taking a pill to slap a band aid on the problem, we have to take step back, look at the overall picture, and get down to the root of the problem”. In this case, the root of my problem was my restrictive eating habits and overexercising.
Today, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be normal again. I actually feel like a HEALTHY woman.
This means that my chances of reproducing in the future are still there. This means that my body is getting enough nutrients and fat. This means that my hormones are starting to balance out again. This means I’m at a healthy weight. FINALLY!
Yeah my ovaries might be starting a 3rd World War down there, but I’m comfortable in my own skin, and I know my body is working along with me and not against me anymore.
If you haven’t checked out Robyn’s blog yet, you should, because she’s a registered dietitian and she knows what’s up. She’s now back in school to be an NP!
Now tell me…
- Do you ever take your health for granted?
- Ladies! Favorite period comfort food?!
I hope you all have an absolutely lovely day!! I’m off to go be a hostess! Stay golden, fabulous, and BE WELL!❤
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