How does weight loss affect period?

Question

Hello doctor,

I was on a diet and I lost a lot of weight. I used to be 125 lbs and later I was only 83 lbs. I lost my period and I went to the hospital and they asked me to gain weight. Now I am 92.5 lbs and still, I did not get my period back.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Now you have two factors that do not allow your periods. As you said, any sudden reduction of weight or even a sudden increase in weight can affect the control of the brain on these hormones which in turn control your ovulation. You are still a young lady in early adolescence. Maybe you had your first periods few years ago. It is only about the age of 19-21 years that your hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis in short, the circuit between your brain hormones and ovarian hormones, becomes mature enough to have normal ovulation and hence normal periods. You gave sudden stress on this circuit with sudden weight reduction, which would have shifted the balance. You need a minimum fat in the body to have normal hormones and normal cycles as ovaries breakdown fat deposits in the body to form hormones. Your weight should be around 127 lbs. You were never overweight. My advice is :

1. Do not go on binge eating.

2. No fasting.

3. Have a regular controlled diet thrice a day.

4. Reduce the high-calorie diet, junk food, and red meat. Have a lot of proteins.

5. Do regular exercises, aerobics, dance, brisk walk and so on.

Have a thyroid profile and serum prolactin done in the early morning in an empty stomach, just to confirm any other hormone problems. Wait for a month or two. I bet your periods will come back. If you still do not get the periods on your own, you will need to evaluate you and start on a cycle of hormones for a month or two to artificially get the hormone train back on track, which has got derailed now.

I hope this helps.