Hypothalamic Amenorrhea – The one trick that brought my period back

[Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, mental health care or eating disorder treatment.]

I love science. It is the one thing I believe in and research is a passion of mine. Some would even call it a compulsion. I like to question everything people tell me and look for scientific facts online to back up their theory.

However, I know that scientific research can be quite dry and boring to some people. In this article, I want to bring you a non-scientific, super-easy-to-understand, no BS approach to why you lost your period and how you can get it back.

What is hypothalamic amenorrhea?

Hypothalamic amenorrhea is the medical definition of losing your period. The hypothalamus, which is the center of your brain, controls your reproductive hormones. It decides whether or not it is a safe environment to get pregnant and put a baby into this world. Our brain, while really smart, is quite primal in many aspects of our lives.

Here are a few examples. We want to fit in and conform to other people’s norms, because we hate feeling left out. This is our ancestral brain trying to fit into a tribe, so we aren’t left alone in the desert and die. We want to please other people, because we hate not being liked. Also our ancestral brain trying to protect us from being left by our tribe. This way, it is also making sure we will reproduce at some point, so the evolution can keep going.

We want to look “perfect”, just like the person we follow on Instagram or the celebrity we see in our favourite Netflix show. Why? Because of evolution. The more pleasing we appear to the eye of other people, the quicker we will reproduce and keep our genes going. If we break it down like this, it really seems quite simple.

I kind of went on a side rant now, so let’s take it back to hypothalamic amenorrhea. We lose our period, because our body senses danger. It shuts down our reproductive hormones, because it doesn’t feel safe enough to nurture a baby and make sure it grows into a healthy human being.

Why do you suffer from hypothalamic amenorrhea?

There is various reasons as to why women can lose their periods. In my case, it was a combination of excessive exercise and a caloric deficit. Meaning, I exercised for two hours per day at a very intense level and I also under-fuelled my body (intentionally), because I was chasing an aesthetic goal of mine. Back then, I never realized I was not giving my body enough fuel. I was eating around 1800 calories per day and had, what I thought was a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat in my diet. However, for my body, this was way below the energy that it needed, in order to be healthy and feel safe.

As soon as we are in a caloric deficit for too long, our brain – the ancestral part of it – assumes that we are in great danger. Back in the day, this maybe meant a famine. Or it meant that we are in danger of being attacked by an animal or another tribe. All that matters now is survival. Your body shuts down everything that is not necessary for its survival. This includes our reproductive hormones.

Reasons for hypothalamic amenorrhea include, but aren’t limited to, excessive exercise, dieting/being in a caloric deficit, high levels of stress or a combination of all three.

What are the symptoms of hypothalamic amenorrhea?

The number one symptom is obviously that your period goes missing, but there is more. I lost chunks of my hair at once. My fingernails were brittle. I was always exhausted, but could never get a good sleep. I peed ALL THE TIME. Even at night. My anxiety was through the roof and I never felt as though I could truly relax. My skin was breaking out. Every day, I had a little emotional breakdown, because I was always agitated. I felt very bloated the minute I put food into my mouth.

Those are just a few symptoms that I personally experienced. A lot of women suffer from it when they drop below a certain body fat percentage, which was true in my case. However, it doesn’t ring true for everyone, because it happens to women of all shapes and sizes.

What can you do to get your period back?

I can say with true honesty that I tried everything. Various doctors wanted to put me back on the pill, which never worked for me. A naturopath put me on an elimination diet and prescribed numerous supplements. I cut out foods and food groups, which only made my disordered eating worse. Nothing helped.

The one thing that helped me is a combination of MORE food and LESS exercise. Yup, you heard that right. Everywhere we look, people tell us we need to eat LESS and exercise MORE, in order to be healthy. This is the diet industry talking and is absolute BS. If you have suffered from disordered eating or severe stress, the answer is NOT to put more stress on your body through exercise and food deprivation.

You want to rest, like actually rest. I took almost two months off from exercising. The only thing I did was take short walks. I gave myself permission to eat everything I wanted. After those few weeks, I took it very easy in the gym and only did what felt good. I didn’t force myself to work harder than I wanted to. I took lots of rest days and I ate a ton of food.

Giving yourself permission to eat and rest is the one thing that gives your brain the right signal. You are safe, you are good, you can bring all my hormones back to balance and give me my period back. This is the sign that our brain needs.

One final word

While I am in no way attacking naturopaths, I hope that you won’t make the mistake I made and try out expensive supplements and elimination diets. These things do not work in many cases and what your body actually needs is rest and food. You have put your body through enough. It is time to surrender. It took me way too long to get to this point and I hope you get there sooner than me.