Urm... periods stopped!

[tofutofu]

Hi
ok so i used to be anorexic & so my periods stopped. but then i got better & my periods came back. now ive been cutting own some foods & exercising lots & i get obsessive & i now i weigh 7 and a half stone. i haven't had a period in 3 months.. hmm.im a bit worried. i really don't want to gain weight. I am 5 foot 5 about. is it so bad that my periods have stopped?

[twinkle]

I think 7 and a half stone sounds on the light side for that height, in fact I'm pretty sure it's in the "underweight" catagory on the BMI. As to whether it's good or bad that your periods have stopped - how do you feel about it? Also, is there a possibility you could be pregnant and that's the reason?

[tofutofu]

hehe well im not pregnant thats for sure. I don't really know..at first i was fine about it but im getting a bit worried now because i read somewhere about it builds cancer cells or something along those lines.

[Lazuli Blue]

Your periods have stopped because you are not ovulating, not ovulating could be because of a few things but the main reason is because you ARE under weight.
PLEASE put on a little bit of weight, it doesn't have to be too much. You just need to get your body balanced again.

[LittleNellColumbia]

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[lizmint]

Hi
Your BMI is 17.5, so you are significantly underweight (normal BMI 20-25). Your periods have stopped because you are underweight (if you're absolutely positive that you aren't pregnant). You really need to address this or it could have serious long-term effects on your health, such as osteoporosis.

Take care

Liz

[LittleNellColumbia]

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[lizmint]

You're right LittleNell, it is sometimes inaccurate, usually when someone's very muscular and have a high BMI, but with a such a low BMI, a past history of anorexia, and no periods, I really think you need to get checked out with your GP Tofutofu

[tofutofu]

thankyou all for your posts :D

[herbwormwood]

Not having periods is one way a severely underweight body conserves vital resources. The body's aim is to stay alive and reproductive function is not essential to staying alive.
Your body is telling you something is wrong and you are not looking after it.
Get a general health check and get some help with your eating disorder. Otherwise you could put your heart at risk and risk developing osteoporosis.
There is an eating disorders thread here which may helpful.

[RedWellies]

I read somewhere that girls start their periods when a number of body/hormonal changes happen. One of those was going over seven and a half stone. If this is true then weight obviously plays a part in this.

Personally, I think if you are 5'5 and 7.5 stone, you are too light, regardless of your body type. Just for your comparison, I am about 5'2 and weight about 8 stone and I'm not a large person!

Stress also can stop your periods.

[grrrnola]

stop eating so much tofu. i'm just guessing you do 'cause of the name. i've read that soy products contain a lot of phytoestrogens, which, in healthy amounts, can be very beneficial. but when our diet is composed mainly of soy foods--cereal with soy milk and a bagel with soy cream cheese for breakfast, and tofu for lunch, tempeh for dinner and cooking with "vegetable" oil and soy oil, as well as soy sauce--then it can get into excessive amounts. try cutting down on your soy products. a little soy is fine if you choose to include it in your diet but too much is definitely bad. i would completely advise against the use of soybean oil, because of my reading (stuff about cancer, thyroid problems, reproductive health problems and endometriosis), and the use of soy products altogether, but some say it's fabulous. females need to worry more about limiting their soy than males, as we are the ones with more estrogen. if i eat soy it's not because of its health benefits... to me that's like eating cake (vegan, of course) or other junk food--it's a rare treat and isn't a main component of my diet.

[PygmyGoat]

^ I disagree completely - soy oestregens are recommended for women. I eat a lot of Soy and my periods are regular as clockwork and I ovulate every month. It's much more likely to be a weight issue or malnourishment linked to the Anorexia.

[purple.cow]

I eat a lot of soy to, and I'm not having any problems. :confused:

[rianaelf]

apparently Japanese women have little or no menopausal symptoms due to the fact that they eat so much soya, although i do feel that the absence of dairy products in their <original> diet is a much more important factor.
Soya like everythink else isnt suitable for everyone but i think its fine to eat it regularly altho not excessively as too much of anythink can be bad for u!

[sandra]

I heard that too rianaelf! I'm hoping it's right cause I'll be heading that way soon, [menopausal, I mean not Japan]. :)

[DianeVegan]

A great theory on why Asian women (Japanese and Chinese) don't experience as many menopausal symptoms as caucasian women is explained in "The China Study." I only hope that becoming vegan later in life (as I was not raised that way) will also be beneficial. The theory is actually linked to having little animal protein in their diets (dairy or otherwise).

As far as tofutofu's lack of menstruation, see a health provider for this problem please. Relying on our comments may be detrimental to your health as we cannot physically examine you. Any time a young woman stops menstruating there is a reason. A full examination by a qualified professional is the safest way to go, IMO. Good luck with finding the cause.

[rianaelf]

I heard that too rianaelf! I'm hoping it's right cause I'll be heading that way soon, [menopausal, I mean not Japan]. :)

well, wen i was doing my training for my herbal medicine course, a woman came in who was 51. She had already been thru her MP and was asking about a different problem.
thing was, that she was vegan and she looked AMAZING i couldnt believe she was actually 51, she didnt look anythink like whatever 51 is sopposed to look like!
and on another note, i am wanting to do a study on vegan women and the MP and really i should get that thread going cos i think it would be most interesting

[sandra]

That would be an interesting thread rianaelf, and your right about the age thing. My sister is 57 and she looks about 30 something and there are people I know in their 20's and 30's who look older than their years. I think part of it has to do with diet and lifestyle but I do think that genes play a big part too.

[rianaelf]

i think it takes years sometimes for a bad diet to show thru on the outside.
i mean, a woman who has past her childbearing days, going thru a change in her body and still taking baby food meant for a cow or a goat? that has got to look a bit odd on the outside :eek:

[sandra]

It does doesn't it. :D

[grrrnola]

well, i've read in many sources that the phytoestrogens are to be blamed for women's menstrual problems.

soy is a product that is so easy to grow and so cheap to make and it is often genetically modified, especially if you live in north america. i have read in books, online, lots of places, that it is bad for you. i know when i was drinking lots of soy milk that my period stopped. i researched this so i could learn about it. as soon as i stopped drinking soy milk low and behold i got my period again. a friend of mine is veggie and has endometriosis and she eats soy products. soy is found in everything, from chocolate, to all kinds of processed foods; it is a FILLER product. it has so many uses, sure, but i don't think any of those uses should be to CONSUME it. i eat soy on a rare occasion and that's not because of its health benefits, because i don't think it really has any benefits other than that it is full protein, which with proper food combining can be replaced, i only have it because sometimes it tastes yummy. it's never ever going to be a part of my diet. i would rather eat cake (vegan) as a meal instead of soy everyday.

plus, soy products are very processed so it's up to you what you want to eat. i don't think something that is cheap to grow, to make, often genetically modified, is found in a wide range of crappy foods, etc. should ever be the basis of anyone's diet, especially when there is all kinds of research out there suggesting that soy is damaging to one's health, especially women. please research it further before you decide to continue using soy products... and whoever's period stopped, try to not eat soy products and see if it comes back. don't you think it makes sense that with a plant whose estrogen mimics human estrogen to have an effect on a woman's body that it MAY even be a LITTLE possible that this estrogen is causing a disturbance? think about it, and don't be completely ignorant and say that soy is not the reason for your period to stop.

too

much

soy!

period. look it up, many times, from different sources, and make the decision for yourself. try a testing period... you won't die without soy, so stop using it... stop, and then see what happens. and by stop i don't mean for a week or a day or something, i mean for a month, two months, etc. ... just try it. i think it's ignorant for people to just say straight off the bat that soy is not to blame when research has been done that suggests that soy estrogens really do affect a woman's body. if they do so good for a woman's body, don't you think that too much could be bad?

[Poppy]

For what it's worth it is well known that being severly underweight can stop your periods. It happens to a lot of anorexics. But like the posts say do get yourself checked out even if only for your own peace of mind as worry can also cause havoc with your menstrual cycle.
x

[PygmyGoat]

grrrnola - lots of foods are much cheaper/easier to grow and are the basis of some very healthy diets, such as cereals and rice, so I don't think that's a valid argument!!. Vegetables are probably cheaper to grow and definitely cheaper and easier to market.

I still don't understand why Soya would stop menstruation but there are theories for and against every foodstuff.

Also, it's relatively easy to avoid GM Soya.

[rianaelf]

i do think that too much of anythink can be bad for u.
too much wheat can inhibit the bodies absorption of calcium for example so i guess to much soya could also be damaging, tho im sure a sensible amount is fine.
A good example is the herb Calamus root.
A little can significantly decrease the acid secretions that can cause chronic indigestiion, but too much can actually increase the amount of acid!
So there is one plant that has the opposite effect depending on how much u take of it.
er, does that help at all?