HA Recovery Case Studies Part 1
Case studies are a great way to both give you, someone in the thick of hypothalamic amenorrhea recovery, hope and motivation while also pointing out just how different everyone's recovery journey truly is.
It is so important to remember that none of these women had optimal cycles immediately, don't get me wrong.
After these stories, we’ve worked through everything from anovulatory cycles to short luteal phases and missing the second period, but this is how we got to square one and from there we were able to build and build on their momentum.
What I want you to take away from these women's journeys is that there are individual variances between every woman!
Two women may present similarly, but once we deep dive we can see just how much they differ.
If you've been trying to recover for a LONG time and feel like you're not getting anywhere, I give you permission to see yourself as an individual and that you may need to do something more specific for your goals.
If you need a little more help, considering getting 1:1 coaching with us or joining The HA Society community.
You never know, you just might be the next case study we share to help inspire others!
Case study 1: Client HS
HS was missing her period for a number of years. She was heavy in to CrossFit and did a lot of macro coaching. She was also a CrossFit coach herself so was very involved in that community which for many people can make amenorrhea recovery a challenge.
Her goal was to return her period, optimize her health and get pregnant.
We recovered her period rather quickly, within a few months with some simple changes to sleep, protein intake, overall calories and caffeine intake. However, after that she did have intense cramps, short luteal phases and a LOT of early spotting in her luteal phase.
What we did:
We continued with the original protocol but dove further into what she was eating that could be causing these symptoms and abnormalities. So, we broke down her macronutrient sources.
We also increased her protein intake and switched up her high carb/processed carb diet with a higher fat lower carb diet. This helped by the next cycle and the following cycle was even better. All cycle parameters became normal after a few tries and she experienced SIGNFICIANTLY less to zero period pain.
At the time of writing this, she is 15 weeks pregnant.
Case study 2: Client TD
Client TD was missing her period for almost her entire life. She identifies as a high achieve, lifts lots of weights and is on a low carb diet as prescribed by her lifting coach. Her lifting coach is science-bound (not science BASED) which means that she was pushing lifting and low calories to the extreme, refusing to consider that it might not work because ‘the science said it would’. Balancing the coach-athlete-recovery triad is a unique obstacle for some clients.
She was on a low carb, high fat diet with decent protein intake but only from lean sources or protein powders.
TD also complained of exhaustion during training and a decreased desire to work out. A huge mental roadblock was feeling unable to reduce training volume out of fear of lost gains, increased bodyfat and no amenorrhea results.
Lastly, TD was doing HRT but no period yet even with that.
What we did:
We started with the big rocks and the low hanging fruit. We increased TD’s protein intake and her intake of animal fat (saturated fat). We tried to steer more towards that and away from lean chicken breast and protein powder.
The biggest change we made was introducing more carbs, in particular around her training. Immediately, TD reporting feeling better around training. She performed better in the gym too and after just one month, with the continued use of HRT of course, she did get that period.
Case Study 3: Client LH
LH did not have a period for 20 years. She was a competitive runner who loved her sport.
She had tried recovery on her own, increasing calories and reducing exercise but wasn’t getting results. She also worked with other reputable doctors in the space, but with little luck.
She struggled with the mindset piece and this was holding her back from going all the way with her food and rest that she needed – especially when it came to the food. She was eating a low fat diet and it was clear that it was just too low. It would be unlikely that the body had enough to cycle. She needed the extra support of a coach for accountability.
She was seeing cervical mucus and her basal body temperature was pretty good… something key was missing. She was also considering a possible PCOS diagnosis. We knew she did have HA because she had ZERO period, but perhaps she would have some PCOS symptoms pop up post recovery so I kept this in mind.
What we did:
We increased LH’s fat intake from every direction. Polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated. This means nuts, oils, avocados and animal fats like meat, butter, eggs etc. This was really hard for her, but she trusted in us and did the work.
LH continued to train but heavily reduced her running down to only once her week – a very very light jog.
Within only a few weeks, thanks to the work she had already been doing to eat more and rest more, she did get her period back. I believe that she just needed that extra nudge from the intense fear of fat to get her body to ovulate.
Once she recovered, she was able to continue on her path of looking into PCOS.
