How to Recover From Amenorrhea
Not having a period might seem like no big deal or even like a burden has been lifted off your shoulders, but not having a regular healthy cycle is a sign of an underlying health issue. Our period is quite literally a vital sign, just like your body temperature, pulse, and breathing.
In this article, we are going to talk about what amenorrhea is and how to recover from it.
If you’ve been struggling with amenorrhea and need a little extra support I have developed a ton of DIY recovery resources. If you need a little extra support, consider 1:1 coaching or joining our coming, The HA Society.
What is amenorrhea:
Amenorrhea is a medical term for not having a period.
You may have heard it called Primary Amenorrhea, which is the absence of period in someone who has never had a period. Or Secondary Amenorrhea, which is the absence of three or more periods in a row in someone who has had periods in the past.
Secondary Amenorrhea is more commonly referred to as Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea, which describes the suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis. In essence, the body doesn’t feel safe and has gone into survival mode by turning off reproduction.
To keep it simple, I refer to Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea as HA (hence the name of my podcast, The HA Podcast).
More often than not women develop HA due to high levels of stress- stress from undereating, over-exercising, weight loss, or a combination.
How to recover from amenorrhea:
I really want to stress that there is NO magic pill, supplement, or diet that is going to get you your period back if you have HA. It will be a combination of lifestyle tweaks such as eating enough and resting. However, in my experience I learned, recovery is actually very easy. What's challenging is the mindset shifts you need to make in order to recover. Below I've laid out the foundations of recovery, both lifestyle, and mindset.
1. Eating enough calories - We want to be eating in a calorie surplus when recovering our periods. You may or may not be familiar with the standard 2,500 calories minimum in HA recovery. This can be extremely overwhelming, so what I recommend is working towards eating around 750 calories per meal and filling in the gaps with 1 or 2 snacks. Don’t skimp on the fat (healthy fats like coconut oil, olive oil, and butter)! Adding fat to your meals is an easy way to increase calories without increasing the volume, but don’t forget to include all 3 macronutrients at each meal to support blood sugar balance. So if you tend to avoid a certain macronutrient it’s time to start bringing it in because a mix of the three is going to get your calories to where they need to be, as well as lower your levels of stress and anxiety. Lastly, give yourself permission to enjoy treats again, not only will this help you meet your caloric needs, but also get you out of a restricted, scarcity mindset. For more tips and guidance on eating more check out this blog post, Tips to eating more + meal ideas.
2. Address nutritional deficiencies - Micronutrients are just as important as macronutrients. You might be able to get your period back by only focusing on macronutrients alone, but if you aren't diversifying your plate and focusing on nutrient density you won't be able to optimize your cycle post-HA. Supplementation can certainly help you fill in the gaps and support your recovery, but they shouldn’t be relied on.
3. Rest More- Rest is imperative in recovery because it allows the body to heal itself and restore hormonal balance. Without ample amounts of rest, it becomes more difficult to get ourselves out of the depleted state we’ve been in for so long. More often than not rest looks like cutting back on exercise or cutting it out completely (for now). For many HA (ers) this can be challenging, because they’re typically very disciplined high achievers and the idea of rest brings up feelings of guilt for them. To help mitigate feelings of guilt, try to fill your newfound time with things that bring you joy, like an old hobby or reconnecting with friends. Do the things you never had time for when you were prioritizing exercise.
4. Address unnecessary stressors- High levels of stress keeps our body stuck in a survival state, preventing the healing process. Now we can’t 100% avoid stress all together, but there are ways to help mitigate, reduce and eliminate unnecessary stressors. Take inventory of ALL your stressors, identify what areas are causing you the greatest amount of stress and if it's something that you can control such as social media or toxic friendships/relationships, look to eliminate or set up healthy boundaries. To learn more about stress and how it’s potentially impacting your recovery, check out my recent YouTube video on stress, I actually have a whole series!
5. Sleep- As you sleep there are fewer demands on your body, allowing it to focus on restoring and repairing itself. So you can see how important quality sleep can be for HA recovery. To get a restful night's sleep try getting early morning sun exposure, turning off electronics at least an hour or two before bed, eliminating any other sources of light in the room, and keeping your room cool.
6. Mindset- You can eat all the food and rest all you want, but if you don’t work on the psychological piece, it will be really hard not to fall back into old habits once you get your period back. So be sure to address the relationship you have with food, exercise, and your body. I suggest journaling to create a level of awareness around your hang-ups such as food fears, food rules, and weight gain, and start to challenge them. This can be really tough to do on your own, you really need an objective perspective. Therapy can be helpful as well as working with an HA recovery coach.
7. Get support- HA recovery is not something I recommend anyone do alone. You are going to be going against everything you have been told or thought to be true. It’s important to have a strong support group, people who understand and respect what you’re going through and won’t try to pressure you into what they believe is best for you. Finding that kind of support can be challenging and that is why I created the HA Society, a community-based support group for women with HA.
As you can imagine, restoring your missing period can be a life-changing experience. It can alter how you see your body, nutrition, diet culture, and society's expectations of you and your health.
The above steps as I mentioned are simple in theory, but as I always tell my readers, listeners and viewers, it’s much harder than it seems. Making these changes is psychologically difficult and oftentimes we can’t easily change our behaviours, cross our fingers, and dive im/
