Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and Pregnancy Success
In this article we will discuss why hypothalamic amenorrhea causes infertility, how to reverse it – which is absolutely possible – and whether or not you can have hypothalamic amenorrhea and a successful pregnancy.
Want to skip the reading? Here is a video I made covering this same topic.
Can you get pregnant with hypothalamic amenorrhea?
No – but read on to the rest of this article to understand why that’s ok! You can resolve infertility from hypothalamic amenorrhea and successfully get pregnant. Let me explain:
Hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) is the shut down of your reproductive hormone system due to stress on the body. Either a nutrient and energy intake deficit, over exhaustion physically or mental and phycological stress – usually a combination of all three. It results in the complete pause of your menstrual cycle. You are not longer ovulating or building a uterine lining which means you definitely are not bleeding each month. You can identify HA by the fact that you don’t have a monthly cycle – rather simple really. It’s more common than you think because HA is a natural defense mechanism of the body.
That said, without your monthly ovulation you cannot get pregnant so you must restore your missing ovulation first to regain the ability to get pregnant. We have evidence to show HA is fully reversible, it just might take a little work on your part.
How do you get pregnant with hypothalamic amenorrhea?
When people say that they have become pregnant with amenorrhea, what actually happened is that they suddenly ovulated thanks to some changes in their life. For example a vacation with typically less stress and eating more food causing them to relax enough, with enough food intake to finally trigger an ovulation. They got pregnant by chance on that first ovulation!
It happens more than you would think. With our coaching clients it happens a lot because we teach them how to know that they are about to ovulate even before they ever have a period and to time intercourse correctly. Ideally you would let yourself cycle a few times to ensure your body has restored hormonal activity to a healthy state but many women have great pregnancy and birth outcomes on the first ovulation.
The other way people may claim pregnancy with HA is because they used fertility treatments like letrozole, clomid or IVF treatments. This involves the use of hormone treatment to artificially trigger ovulation and force pregnancy to happen. Not the same thing has getting pregnant with amenorrhea and definitely not a long term solution. It’s also less effective in women with amenorrhea and some level of menstrual cycle restoration is recommended even if you’re going to take the treatment route.
To get pregnant, you must restore ovulation and then time sex within your fertile window. Here’s how:
Figure out why your period is missing
Learn why your period is missing by understanding HA. This article (READ: What is HA and how to recover from it) will help you narrow in on your issue and find your focus. Reading my personal story (READ: How I Got My Period Back) may also help you uncover your situation because you might relate to my personal story.
Create a plan to recover to replenish your body’s nutrient stores
Have a solid plan in place to get your cycle back! Don’t just throw spaghetti at the wall – you need to do this properly in order to recover quickly, skip the steep learning curves and get pregnant. (READ: How to Recover from Amenorrhea).
You will also want to replenish your body’s nutrient stores to ensure you’re ready for pregnancy. Prolonged periods of time not ovulating and producing enough estrogen will put you back nutritionally. Focusing on this will help with overall period recovery and your pregnancy.
If pregnancy is your main objective I recommend working with us. Helping women recover their periods, prepare their bodies and get pregnant naturally is what we do and we will save you significant amounts of money, pain and anguish compared to fertility treatments. Learn more about our coaching here.
Ensure you’re seeing signs of progress that ovulation is returning
Learning to use the fertility awareness method and identify signs of progress in recovery is key to knowing that you’re checking the boxes and moving forward. Again, we recommend professional help to remove the overwhelm and speed up the process – but if you’re not familiar with this here are some free resources READ: Using the Fertility Awareness Method for HA and READ: 5 Amenorrhea Recovery Signs and Case Studies.
Best of luck on your journey – we’re here to help if you need us. You can book a free fertility strategy call with us to help you reach your goals ASAP!
Research:
Amenorrhea: A Systematic Approach to Diagnosis and Management https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2019/0701/p39.html
Amenorrhea: An Approach to Diagnosis and Management | AAFP
Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: case presentations and overview of literature: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s42000-018-0025-5.pdf
Diagnosing polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA): https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/86061/1/prosjektoppgave-Medisin_231020_endelig_VF_vF--med-bekreftelse-fra-veileder.pdf
Role of Imaging in Primary Amenorrhea-A Prospective Study: https://ijmbs.info/index.php/ijmbs/article/view/1020/823
Where Have the Periods Gone? The Evaluation and Management of Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7053439/pdf/JCRPE-12-18.pdf
