When you’re young (and child-rearing isn’t in your near future) it can be easy to dismiss a lack of period–heck, maybe you weirdly find it “convenient”. But, let me warn you now: this is not normal.
Having an irregular or completely absent period means your body is suffering inside and that your hormones are no longer “normal” or functioning properly to allow fertility to thrive. The term for a lack of period for at least three months caused by training is Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA)
For women, some of the key hormones affected HA by are estrogen, progesterone, FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), LH (luteinizing hormone), GnRH (Gonadotropin-releasing hormone) and testosterone, among other crucial hormones (cortisol, thyroid hormones, leptin etc).
What primarily causes HA when training is an energy deficiency–you are expending more energy than you are taking in. Often paired with excessive exercise is undereating (even unintentionally) to compensate for the energy spent, and this leads the body to believe it is in a state of starvation, survival, etc. During this, the body “shuts down” your reproductive system to focus on keeping you alive!
The detriments of this are tenfold: weaker bones, hair loss, brittle nails, a weakened metabolism, weakened immune system, irregular and unpredictable emotions and moods, night sweats and hot flashes, extreme or absent hunger, weak performance, lower energy, poor sleep, an overall suffering body!
What’s worse? Recovering from HA can take A LONG TIME! So when you do decide you want children, to get healthy again–your body doesn’t snap back as quickly as you might want it to. It can take months (even years) for your body to feel safe enough again to regulate your hormones, and this can be the most challenging part.
An important way to keep tabs on this is to make sure you’re properly fueling while training hard, especially during marathon or half-marathon training. Work with an RD or a fueling expert as needed to be sure you’re getting the foods and fuel you need to thrive and maintain a flourishing, thriving body.
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