Irregular Periods

[lulubell1824]

Alright - I'm new to the forum thing and doing what I do - a Physician Assistant - you would think I would know better than to post this.

But....for the past 12 weeks I have started lifting/training intensely. In Nov of 08 I was 36% BF and 159#. I am currently 26% BF and 136. 8 weeks ago I started eating clean with the exception of a few bad days. Chicken, egg whites, salad, heathy fats, low low carb (1300 cals/day). Big change for my body.

The past two months I have missed my period. I have no cramping, spotting, etc. I have been on the pill for 8 years and have NEVER missed one before. I was VERY athletic in high school and although I'm not sure what my BF percentage was back then, it probably was similar to where I am now.

So why am I missing it? Just the change in diet/body composition? I'm not pregnant - taken 3 tests and VERY unlikely at this point..although technically still possible. I'm planning a wedding which is stressful and working 2 jobs and hitting the gym 5 days/week.

What is going on? Anyone else experience anything like this?

I really appreciate all of your input.

[MetalMommy]

fors ome women working out intensely, they do get irregular periods unfortunately.

for some...eating extremely low carb also has bad side effects down the road but ill let the keto masters here tackle that one for you.

maybe take a few days to eat your calories at maintenance level not cutting see if it helps you, if its really bothering you, call a doctor and ask them. you might not have to go in, just talk to them on the phone if possible.

also, if you are on bc...it could be that

stress can screw up periods for anyone working out or not...
lots of factors here

example, when i was military....had a woman who stopped having periods , the doc put heron profile and said no working out for a little bit to help her get back to normal.....absolutely nothing changed, she ended up doing counseling and talking things out....helped her take the stress level down a bit and her periods came back completely normal with the counseling while she continued to work out

[IronFigure]

Since this is the first time and you're still new to working out at a more intense level the best advice I can lend is to seek a doctor's help. They'll be able to assess all the factors identified by the above poster and some. Play it safe and don't wait it out - you never know what you could prevent now so get checked. I will say this however, your calories seem extremely low even for a woman at just 5'1". Try adding an extra meal of about 200-300 cals.