no estrogen?

[shugrblossm]

This might seem silly but I'm curious. I've lost my period due to overtraining/undereating in my teens. I'm healthier and smarter now. The doc says it's b/c I don't produce Luteinizing hormone. I've been on the pill but have been off of it for 2 yrs so my period is not induced anymore and I still don't get it on my own. I was told one doesn't produce estrogen (or very little if any) when you stop getting your period. I understand that estrogen is the hormone that makes it hard for us women to loss weight. B/c of this fact and that I don't receive my monthly anymore shouldn't I see a change in body composition? Shouldn't it be easier to gain muscle. And shouldn't losing fat be MUCH easier?

23 y/o
118-124lbs (fluctuates all the time)
2300cals/day (average)
5'3
goal: keep bf low (currently 17%)
Fullbody 3x/wk, HIIT 3x/wk

[sarahkay_3]

This might seem silly but I'm curious. I've lost my period due to overtraining/undereating in my teens. I'm healthier and smarter now. The doc says it's b/c I don't produce Luteinizing hormone. I've been on the pill but have been off of it for 2 yrs so my period is not induced anymore and I still don't get it on my own. I was told one doesn't produce estrogen (or very little if any) when you stop getting your period. I understand that estrogen is the hormone that makes it hard for us women to loss weight. B/c of this fact and that I don't receive my monthly anymore shouldn't I see a change in body composition? Shouldn't it be easier to gain muscle. And shouldn't losing fat be MUCH easier?

23 y/o
118-124lbs (fluctuates all the time)
2300cals/day (average)
5'3
goal: keep bf low (currently 17%)
Fullbody 3x/wk, HIIT 3x/wk

Okay, since nobody else said anything and you medical professionals please feel free to chime in or correct me if I am wrong....Lutenizing Hormone is not estrogen. You still produce estrogen.

[medic24]

Indeed, LH is not estrogen. Essentially, it is produced by a gland in your brain and acts as a stimulant for ovaries to secrete estrogen in women and testes to secrete testosterone in men.

Have you seen your doc recently? You should really be on an estrogen/progesterone replacement (e.g. the pill you were on before).

Regarding weight loss/muscle building, this is starting to go into a territory I'm not particularly comfortable with (an endocrinologist would be an expert on this). But I think the lack of LH would also inhibit your testosterone secretion, so you would not become more masculine. It's a good thing, you don't want to become virilized, heh.

[Tiffany_P]

Hmm, I'm not sure that estrogen is what makes it hard for us to lose fat. In fact, I think estrogen suppresses your appetite a bit, which is why during the second half of their cycles when estrogen falls and progesterone takes over, women tend to get hungrier and have more food cravings. Also, during menopause when estrogen levels drop, most women gain weight.

Hormones aren't a bad thing. They just need to be properly balanced. If you're not producing enough LH or estrogen to ovulate each month, then there's something wrong with your hypothalamus. I'm not sure what that would mean in terms of weight loss, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that it would make it more difficult.

[Tiffany_P]

Okay, since nobody else said anything and you medical professionals please feel free to chime in or correct me if I am wrong....Lutenizing Hormone is not estrogen. You still produce estrogen.

True, but with hypothalamic amenorrhea, she's not producing much LH, FSH or estrogen.

[imperfectly_lou]

You really need to be seeing an endocrinologist to get this sorted out. The long term effects of this sort of hormonal imbalance can be quite severe, randing from loss in bone density leading to osteopaenia and eventually osteoporosis and infertility.

[sarahkay_3]

True, but with hypothalamic amenorrhea, she's not producing much LH, FSH or estrogen.

Yeah. You are right.

(at first glance, I thought this post was from an older menopausal woman. On second glance it alarmed me a little)

[sparky141978]

I have the same thing and posted about it a few weeks back if you can find all the posts from it. You need to see someone now while you are still young and can fix it. I am seeing an acupuncurist right now. I have VERY low estrogen and it's not healthy. Go see a Endo or start eating more and working out less to try to get it back.