Menstrual Cycle?

 Hellllo Alll!!!

My name is Cari. I was wondering if anyone could give some insight into whether or not their menstrual cycle stopped during weight loss? From surgery 12/08 to about 8 months out (August 09) my period was regular. But since then its been about 5 months since I've had my cycle, I have not been sexually active...? Does anyone know why or have you experienced this?

Starting weight 320
Goal Weight 180
Current Weight 120

Yes, mine stopped for several months at a time several different times. The longest time was a little over 5 months. It was due to malnutrition in my case. If you have not had sex during this time and couldn't be pregnant, it might be because you are dealing with some malnutrition of your own. I mean, you have lost a LOT of weight in a very short amount of time....200 pounds in what 13 months? (I pretty much did the same thing...lost the majority of my weight the 1st year and I've lost 250 total since surgery) I'm gonna bet money that it's due to your diet. Just to be on the safe side though, you need to consult your surgeon and/or your gynecologist and have them find the cause. Especially since you had been regular up to that point. Were you regular BEFORE surgery?

Good luck to you and I hope it is nothing serious!

 Wow! Thank you so much for your helpful response. Yes, I do feel like I am having a malnutrition problem. But I have been doing research all night and have discovered that its most likely an iron deficiency that I'm experiencing, along with a protein deficiency. So this is where I have already started this evening getting in more of those two things with this bariatric chewable iron I have and new whey bullets. I do eat though...I eat 3 meals a day, but I just dont eat much of the meal. I am really trying gain some of my weight back...I never wanted to get this small and frail-like. Did you experience losing too much weight? Yes my period was regular before surgery, every month like clock work....but I stopped having one around September 09. Did you do anything special to fix your malnutrition? Thankx again for answering...everyone was reading my post but no one was responding, so thank you for your time!

Sorry I cannot answer your question as I have not had enough time to get that far out but I just wanted to comment on something. IF you are battling malnutrition (and even if you arent) 3 meals a day is not enough and could be the reason your not getting enough protein. My nut told me I should be eating 3 meals a day and 2 snacks for the first couple of years out, if not the rest of my life...its the only way to get in enough calories and nutrients with how little we can hold at one time. Also, new whey bullets....have you checked if they are actually made with whey. Most bullets are made with casein protein which does nothing for us (if they are made from whey can you tell me the brand or if your not sure post the brand and I will find out for you.)

Oh and get your labs drawn ASAP. Like a full panel...should be a good 10 vials of blood at least if they are checking everything, especially your iron, calcium, protein, and trace mineral levels (like zinc and copper). Its the only way you will know for sure what is going on in your body. Hope that helped even a little since I couldn't answer your main question.

Simone

Those are the 2 things that I was deficient in (among other things at the time) and the main culprits behind my missing periods. I'm also still pretty vitamin D deficient and was at the time, but I didn't really do any research to see if that was a problem too or not.

I lost a LOT of weight, but I don't think it was too much considering I'm not underweight. If I had my extra skin removed, I'm be somewhere in the vacinity of 160-170 which is just perfect for my height (6 foot). I know that A LOT of my muscle was ravaged because my body was trying to get protein from somewhere. Same with my bones and teeth. My teeth are horrid because my body was/is just trying to pull calcium from somewhere. You KNOW when your labs come back with a low blood calcium level that your body is pulling it from places that you don't want it to pull from...lol My teeth practically have no enamel left and I would hate to see what my bones look like at this point. I'll have a bone scan after I have this baby, but I'm not excited about what they'll find.

You REALLY need to eat more than 3 times a day. You need to eat about 6 times a day. You REALLY need to get your protein intake up to about 100g a day. Then when you get your periods back, you can start decreasing down to a normal amount SLOWLY. Incorporate more iron rich food or get you an iron supplement. You REALLY need to call your surgeon and get him to run labs. Ask for a lab called SpectraCell. It's a micronutrient test that is very in depth lab and measures ALL of your nutrients. It sometimes takes a while to get it back (they told me a week but it was more like 4). Then you will know EXACTLY where you stand nutrition wise. It really is the gold standard where finding out your nutrition is concerned.

I didn't have to do anything special to fix my malnutrition other than just eat and take vitamins. I mean, I had to be hospitalized A LOT, have a PICC line put in my arm and be "fed" (TPN) through my vein. I had to have 2 G-tubes inserted into my old stomach to try and feed myself through that, but that made me sicker than a dog so that didn't work. Most of the time I just had to eat whatever I could eat (or handle) just to get calories in. Sometimes the foods weren't so great (bad carbs) but it was just what I could eat at the time and it was calories and so I ate it and my doc was fine with it as long as calories were going in. I eventually had to get to the point where I HAD to choke down those hard to get in proteins because it was affecting my heart. So that was a really hard time because protein made my pouch hurt the most (if you read my profile, you'll understand more about the chronic pain I've dealth with since I was 6 weeks out of surgery. My body just had not reacted positively to this surgery and everything that I've put into my mouth since I was about 6 weeks out causes major pain.......even drinks, water etc. I've been on pain meds pretty much ever since just to be able to eat and drink.......it sucks and I hate it. WIsh I had never had this surgery.).

Really though, just first call your surgeon. Get the SpectraCell. I'm sure Dr. Barker does it. Ask for it specifically. Tell him about your periods. Talk to the nutritionist. Up your protein intake to 100g a day. Get in iron rich foods and/or keep taking the supplement. Take your multi-vitamin daily. Take at least 1200 of calcium CITRATE with Vitamin D AND magnesium. I was getting in 1260 of this daily and have just had my vitamin D level come back pretty low again so I've added a pill since I really can't get in anymore vitamin D through my diet. Although if the sun would ever come out and be warmer (in North Texas, woulda thunk it?) I could get my vit D through the sun! lol Anyway, make sure you are getting in some complex carbs too. The protein right now is #1 for you though so if you can't eat that much, at LEAST get that protein in 1st. Drink bullets and protein shakes like they're going out of style. Just don't try to drink more than 40g at a time because you'll just waste your time and energy trying to get it all in and then your body won't absorb more than 40g at a time anyway. Just spread a bullet or 2 (if they are the 42g bullets) throughout the day. Then you'd only have to worry about 20-60 more grams throughout  the day, depending on how many bullets you do. Eat cheese. Eat 6 small meals a day plus 2 small snacks. Try to get in about 75g of complex carbs.

You can do it. I know it may be hard at first, but the more protein you put in, the easier it will become. I think if you follow my advice with starting with Dr. Barker and the lab, you'll get all the help you need and find a solution to your problem. Good luck to you and you can send me a message anytime if you have any questions or need any help because I HAVE been where you are. (I'm still there some days!) Send me a PM and tell me abouts where you live. I think we live close. I had my surgery at Baylor Dallas and that's where I spent ALL my hospitalization. It was lovingly called "Hotel Baylor"...LOL  Good luck and

Hi Cari!

You've lost an enormous amount of weight in a short span.  It is a "shock" to the body.  Everything seems to get all crazy resetting and doing whatever it does.

What I would say is take time to care for your body now. Repleni**** with all the good protein, vitamins, minerals, and nutritionin general that it needs.  200lbs in a single year is fantasticly amazing, but it too takes a toll on our bodies.

Many Blessings,
Zee