weight loss, body fat content and female problems

Has anyone had any problems with their menses from two much weight loss. I hear it can happen. I am at 120 now which from the BMI is ok putting me at 19. I do work out a lot. According to my muscle mass last time i checked I am at 18. Now I have never been regular but I dont think I have ever missed my menses for 3 straight months.. an no... I know I am not pregnant.

Anyone else experiencing this. I dont want to go to the doc cause she will probably be mad at me since she wanted me to stop loosing weight almost 25 pounds ago.

So just looking for some input.. any one experience this. What are the ramifications of not having a menses except for blissfulness of not dealing with it. do you think it is just my body adjusting or related to the weight loss.. i know you are not docs but we can always share what we know and have experienced.. I will call the doc if I dont start soon.. Been kind of enjoying not having it but I am getting a little worried...

Amenorrhea is quite common in athletes and very thin women (especially anorexics, but I'm not even insinuating this where you're concerned).  For many of us, our bodies tend to like a certain weight and when we slip under it, our periods may disappear. It happened to me at age 27 when I went under 150.  But here I am at age 51 and 130 and regular like all get out ... which led me to the Mirena IUD and a whole set of problems I never bargained for. So glad to have had the sucker yanked... No more unexplained weight gain, able to lose weight when I eat very low carb, AND NO MORE BREAST MASSES.  For me, the Mirena was a disaster!! 

Could you be going through "the change"?  I have a hard time guessing ages based on those little itty bitty avatars.  I'm 44 and already pre-menopausal.   I've been body building and my current body fat % is 17.1.  I just had it tested professionally.  Are you going by your scale or tape measurements to get body fat?  I ask because the tape measure method had me 2% higher.  It doesn't take into consideration all the extra skin.  My Tanita scale seems to be right on though.   I've read on quite a few sites that many female professional athletes do stop having periods when their body fat drops too low.  When they start gaining back body fat, their cycle returns. 

I have not been on this board in while, so HELLO, nice to meet you.  I just had my RNY reversed two months ago. I ended up for the past year with malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies even though I was an incredibly compliant patient w/ my supplements.  Anyway, I have not had my period for a year and a half and the nutritionist said it was due to low body fat (12%).  I don't know if that's your problem or not, but that's where mine went. Even though its great not to deal with it, knowing it is illness related...I'm also concerned about the health ramifications of NOT getting it.

This happened to my girlfriend in high school after she dropped weight and went too low for her height.  If I recall correctly, she started getting her monthly again after about three months when her body figured everything out. So, yes, it can happen from too low of a BMI.  I also recall this happening to a competitive gymnast in high school.  The coaches wanted her to be real small for competition. I don't know if this is necessarily a bad thing, physically, however, I'd stay alert for other signs....I do believe their are physical symptoms of getting too thin.  You may want to check with your doctor anyway for the piece of mind. Good Luck! Karen

I'm not sure the reasons why this is happening to you, but I would call your dr to see what they think. I didn't have mine for several months (presurgery) and it was probably due to being MO. The gyno put me on a med to cause me to have a period b/c they said it can be harmful for the body to go too  long without having one. I still didn't have one regularly after that, but it did come like every other month. Now that I am at a normal weight I'm pretty much like clockwork, LOL!

We talked about this at one of our support group meetings - marveling at the fact that Nicole Richie was able to become pregnant, when she was so incredibly thin.   I don't remember exactly the percentage, but it has more to do with body fat than with BMI.  My "healthy" body fat percentage is 23%, but I'm at 17...   still having regular periods.   I'd see your doctor about it - just for peace of mind. Good luck! Jean