There is a lot of evidence that amenorrhea is linked to calories in (not so much body fat % as a lot of people even doctors think). If you don't eat enough then your body says no to having a period so you can't get pregnant. Up your calories and see if it comes back.

For me it works just to eat more when I'm training a lot and at a low body fat. The body fat does come into play if you're not eating enough because you don't have the daily calories or the excess energy reserve (fat) to sustain having a baby.

It is absolutely something you should be concerned with. The bone density stuff may catch up with you in a few years.

Birth control pills are actually the recommended treatment to "restart" them because it gives you estrogen, which is bone-protecting.

Like GhiaGirl said, there are mixed theories as to whether it is (a) insufficient calories (b) too low a body weight (c) too low body fat or (d) all of the above

The best "natural supplement" is to try eating more and gain some weight (yes I've done it, yes it sucks, but it is better than having stress fractures). The other thing to do is to get lots of calcium (3 x 500 mg a day - you can't absorb more than that at once) and vitamins k and d

The best book I've ever read on this is "The Athletic Women's Survival Guide." It has a lot about eating disorders because a lot of ED sufferers have ammenhorhea, (sp.), but the stuff about bone density is top notch and applicable to all female athletes.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

oh forgot to add in those calories, EAT FAT. I picked up from either Gee or GhiaGirl to eat a whole avocado when training heavy - easy calories, good fat. I think there's some link between low dietary fat percentage and hormones (and hence bones)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

This is all great stuff! Thank you.
It's somewhat frustrating and confusion because I really feel like I eat plenty...including lots of healthy fats (nuts, avocados, coconut oil). I'm also at what I consider a healthy weight and responsible % body fat. AND, not much as changed in terms of diet or training load since I did have my period (prior to IUD).
I will admit that I have some perspectives on what constitutes heavy training ;)
I do take both Vit D and calcium, but would be interested to hear if there are specific brands and/or forms that others prefer.
I'm not opposed to jump starting things my returning to the pill for a few months, but it's not how I'd prefer to tackle this.

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http://www.tri-ingtokeepwarm.com

It is super frustrating. I would love to know from some medics about how long after stopping birth control one's periods should resume on their own.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I'd also suggest getting a new doctor. I went through a similar thing w/ my doctor who kept telling me they didn't understand why something was an issue to me. After changing doctors and trying a few different things we figured out what the underlying cause was (not related to periods etc).

Or at least ask to be referred to someone who can help you figure out your hormones.

The bummer is I live in a small community and my options for health care are pretty limited. I would love to be able to see a naturopath or acupuncturist.

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http://www.tri-ingtokeepwarm.com

That sucks. There are some doctors who you can talk to and they will tell you what tests to get and then review your results all over the phone. It costs money, but it's what I ended up doing.

My healthcare is through the VA and I've found a balance of talking to a doctor for a consult, asking my doctor at the VA for tests and sharing the results then going back to my doctor with more information. Only once have they refused to give me the treatment I wanted, which was hormonal birth control because I suffer from migraines and its against the VA policy. In the end I go a copper (non-hormonal) IUD and have actually enjoyed not taking hormones for birth control or period regulation. Usually my doctor is surprised that what I said was an issue really was an issue.

Probably not the best idea for everyone, but I know when something is wrong with me and had to be persistent to get it figured out.

Good luck.

your website says Alaska - cool!

Can you tell your doc you want a second opinion and get your file sent somewhere to be reviewed?

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

My doc is actually pretty cool, so I could try to talk to her about other options. I'm sure she would be more than willing to start me on BC pills again for a few months.
Yes, Alaska! The nearest "city" is Anchorage and it's still an hour plane ride away.

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http://www.tri-ingtokeepwarm.com

I would not go to a naturopath. The vast majority will tell you all the supplements that you should take. Supplements that are of course expensive, supplements that they sell and make lots of money off of, and supplements that do not have to go through clinical trials to prove they do anything or to even prove they contain what they say they contain. There was a study a while ago that took various supplements from a various sources (drug stores, nutrition stores, etc...) and a very high number contained banned substances - NOT included on the ingredient list. I've never understood why so many people are willing to put so many untested and unproven supplements in their body and think it's healthy. Oh yes, of course this is after they will also suggest all kinds of unnecessary, unproven, and expensive lab tests. A much better option might be to travel a bit of distance to find a good qualified doctor. My disclaimer is that I work for a pharmaceutical company in clinical research, and while people love to demonize "big pharma", I know all the research that goes into presciption medications. Okay off my soap box .... I agree with the others that you should be concerned with this and find a doctor who will help you address it. I take the pill for this reason, and have since college.

It's good that your doc is "pretty cool" - I'm serious about the book I mentioned. Get that, read the relevant chapters, and bring it to your appt... some docs are more versed than others with stuff like this and sometimes it's just an information thing.

I am interested in the time frame for resuming periods on one's own after stopping years of birth control; I've been on the pill for 12 years and to my not-a-biologist brain, I wonder if you body like "forgets" how to make hormones on its own.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I will definitely look into the book and give it a read. I do appreciate that help and suggestions.
Interesting perspective about the body "forgetting" to make the hormones. It's not unreasonable to think that is a possibility.

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http://www.tri-ingtokeepwarm.com

I've heard people say that if you stop eating meat for long enough, your body stops producing the enzymes needed to digest it - hence illness if you eat meat again. (I've been a vegetarian for 16 years, so this was of interest to me). It seems logical enough that something similar could happen with hormones. However, like I said, I'm not a biologist.

Not to thread-hack, but I'm interested if other womens were on the pill or other BC methods for a long time, and when you went off them, how many months until you had a period on your own?

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Thread-hack away! That is a great question and one that I would be really interested in seeing responses to.

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http://www.tri-ingtokeepwarm.com

I'll play. I was on the pill for around 6 years I think and I had a period right after stopping them (as though I was on the inactive pills) and then it was 2 months before I got another period. Then my periods were between 3 weeks and 6 weeks apart for over a year then settled into a 30-35 day cycle. And it took 16 cycles to get pregnant, miscarried, 2 more cycles and successfully pregnant to term. I believe BCP's really through off my body for at least the first year off of them, then my body got back into a groove. (I know BCP's didn't have anything to do with the miscarriage, that was just the luck of the draw).

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Harry: "I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."
Loyd: "I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man."

Thanks for sharing.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

There are a few things that your body will stop making if you supplement it. Prednisone is a good example of a drug you need to ween off of if you've been on it for a long time some anti-depressants are that way.

When something in your body slows or stop working, other systems kick start to help the body out, that can then tax those systems.

I used nova ring for a very long time, it took a year to get my period back and normal.

Had to share: was on birth control pills for ~16 years, ending in February 2010. I always took the non-active pills in each pack so had a period every 4 weeks like clockwork while I was on them.

Since then, things have been all over the map. Have gone up to 6 weeks without so much as any spotting (causing me to buy & take a home pregnancy test in a fit of panic just hours before my cycle finally arrived), and just this week set a new record: 19 days from the start of one cycle to the start of the next.

You'd think after 5.5 years it would've settled down by now, but nope - it's worse than ever.

I sincerely hope others don't have to live for years on end with the same unpredictability.

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ill advised racing inc.

I was on the pill for about 15 years. Went off of them, and got my period about 4 weeks later. I was never regular before I went on the pill, and I was off of them for about 8 months and was irregular during that whole time, so I went back on them. Now I take them for 3 months at a time, which I really like.

I've struggled with similar issues and the best remedy is to ease off or eat more. I know that is the last thing you want to hear but I went to many doctors and even specialist because the issues I experienced were so bad. I ended up spending too much money on supplements with no results. Increase calories, add more fat to your diet, and get enough sleep!

Thanks for the feedback everybody. It's an incredibly frustrating issue for me. The good news is I just had a bone density scan and everything looks right as rain.
I worked with a nutritionist for over a year who's speciality was supposedly amenorrhea but she was of very little help. I feel like my diet has a lot of healthy fats in it. I eat a lot of nuts, coconut, quality dairy and avocados. It seems like I eat enough but it's often hard to tell how you are balancing calories in vs. calories out. I have used apps to track my diet in the past and found it only moderately helpful. I don't think there is much utility in it unless you have some targets for calories and/or macronutrients. I thought I would get that help from the nutritionist, but alas, did not.

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http://www.tri-ingtokeepwarm.com

that's frustrating. It is hard to tell calories in/out. I'm not a fan of logging stuff, either.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I've got my share of experience with this, no period since the age of 17 when I had some eating disorders (severe calorie restriction). Then I started sports and ate (much) more, but my period didn't return... Last year I even reduced the training and gained weight deliberately (up to 57kg on a 165cm frame), I ate lots of carbs and fat... This year I dropped the weight again cos I got frustrated with feeling "fat" and if it doesn't help anyway... why suffer...
Still, I think it's a serious issue, I'm worried but somehow I push it to the back of my mind...
Anyway, would be interesting to hear about any possible remedies (that don't involve birth control pills).