r/Amenorrhea

I’ve been in HA recovery for about 3 weeks after losing my period in January.
I radically reduced exercise and stopped controlling my food intake, and lately I’ve noticed the following symptoms:

constant pulling/cramping feeling in my lower abdomen
libido much higher than it has been in a long time
night sweats
elevated resting heart rate
gained around 3–3.5 kg (6.5–7.5 lbs)
cervical mucus that is sometimes clear/creamy, but not quite EWCM yet

Could these be signs that my hormones/body are starting to wake up again?

Has anyone else experienced similar symptoms during recovery?

I am a 24 year old woman and have been having periods since about age 15. They have always been irregular (ranging from 28-80 days in cycle length) but this is the longest I’ve gone without a period. My average is typically 55 days, but I am currently on day 109. I know I should probably go to the doctor, but I’ve brought up my concerns before and they have always been fairly dismissive. I’ve been told to eat more (I am not anorexic or underweight), that it could be stress (I don’t feel particularly stressed), or that it may be from working out (I get moderate exercise 2-3x per week). None of those feel like the cause to me.

I have gotten my thyroid checked - my thyroid levels are within normal range. I have gotten an ultrasound which showed a totally normal uterus.
When they do come, my periods last about 3 days, with one day being fairly heavy and painful but the rest are pretty light and painless.

Has anyone else experienced losing their period with no identifiable cause? What else would a doctor check for? Is there anything that can help get it back? I would like to start trying for kids in the next year or two so advice appreciated!

bonjour tout le monde,
je me sens un peu perdue

J’ai 22 ans et je n’ai plus mes règles depuis plus de 2 ans.
Cette aménorrhée a commencé après la prise de la pilule Leeloo que j’ai prise pendant environ 2 ans puis arrêtée en 2024.

Avant ça, j’avais toujours eu mes règles normalement, sans douleurs particulières ni problème connu.
Je suis aussi de nature très mince depuis toujours.

Depuis l’arrêt de la pilule, mes règles ne sont jamais revenues naturellement.
En janvier 2026, j’ai pris un médicament censé les relancer, mais cela n’a absolument rien changé.
Je l’ai pris 2 fois sans succès.

Une recherche de SOPK a également été faite sans résultat, et mes prises de sang reviennent normales.

Depuis 4/5 mois, j’ai aussi fait l’effort de manger davantage et de prendre un peu de poids (de manière saine et équilibrée), car je me suis dit que cela pouvait peut-être aider mon corps à redémarrer naturellement mais pour le moment, toujours rien.

Ce qui commence surtout à m’inquiéter aujourd’hui, ce sont des douleurs/tensions tendineuses qui apparaissent progressivement un peu partout (bras, coudes, jambes).
Ça commence à impacter le sport et certaines activités du quotidien, alors que je n’ai pourtant jamais eu une pratique sportive excessive ou extrême.

Mon médecin m’avait parlé du fait qu’une absence de règles prolongée pouvait parfois fragiliser le corps et favoriser ce type de douleurs, donc forcément ça me fait beaucoup réfléchir aujourd’hui.

Je suis aussi quelqu’un d’assez anxieuse de base, sujet aux crises d’angoisse, même si je me fais aider et que je mets énormément de choses en place depuis longtemps pour aller mieux et réduire ça progressivement.

Et je précise aussi que cette histoire d’aménorrhée n’était plus quelque chose d’obsessionnel dans ma vie ces derniers mois. J’essayais plutôt d’avancer et de laisser le temps faire les choses. Mais les douleurs aux tendons m’ont ramenée à toutes ces questions.

j’aimerais vraiment beaucoup avoir vos témoignages

Qu’est-ce qui vous a aidé ?

Et quel spécialiste vous a réellement aidé ou pris au sérieux ?

Merci énormément à celles et ceux qui prendront le temps de répondre 🩵

Good morning guys, I never would have thought of writing this message but yesterday I went to my gynaecologist and she told me it doesn't look like my period would come anytime soon but I had some weird browinsh spots in my underwear. This morning there was dark red blood on my bed and on the toilet paper😅 It's not some full-on bleed but a light flow... We'll see how this goes but I am definitely the happiest person right now. I don't want to fully say I've gotten my period yet but I am so thankful for all of this being worth it. Ps: never stopped exercising during this time

Hello guys! I know it’s late but wanted to share my win today. I got my period back today!

I didn’t sleep all night, and I got up to take a shower at 5am because I quite literally had nothing else to do lmao. I was too tired to study/do uni work, but at the same time not tired enough to sleep. Anyway, I almost cried at the shower for no reason at, but now I know why LOL.

I’m gonna keep fueling as much as possible, remember guys! Just because the first one is back, don’t stop fueling yourselves properly!

If anyone has any questions or something, you can dm me or comment idk, I don’t use Reddit a lot.

Things that helped me a lot I would say:

1. just gain weight, seriously, the more you delay it, the more recovery will take.

2. eat eat eat eat, eat before everything. Eat even if you are not super hungry and if you ARE hungry, always eat, try not to delay it.

3. Fortunately this was never the case for me, BUT find something that you are passionate about outside of fitness/working out. Get into some hobbies, take care of your mental health and don’t focus too much on JUST recovery. Take it day by day.

4. Always try to look at the brighter side. I realized my personality is so much better when im relaxed and I’m way funnier too! Remember what you are gaining!

5. If you problem stems from stress (like mine did), let it be because if personal life or uni work, remember that health always comes first.

6. TRULY TRULY TRULY the only way out is through, i still overeat every once in a while but not to the extend I used to, prolly because my hormones are wayyyy more regulated now :)

7. Reduce cardio as much as possible. Rest rest resttttt as long as you want. Take care of your mind and body respectively.

I feel like some people like myself that lose their appetite when extremely stressed, don’t prioritize out health enough. Maybe because it’s not directly attached to your relationship with food. But anyway, just remember guys that health always comes first and true friends/loved ones will stay by your side through it all.

Love you all! Have a great night. Hopefully I can catch up on some sleep tonight haha.

Hi ladies,

Any of you recovered or are recovering after stopping BC pill and finding you have HA? How long did it take you to get your period back? Is it normal to take longer after stopping birth control or is it the same as someone who lost it without taking any medication?

Hi everyone,
I’m 29 and my period has been missing since January. My doctor initially suspected PCOS because she saw cysts on my ovaries during the ultrasound. However, my hormone panel showed otherwise: my estrogen and progesterone were very low, my FSH and LH were completely normal (a clear 1:1 ratio, not the typical PCOS ratio), and my AMH came back low at 0.89 ng/ml. My ultrasound also showed a completely flat endometrial lining and a stagnant follicle stuck at 1.2 cm.

Looking closely at my lifestyle, it became obvious that the real culprit is Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (FHA) due to severe restrictive eating and high exercise volume.
I started my recovery journey about 3 weeks ago (eating in a surplus, cutting out intense workouts). I’m already seeing great signs—my libido is up, I’m getting some twinges in my ovaries, my Oura ring showed a slight temperature jump (+0.2 °C), and I just found my first stretchy, fertile-ish cervical mucus today!

While I’m fully committed to recovery, my 0.89 AMH value really freaked me out since I want to have kids in about 5 years. I know that HA can temporarily suppress AMH levels because the ovaries are basically asleep.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation and seen their AMH level go back up after fully recovering from HA and getting their cycle back? I would love to hear some positive stories or timelines to ease my mind a bit.
Thank you so much! ❤️

How did you deal with the body changes during period recovery / HA recovery?

I’m currently trying to recover my cycle after losing my period (since january) and mentally I’m struggling a lot with all the physical changes and uncertainty.

Since eating more / reducing exercise, I’ve noticed:

some weight gain
different body composition
higher resting heart rate at night
occasional night sweats/warmth
more sensations in my lower abdomen/libido

I also find it emotionally really hard to let go of my lean physique / visible abs, even though part of me knows my body may need more fat and energy to recover hormonally.

Part of me hopes these are signs my hormones/body are recovering, but another part of me gets anxious and overanalyzes everything.

Did anyone else notice:
night sweats?
increased night heart rate?
body temperature changes?
more “hormonal” feelings before recovery?

And how did you mentally cope with the body
changes and loss of control during recovery?
Would really appreciate hearing other experiences because I feel very alone with this right now.

Hi lovelies! I have a few questions and things I could really use some advice on so pls answer whatever you’re comfortable with! 🫶

1. okay, so I have my first gyno appointment scheduled for June! I have not been diagnosed with HA, but after a very carefully self reflection I am almost positive this is what I have. I haven’t really told anyone or even my primary doctor about restrictive eating patterns and over exercising, so I’m kind of nervous to talk to the new doctor. Idk what I should bring up or just wait for her to ask me the questions. What can I expect for this first appointment, or what should I tell her? I’m a little nervy LOL

2. I think I am past the chaotic hunger in the beginning stages of recovery, I’ve been trying to eat more throughout the day so I don’t feel the need to stuff myself before bed. I feel like I eat a lot, like truly I’ve been trying so hard, and I’m on the middle upper end of healthy bmi, and I’ve cut out exercise almost completely except when I go on walks outside for fresh air or to walk my dog, but the past couple days, I’ve been getting so many instances of head rush, feeling a little dizzy, noticeable blood sugar drops, and just feeling lethargic and sore. Idk what I’m doing wrong.

3. I’m really trying not to relapse, but I’ve noticed I really struggle with lunch time. Breakfast is really easy for me it’s my favorite meal of the day and I usually do either loaded avocado and pb toasts or warm oatmeal bowls with pb and lots of nut granola or sometimes loaded yogurt bowls. Dinner has been going better too, I have tried more to eat what my family has been eating and not my weird ass diet foods I’ve been eating more over a year LOL, so like chipotle bowls or pasta or burgers. I also have dessert everyday rn bc I used to never allow it so I’ve been enjoying a nightly ice cream sundae. And then between lunch and dinner I’ll have a granola bar or protein bar with fruits popcorn or stuff. But for whatever reason, I feel like undeserving of lunch. My hunger signals are still pretty messed up so my stomach doesn’t growl except in the morning so I feel so guilty for eating lunch. I keep finding myself trying to push off lunch as much as possible or make it super light even though in the end it backfires and I over indulge at night. How do I fix this? What are some easy recovery lunches? Idk why lunch foods are so hard.

4. Another thing, I like have an appetite but also not really? Like I don’t really crazy regular foods (except breakfast foods for whatever reason) but like dinners and lunches nothing ever appeals?? I only crave sweets. The thought of fried foods or pizza or anything (foods I used to love) like is no longer interesting? Idk if that is an old defense mechanism from restrictive eating like saying oh I don’t like a certain food so I can avoid eating it but Idk. Id really like to have an appetite back bc I feel like I don’t even have a favorite food anymore.

5. Do I tell my family? This may be dumb and everyone might be like uh duh tell them LOL, but idk. For context I’m 20, and in college but I live at home during summers and breaks. I am super close with my mom and sis but like I’m not sure how to even tell them. I’m coming off of 130 lb weightloss naturally, and so like I feel this pressure to maintain it and I’m supposed to be the healthy one now (both my mom and sister are still obese) and idk it’s just hard bc this might sound bad but I worry about going back to my larger self, I’m okay gaining some weight but going all the way back after how far I’ve come makes me really scared. Do I bring it up to them? How does one even go about that?

6. I need hobbies that don’t involve exercise. Now that I’ve stopped obsessively working out, I realized I don’t really have much else going on for me. Other than my part time job I don’t do much. This past week I started a sourdough starter so once that activates I can start making bread, and I bought a puzzle but idk what else to do with my time. I like to watch tv but I also need something a little more productive to be doing. The gym used to be my safe space but now I don’t really have that so I’m feeling lost, what do you guys do to keep your sanity and keep busy?

7. Any hormone balancing food or lifestyle tips? Since eating more, I’ve gotten a little bit of acne flare ups, likely from the initial chaotic hunger where I would down an insane amount of chocolate and salty foods LOL, but I’m trying to look into more nutrient dense options now. Anything in specific I can be trying to help restore hormonal balance?

Thank you if you took the time to read any of these! I’m now realizing I typed a lot but like I said I’ve really been alone with this so I really enjoy this support group! 🩷🩷

I feel like when people talk about PCOS its always having irregular periods or periods for months , but never the absence of periods. is anyone on here suffering from amenorrhea also have PCOS? I’ve had no period for 7mo now

I’m no very confident it will come 🥲😭

so I haven't had period in around 16 months. My hormones last year were all over the place but this year all the bloodwork came back normal. I also experience symptoms of ovulation and PMS but at no point do I bleed. I don't know if I should worry or do something about it or is it not so dangerous?