Period back today!!! Things I have learned in my experience:)
Hello everyone.
I joined this thread about a month and a half ago when I became obsessed with getting my period back, once I had finally confirmed I actually had
Hypothalamic Amenorrhea ( the cessation of menstrual periods for three or more months due to a disruption in the hypothalamus. This part of the brain halts the release of the hormones that control ovulation. It is typically caused by severe under-eating, excessive exercise, or chronic psychological stress). For me, my cause was food restriction and overexercising.
and after I had learned the effects/consequences of NOT having your period for a prolonged amount of time. With that being said, it was for a full year ( I lost my period in April of 2025 ), and I had no idea HA even existed, and thought my missing period may have been linked to other things, mysterious to me because no doctor could tell me what was happening in my body. When I was doing my deep dive on this thread, watching countless hours of YouTube ( other people's experience with missing periods ), stalking the instagrams of womens health physicians for the 'secret', etc..... , I found that it was on here, when people wrote out exactly what they had experienced to be the most helpful, so I will stop blabbing and begin to do the same.
I will begin with all of the horrible (but unknowingly related) symptoms I have experienced before (warning signs), and since my period went missing, and are now completely gone now.
Would go a week maybe more without pooping (so uncomfortable, not even laxatives would work); didn't matter what I ate.
Wake up in the middle of the night to pee every night. Constantly peeing.
Never Thirsty, could go a day + without drinking or wanting any water??? I found this to be a weird one.
Hunger cues off, obviously. Never knew when I was hungry/full, always guessing therefore, ALWAYS ALWAYS thinking about food. Wake up, think about food, go to bed, think about food. Whether it was what I was going to eat, what I did already eat, what I shouldn't have eaten, what I couldn't eat, oh my gosh, it was HORRIBLE. And I thought that it was my own fault when really it was just my body trying to tell me FEEEED MEE!!! And so I lost focus on everything else for a good year. Sad to think about, honestly. I will talk about this more as I go on, but this is a 0 factor for me now, which is something I never ever thought would happen and I could cry from relief I feel now of not thinking about food until I am actually hungry! So mainly I learned -FOOD NOISE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE!!
0 Libido (this one is still in the works but improving)
Unsettled, Anxious, Not myself
Anyway, those were the main symptoms to put them bluntly. They were pretty miserable for a while, mainly because I felt they were all so random and unable to be explained, but it wasn't until I learned about what HA was that I realized they were all related! How I got diagnosed was I finally did a bunch of lab work this May, and put it into ChatGPT and all of my markers were identical to HA. I also did a bunch of research on how HA presents, and what is necessary to be diagnosed. It was a Self-diagnosis, if you will.
Once I figured out what it was, like I mentioned, I did my research. If you would have told me 3 months ago that I truly just began eating WHATEVER I wanted WHENEVER I wanted, I would have said you are crazy, and no, I did not do that theres just no way...... But I did. Every single video, physician, girl who has gone through this, etc, shows that you really do have to go 'all in'. I think there could be alternatives to this in a sense, but I was just kind of done with the BS of everything and it really is what they ALL advise you to do and what works. For me, I was so done with the food rules and this trap I had my mind in and thought to myself 'Would I rather be skinny now, miserable in my own mind, constantly thinking about food, living a life that is impossible to keep this lifestyle up (working out, walking, tiring myself all the time), or would I rather eat what I want, live how I want, and see if things shake out, trusting my body to lead me to healing. And I know it is so much easier said than done. I really do. But being skinny IS NOT EVERYTHING and if you are saying 'yes it is' to yourself right now, then I really, really hope that it is something worth giving up your joy over right now because to me losing your period means your body doesnt like where its at, and you probably feel the weight of the other symotoms to some degree, just like I did, as your body is telling at you to pls give it more!!! I could be wrong but in my experience being the extra 5-10-15 lbs smaller just wasn't worth it to me. Whatever it is ( I havent weighed myself at all since the beginning of recovery... got rid of scale ), your body is saying it needs it right now (maybe not forever), but right now, to feel safe. In fact, a lot of people after HA recovery find that the weight naturally falls off AFTER (and only after) you don't focus on it at all, and only focus on the signals of what you need, body image taken completely out of account.
And so with all of that being said, I think 'all in' is more than simply consuming more calories. I think it is way more of a psychological thing than physical, and eating the things that brought you joy as a child, going out to your favorite restraunt for your birthday with your friends and ordering whatever you want, eating ice cream because you feel like it and not stressing about it, all of these make life so much better and the reality is you telling your body you shouldnt be having something all the time is scaring the f out of it. So eating more doesn't just mean giving your body more food; it means breaking food rules, exposure therapy, telling yourself you can handle this food and it's okay to be around it because eventually you will be able to tell what you do and don't want and won't feel the need to restrict it. Let yourself have whatever you want. And I know how scary this may sound, TRUST ME. The restriction is what causes the problems!!! When you tell your body it can't have certain things, of COURSE it is all it is going to want! If you take the pressure off, things magically fall into place... whether you eat the food or not, it is all about the long game...I promise!
So here is kind of my go to period guide:
Eat whatever you want (aim for three meals a day, protein and nutrient-dense things in each meal), snacks in between, eating every 3 hours. I probably ate between 2500-3500 cals per day, but I did not track (takes so much stress off ). Fat is SO important... I cant tell you how many avocados I ate, how much peanut butter, nuts, butter toast, etc. Get those dense nutrients in!!! Olive Oil is amazing for this as well! And Carbs are just as important! Your body needs quick energy right now:) Granola is great for snacks too!
EAT AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP! Your body has already fasted 7-10 hours. It is in an energy deficit and needs to exit is ASAP to know it is safe and not in a famine! Hit it with sufficient Carbs and Fat ASAP, and protein for satiation but not the main focus IMO! For me it looked like avocado toast w 2-3 eggs on top, and yogurt bowl on side w fruit and granola and peanut butter.
I didnt work out, but if you are FUEL FUEL FUEL before and after! never ever work out fasted. I honestly would stop working out all together to get the period back.
Drink a lot of water/electrolytes, your body needs replenishing.
Eat meals that you love, and that love you back!
Do THINGS you love that bring you joy, that are grounding for your nervous system. I really got to spend a lot of time with myself and got to know what I do and dont want to do, which in turn helped my nervous system because I could easily decipher where I did and didn't want to spend my time, leading to less stress! I had some people-pleasing tendencies (still working on them), but saying no takes practice, and it is like a muscle you have to build. Your body really does keep score on all things you do, and so if you can't be your biggest advocate, no one else will, and this will show up somewhere, whether in a missing period or something else!
Buy clothes you feel comfortable in. Once you choose to commit, your body MIGHT change; it probably will, and it is not so scary once you buy clothes you feel comfortable and confident in. You are WORTH the investment! And it is fun to go shopping for your best self! Ditch the jeans for now! That's what I did. Thrift stores are great if you are on a budget!!!
Things I noticed before my period came back:
Hunger and Thirst cues back
No more peeing in night
Sore Breasts (2 weeks of this...)
SO hungry (listen to this, your body needs so much energy to give you a cycle! So let it have whatever it is asking for)
PMS (oh my gosh I was SO emotional for a week up to my period)
Breaking out ( I havent broke out on my face in forever)
Pooping daily (SO NICE)
Old blood clearing out (brown discharge)
Ok lastly, I want to mention what helped me tremendously, and those were my friends and community over at The HA Society. It is a website you can join, with a small monthly membership fee, and there is SO much information on there on all things HA. They teach you how to track your temp ( get it into a good range, which is directly proportionate to how much you are eating!! ), what to eat, how to know what you are doing is working, pretty much everything I said on here. There are community calls all the time and you can listen to people's stories on there and learn so much, and even ask whatever questions you have! They are so nice and supportive and I dont think I could have gotten my period so fast without them!
With that, those are the main things I would say. I want to say that if you are scared about all this, I can validate that. It is very scary but I will say I feel like a different human today. I feel so much better and can actually live my life thinking about other things. Even though my body isnt EXACTLY how I want it to be, my mind is, and therefore my life is. I have found to let go of control through all of this and found that you cant fight nature because you will lose every time. You have to work WITH it, and this is a slower process than our society might want to follow today. It means LISTENING to your body, constantly, slowing down when needed, not comparing your body to the 'trends' of today (which, by the way, is dystopian in its own sense), because all of our bodies are meant to be different, and there is a certain perameter we must fall in between to be our most healthy self (in my opinion, and this differs for us all!). Understanding food is FUEL and not something to play around with. Ultimately, I am grateful for this journey and that my body was so stubborn in giving me what I wanted, because I would never be feeling as good as I do today without having to work out all the things before it did. I am grateful my body showed me signs as it did, and I know I still have to keep at things on this journey, but I am feeling great today and encourage anyone who is trying to get their period back to question all of the signs their body has been showing them and to think about a possible relationship to something it is trying to tell you, if that makes sense.
Anyway, sorry this was so long, just wanted to make sure to get it all in here. I would be happy to answer any and all questions and comments and I am wishing everyone love and blessings, and the peace of inner knowledge that you know exactly what you need to heal yourself! In the picture is the cake my friends and I made to celebrate..... I got my period back on the 4th of july :)