'too thin' to menstruate?

[InMyLittleHead]

Have alluded to this in a v. roundabout way on Chat, but thought this was the best place for it really.

Basically, af is maybe 3 or 4 days late. I've got a copper coil, so it isn't that likely that I'm pg (don't want to be) although I haven't done a test. DP doesn't think I'm pg for some reason (probably wishful thinking) but thinks it's to do with my weight. I'm 7st 7, BMI is 17.7. I went down from about 8st 5 maybe 18 months ago, af has been fine since then, until now. What do you think, is it weight related?

So, it really doesn't matter if your reproductive organs don't work then? Denial is a key element in EDs and you don't need a low weight to have one. Without treatment, these things can go rumbling on for years and years and years, eating up your life. If you are too thin, your bones WILL start crumbling, your teeth can suffer, you won't be able to think straight.... It's not good, even to be underweight, if you can help it.

hi

I could be barking up the wrong tree here but could it be that OP is actually worried about being pregnant? Could it be that Op is trying to find other reasons behind her late period i.e. low weight, because she may feel she is not ready to be a mum?

I have read the thread and realise that OP has made comments on other threads regarding weight but thought I'd put my two penneth worth in.

Apols OP if I am way off the mark.

Ahh right. ignore me. I have now finished reading the thread and realise my post was pointless!

ok,OP.
You're fine. We get it. You are asking about late periods.

so my periods stopped once for several months. Went to gp, she said : ''do you hve any abdonimal pain?''
I didn't. I said I had been under a lot of stress. She also said I seemed quite thin (I wasn't really, about 8.5 stone and 5ft 6" tall..
she shrugged and said this happens sometimes, come back if your periods stay away for 6 months or more.
Apparently up to 6 months then is no biggie.

Period is here now. Hurrah for no babies.

I actually really like bacon sandwiches, BoF! Had one the other day.

I can understand what everyone's saying. I know my views about things are a bit odd, and I am paranoid about being controlled, so probably overreact re DP's comments (bit my tongue at yet another comment today re my breasts). Thinking about food and my attitudes to it are too confusing, because it's impossible to tell whether I'm being reasonable or not. Some people think I'm too thin, I don't agree. Who's right? I'm just going to try and forget about it a bit, but it's difficult. I'm only very marginally underweight, so even where health comes into it I'm not sure there's enough of a case that I have to change a lot. I'm glad I went to the GP, as he did not seem that concerned about my physical health.

I think you'd be happier if you dumped your DP- he sounds horrible- crticising how you look.

IMLH: two things seem worth mentioning:

one, you will be much less cold all the time with a BMI of 19 or 20, and you won't look much bigger (fewer layers of clothes!). I agree with not liking putting on weight and that it feels nice to be streamlined in nthe BMI of 17 kind of way, but I find it much easier to concentrate properly, now I've acquired some fat and muscle and am not permanently freezing. Concentrating is good when you sit still at a desk all day writing papers :-)

Two, osteoporosis is nasty and it's really worth doing what you can to make sure you don't get it. Although walking 4 miles a day or cycling or something is good (and I understand about gyms being hideously inane and boring), you really do need to do weight-bearing exercise to get the bone density you need, to survive into your 90s with a razor-sharp brain and not confined to bed with broken bones every year past the age of 75... being elderly and confined to bed has an alarmingly high correlation with poor care in hospitals, unnoticed/unchecked electrolyte imbalances, resultant brain-fog and fits and brain damage. Most old people come out of hospital dottier than they went in, because their biochemistry gets absolutely screwed by poor nutrition and poor care - and that's regardless of what they went in for. Many are in there because of broken bones from osteoporosis. So don't get stuck at the mercy of others when you're old.

Inane as it is, jogging is AWESOME for bone density. Far, far better than swimming, walking or cycling. and you can listen to good podcasts on an iPod while you do it - bonus!

Hmm, yes, but jogging is also great for hastening osteo-arthritis, with all that thudding onto hard pavements. My knees always go red when I jog (and the cold, polluted air makes my eyes sting and hurts the inside of my nose)... Although, of course, if you're not planning on having children, it isn't going to be torture on your pelvic floor. I still vote for walking!

I was advised by physios not to jog re. stress on pelvic floor. ( had repair after DC 2 ).
You can do lots of other exercise which is bone building but doesn't involve jogging- squats and lunges can help, and leg work with ankle weights.
I have managed to get my bone density up after 2 years of walking ( up hills), exercises at home, better diet, calcium etc and more recently, HRT.

i agree about joint stress being a problem with running. - but some people are more prone to it than others - you can minimise it a lot with posture. i guess it depends on IMLH's preferences, but it is possible to run on grass, and to not run in a bouncy way (look at how marathon runners run).

Things like running just are very much better than walking for bone density, unfortunately!

Alas, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis run in my family. Possibly because we are all very hypermobile, so joint injury is quite easily achieved!

Well, I'm hoping euthanasia will be legal in 50 years... No, seriously I know you are right. I'm planning on doing more 'proper' exercise. Jogging appeals because it's outsidey, but I have heard a lot about it doing damage to your joints. Hadn't heard about the pelvic floor thing though. Is rowing good? I think we have a rowing machine somewhere.

Bollocks, I'm hypermobile too.

Rowing can be good, if you have the right technique, otherwise it can put a LOT of strain on your back. It's quite frightening watching people pretty much pulling with their backs, when the force should really be through their legs. Make sure you get someone to show you a safe technique before you try it out! (And don't do it in a long, untucked t-shirt, as the sheer embarrassment of being ripped out of said, trapped t-shirt is just too great...). Real rowing is a million times more fun to do - I would definitely recommend that as a fun way to get very fit.

God, I hate bodies. They always screw you over.

I have always been petit and used to weigh about 7st 2lb - 7st 4lb. I always had pretty irregular periods, with anything from 5 weeks to 3 months between. Also didn't start them until I was 15 1/ despite a family history of being 'early starters' (my sister 3 years younger hen me starteed periods before I did!) I didn't have an eating disorder or any problems with food. I ate plenty but never put weight on, which I would have been happy to do as I did look fairly scrawny! I now weigh about 8st or just over. I'm not quite sure how, or exactly when I gained the weight, it just happened gradually as I got a bit older, but I also now have periods regular as clock work and I'm sure for me it was realated. I also feel I look much better for the extra weight and am very pleased to have it.

Hi, I'm sorry but I haven't read the whole thread.

It sounds a bit to me like you are in a bit of a power struggle with your husband over your weight. I have had my own weight issues in the past and looking back I loved being (too?) thin and was really pissed off that family and friends wanted me to put on weight.

I look at pictures now and am horrified, I was scrawny.

I think you need to try and remove the emotional element from this and look at it objectively. If your BMI is as low as you say, you are medically underweight.

To be brutally honest, this thread strikes me as attention-seeking and I think you are WANT to get into an argument with strangers about your weight because your weight has become an obsession for you.

Again, I say this as someone who has been there.

I agree with the previous poster.

I am no expert on ED but happened to read an interview on Imelda Staunton yesterday- she used to be anorexic in her teens and syas she still has a bit of an issue with food- but she did point out that it was all about control- she became anorexic to control her parents, as she says food is/was the best way to exert that control.

OP- I made this point in a previous post and you chose to ignore it, but having a counselling background, I'd guess that your relationship with your DP is not ideal; you have mentioned a few times that he is critical of your body in a way that seems unkind and unloving- quite separate from his medical concern about your weight- and how easy is it for him to dress that up as a medical concern, when he's a dr?

I'd suggest that you take along, hard look at what is going on in that area of your life and make any changes necessary- and the weight issue will sort itself out.

Back to your weight- your BMI is very low- I checked mine today and it is 19.7, and I weight 7st 12lbs.
A BMI of 17.7 is very low. You do need to think carefully about any issues you have and not be flippant- I noticed a real change of tone in your posts, from being overly aggressive and confrontational, to very jokey and trying to make light of the whole thing.

Are you really being honest with yourself?

I have now read more of the thread.

OP, I really do think that the fact that you have started this thread shows that you have an obsession with your weight, to be completely honest.

Why are you starting an argument with total strangers about your weight if you don't feel you have a problem? If you don't feel you have a problem, then what is there to discuss?

My body HAS screwed me over in the past couple of years - I have IBD and a rubber boob. I have a massive scar over my back, and a few lines on the front from the operation. My weight has nothing at all to do with this apart from having to keep it on so I could have some of the flesh from my back to make up my front.

It is very sad that IMLH is thinking along the lines of euthanasia already, and saying that bodies screw you over. It does not indicate a happy person.

The idea of euthanasia from a young(ish) person is very worrying. Most people do not consider the manner of their deaths if they are well.

The diagnosis of a nasty disease does bring it home loud and clear that we don't live forever.