16 year old and missed periods

[lightshaddows]

Hello... My 16 year old dd hasn't had a period for 3 months. She started her periods at 11 and has more or less been regular. She has been training at the gym more and has lost weight / toned up but not excessively. She is also under some exam stress... Was thinking a trip to the docs is a good idea, or am I worrying unnecessarily?

Thanks

sorry to say this, but the most likely cause is obviously pregnancy.

Can you discuss this possibility with her? and buy a pregnancy test?

If she has had regular periods until now, then this shoudl be investigated by the GP yes.

It might be the weight loss - unbeknownst to us, DD then 16, was not eating properly and had lost weight. Not huge amounts (3 or 4 kilos, but significant for her height) and her periods stopped, which had been very regular up until then.

I would seek medical advice, so first stop GPs.

I think a trip to the GP for a chat would be a good idea. I don't know about weight loss related, however my periods stopped due to exam stress when I was doing my A Levels.

Definitely, trip to the GP

My mum thought I was pregnant when I stopped eating meat and became anaemic. I think a chat with her about getting a drs appointment is needed.

My dd was the same and we went to the GP who said she may not be ovulating every month so not to worry and that they wouldn’t advise worrying unless it had been the case for quite a while, sorry I can’t remember how long. But probably a good idea to take your dd in case it's weight related. It 100% wasn’t pregnancy in my dds case.

Tell your DD, that you want her to go see the doctor and that she might be asked to take a pregnancy test, as doctors normally try to rule out that first, but you think it may be due to weight loss.

Mine stopped at 16 (I was a virgin). I'd lost some weight due to stress (parents separating) although I was never underweight at all. I think it was the stress rather than the weight loss that caused it.

So def rule out pregnancy as a matter of course, but don't panic as there are obviously other common reasons!

Thanks.. I'm thinking it's the weight loss... Around 3-4 kg... But she's very lean... Eats an amazing healthy vegetarian diet... She cooks a lot. Def not an eating disorder as she eats constantly... And def not pregnant.
Thanks for the reassurance

Have you actually checked for pregnancy? Done a test? That would be a good starting point.

If she's lost enough weight to stop her periods then the GP is the next call.

Eating constantly isn't a good barometer for ruling out an eating disorder.

This happened to me at that age.

Doctor traumatised me by making me take pregnancy test even though it'd be the second coming if I'd been pregnant.

It was because I'd lost weight.

Combination of weight loss and stress is probably the explanation. However, as PP mentioned, pregnancy, however unlikely, is also a possibility. There is an old medical adage that every woman of child-bearing age is pregnant and lying until proven otherwise. (Drilled in to medical students so that they don't get caught out!)

It's probably due to a low body fat percentage.

The first thing to consider is pregnancy, but a very lean body, not necessarily low BMI, will stop menstruating.

I haven't done a test but we have discussed pregnancy... She is gay so it raised a smile!

I would say she has extremely low body fat and we have talked about this... Perhaps a gp chat on the same lines is beneficial

My DD's were both still intermittent at 16, but neither started until 15. Dd2 still has big gaps due to working out so much

Google female athlete triad...and get her calories up! Definitely see your GP

It's probably her low body fat, from what you've said.

OTOH, I wasn't lean but had irregular periods - it wasn't till I was in my 30s and TTC that I was diagnosed with PCOS. Does she have any indications of hormonal issues eg acne?

No other obvious hormone issues... Calories and carbs may need upping!

This used to happen to me frequently as a teen and in my early 20s usually during stressful times and if I went abroad to a hot country. I was quite slim as well. Many years later when I had issues conceiving it was found that I had lean PCOS and I didn't have much symptoms. It was only detected via an internal ultrasound (the abdominal one kept giving normal results and blood tests were normal).
Lol at the pp who said it's 'most likely pregnancy(!)'. There can be many reasons why peroids do not appear for months, especially in young women so she is best off visiting the GP to find out.