Lost period after weight loss

[colleenway82]

I am a 29 year old female, 5'4, 138 pounds, not sexually active. I do between 45 minutes to an hour of cardio 6 days a week. Between September 2010 and August 2011 I lost 110 pounds through diet and exercise. In June of 2011 I stopped getting my period. In November of the same year I had a checkup with my pcp and told him I wasn't getting my period. He said it was likely that my body needed to adjust to the weight loss and that it would come back, but he would do blood work and a gynecological exam to be sure nothing else was wrong. He asked me if everything turned out fine, does not getting my period bother me, because if it did we could try birth control to bring it back. I told him it didn't bother me. Blood work came back fine, exam was fine. In January of 2012 I got my period, but very light and only for 2 days. I have not had my period since (10 months). If I am not getting my period anymore, am I in menopause? Will my period every come back, and if it doesn't, is that bad?

[Elaine Brown, MD]

HI!
If you were my patient, I would send some blood tests including a TSH, prolactin level and an FSH.  I am assuming that you have hypothalamic amenorrhea, because of your weight loss--that is WONDERFUL by the way!
IF so, you blood work should show a low FSH as opposed to menopause with which you would have an elevated FSH.  Hypothalamic amenorrhea is NOT irreversible like menopause, and can spontaneously resolve.  I would want to be sure that diagnosis was correct before deciding upon treatment of course.
Good luck!
Dr B

[colleenway82]

Thank you!