I'm getting worried

lil_blueberrie--

Welcome to A2k.

A loss of a little more than six pounds a month is not excessive. How tall are you?

You write:



I'm fairly certain that you weren't eating "sweats". Were you exercising a great deal? Deliberately steaming yourself?

How long had you been getting your period before your weight loss? At 14-years-old some women are just settling into a rhythm. Were you regular before you started losing weight?

Chances are that once your body adjusts to being thin and supple, your periods will return. The "feeling weak all the time" is more worrying. When was your last physical? Do you have a family doctor? Would your mother agree to making an appointment for you with an Internist or an OB/GYN? Have you mentioned your worries to your mother?

Since you say you gave up junk food, I gather you wanted to lose weight. Congratulations! There are a number of adults on this thread that would love to acquire the will power to give up junk food and drop 30-odd pounds.

Again, Welcome to A2K.

Noddy - I think she means she gave up Sweets!

Lil Blueberries - losing your periods can be a sign that you have lost too much weight - or that you are unwell, as can the weakness etc.

You need a good check up from your doctor.

I do not know my exact height in feet, but I do know that I am 167.5cm.

My first period came when I was around 12 and had come regulary each month. I exercise daily for around 20-30 minutes.

My last physical was around a year and a half ago, and I have told my mother about what is happening to me. She has suggested taking Vitamin E tablets, so I do so everyday. However, we are temporarily living in America, so we do not have health insurance here. My mother says that if my period still hasn't come by the time we return to our home-county, Japan, in August, we will make an appointment with our local doctor.

(Thank you for the spelling check. I certainly wasn't eating 'sweats')

Hi lil blueberrie! Welcome to a2k.

167.5 cm = 5 feet 6 inches

You are considered underweight according to the Body Mass Index and have a BMI of 17.8.

If you gained 5 pounds (and didn't get any taller!) you would be at the lowest end of the "normal" range. Estrogen and most other hormones are stored in your fat cells... if you do not have enough fat, then you may not have enough estrogen.

Since the tests for estrogen levels are expensive and you are not planning to see a physician until August... why not try to carefully gain back at least five pounds and see if that makes a difference in your periods.

More information here:

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm

In the United States there are local Planned Parenthood Centers where you can have a complete ob-gyn check-up and it will not be very expensive. Ask your mom if she'd be willing to take you there.

Good luck and come back soon to tell us how you're doing.

Piffka

Hi blueberrie,

I am exactly the same height as you, and the same thing happened to me when I was about your age and overdoing the exercise. It depends somewhat on your body type but 110 is just too thin, especially if a lot of that is muscle. When I stopped menstruating due to not having enough body fat I was 120 something.

It's good to be fit, but you need to be careful not to overdo it. I'd definitely suggest seeing a doctor. I'd also suggest not exercising so much and eating more calories, but I know that was a hard sell to me when I was your age.

Good luck.

Hi lil_blueberrie, Welcome to A2K.

You might have overdone the exercise a bit. A good, easy way to estimate an ideal weight is to calculate 100 lb for 5 ft and then add 5 lbs for each additional inch in height. Your 'normal' weight will be your ideal weight plus/minus 10%. If you are 5' 6" then your ideal weight is 130 lbs and your normal weight is 130 +/- 13 lbs or 117 to 143. So, 110 is below normal and anything 117 to 143 is considered healthy for your height (until you turn 40 and then the normals go up by 5%, but you've got a long time to wait to get to 40 years old).

Besides the exercise, are you eating well? Weight loss is usually a combination of exercise and food reduction. Are you getting enough calories? If you're feeling weak, you might want to consider an iron supplement in addition to the vitamin E. Actually, you should be taking a multivitimin plus iron. If you could describe a typical day's food intake, we might be able to see where your intake lies and give you some ideas on how to balance out the calories your taking in and the ones you are burning off.

Li'l_Blueberry--

You are a willowly wonder and likely to blow over and snap in a high wind. There is such a thing as being too thin--even in the decadent West.

I don't know how much a Japanese gal has learned about Greek myths at an American School.

Have you come across the myth of Atalanta? She was a mythical princess, huntress and runner. Because of her athletic prowess and her low fat-to-muscle ratio (this part is not spelled out) her father despaired of having grandchildren and offered her hand in marriage to any man who could best her in a foot race.

You've been living in the West long enough to have a classical heroine.

Don't be the boob that Atalanta was, stopping during the foot race to collect pretties and baubles. Just put on 5-10 pounds with sensible eating and your energy and your periods will come back.

Spring is here. Eat fruit, berries, just a bit of whipped cream, just a little butter on the veggies, peanut butter crackers...perhaps just a bit more meat than you've become accustomed to. Go wild: Have a milk shake and two chocolate covered cherries every week--and extra for exams.

I'm glad to know you weren't eating sweats.

Hold your dominion.

This is what I usually eat everyday:

Breakfast:
--Cereal and Milk
--Low Fat Yogurt

Lunch:
--Sandwich - 2 slices of whole wheat bread, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, mustard and sometimes some turkey slices

Dinner:
--It does change everyday, but usually something with rice, or sometimes my mother cooks me up a low calorie dinner.

Occasionally I eat apple sauce or sugar-free jello after dinner.

So should I limit my exercise to once or twice a week?

** My to Do List **

--buy multivitamins with iron
--exercise less
--eat more (?)
--if things don't change definitely see a doctor (even when in America)

(Thank you so much for all this advice. I really appreciate it.)

blueberrie, I really suggest seeing a doctor, as well. We are not doctors, and it's impossible to diagnose over the internet. Maybe there are other symptoms you didn't mention. Maybe for your body type 110 is obscenely thin rather than just on the thin side. The weakness part is especially worrying.

We can give advice to ponder and give you suggestions for what to ask your doctor, but the bottom line is, see your doctor.

Here is another website to look at lil-BBerry.

http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/triad.html

There are some good ideas in that website including lessening the amount of exercise you do, eating more and seeing a doctor. I think that you should seriously consider seeing a physician -- as I mentioned, a Planned Parenthood Center will give you a good check-up for not very much money.

Find A PPC Healthcenter:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/healthservices/findhealthcenter/


Although you don't mention the portions, it appears that you are not getting enough protein in your diet, as well as not enough fat.

Don't eat low-fat yogurt... eat regular yogurt.
Drink 2% or whole milk.
Add a banana to your breakfast and a piece of toast with butter.
Be sure your cereal is enriched and nutrient-rich. A very good kind is made by Kashi. Eat a double-serving.
Try to eat an apple with every meal.
Add more fruit and vegetables to your diet.
Add more meat to your sandwich and to your dinner.
Add beans to the rice with your dinner.
Occasionally eat ice cream or real jello instead of something sugar & fat-free.


Do at least a few of those suggestions for a week and see if you haven't gained a pound or two -- with the ultimate goal of gaining five to ten pounds. The Body Mass Index is a gross method of determining health, but it definitely points to your being underweight. That is the most likely cause of your amenorrhea (that means missing periods).

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/a/amenorrhea/underly.htm

List of symptoms of Underweight: The list of symptoms mentioned in various sources for Underweight includes:

Low body weight
BMI < 20
Vulnerable to infection
Loss of menstruation

I'd like to hear how you're doing and if you've gone to a clinic. Be well.

Piffka

Sozobe is absolutely right.

Some quick suggestions. Substitute full-fat yoghurt for low fat yoghurt. Have meat on your sandwiches every day. Eat the same dinner menu as the rest of the family.

The Health Gurus recomend between thirty and sixty minutes of exercise every day, so don't cut back there.

See a doctor--at a clinic if necessary!

Good luck.

Thank you everyone for all of your advice. I will try seeing a doctor and I will start eating more. Once again, thank you so much.

lil_b.berrie--

Good luck to you. Hold your dominion.

It seems simple enough too me, I don't know why more people don't do it but diuretics is the answer to fat.

About 4 years ago my weight suddenly sky rocketed to nearly 200 pounds. I was ashamed to be seen in public, I had to wait until it was dark in order to walk my dog.

I felt so bloated I decided to see the doctor. He determined I was having a cirhosis of the liver attack and as a result I was experiencing ascites. He also discovered I had high blood pressure.

He drew the fluid out of my stomach with a huge syringe, emptying it several times. Then he prescribed Lasix and not one but two kinds of diuretics. I still take these medications. Sometimes I get very light headed and my pulse races but that is only the Lasix doing its job.

I am now back down to a healthy 170-175 and feel great. I Drink all the O'Doul's I like, I jog, I make love but I am never without my diuretics. If I even see a hint of numbers on the scale going up, I pop a couple of extra spironolactone tabs for good measure.

Just call me Mr. Wonderful, the ladies do.

the hidden dangers of diuretics and minimal need diets is the potential of severe hypokalemia(low potassium). Your body needs Potassium and Magnesium and Calcium for muscle tone and heart rhythm. People on diuretic diets have had heart seizure and serious arhythmias. The advice of teaming with your doctor is best.

You better believe it. The doctor advised me to drink lots of orange juice and eat bananas. I did that for awhile but I now take pills to replace them. I just felt foolish eating bananas everyday.

You also have to eat well. I eat one big meal at 10:30AM daily and I eat all I want following it up with 4-6 real chocolate chip cookies and two or three cups of coffee.

I might have an Italian grinder and a large bag of potato chips in the evening if we decided to put a movie on.

Once in awhile I might stand up to fast. I take a couple of steps and things start to get black, I get light headed but its kind of a neat feeling and I just keep walking. Disappears in a few seconds.

The only downside was at the start before my body adjusted to the medicine. I had to urinate frequently and this is a problem when you are watching live theatre. Your body adusts though and it becomes part of the normal routine of life.

I'll never suffer the humility of fatness again.

....and possibly not the humility of thinness, either.

True.