The Primary Symptom of HA

Absence of Menstruation

When you don’t have a period for three months or more, and you’ve received a period before, it is classified as secondary amenorrhea. Secondary amenorrhea can be caused by many things, it is not something to be taken lightly.

It is essential to know the cause of secondary amenorrhea. Your menstrual cycle is intimately connected to your health. If you notice disruptors, it could mean there’s something wrong regarding hormones, nutrition, stress, or illness.

Symptoms

Low Energy and Fatigue

When you don’t have enough fuel due to not eating enough or your body is extremely stressed, you will feel tired. Even if you slept for 7 hours, you will still feel fatigued

Feeling Cold Often

People with HA typically feel colder than others, especially in their feet and hands. Due to their low energy and high stress levels, their body is weaker and therefore produces less heat.

Decreased Libido

When your estrogen is lower, your reproductive system is operating “less” and the desire to have sex decreases.

Mental Health Changes

Hormone health is heavily linked to your mental health. Having HA can cause depression, mood swings, and emotional isolation.

Difficulty Sleeping

People with HA sometimes have trouble sleeping due to high stress levels.

Increased Hunger

Due to low amounts of food in your body system, your body is constantly hungry/ thinking about food.

Hair Loss or Thinning

Lower estrogen can lead to hair loss.

Why These Symptoms Happen

The main causes of HA is when a female is undereating, overexercising, and has a lot of stress both physically and mentally. The hypothalamus reduces its output of GnRH, which is a hormone that regulates the ovaries.

This decrease in GnRH then lowers the release of LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) from the pituitary gland. Without these key hormones, the ovaries produce less estrogen and progesterone, stopping your period.

Your body is experiencing too much stress, it goes into survival mode and turns off your reproductive organs and conserves energy for other organs. It feels too unsafe to bring another life into the world since you are unable to take care of yourself. Your body fights to save as much energy as possible, de-prioritizing your reproductive system.

Resources and Support

Recovering from hypothalamic amenorrhea can feel daunting, but you don’t have to do it alone. Trusted, medically reviewed resources can help you understand your condition and take informed steps toward recovery. Some recommended places to start include:

• Cleveland Clinic: Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
  
• The HA Society
  
• Hertility Health: Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
  
• Current Understanding of HA on PubMed Central
  

Conclusion

If you are experiencing these symptoms, just know that you can choose to recover starting today. You have to realize that your health is so much more important than the number on a scale or what you perceive as “ideal”.

If you are having trouble with internal conflicts, just know that you are not alone. I was also hyper-focused on becoming the smallest I could be and had all the symptoms listed above. You are enough the way you are, and you are worth more than how small you are.