Hypothalamic Amennorhea Recovery Plan

Not having a period can be scary. It takes consistency and hard work which is why I wrote up this hypothalamic amennorhea recovery plan to help you focus on all the critical pieces to healing.

What is Hypothalamic Amennorhea?

Since it a long phrase, I am going to abbreviate it by using the term HA throughout this post.

HA is when you are missing your period due to an unknown reason. Your body’s hypothalamus sends signals (aka hormones) for our ovaries to ovulate. And it is called HA because the hypothalamus is not releasing these hormones which then leads to a missing period.

How Do you Know if you have Hypothalamic Amennorhea?

You are missing a period due to one of these reasons:

• High Emotional Stress
• Not Eating Enough Food
• Over-Exercising
• Low Body Fat
• Thyroid Issues
• Medication Use
• Discontinued Use of the Birth Control
• Imbalances in the Body

As you can see, it could be a whole host of reasons. Unfortunately, many doctors automatically label HA as PCOS. These are completely different and are not to be confused. PCOS is a separate diagnosis.

The Number One Reason Why HA goes Misdiagnosed.

The media has given us a skewed relationship with healthy body size. One of the reasons listed above is low body weight. Automatically, many of you may read that and think “oh I don’t have HA because my body fat is not low.” Low body fat is just one possible reason and you can be a high or normal body weight and still have HA.

Be Honest with Yourself.

Accepting that you have HA requires you to be honest with yourself. You might feel like you are eating enough, but you really aren’t. You might think that you don’t have a lot of stress, but in fact you have never been more stressed in your life. Sometimes the stress can feel invisible even though it is there.  If you want to get your period back, you need to get honest with yourself and get to the root problem.

Hypothalamic Amenorrhea Recovery Plan:

Here I am going to go over the foundation of how you need to adjust your plate, movement, and mindset in order to heal from HA.

How to Eat for HA.

Healthy food is an essential part of healing the body and getting your period back. But what should you eat and how should your plate look like? Real food is incredibly healing and nourishing. Here are 4 steps to using nutrition to heal from Hypothalamic Amenorrhea.

1. Eat 3 Meals Per Day at Minimum.

Setting a consistent schedule is helpful because then eating because a habit. Skipping meals is not ideal if you have HA because it is a stress on the body. I highly recommend 3 meals per day because our body likes routine and it helps make it an effortless habit.

2. Eat Carbs

Low carb diets are to be avoided. Carbs are essential to nourish the body and provide easy energy to the body. I highly recommend eating gluten free grains. Gluten can slow down digestion and cause inflammation which can make it difficult to eat enough food. Eat plenty of fresh fruit, squash, potatoes, yams, rutabagas, parsnips, oats, rice, and quinoa, etc.  Listen to your body, but at minimum eat 2-3 cups of starchy carbs per day. *Note this does not include non-starchy vegetables.

3. Eat Fats.

Low fat diets are to be avoided. I do not recommend eating foods with a label, but avoid anything that markets “low-fat” is not a healthier option. Fat is essential for building hormones and supporting brain function. Fat is like the oil to the body to help it run smooth. But make sure to eat fats that are not damaged. Read more about what fats you want to avoid here.  Include lots of avocados, olive oil, nuts, seeds, coconuts, and grass-fed meats. I suggest eating 1-2 tablespoons of fat per meal at minimum.
 

4. Eat Protein.

Every macronutrient has been hated on even protein. “Protein can make you fat. Protein can knock you out of ketosis.” The list of nonsense goes on. Protein is another essential macronutrient because it keeps you full and satisfied. Protein helps to build muscle and repair tissues. You want to make sure you eat at least 20-30 grams of protein per meal which is about the size of a deck of cards. Protein is packed full of minerals like zinc and iron which support a healthy cycle.

5. Eat Plenty of Micro-nutrients.

I mentioned carbs, fats, and protein the 3 macro nutrients. But do not forget micro nutrients!! We need plenty of vitamins and minerals to have a healthy body. The best way to include micro nutrients is by eating nutrient dense foods like: leafy greens, sprouts, livers, organic vegetables, grass-fed meat, nettles tea, etc. Regularly test the body to see where your nutrient levels and minerals are at.  Click here to learn more about a hair mineral test which can show you a lot about your health!

6. Building a Balanced Plate.

I don’t like to provide hard rules when it comes to building a plate because nutrition doesn’t have to be measured out. Nothing makes food more stressful than worrying about eating too much fat, too much protein, and too many carbs. In my opinion, you should eat enough food to be satisfied and keep your blood sugar stable. If you want a detailed and specific framework on what to eat at each meal, I recommend doing an HTMA test.

Movement for HA Recovery.

One-size fits all advice doesn’t really work. When it comes to exercise you will find advice from “don’t exercise at all” to “moderate exercise is fine.”
But you have to look at your own life and make a choice based on your current situation.

Here are two questions to ask:

1. How stressed is your life right now? Big changes like a death, wedding, moving, new career, medical issues are all stressful. Some happy and some sad. If exercise makes handling these challenges worse – than you want to reduce it. Be mindful of what your body can handle right now.
2. Are you an exercise addict? Many people feel horrible if they don’t work out. It could be 2 hours to 30 minutes a day. But if not working out gives you anxiety and guilt, it may be to time to ask why?  Ask why you are addicted to exercise and why you using it to avoid something. Every fitness magazine tells us to exercise more..but when is it too much??

During HA recovery it is perfectly healthy to limit exercise for some time. Take a few walks outside, do some stretching, some light yoga, enjoy a season where you don’t HAVE to work out every day. Your goal is to get your period back and you need to check in and do what is best for YOU.

Mindset for HA Recovery.

This is one of the key areas to heal from HA. Unfortunately, we live in a world that tells us that we all need to eat less and exercise more. This standard advice is harming many young and older women. We obsess and over-think about our bodies and feel guilty about eating food.  Then we feel guilty about not working out for 1 to 2 hours a day. It is a cycle of guilt that is stressing out our bodies and decreasing the level of nutrition we intake. And our body has enough to worry about with the increased number of toxins in the air and in our products and the lowered nutrient levels! ( I won’t go into all that here.)

Take baby steps to work on changing your mindset. Read and follow people who believe in your new values. Put up reminders and set up automatic new habits to change what you need – whether that is food, exercise, or mindset.

I struggled with HA so I know that it isn’t easy and everyone’s journey is different. Read more about how I got my period back here.

And if you are missing your period due to coming off the birth control pill, check out this article here. I talk all about how the pill works and why your period might be missing once you come off.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comment below. Let me know what you learned from this article!