Period gone missing? Freaking out?
Don’t worry, there are answers to this.
Amenorrhea isn’t a disease, but rather, a symptom of something happening in one’s body- particularly related to hormones.
There are two types of amenorrhea. Primary Amenorrhea which is when one never gets their period, and you are 16 years or older. In situations like this, the main causes are usually structural or genetic issues. This can be caused by Asherman’s syndrome, which is when there is uterine scarring or adhesions in which prevent blood from exiting the uterus. Another can be Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser syndrome, which is when there are under developed reproductive organs, or a lack of them. A third possibility can be a pituitary tumor, which elevates one’s prolactin levels, thus suppressing ovulation and menstruation, and these are just to name a few.
The other form of Amenorrhea is called Secondary Amenorrhea, which is the loss of a period for more than 3 months. This is usually due to an imbalance of hormones, whether it be low estrogen, low progesterone, both, or even a high production of androgens, which can be linked to PCOS. In many cases, this imbalance could be induced by a stress, whether it be mental stress, over exercising, undereating, or low body weight. Conversely, it can also be due to other things such as taking hormonal birth control, stopping the pill, other forms of medication like antidepressants, antipsychotics, chemotherapy, blood pressure medication, an early onset of menopause, or hypothyroidism, which is a low functioning thyroid. All in all, the only way to find out is to track back in one’s health history, as well as test to try and figure out the root cause which can then figure out a solution.

Hypothalamic amenorrhea doesn’t only cause a lack of periods. Due to the nature of the symptom, for it is rooted in hormonal imbalance, other things get affected and sometimes people don’t correlate everything together.
For instance, acne, particularly around the chin, jaw line and upper lip area is usually a sign of hormonal imbalances, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Hair loss is another big one, as this is associated with either a lack of nutrients from undereating, stress, or a hormonal imbalance such as low estrogen, progesterone or testosterone.
With low levels of sex hormones, one is more susceptible to developing depression or anxiety (particularly if progesterone is low), a decrease in libido, and suffer from low energy as well.
In addition, some other symptoms that are often not spoken of regarding HA is little to no cervical fluid and even experiencing pain during sex.
All of these symptoms could come before or after one’s menses stop all of a sudden, so it is recommended to be aware of these and before it is too late. Understanding why our bodies may be reacting in a certain way can help us get to the root cause of a problem and fix it. HA recovery is far from a one size fits all approach for stress is delivered to our bodies is many different formats.