EXERCISE AND MISSING PERIODS

 

 Dr Steven R. Goldstein is co author of the book “Could it be….Perimenopause?” and the textbook on Perimenopausal Gynecology. He is a Perimenopause Specialist in NYC. Dr Goldstein has been in private practice for over 25 years in New York City. One of the issues women in Perimenopause experience is a missing period. However, it is not just perimenopause that can cause this, one of the reasons for missing a period could be exercise.

 

Exercise is vital to health and even more vital as we age. For women, it is important to their bone and muscle health as they age. However, exercise while generally helpful to you, can cause menstruation to come to a halt if you go at it in a way that’s extreme.

 

There are many women who get into exercise with a vengeance for the first time in their thirties or forties. Perhaps its discovery of a new spinning class, or a particularly fun aerobics teacher or falling in love with high intensity exercises. Or maybe it’s a desire to see if at this point in life one is still fit enough to run a marathon.

 

This new regimen is stressful to the body. Once your body fat level dips too low, there’s a good chance your period will stop. Your body is not producing enough estrogen for ovulation to occur. A rapid weight loss for many reasons, mainly fad diets, can also cause your period to stop. So can a large weight gain. Fifteen pounds may not do it, but extreme weight change can. Weight gain can also raise insulin levels, which can stimulate the body androgens, hormones that produce male or masculine characteristics.

 

It is particularly important to seek treatment if you have gone without your period for six months if you aren’t pregnant, lactating or in menopause. You want to guard against possible bone loss (from low estrogen), and overstimulation of the endometrial lining (from high estrogen) which is one cause of endometrial cancer. Hormone therapy is often recommended for athletes who find themselves in this situation.

 

Nine times out of ten, if you are between the ages of thirty five and fifty, the answer to your missing period is Perimenopause, a transition state to menopause where “irregular becomes regular” regarding periods. If you are a woman in your late thirties or forties and having irregular periods and/or irregular bleeding then perhaps a consultation with a Perimenopause Specialist in NYC, may be in order.

 

Dr Steven R. Goldstein specializes in the use of transvaginal ultrasounds and sononysterograms to examine the uterine lining. This is important because the uterine lining tells a “story”. It doesn’t just tell of the physiology of the uterus, but of its function and can help provide more information on the gynecological health of perimenopausal women. Dr Goldstein is also a past President of the International Menopause Society, past President of the North American Menopause Society, and a Certified Menopause Practitioner.