Do elite women have their periods?

I'm not sure about any of the women you listed, but I do remember an interview with Paula Radcliffe in which she claims she's never missed or had issued with irregular periods. I believe she attributes this to the amount of fat in her diet.

I'm sure it depends on the individual though. I had never been regular a day in my life, regardless of whether or not I was running or doing any sports- turned out there were some underlying issues. It doesn't hurt to talk to your doctor about it. I believe amenorrhea can lead to increased health risks like osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Semicolons sometimes even.

Missed-it-for2years wrote:

Do women with low body fat like Jordan Hasay, Alexi Pappas, Mary Cain, Alexa Afraimson, menstruate at all? They have no body fat.

I'm a junior in college and have missed my period for a year. I'm not underweight, but usually stressed out with school/ high mileage. One of my teammates confronted me about this thinking it was a problem. My response...Sure its probably not ideal, but I highly doubt all those elite women are regular either. Am I correct in this assumption?

Something is off if you've gone that long without menstruating. Seek out a good naturopath who can treat the issue holistically and will consider diet related deficiencies.

It is not normal to not have periods for a year, IF you had been having regular periods prior to that. Missing periods coupled with high mileage and poor eating is a ticket to lots of problems down the road. Loss of bone density is the highest on the list. You should have seen a GYN by now about this. If your body fat is too low then you can easily adjust that. It may only be a percent or two that can tick you up into a healthier range. You need to look at how you are eating and how much. Concentrate on healthy foods, vegetaables fruits grains and a protein source that matches your energy output. If you can't figure out how to eat, then talk to you coach and have him/her direct you to a nutritionist.

Nevermind what kind of bodyfat NOP runners etc have.

Are you on any birth control? I missed my period consistently on one IUD. Push the docs to get to the bottom of this, it could have other causes (low iron, not eating quite enough, stress, hormonal imbalance...). And do it soon, this is drastically increasing your risk of osteoporosis (sp.), and could be symptoms for something more serious (not to mention it may be severely hampering your running form!)

The most recent research I've seen says that you miss your period because of an energy deficit (basically not enough calories in), not because of your body fat percentage. You can be thin and training hard and still get your period as long as you're eating right. It leads to a whole bunch of other issues if you miss it long-term, so chances are good that elite runners with any kind of resources available to them get it dealt with if they run into this issue. If they don't, you're likely to see them have injury issues over time. Hasay is in the NOP and I think they have sports nutritionists and doctors available to them for problems. Missing your period is a problem, so I would not expect Hasay to be missing hers. Speculation, of course. I have to apologize here, because I can't imagine Hasay, or any other elite, would want people talking about their menstruation cycle. But it is something that should be discussed in general terms at least, since it's really important.

Does amenorrhea actually cause osteoporosis, though? It seems like the same things that cause amenorrhea -- malnutrition/undereating -- would also cause osteoporosis. I don't think women on BC have any increased risk of osteoporosis, for example, even though they often don't have periods.

birth control allows women to regulate their menstrual cycles, so even with hard training they usually have fairly regular periods. many doctors will put them on it because going a long time without your period can lead to infertility. I'm guessing pretty much all elite runners are on birth control

marco escuandolas wrote:

birth control allows women to regulate their menstrual cycles, so even with hard training they usually have fairly regular periods. many doctors will put them on it because going a long time without your period can lead to infertility. I'm guessing pretty much all elite runners are on birth control

False. Women do NOT need to have regular periods. I'm not talking about women with eating disorders. Women who eat enough and have stopped menstruating due to birth control (IUD, implant, etc.) are not at a health risk of infertility or osteoporosis.

My wife was 98lbs (5'4") when she was training at an elite level. Her period was a bit irregular occasionally, but I don't think that she ever went longer than 5-6 weeks during the 3 years I knew her when she was training at that level.

"amenorrhea -- malnutrition/undereating"

This is my first thought. You don't have to be an internaional class/elite runner like Jordan Hasay, etc. to stress your body with high mileage and malnutrition/undereating to have the same problems. As another poster said, iron deficiency may be another concern. See a doctor asap. If the doctor recommends less running and more/better diet, follow the advice and discuss with your coach. Any coach who has a clue will be more concerned with your overall health than how your running training is going.

Grammer Police wrote:

Semicolons sometimes even.

Do you mean Grammar Police?

oops.

Maybe someone has some advice for me...

Ever since high school, I haven't gotten my period when in season. I went to the doctor about it once, and he said as long as I got it at least 4 times a year, it wasn't a big deal, but otherwise I would have to take birth control pills (no way!). Well, I didn't run in the off-seasons so I was fine.

But now, I've started training year round, and I've gone at least 6 months without it, so I'm starting to worry. All the research I've looked at suggests I'm not eating enough/well enough, but this seems impossible!! I'm 5'9, weigh 150 pounds, and honestly eat more than anyone I've ever met in my entire life. I also eat healthier than most...

50% a variety of fruits and veggies

25% protein (mostly fish, beans, and nuts)

25% carbs (mostly oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes and corn)

Plus a little dairy (milk in my oatmeal, natural yogurt)

I also have iron and calcium supplements, although I'm not the best about remembering to take them every single day.

I have also been experiencing hair loss, and maybe I'm just paranoid, but I think my long term memory is worsening, in case either of these symptoms might suggest some deficiency in particular...

Anyone knowledgeable about nutrition who can help me find out what I'm doing wrong?

It's irrelevant whether these women menstruate or not.

Since you do not, talk to your doctor. Lack of periods can lead to osteoporosis, infertility, and other consequences. Also, using birth control to artificially induce menstruation may not comb at the underlying cause (insufficient calories, medical issue, etc).

" combat the underlying cause" not comb at! My phone doesn't recognize combat as a word?

living in reality wrote:

marco escuandolas wrote:

birth control allows women to regulate their menstrual cycles, so even with hard training they usually have fairly regular periods. many doctors will put them on it because going a long time without your period can lead to infertility. I'm guessing pretty much all elite runners are on birth control

False. Women do NOT need to have regular periods. I'm not talking about women with eating disorders. Women who eat enough and have stopped menstruating due to birth control (IUD, implant, etc.) are not at a health risk of infertility or osteoporosis.

Do not listen to this moron.

I also struggled with amenorrhea when I was running competitively. I ate a diet of 60-65% of calories from carbs, 15% from protein and 20-25% from fat. I was about 5'4" and 115 lbs, not the stick thin anorexic look. OBGYN put me on estrogen birth control pill. Looking back, I'm wondering if a higher fat diet would of worked, maybe 30-35% fat? Do you know how much Paula Radcliffe ate?

you may want to read Camille Herron’s blog or contact her for advice. Here is a brief excerpt and the link.

“Since I run so many miles (120-140+ miles per week), I have to eat A LOT, constantly fueling myself every 2-4 hours with snacks or full meals, and trying to get enough CALORIES. For me to have a regular menstrual cycle (and be hormonally balanced), it all comes down to energy balance and getting enough calories. I can’t stress this enough to women—if you are not getting a regular cycle, you are not fueling adequately, and the consequences to your overall health can be traumatic!”

…

“My personal experience is that I feel better eating a high fat diet, whether this is because of being a female and/or because of the type of mileage/aerobic training I do (good article on this:

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/fast-execute.cgi/article-page.html?article=61810009

). When I had my diet analyzed in grad school, it worked out that 35% of my diet was fat. I crave fat, and being the most calorically dense, it’s an easier way to get calories too. Looking at me, having 12.5% body fat (based on the last time I got tested in 2008)…. You would never know I eat so much fat! My HDL cholesterol was also an astonishing 95 (which my grad school professor said was only possible because of good genes/being an active female).

See more at:

http://camilleherron.com/nutrition/#sthash.BzMo8FIZ.dpuf

It's not normal. Go see a nutritionist and have him/her take a look at your food intake compared to how many miles you're running. If you have a significant calorie deficit (as in, you're burning more than you're taking in), you're not going to menstruate regularly. And it is NOT normal to go several months and especially not several years without your period. Women of child-bearing age should menstruate and need some fat on their thighs/hips to maintain healthy bone density. If you're not menstruating, your risk for stress fractures is MUCH higher. And if you think you "can't" eat more than you already do and it's far less than you ought to be eating for how much you run, go get counseling, seriously. That's signs of disordered eating, and it's not a path you want to go down.