Hi there! I was wondering if it was normal to have 'weird' periods during an eating disorder and in the beginning of recovery? Mine never fully stopped, and were regular, but since I developed an eating disorder they only go on for 2 days as opposed to the whole week I would have before I became sick. Is this normal, and may it be reversed?
Hello! Yes it is. During an eating disorder some loose it, some have it perfectly and regular and some get, like you, ”weird” irregular periods. The last one is very common. I’ll now answer a bit more than you asked about as it is an important topic that many asks about, so I guess it should be answered once for all.Our bodies are different. A person can be severely underweight and undernourished lying on their deathbed yet have perfect periods. As a person in the recovery community who has been in touch with hundreds of hundreds of sufferers, I can confirm this. It is a myth that all people with eating disorders loose their periods. Some of us have bodies that are really good at keeping our periods even in rough times, whilst others, like mine, are not. I lost my period in 2012 at a healthy weight, around 5 kg higher than the one I got it back at in 2014, because I was undernourished and had been so for a month or two. Then, girl X who I talked to had suffered from anorexia for years and was more underweight than I’d ever been, had her period.Loosing our periods or having irregular periods is a sign of being undernourished and/or under your setpoint, yet you can be undernourished and/or under your setpoint without loosing your period. I am saying this because many females with eating disorders believe they are not ”sick enough” because they still have their periods (not to mention those who don’t loose their periods because their are on birth control pills, which might not be a good choice - read why here). In certain countries in West Africa with starvation the birth rate is still high, because of some badass bodies with an army of hormones. Sadly enough, a lot of these children are born with health problems and are in high risk of dying - the death rate among newborns (and mums) are also very high, along with miscarriages. Does being underweight and/or undernourished cause infertility and/or problems getting pregnant for many? Yes, it indeed does. For me, for example. And if you do get pregnant despite suffering from an eating disorder, you put the life of an innocent child in risk. Back to irregular/weird periods! As it happened when you developed an eating disorder, that is probably the cause. Nevertheless, some get weird periods in puberty, and some have weird periods naturally. For example, my cycle is 6 weeks instead of the normal 4 weeks (not ED-related, got this confirmed by a doctor). With recovery your periods will very likely go back to how they were before your eating disorder, but it will often take some time to settle and normalize. Focus on getting enough food (don’t forget fats!) and rest, and allow your body to find its natural setpoint weight. If we loose our periods or get irregular/different periods as a result of an eating disorder, it will pass when the eating disorder has passed. In other words, period problems are reversable. But, it may take time. If it does not normalize, you can always go to the doctor to get a check. Same goes to those who loose their periods - there can be other causes than an eating disorder, such as hormone imbalance, medications and stress. Short summary: eat chocolate, rest and wait!- Amalie
