Too much exercise can interfere with your brain's ability to trigger production of reproductive hormones that regulate the ovaries and menstrual cycle. This can cause shortened or missing menstrual cycles -- a condition known as amenorrhea -- which can have a long-term impact on your fertility and overall health. See your doctor if you experience exercise-induced amenorrhea.
Causes
Regular exercise benefit women in many ways, and rarely causes any complications or problems with the menstrual cycle. Women with exercise-induced amenorrhea usually exercise at extreme levels -- three or more hours a day -- and restrict their caloric intake as well. This combination of low body fat and extreme exercise causes low estrogen and other hormonal problems. Ballet dancers, gymnasts, ice skaters and long-distance runners often experience amenorrhea when preparing for major events.
Abnormal Defined
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines abnormal as a menstrual cycle that lasts more than 35 days or less than 21 -- or an absence of periods for three to six months. With amenorrhea, your cycles might stop completely or they might come and go depending on your physical activity level or weight gain or loss.
Health Risks
Although you might not initially mind the lighter or absent period, these reproductive hormones also control aspects of your bone development and secondary sex characteristics like body hair growth and fat distribution. Prolonged amenorrhea can put you at a higher risk of osteoporosis, which can lead to stress fractures -- and might even increase your risk of heart attacks later in life. Irregular or missing cycles can make it difficult, or impossible, to become pregnant.
Treatment
Your doctor can recommend diet and exercise modifications that will help you achieve a healthy body weight. After you reduce your exercise levels and increase your nutrition, it can take six months or more for your normal cycles to resume. If changing your diet and exercise patterns does not regulate your cycle, your doctor might prescribe oral contraceptive pills or supplemental hormones to boost your hormone levels.
Prevention/Solution
Young women and teenage girls with amenorrhea do not build as much bone as those with regular periods -- and their bones are not as strong. Supplementation with Vitamin D and calcium is a critical part of a treatment plan for exercise-induced amenorrhea. You can also protect your bones by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, and following a regular fitness program that includes strength-training exercises.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Amenorrhea: Causes
- Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center: Exercise Induced Amenorrhea
- Women to Women Clinic; Irregular periods; Marcelle Pick
- American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Abnormal Uterine Bleeding
- National Osteoporosis Foundation: Young Adult Women
- USC Fertility; 5 Things You Need to Know About Exercise-Induced Amenorrhea; Karine Chung
