Very light periods aged 27

[Cheesecake17]

I should start off by saying that I've had vast & consistent digestive issues for around 5 years now, mainly switching from emetophobia to bad ibs/suspected ibd in the last 2 years. Eating has always been an issue despite my love of food (specifically chocolate!). And, even when I dropped down to 7stone due to stress (I'm 5'7 so very dangerous) I STILL got my regular period, just lighter . I'm 27 now and seeing my friends, family and Instagram feed all about pregnancy and despite never having an aching for a baby I've definitely become more keen despite being single atm. But I'm worried. I'm now 8stone and for the past 4 or 5 months I'm sometimes bleeding for 1-2 days. It generally doesn't stop until day 5-6 but it feels 'dry' and generally on say 2 or 3 ill have clots. I must confess most times it's painful on day 1 with a steady flow but i only have to change my sanitaries up to 3 or 4 times a day. This month however is extremely light. I started my period 24hrs ago and feel dryer than when I'm (tmi) "wet". I'm just wondering if this is a weight thing. On top of all my issues, I must confess I began exercising a little too enthusiastically over lockdown in fear of gaining. Would this affect fertility?

[XOXO13]

Hey there,

I’m not in the same position but I do have two friends whose periods stopped because they were doing too much high intensity exercise and they lost too much body fat for their build and shape. My periods also stopped back in 2016 I think it was when I went through a period of stress and lost a fair bit of weight. So I believe you’re weight can have an impact on your cycles, but of course I’m no doctor. I would encourage you to speak to your doctor for advice as they’ll be best place to tell you whether it’s weight related.

Take care xx

[Cheesecake17 in reply to XOXO13]

Thanks so so much for this. I'm glad it's not just me who's suffered. Amazingly I slept after writing that post and woke up to what seems to be my "proper" period.. Still not as it used to be but very normal and I had pains and the other usual stuff. Prayers definitely work haha i was praying I'd go back to normal at somepoint and feel lots of reassurance, thanks again for the insight xxx

[Beatrix_K]

A good friend struggled with her weight and over exercising but unlike you her periods stopped altogether and for a few years were really sporadic. She did have some issues conceiving but she toned the exercise down and started eating better balanced meals and didn’t skip- not massive portions and v.healhy which was a good compromise for her and got pregnant quite quickly after that (pretty sure her periods weren’t fully back either). The other thing is she was unable to breastfeed and the dr said that was down to being so slight which she found really upsetting, so that’s another side effect. She felt she struggled to conceive a 2nd time because her periods didn’t come back for ages but has just had another baby (and was out running within a couple of weeks!). I’d go speak to your GP to rule out other reasons for your pain/ light periods and maybe mention you’re concerned about your routine? You’re doing the right thing tackling this while you’re still quite young and before it becomes a bigger issue. X

[Cheesecake17 in reply to Beatrix_K]

Another lovely response, I appreciate it so much. Sounds like your friend got super lucky!! Good on her for trying to fix it and it's so nice she's got 2 kids now, it's definitely something not spoken about too much as i think we all feel the thin pressure as girls. It's so dangerous to our bodies 😢😢. I feel like my period came properly today, still not as heavy as my early twenties but I had all the symptoms today as well as a better flow. Hoping it'll last for another 2-3 days. Thanks so much x