Can female athletes lose their period?

An estimated 25 percent of female elite athletes report chronically missing their periods, and some analyses of ballerinas and long-distance runners suggest the problem is even more prevalent in those groups.

What happens when athletes lose their period?

Topic Overview. If you participate in endurance sports, you may miss periods or stop menstruating. This is called secondary amenorrhea, and it occurs because your ovaries are not producing enough estrogen. It is believed that stress and low body fat contribute to amenorrhea.

Can being athletic delay your period?

How exercise can cause irregular periods. Exercise itself doesn’t cause menstruation to stop. It’s the mismatch between energy consumed and energy used, resulting in what’s called low energy availability.

Do athletes have lighter periods?

Intense exercise can interrupt the balance of hormones that drives your menstrual cycle. This can cause you to bleed when you are not on your period, have a lighter flow than normal, or stop having a flow at all. Young athletes, especially those who are eating very little, are well known to experience this.

Why do athletes have lighter periods?

Why do gymnasts get their periods late?

Amenorrhea in gymnastics has been attributed to a combination of extreme dieting and exertion; another hypothesis is that naturally late-blooming gymnasts gravitate to a sport that physically suits them. Dr. Aurelia Nattiv of UCLA says the sport’s intense training and emphasis on low body fat delay puberty.

How do you stall your period?

Norethindrone (norethisterone) is a prescription medicine that can delay the start of a period. Your doctor my prescribe you three tablets a day, starting three to four days before you expect your period to begin. Once you stop taking the medicine, your period should begin within two to three days.