Losing your period does not have to be a forever problem. To get your period back, you first need to understand what is causing you to not have a period. The umbrella term for not getting your period is amenorrhea. Amenorrhea is divided into two subcategories, which are treated differently. To learn more about the difference between these & which one you fall into, read our article Why Have I Not Gotten My Period?
If you have determined that you have secondary amenorrhea, you then need to know what is causing it. Some causes can be related to other medical issues, and it’s very important that you know how to identify the cause. We created a flowchart explaining what lab values you should test under the guidance of your medical provider. If you’ve rule out the underlying medical issues mentioned on the two blogs we linked, there is a good chance your amenorrhea is stress-related. However, different stressors can manifest in varying aspects of your lifestyle. To learn more about how to identify what type of stress is impacting your amenorrhea, read our blog post here.
In this blog, we’re diving into what might be causing your period to go MIA and, more importantly, how you can get it back. Whether it’s stress, nutrition, over-exercising, poor sleep, or birth control throwing things off, we’ll break it all down. Think of this as your go-to guide for understanding what’s happening with your body and taking simple, empowering steps to support your cycle’s comeback.
What is RMR?
First, to get your period back, you need to supply your body with more than enough energy so that it can feel replenished even after performing its normal functions. Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is the energy used by the major organs in your body to just barely keep them functioning. Most of the energy is used by the liver, brain, and kidneys. RMR does not factor in any movement, whether it be a workout or walking to get a glass of water or the energy used to digest a meal. Although RMR can vary by person, the average 130lb female has a RMR of 1510 calories (1). Realistically, you will have some amount of movement in your day. The following diagram graphically represents how healthcare professionals calculate the total amount of energy your body needs in a day. They add RMR + energy for digestion + energy for daily tasks + energy for exercise.
Helping your body recover from functional hypothalamic amenorrhea means making sure that you supply it with more than this daily energy requirement. Only then can it start repairing itself from the inside and eventually bring back your period. Luckily, there are a few easy lifestyle changes that can help you get regular periods naturally.
Birth control pills for amenorrhea
Before we get into natural remedies, let us address a common question we get asked: Should I use birth control to treat amenorrhea? Many medical providers will prescribe patients birth control in the form of combined oral contraceptive pills. These pills create a hormonal cycle in your body that causes you to bleed every 28 days. However, using birth control is only a band-aid solution. It does not address the root cause of why you have amenorrhea in the first place. Rather, it just temporarily pushes the problem to the side. We have had many patients come through our practice who want to conceive but are unable to do so because they never addressed the underlying issues that caused them to start taking birth control in the first place.
Taking birth control has various side effects. Nutritionally, many vitamin levels can be lowered when taking birth control, including many of the B vitamins, vitamin E, and vitamin D. These are important for daily life and especially important during pregnancy. For example, folate deficiency can cause neural tube defects in a fetus. (2). Birth control can negatively impact mental health as well. Studies have shown that adolescents who took the pill had higher rates of depression and were more vulnerable to depression later in adulthood. The pill also affected their brain function and memory. Although the exact reason is not clear, it could be due to a change in the shape of the brain or by harming the gut microbiome (3).
If you choose to take the pill, our goal is to ensure you are making an informed decision that relates to both your present and future. However, we encourage you to also consider ways to naturally regulate your period without birth control.
What to eat to get my period back
How can you increase how much energy your body has? By eating more! It sounds simple, and it can be if you follow a few basic ideas. The caloric targets we are providing are not something that you necessarily need to track every day for the rest of your life but rather serve as a guideline so that you can get a sense of how much you should be eating in a day. After all, eating should be something that you enjoy, not another thing to stress over. Your goal is to train your body to eat when you feel hungry. If you have a history of dieting or restrictive eating, your current sense of hunger is likely inaccurate, so you may be recreating these hunger cues. It may feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you are not used to eating that much food in a day. But trust the process that if you increase your energy intake by 20%-40%, you are more likely to regain your period (4).
To get a sense of what a 20-40% increase in food could look like, we included a sample 7-day meal plan. Each day has 3 meals and 3 snacks, which total to 2250-2500 calories per day, with 30% of those calories coming from healthy fat sources. Feel free to use it as a guide to set your own meal plan and goals.
In addition to what you eat, you should also consider your eating habits and practices. Try to space out your eating throughout the day rather than eating one or two big meals. An easy way to do this is to incorporate snacks between meals. Eating at more regular intervals will help your blood sugar and cortisol levels smoothly cruise throughout the day rather than spike and crash. To learn more about cortisol and how it affects your period, check out our blog post “Does Stress Affect Your Period?“
Try to incorporate a variety of foods in your meals. Assigning the moral value of “good” or “bad” to a food is what will lead your brain to start craving it. Viewing food through a neutral lens allows you to make more objective decisions related to whether or not to eat it. Realistically, eating a sweet treat occasionally is not the end of the world, and your body is strong enough to process it.
Every day is a new day, so do not think you need to restrict what you eat one day in order to “save” for another day. That is not how your body works. The most important thing to keep in mind is that if you are hungry, eat. That is a good sign that your body is recovering and is trying to tell you to help it with more energy (5).
Addressing certain nutritional deficiencies can also help your body feel more ready for a period. Below are a few of the key nutrients, along with their recommended lab values (4).
- Magnesium deficiency has been associated with chronic stress, which can increase cortisol levels. Ideal magnesium levels are 2.0-2.6 mg/dL.
- Iron deficiency can make you feel like your internal battery is always low. Ideal ferritin levels are 50-100 ng/mL.
- Zinc deficiency can affect your ovulation, i.e., your ability to release an egg each month. Ideal zinc levels are ≥80 μg/dL.
- Vitamin D deficiency can lead to low estrogen levels since vitamin D is essential for estrogen production. Ideal vitamin D levels are 50-80 ng/mL.
Balancing these nutrient levels in your body will help you restore a more regular period. If you are considering taking supplements, please visit our Fullscript page to see which ones we recommend. We strongly encourage you to do a blood test first to understand your deficiencies and follow a provider’s guidance for dosages.
We cannot emphasize enough how essential quality is when buying supplements. Supplements do not have to go through the same regulations as the medications you buy in a pharmacy, which means that anyone can put forth a gummy and say that it is good for you without any scientific evidence. We are extremely selective about where our patients purchase their supplements. Our recommended source is Fullscript, a trusted portal that provides high-quality supplements. Fullscript ensures all products go through batch testing and do not allow questionable sellers on their platform. You need a practitioner provided link to purchase to ensure you are getting quality supplements from a verified source. As a bonus, if you use our link, you will get an exclusive 20% discount on all the supplements on the platform! Supplements do not have to be expensive. Some of our favorite affordable brands like Now Foods and Nature’s Way let you put your health first without breaking the bank. Note: none of the brands mentioned in this article are sponsored, however the practice receives 15% from Fullscript sales to cover overhead costs of maintaining the Fullscript dispensary page & practice.
Fullscript is only available for US-based individuals. If you are unable to access Fullscript, you can also purchase many of the same supplements on iHerb.
Make sure to consult with your medical provider before starting any supplements, especially if you are on any medications or have any medical conditions. This content is for educational purposes only. We strongly encourage you to consult with a qualified practitioner who can guide you in selecting the optimal herb, dosage, and form for your condition. Although these natural stress relief supplements are not chemical based and are safe for most individuals, they can still have negative side effects depending on your preexisting conditions.
How to get your period back after over-exercising
If energy availability is a balance between input and output, the other way to give your body more energy is by reducing how much you output during exercise. Strenuous forms of exercise that raise your heart rate are going to increase your cortisol, the hormone that makes you feel stressed. How do you decrease your energy output? The surefire approach would be to cut out all forms of exercise. However, we understand that this may come across as jarring for some. Try replacing your high-intensity exercise with light activities like walking or yoga. If you can sustain a conversation while doing the activity, you are on the right track. You should also think about what the purpose of that exercise is for you. Is it a way to use time that does not require a screen? Is it a form of mental stimulation because of the adrenaline rush? Is it a social engagement because you do it with friends? Try to find other activities that can fulfill these same needs. For example, if you use running as a way to energize yourself in the morning, try doing breath work or meditation, or a cold shower, as this can center your thoughts and still give you the same mental clarity (5).
Sleep to get your period back
Sleep is another critical part of life that can help bring back your period. When you sleep, your body produces a chemical called melatonin, which works like a vacuum to clean up any unwanted dirt in your ovaries. Melatonin and cortisol work in opposite directions: cortisol is high when you are awake, and melatonin is high when you are resting.
By prioritizing sleep, you can help reduce your cortisol levels and make sure your body has enough time to repair itself every night. The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults get between 7 and 9 hours of quality sleep each night. Their website provides many resources that can guide you towards a more restful night. We also have a few easy-to-implement ways to improve your sleep hygiene.
I got my period back, what now?
After what feels like a huge mountain, you finally made it! Hopefully this journey to reconnect with yourself has allowed you to give your body the rest it needed to bring your cycle back. But no jumping into marathon training just yet. Your body needs three months of consistency in this repair mode to regulate its hormone signals (5). You may also notice that your second period does not fall into the idealistic 30 day cycle. This is also very normal as your body tries to figure out its monthly patterns again. If after three months you are cycling normally, you can slowly start to reintroduce movement, being mindful to back off if you notice your cycles becoming irregular again.
Getting back your period is a journey to a stronger and healthier version of yourself. We hope that these tips help guide you on that journey. Although it is not easy, trust that it will be better for you in the present and future. If you need any support, our team is happy to talk to you and help you develop a holistic and nourishing lifestyle.
References
- Wang, Z., Ying, Z., Bosy-Westphal, A., Zhang, J., Heller, M., Later, W., Heymsfield, S. B., & Müller, M. J. (2011). Evaluation of specific metabolic rates of major organs and tissues: comparison between men and women. American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, 23(3), 333–338. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.21137
- Palmery, M., Saraceno, A., Vaiarelli, A., Carlomango, G. (2013). Oral contraceptives and changes in nutritional requirements. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci, 17(13), 1804-1813.
- Kheloui, S., Smith, A., Ismail, N. (2023). Combined oral contraceptives and mental health: Are adolescence and the gut-brain axis the missing links? Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101041
- Dobranowska, K., Plińska, S., Dobosz, A. (2024). Dietary and Lifestyle Management of Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea: A Comprehensive Review. Nutrients, 16, 2967. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16172967.
- Rinaldi, N. J., Buckler, S. G., & Waddell, L. S. (2019). No period, now what?: A guide to regaining your cycles and improving your fertility. Antica Press.
