Absent menstruation
forum post
Hi! I am 22-years-old and currently recovering from anorexia. I’m 5’6’’ and my weight is up from the 90s range to 115. I’m still obviously recovering. I haven’t had my period since January 14, 2013. This is a really long time. I would like to know how to treat this through Chinese Medicine. I had seen an acupuncturist when my weight was still low and she told me that I’m qi and blood deficient. I just got a Chinese medicine-oriented massage where I had intense, almost unbearable pain in my UB and KD meridians.
I have celiac’s disease as well, so I’m trying to nourish myself with foods that don’t make me uncomfortable. I don’t eat grains, legumes, or nightshades to avoid joint pain. I drink around 4 cups of grass-fed bone broth daily (breakfast and dinner), have hearings of green veggies, around 8 tablespoons of liquid fats (coconut oil predominatly), and some sort of grass-fed/pasture-raised animal meat. I also eat organ meats weekly, either heart or liver. The bulk of my carbs come from sweet potatoes, parsnips, or carrots that I eat with dinner. I also eat 100% cacao raw chocolate and a lot of it usually as an afternoon snack. I crave it and I don’t know why (magnesium?) but I’m guessing this is not good with caffeine aggravation or joint pain. I used to not eat nuts often but started eating them again (soaked and sprouted). I also have fermented foods daily along with probiotics of 20 billion per capsule.
Also, I have VERY low blood pressure of around 80s/50s and crave immense amount of salt.
I really want to menstruate again. I apologize for the lengthy e-mail but would really, really appreciate guidance!
This post has the following associations:
Issues/Symptoms: amenorrhea (absence of menstruation)
Formulas: gui zhi fu ling wan, wu zi yang zong wan
Comments / Discussions:
comment by "StephenS" (acupuncturist)
on Sep 2015
Amenorrhea (lack of menstruation) is most often a result of what we call blood deficiency. In a nutshell the lack of proper nutrition results in the inability of the body to generate blood. As a protective measure the period is halted in an attempt to conserve the blood. It is also likely that you have weakened the essence. Think of the essence as a strategic energy reserve. If not enough food is coming in to create new energy, the essence is tapped into to make up the difference. Essence also play a crucial role in the reproductive system and a weakened essence can also lead to amenorrhea.
In short anorexia very severely depletes the body. It can take months or even years to fully recover. There are herbal formulas that can also help to strengthen the blood and build up the essence. I would recommend you continue acupuncture and consult with your acupuncturist about herbal formulas that can further help (those two I linked are just general recommendations and may not actually be appropriate for you).
Even without acupuncture treatment and/or herbs your period will most likely return on its own once you’ve built yourself back up. The process will go along faster with treatment
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