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(reply to Anonymous)

Nia,

What you have is called amenorrhea, which means absence of menstruation.

It IS possible to get pregnant with amenorrhea, but you need to know if you're ovulating or not. If you aren't ovulating, you can't get pregnant. And if you are ovulating, you can get pregnant but it may be hard to know when in your cycle to try for a baby.

We have a great EmpowHer page on amenorrhea:

https://www.empowher.com/media/reference/amenorrhea-0#definition

And here's some information from that page:

Primary amenorrhea occurs if an adolescent female has not yet begun menstruation by around age 16 or so. Secondary amenorrhea describes a condition in which a woman who has previously menstruated on a regular basis misses three or more periods in a row. In the United States, amenorrhea affects between 2-5% of women.

In nonpregnant women, amenorrhea may result from a variety of factors, including an existing medical condition, lifestyle, emotional distress, hormonal irregularity, or medication. Every effort should be made to determine the exact cause. Specific causes of amenorrhea include:

◦Dramatic weight loss, particularly from drastic diets, eating disorders including anorexia and bulimia , or excessive exercise
◦Dramatic weight gain or morbid obesity
◦Malnourishment
◦Birth defects including lack of a uterus, vagina, or other reproductive organs
◦Medical conditions including cystic fibrosis , Cushing's disease , polycystic ovary , or Prader-Willi syndrome
◦Psychological stress—can lead to a hormonal imbalance sufficient to cause amenorrhea.
◦Medications—some antidepressants, chemotherapeutics, corticosteroids, certain contraceptives.
◦Chromosomal abnormalities
◦Hermaphroditism (having both male and female reproductive organs)
◦Pituitary tumor
◦Thyroid dysfunction
◦Uterine scarring

That page also talks about diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Have you seen your doctor in the last year or so? Has she or he talked with you about possible causes of your amenorrhea and whether any testing should be done?

December 3, 2009 - 8:22am

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