Hi all!
I recently shared my current mental and physical health journey with hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) recovery on Instagram and YouTube. I have been wanting to share my condition for some time now as I am hoping opening up about this chapter of my life will:
1.) Keep me accountable to full (not quasi) recovery.
2.) Motivate me to actually creating YouTube content, which I have been wanting to do since I was like 13...🫠🙃
3.) Spread awareness about HA and help support those on a similar journey.
So to kick-off my YouTube (and blog) series on HA, I find it appropriate to begin with:
What is Hypothalamic Amenorrhea?
Hypothalamic Amenorrhea is clinically known as Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea. For the remainder of this post, HA. Stemming from 3 Greek roots the word amenorrhea is used to describe the lack of menstruation in females of reproductive age.
Amenorrhea can be classified as either primary or secondary amenorrhea. Primary is when a female never experiences a period in the first place. The cut off usually being by the age of 15 or 3 years after thelarche. A medical term for the beginning of breast development, you know because, "growing boobies" is not a scientifically acceptable description.
Secondary amenorrhea on the other hand is characterized by a female loosing her period for 3 months+. "Normal" causes of secondary amenorrhea include pregnancy and menopause. Abnormalities in structures along the menstrual pathway i.e., the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, ovaries, endometrium, cervix, and vagina can also cause amenorrhea. In the case of hypothalamic amenorrhea there is an abnormality in, you guessed it, the hypothalamus.
The menstrual pathway is specifically known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis. Referring to the critical relationship between the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary gland, and ovaries in regulating menstruation.
A normal menstrual cycle in a nutshell begins with the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus manages many hormones including the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Once a certain level of GnRH is reached the anterior pituitary releases follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH causes the follicles in ovaries mature and estrogen is released. Estrogen then causes endometrium lining to grow and stimulates the pituitary to release a surge of luteinizing hormone (LH). LH triggers ovulation and the formation of the corpus luteum which releases progesterone. Without fertilization the corpus luteum shrinks causing a rapid decrease in estrogen and progesterone. The sudden drop in progesterone causes the endometrial lining to shed resulting in a period. The lowered hormone levels then signal the hypothalamus to secrete GnRH and the cycle starts again.
