# Being overweight affecting my period regularity?



## Anne2008 (Nov 17, 2008)

Im 40 lbs over my ideal weight right now, and for the past 6ish months I have noticed I have a normal period for a couple months, then I don't get the next one for 5-6 weeks instead of the usual 4 weeks.

It has been almost 5 weeks again this time, and im a little concerned if this is dangerous to my fertility or what?

I cant think of anything else that can be causing this, nothing else has changed, I am on an anti-depressant medication -could that affect it, or is it most likely the excess weight?


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## mama2noah (Oct 31, 2007)

Well m'dear!
i am afraid from a medical stnadpoint they will always tell you its your weight, however I have a couple of questions that might be helpful to you:
- Have your periods been regular with your current weight....or do they fluctuate in regularity depending on your weight?
-How long have you been on the anti depressant meds? If it has been less than 3 months it is possible that a perscription has set your body off kilter a little.
My final word of advice is that I personnally feel as a woman who is overweight herself that the medical profession is very quick to diagnose our weight as the source of all our problems. I would not be so ignorant to say that it is healthy to be overweight but I really don't feel that if it's getting in the way of your general health that it will affect your fertility.
Hope that helps
a little!


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## mama2noah (Oct 31, 2007)

"I would not be so ignorant to say that it is healthy to be overweight but I really don't feel that if it's getting in the way of your general health that it will affect your fertility"

* Sorry I meant if its not in the way of your general health it shouldn't affect your fertility*


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## soxthecatrules (Oct 20, 2008)

Anne,

I am anywhere from 30-50 lbs overweight (depending on the doc you ask) and it didn't affect my ability to conceive at all. So that amount of excess weight probably isn't the culprit, IMHO. Now, I have a friend who is 150+ lbs overweight and it did affect her cycles and fertility. After 5+ years of trying to conceive she finally lost 50 lbs and was pregnant in no time at all. I also had complications in both of my pregnancies and my OB was clear that he felt that my being overweight was NOT the main culprit. that I would have had problems no matter what.

Personally, i would be more worried about those meds you are on.


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## ShwarmaQueen (Mar 28, 2008)

I agree w/ the PP's...being overweight while TTC is not always counterproductive. There is, however, a fine line where *some* people, who are just a little overweight, have issues when crossed...but it's not clear who and at what weight. I coceived DD when I was close to 40 BMI- probably 60-70 lbs overweight.

What's more important is your nutrition, exercise, and understanding your fertility. Do you chart your temps? When I first started temping I realized I also have looong cycles (34-38 days), but they're regular (enough) and I _am_ ovulating, so the long cycles are really not a problem and don't indicate I'm infertile at all. This may be the case for you too.








Hang in there!


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## Mosaic (Jun 20, 2005)

Agreed... weight can impact your cycles, but regular cycles coming 5-6 weeks apart is within the range of normal.







Typically, if weight were to impact your cycles, you would likely see much longer and irregular anovulatory cycles, which doesn't appear to be the case here.

Some women (like myself!) have longer cycles naturally, and that is not necessarily a sign that anything is wrong. Statistically speaking, it makes conceiving more difficult only because you release, say, 9 eggs in a year instead of 12. But if your cycles are regular, your O apparent, and your LP sufficient, you shouldn't have any issues.


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## esmicosaquehago (Oct 24, 2008)

If you want kids in the future, I'd get it checked out now. That's how my PCOS started - went from regular to a few extra weeks in between, then skipping months, and now I get maybe one period a year on my own. I am NOT saying that this is the case with you, but it's worth looking into as PCOS supposedly affects 10-30% of women.


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## Dov'sMom (Jan 24, 2007)

Weight can definitely be a factor, but I think certain people tend to be more sensitive to weight than others. Me, I've fluctuated from a size 18 to a size 32 over the course of my adult life, and I had no trouble conceiving #s 1 and 2 (getting impatient now that #2 is a year old, but I think tandem nursing is the more likely culprit than my weight because I'm under teh weight I was when I conceived #2). My two sisters, however, who fluctuate between sizes 12 and 20, both lose their menses whenever they start to gain weight and it can take months to come back.

On the other hand, I know that I was on anti-depressants once in high school and that was the only time in my life my period stopped. I went to the psychiatrist for a second visit 3 months in and told him I hadn't had a period and he laughed at me and said it must have been my weight. I insisted that my period was very regular until then, but he refused to believe me that the antidepressant could have affected my period until I pulled his copy of the PDR off his desk, opened to the name of my drug, and read to him the last line: "In some cases, XX will cause the cessation of menses." I got my normal period back within a month of stopping the meds and it turned out I didn't need them anyway.


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

weight affected my fertility. I had to lose 50 lbs (20 from ideal weight) to even get a cycle back.

Everyone is different. I seriously didn't look 'obese' I've had drs put me on 2 different scales, or weight themselves to check the scale because they didn't believe it. I've got that 'fridge' style body.

Anyways. a week probably isn't that impacting. I would go for months or years without a cycle.


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