Expert: Nafeesah - 3/22/2009

Question
I don't even know if I should be here or not, I didn't go through a full fledged anorexic binge like everyone, but I'm still just concerned about what's going on with me here.

Two years ago I went on some crazy diet for 2 1/2 months where I only ate between 250-450 calories a day, in those 2 1/2 months I lost over 50lbs. I've since then gained 12 back, but it just seems to all be creeping it up on me now. Like at my lowest I was 124, that's when I felt comfortable and stopped. Shortly after I stuck at 127, then 130. And for probably 1 1/2 years now I managed to maintain 130. Then over the past months it's been creeping up on me and now I'm weighing in at 140, but I hadn't changed anything in my diet at any point in time. I also suffer from extremely bad constipation that my doctor doesn't seem to want to try to help me with, I mean bad as in only 1-2 bowel movement a month, which I really don't know if that would be contributing to any of the extra weight or not. I just recently started getting my period back too, over those 2 1/2 years I didn't have my periods, but I just recenty have, this is my third month. And it seems that every month I gain weight with the period and it doesn't go away after.

I guess my main question is, would 2 1/2 months of low calorie eating to get to just a nice healthy weight contribute to/cause this??? Or should I look at other things that I might possibly be? I'm just really scared and don't want to gain anymore weight, I was so so so happy at 130, and I really want to get back to 130 but over the past couple months it's been just going up :( And I'm scared.

Answer
If your doctor isnt helping you then find someone else who will because constipation is serious it can make you sick. The weight you gain from your period is water weight. That goes away when your period ends for the month and you usually lose that when you urinate and eliminate. You need a certain amount of body fat to maintain a healthy period and when you're having bouts of skipping periods that means your hormonal balance is off. You need to get a second opinion from another doctor to find out what's going on and get it dealt with. Sounds like you need to change doctors if the current one is not helping you and get to a doctor ASAP to deal with the constipation issue.