Can birth control pills help you keep your period if you're Anorexic?

Question

If someone is Anorexic and without any medications is amenorrheic, can taking birth control pills start up their period again?

I have heard that it can't because the placebo week of your period is just an absence of the heightened estrogen hormones so if you're body wasn't naturally menstruating it wouldn't start.

What do you think?

Answer 1

Taking birth control while having secondary amenorrhea usually will re-start your periods. It depends on the birth control because some forms contain both progesterone and estrogen and some just contain progesterone. The main reason for taking birth control for secondary amenorrhea caused by anorexia is to prevent lose of bone density. Estrogen fixes calcium to the bones and in an anorexics body, low body fat prevents enough estrogen from being produced naturally. This is why many people with eating disorders have early onset osteoporosis. Taking birth control helps supplement the body's own hormones and can help control bone density and heart health (the heart, like all muscles requires calcium, which is taken from the bones if there is not enough present in the diet).

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

It's possible depending on what kind of medication they use to start the period but I would recommend checking with your doctor as well to see what they say.