
10 Reasons You Missed Your Period Besides Pregnancy;
A friend of mine just had a nasty experience in which
she thought she was pregnant after her period was 5 days late. I had to calm her down that there are
myriads of reasons your period can be late. It’s easy
to jump to conclusions when you realize your period
is late. If you’re trying to conceive, you may feel excitement and a sense of disbelief.
If you’re not, you might feel fear or disappointment, not to mention utter confusion if you know there’s no
way you could be pregnant. The fact is, though most people automatically think of pregnancy anytime a
period is late, it could be that or one of many other
possibilities. The typical menstrual cycle is 28 days long. If you
have a regular cycle, your period may come every 28
days like clockwork. However, having a regular cycle is no guarantee that your period will always arrive
when expected. Since the time of ovulation can vary
from month to month, it’s possible that this month you ovulated a little later than you normally would
have, and your period is not actually late, even
though it seems like it is. In addition, if you don’t
keep track of your cycles, it’s easy to mix up the date of your last period, and thus miscalculate when to
expect your next one. You may have heard that stress can delay your
period, and stress is in fact one of the most common
causes of a missed period. Usually when stress
delays your period though, it is because you were under stress around the time you would have
ovulated. If ovulation is delayed, your period, which
normally comes 14 days later, is also delayed. Stress around the time of your period does not normally
make your period late – or not very late – provided
that you ovulated when you normally do. Worrying can cause your period to be a day or two late, but it
won’t push your period out much later than that. If
you ovulated around the time you normally do, your
period should arrive within 14 to 16 days after
ovulation, whether you are under stress or not.
Like stress, illness can also make your period late. If
you are ill around the time you would have ovulated,
this may keep you from ovulating or temporarily
delay ovulation. If ovulation is late, your period will
be late as well. If your period is late, think back to
how you were feeling a couple weeks earlier. If you
were sick, this could very well explain why your
period hasn’t showed up.
Having an eating disorder or being underweight can
disrupt your menstrual cycles or cause them to stop
all together. It was once thought that anorexia
nervosa was the only eating disorder that caused
menstrual irregularities, but newer studies have
found that any eating disorder can cause problems
with menstruation. When a woman doesn’t have
enough body fat, her body has a hard time making
the necessary estrogen to support ovulation. If you
aren’t ovulating, you won’t have a period or your
periods will become irregular.
Being overweight can disrupt your menstrual cycles.
Your ovaries produce estrogen, but body fat is also a
source of estrogen. When a woman has low body fat
she doesn’t produce enough estrogen, but when she
is overweight she may produce too much estrogen.
Estrogen and progesterone work together to
maintain a healthy menstrual cycle. Normally during
the first half of your cycle estrogen levels increase
until they reach a certain threshold. When your
estrogen levels reach this threshold, it triggers
ovulation. When your body has a steady flow of
estrogen though, your body doesn’t differentiate the
high estrogen level as an ovulation trigger because
your estrogen levels are always at a higher level. This
interferes with ovulation. If you aren’t ovulating
regularly, your cycles can become sporadic and
unpredictable.
PCOS, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, is a disorder
that is caused by having excessive male hormones.
All women produce some male hormones (or
androgens) but women with PCOS produce higher
levels of androgens. This can cause the ovaries to
malfunction and keep her from ovulating. Normally
during ovulation a woman will produce several
follicles, but one will become the dominant follicle
that is released during ovulation. Women with PCOS
instead produce many small follicles, but because of
the extra androgens none of them fully mature.
Because she is not able to ovulate, her cycles may
become irregular.
It is fairly common for women with thyroid disorders
to have issues with ovulation and irregular menstrual
cycles. Doctors aren’t clear on why the thyroid causes
problems with the menstrual cycle. Sometimes
women with thyroid disorders don’t ovulate or if they
do they may have a weaker ovulation and shorter
luteal phase. Anything that interferes with normal
ovulation can cause your period to be late or to
become irregular.
Every woman is born with around 1 to 3 million eggs.
Every time she ovulates she releases one of these
eggs. She also loses some of her eggs as she ages.
Some of them die. Some of them get old and are no
longer quality eggs. When she no longer has any
quality eggs, she stops ovulating, and in turn stops
having a period. For most women this happens
sometime around the age of 45. Sometimes this will
happen earlier than expected. When a woman stops
having a period before she turns 45 it is referred to
as early menopause; if she stops having a period
before 40 it is called premature menopause.
Anything that puts stress on your body can cause
ovulation to be delayed. If you start a new job, travel,
or change your wake-up time, it may take your body a
little while to adjust to the change. If the change in
routine took place around when you would have
ovulated, it may stop ovulation or push your
ovulation date back.
If this happens, your period will
be delayed or you might even skip a cycle.
Endurance athletes and women who exercise
excessively sometimes stop having a period, even if
they are at a healthy body weight. A demanding
exercise program puts a lot of stress on a woman’s
body. When this happens her body may stop
menstruating as a way to conserve energy.
Additionally, women who exercise a lot may have
extremely low body fat. Without body fat, a woman’s
body can’t produce enough estrogen to ovulate.
Most hormonal birth control contain synthetic
versions of the hormones estrogen and
progesterone. By altering your hormone levels, birth
control stops ovulation, changes the quality of your
cervical mucus, and thins your uterine lining which
makes implantation difficult. After you have taken
birth control for a while your lining may become
thinner, your period may become lighter, or you may
stop having a period altogether. Some birth control
methods will keep you from having a period, or will
reduce the frequency of your menstrual cycles.
Moreover, during the first few cycles on birth control,
your menstrual cycle may take a while to adjust. This
may cause your period to be delayed.
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