Not having your periods in time can surely give you a panic attack.
Am I pregnant? Are my hormones doing well? Or my body fat percentage has gone too high?
All these questions can come to your mind as soon as you miss your periods. What does it mean to miss your periods? Well, the length of your menstrual cycle is an answer to this.
The average length of the menstrual cycle varies from woman to woman. Before we discuss more, here is what menstruation is all about.
Menstruation is your body’s way to get rid of the unneeded womb tissues that were previously established to nurture a tiny human being!!!
Coming back to the average length of the menstrual cycle, it could be anywhere between 21-35 days. It is generally said that if you haven’t got a period for the last 38 days, then you should consider your periods late. If you continue to miss your periods for consecutively three months, then this is a cause of concern.
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Why is My Period Late?
Let’s know more about why having regulated periods is important and why do you miss them!
Knowing about your menstrual health is important, for all the reasons. Duration, frequency, and severity of your periods say a lot about your overall health. So, getting your periods on time is important. If you are a fertile female and experience delay in your periods, then here are the possible explanations behind it.
1- Your Hormones are See Sawing
Yes, your hormone fluctuations are one of the top reasons that cause irregular or late periods. From preparing your womb to nourish a mini human being to deciding when to shed this womb cushion, hormones decide everything. The regulated menstrual cycle is dependent upon how different types of hormones in the human body interact in different ways.
In case of any hormonal balance, it tends to affect your reproductive function. So, you see-sawing hormones can cause you to miss your periods.
2- Too Bulky or Too Skinny
Regulated periods are one of the signs of a healthy body. Any significant health changes are indicated by menstrual changes, even if it’s your body weight. No matter if you are overweight or underweight, this is going to affect how often you get your periods.
Being overweight can result in fat deposition on your ovaries which is one of the common reasons that you may miss your periods. In contrast to this, being underweight can halt egg production in your body because your body is not capable of nurturing life. So, if you have recently gained or shed a significant amount of weight, then this can also cause you to miss your periods.
The following can gain or lose weight by following the right kind of workouts and diet plans.
3- Stress Adds to Your Sufferings!
Your periods are late, you are having those before date or you are experiencing extremely painful periods, stress could be one reason.
Again the reason is your hormones. If you are suffering from extreme stress, then definitely it will change your hormones. The spike in your stress hormone levels can disturb your other hormones. This eventually serves as one critical reason for late periods.
4- Sleep Disruption
Sleep and good health.. The association is undying.
Your sleep wellness is directly related to all other parameters of your health. According to research, sleep disruption is one of the major causes of late periods. Shifting your work routines can disturb your circadian rhythm. The alteration in circadian rhythm can impact menstrual events. For this reason, sleep disruption is considered one of the major causes of your delayed periods.
5- A Gym Grind
Are you someone who hits the gym every day or multiple times during the day? Well, this could be one possible reason why your periods are late.
Menstruation isn’t the reason in itself that causes your periods to stop or pause, it is the imbalance between energy consumption and energy expenditure. This alongside the changes in hormonal production can be the reason you are missing your periods or getting those late.
Don’t get afraid if you are doing mild weight loss workouts unless you are lifting heavyweights in the gym.
6- Being Anemic
Periods are all about shedding blood!
How will your body let you shed the blood when you don’t have enough healthy blood in your body? Well, that’s the case with anemic women.
Anemia simply means possessing low hemoglobin levels. Having lower hemoglobin levels in your body can interfere with your periods. If you are anemic then this is one possible reason behind your missed or delayed periods. So, ladies, make sure that you load your diet with iron-rich foods if your period’s delay is coming from iron deficiency.
7- Menopause is Just Around the Corner
You must be aware of menopause. It simply refers to the point in a woman’s life where her ovaries stop producing eggs anymore.
After years of ovulation, your ovaries get tired and decide to not produce eggs anymore. Menopause doesn’t come suddenly and takes years to decide on this which is known as perimenopause. During perimenopause, your body changes itself in many ways. A part of this change usually comes as missed or irregular periods. So, women who are in the perimenopause phase can also experience irregular periods.
8- Breastfeeding
There are many known benefits of breastfeeding. This not only keeps your child healthy and immune but also helps the mother in many possible ways. With all these benefits of breastfeeding, there is a significant impact of breastfeeding on female menstrual health. While your body is producing milk this tends to change your hormonal levels. These hormonal fluctuations can be the reason behind your missed or delayed periods.
9- Medications
You want to treat one condition and end up with period abnormalities. There is nothing to get surprised by as medication can impact your period’s frequency and schedule. When you are on certain medications, this tends to change your blood or cellular processes that are involved in your menstrual regulation. From blood-thinning medications to cancer treatment drugs, being on these medications can interfere with your menstrual cycle causing you to miss your periods.
10– Conditions Like PCOS and Thyroid
Hormones are everything when it comes to your menstrual health.
Conditions like PCOS directly affect your menstrual health and women suffering from it have difficulty getting pregnant. Similarly, in the case of the thyroid excessive or limited production of thyroid hormones can disturb your menstrual cycle. So, if you are not pregnant and still miss your periods, then these hormonal conditions can be the cause.
Health Tip: If you are suffering from PCOS then you can try seed cycling to improve your reproductive health (all thanks to many seed cycling benefits).
11- Pregnancy
This is something very obvious about pregnancy and periods. In case you are wondering why you still haven’t got your periods, pregnancy could be the possible explanation behind it.
Missed periods are one of the earliest pregnancy confirmation signs. So, yes if you are bearing a tiny human inside you, your body doesn’t feel like shedding the womb lining.
When You Should Worry about Missed Periods?
Missing your periods could be a terrible thing to experience. If you haven’t got your periods within the last 35 days, then this could be quite concerning. From detecting any nutritional deficiency to diagnosing any underlying medical cause, addressing your delayed periods can be important. If you miss your period for consecutively three months while not being pregnant, then you should seek out immediate help from a gynecologist.
Let’s Wrap Up!
Every woman deserves happy and healthy periods. Not only it’s about the periods but how many times you get these and how regulated your cycle is, everything determines your menstrual health. So, keeping an eye on your menstrual health is important. So, in case you are experiencing any difficult periods make sure to consult your gynecologist.
You can consult the best gynecologist in Lahore via Healthwire.pk to seek out the right medical advice.
