Not pregnancy; 7 reasons why you may miss your period

Getting your period regularly is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you have to deal with cramps, bloating, and mood swings. On the other, yay, you’re not pregnant!

Missed period when babies are not on the agenda can be a real freak-out moment, but there are a few other factors that may be to blame.

Major Weight Loss or Excessive Exercise

If your BMI rapidly dips below 18 or 19, you may start to miss periods. This isn’t strictly based on BMI, though. Serious conditions like anorexia and bulimia can cause a missed period, but so can training for a marathon or some other major event that requires you to exercise more than usual.

“Nature has a way of protecting you from getting pregnant if your body is under such extreme stress. Your body prevents ovulation so you don’t have a lot of estrogen, don’t build a big uterine lining, and then don’t get a period.

Stress

A big scary event in your life can cause hypothalamic amenorrhea. This particular area of the brain, the hypothalamus, is where a lot of the hormones for your period are regulated.

The hypothalamus is very affected by stress. So if you are dealing with a big move, death in the family, huge breakup, or any other life event that’s shaking you up, it could be the cause of your late period or missed period.

A Thyroid Irregularity

The thyroid gland, located in your neck, regulates your metabolism. It also interacts with many other systems in your body to keep things running smoothly.

If you’re dealing with any type of thyroid imbalance, whether it’s hypo- or hyperthyroidism, that can have implications for your period. If you notice other symptoms of a thyroid disorder, check in with your doctor for an official diagnosis

Polycystic Ovary Symptom

PCOS is a hormone imbalance that comes down to a lack of ovulation, so you have altered levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. It can cause you to completely miss your period or just not menstruate regularly.  Other PCOS symptoms include hair growth in places like the face and chest, difficulty losing weight, and potential fertility issues. Your doctor can help you come up with a treatment plan to manage the condition.

Chronic Diseases Like Celiac

Any chronic disease that is left untreated or undiagnosed is a stressor to your general system and can result in missed periods.

Your Birth Control

A missed period or late period can actually be a harmless byproduct of the measures you take to avoid pregnancy.

Some low-dose pills will cause a lack of menses that is not dangerous and is many times a welcome side effect. The same goes for methods like hormonal IUDs, implants, or shots. It can also take some time for your period to come back if you’ve stopped birth control, but it will usually resume without issue in a few months.

Premature Menopause

When women under 40 have hormones misfiring in a significant way, they can go through premature menopause, also known as premature ovarian failure. Along with a missed period, signs of it include hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness.

This isn’t very common, so you shouldn’t immediately worry about it. If your gyno rules out the many other potential causes and thinks this may be the culprit, she’ll clue you in.

Other causes of absent menstruation

• Natural causes most likely to cause amenorrhea include pregnancy, breast-feeding, and menopause.
• Lifestyle factors may include excessive exercise and stress. Also, having too little body fat or too much body fat may also delay or stop menstruation.
• Hormonal imbalances may cause amenorrhea. They are usually triggered by tumors on the pituitary gland or the thyroid gland. Low estrogen levels or high testosterone levels can also cause them.
• Medications can cause amenorrhea in some women. Antipsychotics and antidepressants are often involved. Chemotherapy drugs and medications that treat high blood pressure can cause problems with menstruation as well. Suddenly stopping birth control pills may also lead to several months of absent periods before the cycle returns to normal.
• Physical defects such as structural problems in the female reproductive organs might be responsible for absent or delayed menstruation. These issues can result from birth defects, tumors, or infections that occurred in the womb or shortly after birth. In rare cases, missed periods could be a symptom of Asherman’s syndrome. This occurs due to scarring in the uterus after surgery, which can prevent mestruation.
• Genetic disorders or chromosomal disorders, such as Turner syndrome and Sawyer syndrome, can sometimes cause late menstruation.

When to see a doctor about absent menstruation