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Reasons for Missed Period Besides Pregnancy

Bidisha Mukherjee
I am sure pregnancy would be the first thing to come to your mind when you miss your period! But, did you know that there are a number of other causes that would lead to skipping of your period? If not, then read this article..
It is strange that something as minor as missing of a period can bring out a range of emotions in different women. If you are trying to conceive, you might suddenly get hopeful at the prospect of motherhood, while others dreading a pregnancy might get scared out of their wits.
Besides, there is this other class of women, who may lose their sleep over a missed period, because they have been sexually inactive! Fortunately or unfortunately, there are a number of other factors that cause your menstrual cycle to go haywire.
So, before you come to any conclusion it would be wise to learn what these other reasons for missed period are. Sexually active women can take a pregnancy test to rule out the possibility of a pregnancy.
Those of you who have missed a period and are experiencing some early symptoms such as morning sickness, should first consult your midwife or doctor. It is possible that you could be pregnant and still get a negative pregnancy test because of low sensitivity pregnancy kit.
So, you will be advised to conduct a retest after one week. If the second test is negative too, then look out for the reasons behind late period. The commonly found causes of irregular menstrual period and possible ways of treating them are given below.

Other Possible Causes for Missing a Period

Underlying Illnesses

The problem of missed period could be related to some underlying health problems. Diseases that can delay the periods are tuberculosis, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, liver disease and so on.
So, if you are suffering from any such illness, then regular periods would resume only when the disease is completely cured.

Weight Related Issues

Sudden weight gain or loss of weight are bad for your health. When your body weight is too much, then the body hormones often fail to function normally. As a result, you may get periods irregularly or it may temporarily stop for some time.
On the other hand, underweight women face such a problem due to low body fat. To resume normal periods, those women who are underweight should regain a healthy body weight and overweight women have to lose the extra pounds.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

This is a hormonal disorder which results in formation of small cysts inside the ovaries and triggers menstrual abnormality. Sometimes, women with PCOS get prolonged period and at other times, they do not get periods for few months.
During the time of their cycle, they may experience premenstrual syndrome such as cramps but there is no period. Doctors treat ovarian cysts with birth control pills and other medicines that contain synthetic form of estrogen and progesterone hormones.

Menopause

When a woman is approaching her menopause, she may have missed periods, light periods or heavy periods. This phase is often refer to as perimenopause where the levels of reproductive hormones start going down and the menstruation schedule becomes irregular. It is absolutely normal condition and does not require any treatment.

Mental Stress

Excessive mental stress can cause severe harm to your overall health. It can lead to hormonal imbalance in your body and the periods get delayed. In this condition, your doctor will advise you to keep your mind free from stress with the help of various relaxation techniques.

Other Causes

Eating disorders, increase in strenuous physical exercises, breastfeeding are a few of the other general causes behind missed period. It can be triggered by irregular use of birth control pills. In this case, women get spotting after they missed the pills for few days in between.
Any abnormal change in daily schedule have an adverse impact on your cycle. This is particularly true when you stay awake till late nights on a regular basis or you work night shifts.
Hope this article has made one thing clear in your mind, that you should not get alarmed when your period is delayed. As you can see, the medical problems responsible for missed period require proper treatment. On the other hand, for the non medical reasons, changes in lifestyle can bring back the normal cycle.