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Some Reasons for a Late Period

Posted by sanjay on Thursday 19 Mar 2009

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We don’t realize how much our lives revolve around our menstrual cycles until we have a late period. As soon as we are a day late we start to panic. The first thought that crosses our mind when we have a late period is that we are pregnant. We immediately start counting backwards, it doesn’t seem to matter if we are actually having sex or not, we just start counting backwards. The reality is that there are several reasons and not just pregnancy, that our period might be late.

Stress

Stress is a key factor in the regularity of our menstrual cycle. When we are relaxed and happy with our lives our period is usually very regular, but when we get stressed our hormone levels start to fluctuate, making our period late. In cases of severe stress you might even go several months without a having a period, The good news is that when we eliminate the stress from our lives the regularity of our menstrual cycle will return.

Environmental Changes

Environmental changes can be a reason for a late period. It takes your body a few weeks to adjust to its new surroundings. After an environmental change you also might notice that your period is lighter than usual.

Babies

We all know that being pregnant causes our period to stop all together. When it’s housing a fetus the uterus doesn’t have any reason to shed its lining. What we don’t always understand is that lots of women don’t have a menstrual cycle while they are breastfeeding their baby. Some experts believe that while we are breastfeeding our bodies keep producing hormones that make it think that you think are still pregnant. When your baby is no longer nursing, your period will return with its usual frequency.

Friends

One of the things women notice is that when they start spending time with different women that their menstrual cycle changes. Your hormone levels adjust to match the women you are associating with.

Medications

Adding medications can be a reason for a late period. The medication changes your body chemistry and causes a later period. This is especially true if your gynecologist has made a change to your birth control prescription.