Where's my period?Reasons for Late or missed Periods

Most women hate and dread that time of the month when they have to have their periods,accompanied by also some discomforts and pain but as much as we hate them we all love them equally because they are a sign that you are not pregnant but also a sign that your body is functioning properly.Missing your monthly period whereas you are not pregnant can therefore raise curiosity and cause anxiety over if your health as a woman is really okay.Having a constant menstrual period is known as menorrhea wheras the lack of constant monthly period is known as amennorhea.If your periods don't appear on time,you could try to go for a pregnancy test.But if you know or it turns out that you are not pregnant then the reasons below could be the cause of your late or missed periods.

-Primary amennorhea

This is when a girl has reached the age of 15 or puberty but hasn't started her periods.This may be due to delay in puberty development among other things such as congenital absential of the uterus.

-Secondary amennorhea

This occurs at a certain stage when a womans periods suddenly begin to stop often for a period of three months

Lack of periods means that you have a condition known as amennorhea.But for it to be termed as amennorhea one has to have missed their periods for a period of three months or more.There are various reasons why you may have missed your monthly or menstrual period.One of the common reasons why you could be having late,delayed or missed periods is that you could be pregnant.Once a woman gets pregnant,her periods stop coming since the process of ovulation stops until she delivers.If you suspect that you are pregnant then it would be wise to first confirm this by going for a pregnancy test.If you are sure you are not pregnant then there are several other reasons as listed below that could have caused the delay in your periods.

1.Hormonal imbalance

2. Stress and worry

Too much stress and worry can distract the ovulation process.Try and check with your doctor how you can possibly relax and drop your stress levels.

3. Weather and climate change

Sometimes changing locations for instance moving from a hot region to a cold region could cause your body hormones to react negatively hence a delay in your periods.

4. Change of schedules

This happens in cases where one moves from working on a night schedule to a day schedule.If this is your case,try getting back to our normal schedule or if this is no longer possible wait until your next period when your body will have adjusted to your new schedule and your periods will probably be back to normal.

5. Dieting weight loss

Sudden weight loss and dieting can lead to missed periods as your body tries to adjust to your new weight.If this is the case, wait until your body has adjusted to your new weight and see if your next periods will come back to normal.

6. Excess exercise

Too much exercise can lead to hormonal imbalances which result to missed or irregular periods.If you suspect this is the case,reduce the rate at which you are exercising and make your exercising moderate.

7. Contraceptives

Certain contraceptives do sometimes interfere with ovulation hence if you are using any method of oral contraceptions,you could check with your doctor if they could be the cause of delayed or missing periods.

8. Medications

There are certain medications that can cause hormonal imbalance .If you are on any medications check with a pharmacist or a doctor if the medications have any side effects

9. Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding in certain cases interferes with ovulation.

10. Peri menopause

Your periods could skip months before coming if you are about to reach menopause.

menopause.

11. Menopause

This is the stage when a woman's body stops ovulating and this means that your periods stop compeletely.This mostly happens when one is around the age of 40.

1. Go for a pregnancy test.If you are not pregnant then go to the next step

2. If you miss your periods for just a couple of weeks wait until your next period to see if they will start coming again.Maybe you were stressed out and they could come back when you are not stressed or if you are in a new environment then you wait till your body adjusts to the new environment.

3. If they do not come or you have other symptoms beyond you can't understand,you need to see a doctor for medical checkup.

The following tests will help determine why your periods are late or why you missed them.

1.Going for a physical examination- This involves having a physical checkup for any physical problems including checking on your weight and if you have other problems such as galactoria(milk production)

2.Going for blood tests- Prolactin,tsh,fsh

3.Progesteron challenge test- it is also known as provera to check if you will bleed after the test.