Periods are an indicator of a woman’s health. The higher is the regularity; the sounder is the overall health. Missing periods is a good sign only if you are planning for a baby otherwise it can be a warning signal of something serious going on in your boy, which deserves immediate attention.
There might be instances when you must have missed a period, yet the pregnancy test turned out is negative. Now that is a situation that needs to be discussed with the doctor.
What is Irregularity in Periods?
Irregularity in periods means when the menses don’t happen for 35 days in a row or if the time duration varies or there is variation in the flow during menses.
Irregularity in periods can be because of hormonal imbalances, changes in contraceptives, or changes in hormones when you reach menopause or heavy exercises.
Missing a period:
Most of the time, you will think that missing a period means you have conceived. But that doesn’t hold true because you can have missed periods, but pregnancy tests can show negative results. The reasons behind this can be:
- Lifestyle: Malnutrition, lack of exercise, and too much work pressure can result in missed periods.
- Breastfeeding: Missed periods and negative pregnancy test is common during breastfeeding.
- PCOS: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or thyroid can result in missed periods. In either of the cases, either the flow is heavy or minimal, or there is no flow at all, thus resulting in missed periods. If you haven’t had periods for 90 days at a stretch, talk to your doctor so that the treatment might begin.
- Birth control medications: Some contraceptives can alter the menstrual cycle, and thus you should consult the doctor before starting with any medication.
- Medication-related to diabetes or anti-allergy: These medications too can pull off the cycle and cause irregularity which can result in missed periods but negative results.
- Obesity or acute lean figure: In either of the cases, your periods are bound to get affected.
- Early peri-menopause: If you reach menopause before the age of 45, it means that your menses will end soon, and thus missing periods during this time is normal.
If you are planning for a baby and have missed periods and negative pregnancy test, it might mean that:
- You took the pregnancy test too soon, and home pregnancy kit couldn’t detect that
- hCG levels in urine were low and thus couldn’t show positive results.
If you miss periods for two months in a row, you must check with your doctor to find out the reason behind the same and the following symptoms shouldn’t be ignored:
- Unusual Bleeding
- Bleeding for more than 7 days
- Bleeding after menopause since a year
The regularity in menses is a must and if there is any deviation, it shouldn’t be taken lightly.