When Your Period Is Late

Picture this…

You feel your body gearing up for the start of a new menstrual cycle. Your moods are low, your appetite is a little crazy. Then the day comes where you usually start shedding your uterus lining but…

Nothing happens.

Days go by and still nothing happens. No need for tampons, cups or pads- you missed your period.

This is a common thing that can occur and it recently happened to me. In this post I will be discussing late periods and all about my recent ordeal with one.

About late periods

Late periods are when they don’t start when one is expecting them to. Many people (even those with PCOS), have cycle lengths that are predictable. As in, they have a good idea when they will start bleeding. The average length of a menstrual cycle is around 21 to 35 days long.

Being late is different than completely missing one, though. The latter has occurred when it has been over 42 days since your last period.

Late periods and missed periods can be caused by the same things. These include some of the following (there are more than this):

• Mental stress- The body and mind are connected. If one is experiencing a lot of mental stress due to various reasons, the body can be affected as well. One’s menstrual cycle is a common thing that can get affected.
• Eating disorders- These put stress on your body and can mess up your hormones. This often leads to one being late or missing their periods.
• Medications- There are some medications that can cause you to be late or miss your period. These include Aspirin, thyroid medications, antidepressants and epilepsy medication.
• Perimenopause and menopause- These involve decreases in one’s reproductive hormones which then leads to late and missing periods.
• Diabetes- If you this condition is not under control, one’s blood sugar levels can mess with their hormones. This in turn can lead to late and missed periods.
• PCOS- This is a hormonal-based, chronic health condition. It is well known to cause messed up menstrual cycles.
• Illnesses- Being sick with anything can cause stress on the body which can in turn cause late and missing periods.

The treatments for late or missed periods are dependent on the cause. Here are some options:

• Birth control
• HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for perimenopause.
• Whatever treatment is needed to clear up an illness that is affecting one’s period.
• Stress relief methods if the late or missed periods are due to that.
• Eating a healthier diet that properly nourishes you.
• Getting your diabetes under control.
• Getting your weight down if need-be.

My ordeal

My menstrual cycles have always been 27-28 days long (except for when I was pregnant of course). It seemed like the one thing that PCOS did not affect.

Then came my last cycle.

Everything was going as usual-same old physical and mental symptoms that I get. I didn’t have any ovulation butt cramps, but sometimes I just don’t ovulate. I figure that it is a PCOS thing.

I get to day 28 and all my PMS/PMDD symptoms cease to exist. What the heck? Before I knew it I was on day 40 with still no period in sight.

At that point I decided to take a pregnancy test knowing that there really was no way that I was pregnant. Of course it turned out negative. I am not fertile in the slightest.

I began to experience symptoms once I got to day 40. These included excess hunger, gassiness, urinary frequency increase, insomnia, night sweats, headaches and exhaustion. It was on day 43 that I decided to try drinking spearmint tea again and see if it would cause my period to start.

I drank two cups a day as I was doing before. After five days…I started bleeding! I don’t know if it was coincidence or what but I was excited to hopefully be back on track with my cycle.

Unfortunately, the excitement waned after my cramps set in that first day. Holy crap they were terrible! The pain was right up there with labor. This led me to use the following for relief:

The cutest hot water bottle belt ever!

I found out about these from the PMDD subreddit and had to buy one. It comes with a rubber bottle that you fill up with really hot water. Once it is filled up, you slide it into a pocket that is on the back of the belt. You can strap it around anywhere that hurts.

I loved using this because I could walk around with it and be hands-free. It really helped tremendously and I will use it again when my next period comes.

Why did this happen to me?

The thought of me being in perimenopause has been crossing my mind lately. The symptoms that I consider as being part of my worsening PMS/PMDD could very well be the beginnings of menopause. This could be the cause of my period being so late.

It could also be that PCOS is just rearing it’s ugly head at this point in my life. I have been wondering when it would do so!

At this point, I really can’t say why it happened. If my next two periods come on time, I will lean towards it being the PCOS that reared it’s ugly head and that the spearmint tea actually helps me a lot.

In conclusion

Having messed up periods can be really annoying. You may not understand why they are like that, when they will show up or when they will end. Fortunately, there are some causes that might give you a clue as to what is going on and in turn, how to go about fixing them.

This last cycle of mine was more uncomfortable than usual as well as a bit scary. I will update this post with how my next two cycles go.

Have you had wonky periods? If so, what do you think was the cause?

Thanks for reading!

#pms #pmdd #pcos #hormones #hormonalproblems #periods #menopause