There are various reasons behind a woman to miss her menstrual period between the ages of puberty and menopause. But, pregnancy is the most common reason for a missed period. When you report your health provider about missing period, the first thing she will do is pregnancy test.
If the pregnancy test is negative, some other causes of missed period include:
Stress
Medications
Increased exercise
Weight gain or loss
Extreme dieting or malnutrition
Heavy tobacco smoking
Pituitary tumors
Premature ovarian failure
Perimenoapuse
Infections of the pelvic organs
Hormonal imbalances
Polycystic ovarian syndrome
Sexually transmitted diseases
Any changes identified in these can cause you to skip the period.
Oral contraceptives pills can also result in missed period. Usually, the pills have lower estrogen content that leads the lining of the uterus to become thin. Sometimes your menstrual period goes with light bleeding and sometimes results in skipped period.
Contraceptives like Depo-Provera and Norplant can make a woman to stop having regular periods. If the reason is not pregnancy, then there is less chance for a woman to miss the period. If you miss 2 or more periods, then you need to consult your gynecologist.
Usually, gynecologist uses the term amenorrhea to illustrate the absence of
menstrual period. It is rare to have primary amenorrhea, but it is most common to have secondary amenorrhea. Unless you miss 3 regular periods, your condition should not be considered as secondary amenorrhea.
What to Do if You Miss Any Contraceptive Pill?
It is common for a woman to skip the birth control pill and leading to an unplanned pregnancy. If you miss more than a pill in one moth, you need to choose other birth control option such as condoms.
Missing the contraceptive pill leads to:
Nausea
Early menstrual period
Irregular bleeding
Unplanned pregnancy
Menstrual cramps
Not taking the pill even for 12 hours to the normal pill time can greatly decrease the protection against pregnancy, instead of pills use condoms for seven days in that month.
If you are less than 24 hours late, immediately take the pill and take the next one at your regular time. If you are 24 hours late, take missed and todays pills at the same time. If you are more than 24 hours late, take the last pill you missed now and take the next one on time. Continue the remaining pills according to the schedule.
How to remember taking the pill on time?
Everyday take the pill at the same time.
Associate the pill time with anything that is constant in your day such as breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Keep one pack at your home and one in your bag so that you can take the missed pill immediately after remembering.
While traveling out of the country, adjust with the timing of the pill.
