8 Things That Will Mess Up Your Period

Do you have problems with irregular periods? If yes, there is no doubt that this is upsetting and confusing if you are not ready to have a baby or you are trying to conceive.

You might have miss periods or you get them at unexpected times for any number of reasons, most of which are not serious.

Here are 8 Things That Will Mess Up Your Period

1. Body Weight
Your menstrual cycle can be disrupted if you lose or gain a lot of weight. Some women miss their periods completely when they are extremely overweight or underweight, which is not healthy. If you are obese or overweight it is likely that your estrogen levels are higher than average.[1]

The increased level of estrogen can lead to thickening of the endometrial lining and interrupt the discharge of an egg from the ovaries. For this reason, overweight women usually have erratic, lengthy and heavy periods.

On the flip side, if your body weight is low or inadequate the estrogen production will drop. Women who lose a lot of weight have erratic, light or missed periods.

2. Exercising
Too much exercising can change your menstruation cycle [2]. This is why women who are professional figure skaters, distance runners or prima ballerinas do not menstruate. Your monthly period can be delayed if you have recently started a new, intense workout regime or it could become irregular if you are doing strenuous exercises in a short period of time.

Bear in mind that any kind of severe athletics could disturb the production of the fertility hormone if you do extreme exercises and have a low body weight. You should visit your doctor if you miss your menstrual period for several months in a row.

3. Stress
Most people blame stress for every single thing, which is not far-fetched because of what we are faced with throughout the day. Highly stressful periods from deadlines, work schedules, and family responsibilities could definitely have an effect on reproduction, which includes menstruation.

The situation will worsens if you have a major stressor putting lots of strain on your everyday life. Research shows that women who are under stress have double the chances of experiencing irregular periods and infertility.

4. Certain Diseases
This is rare, but certain diseases could cause you to miss your period. Two of the common illnesses are diabetes and irritable bowel syndrome. Infections such as a UTI could also cause missed or late periods.

5. Aging
You might start to have problems with your period during the time leading up to menopause. As estrogen hormone production decreases, your cycle will change to cause not only more infrequent or frequent periods but spotting, heavier flow, cravings, and mood swings.

6. Medications
Your periods could be affected if you have changed a medication dosage after using it regularly. You might notice changes in your monthly period if you are using prescribed medications for an autoimmune disease such as lupus or maybe a thyroid condition.

Drugs that have an effect on your hormone levels can lead to imbalanced hormones thus resulting in irregularity in your cycle. This is why it is important to inform your gynecologist or doctor about any medication you are using.

Still on medications, birth control could also affect your periods. There are different types of birth control available and they will affect your hormone levels in different ways. This means your cycles could be affected by any form you are using. Most of the birth control methods will manipulate the monthly cycle.

As an example, it is common for women who use the cyclic form of birth control, either through pills, rings or patches to have a predictable twenty-eight day cycles as the hormones force the body into an artificial rhythm.

Your periods can become lighter or heavier if you are using other types of birth control, including the IUD. In the meantime, certain pills have a continuous dosage of hormones that cause periods to come only a few times in a year.

7. Breastfeeding
You might be wondering when your monthly period will come back if you have given birth recently and you are still breastfeeding. In some cases, new mothers don’t see their periods until they have finished breastfeeding.

8. Smoking and Pesticides
The effects of smoking can interfere with the circulation of your bodily organs, which includes your uterus and ovaries. This can cause irregular periods [3].

You might know of the dangers pesticides present when they are found in vegetables, fruits, and meats. However, you might not be aware of the claims that such substances can mimic hormones, compete and interfere with hormone production, as well as wreak havoc on a woman’s endocrine system when they live on farms that use pesticides or work with pesticides.

We have looked at eight things that will mess up your period, but it’s worth mentioning a last one, which is lack of sleep. Women who do work on shift or at irregular hours suffer from lack of sleep and irregular periods for good reason.

A study shows a direct connection between the sleep clock in the body as well as melatonin levels and fertility hormones, both of which affect menstruation and ovulation.

References

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7083189
2. https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/84/6/1892/2864430
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9916957