How Late Can A Period Be
A typical menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, but depending on the woman, a healthy cycle can be a short as 21 or as long as 35 days. Track your period over several months to look for cycle patterns and changes . This will help you figure out what a normal menstrual cycle usually looks like for you.
A period is usually considered late if it hasnt started within seven days of when you expect it .
Referral To A Consultant
If your GP thinks a medical condition might have caused your periods to stop, they may refer you to a consultant who specialises in the condition.
Depending on what your GP suspects is causing the problem, you may be referred to:
- a gynaecologist a specialist in treating conditions that affect the female reproductive system
- an endocrinologist a specialist in treating hormonal conditions
You may have a full gynaecological examination and various tests, including:
- blood tests to see whether you have abnormal levels of certain hormones
- an ultrasound scan, CT scan or MRI scan to identify any problems with your reproductive system or the pituitary gland in your brain
Why Does Plan B Affect Your Period This Way
Plan B uses a synthetic hormone called levonorgestrel to prevent pregnancy by stopping an egg from being released.
Levonorgestrel is found in birth control pills, but Plan B contains a higher dose that can alter your bodys natural hormone levels.
The extra hormones can, in turn, affect the menstrual cycle, leading to an earlier or delayed period as well as heavier or lighter bleeding.
Recommended Reading: Is It Normal To Pee Blood On Your Period
Reasons For Missed Periods
There are many reasons why you may have missed your period. Some women miss periods regularly because they don’t ovulate regularly. You might also miss a period if you have a change in your sleep patterns, for example, or if you start working night shifts which can throw your cycles out of whack as your body learns to adjust to it.
You can also miss your period if your weight is too low. After a certain amount of body fat, you may not have the hormone production to sustain your periods. This is often true if you’re a very competitive athlete or suffer from disordered eating like anorexia or even bulimia.
Sometimes stress can be a reason that your period is missing. This can usually be determined easily by a discussion with your doctor.
How Long Can Stress Delay Your Period
The average menstrual cycle is 28 days long, although its normal for a menstrual cycle to be anywhere from 21 to 35 days, and this can vary by a few days each cycle without being considered late.
A general rule of thumb is that a period is considered late if it is delayed by five days or more.
Anyone who gets a period will probably experience a late period at least once in their life. It may come as a surprise that stress is actually a very common cause for a late period. If a period is delayed due to stress, how late it is depends on many factors, including the amount of stress, coping abilities, and the persons individual cycle.
If the stress is acute, your period might only be a few days late, but some people who experience severe chronic stress can go months without getting a period.
You May Like: Which Doctor To Consult For Periods Problem
What Is A Late Period
If your period is late or youre wondering if youre pregnant, the days can tick by rather slowly. How long do you have to wait before taking a pregnancy test? The instructions on home pregnancy tests often talk about your missed period. What do they mean?
In the world of pregnancy testing, a missed period means you expected your menstrual bleeding to have started yesterday, and it still has not started. The day of your expected period depends on what your normal menstrual cycle looks like and when your last period started.
The menstrual cycle is the time from the first day of your period to the day before your next period starts. The average cycle is 28 days, with a pattern that looks something like this:
Some womens menstrual cycles last the same number of days every month. These women can accurately predict the day their period will start. Other women have a menstrual cycle that is a little different each month. Your period is still considered regular as long as it comes every 24 to 38 days.
Late Period: Everything You Need To Know
Having a late period might come as a surprise, especially if youre not trying to get pregnant. Should you take a pregnancy test? The truth is, there are many reasons for late periods other than pregnancy. Your health, age, diet, stress, and exercise can all affect the regularity of your menstrual cycle. In this article, well look at the most common late period causes and go over some common questions about delayed menstruation.
Also Check: Can You Get Pregnant A Few Days After Your Period
Why It Affects Your Period
Morning-after pills such as Plan B and Ella help prevent you from getting pregnant after having unprotected sex. They work by stopping or delaying ovulation. In doing so, they might also affect the length of your normal menstrual cycle. For this reason, many women experience an abnormal period after theyve taken the morning-after pill. How it affects your period might depend on where you are in your cycle when you take the morning-after pill. In fact, you might not have any irregularities at all.
How To Prevent Stress From Delaying Your Period
The first step in preventing stress from delaying your period is to understand whats causing your stress and how much stress you can manage. You may not always be able to avoid stress, but you can develop healthy ways to cope with it. Tracking your cycle and any changes you experience in your moods will make it easier to identify any issues that may arise so you can better understand why your period is late.
While stress is a common cause for a late period, it is just one of many potential reasons for a delay in menstruation. Pregnancy, hormonal birth control, and health problems like polycystic ovary syndrome can also make your period late.
Sometimes the stress of worrying about a potential unintended pregnancy can make your period late. Taking a pregnancy test to find out if you are pregnant can reduce this stress. If your period is late, and youre experiencing symptoms like unwanted hair growth, headaches, weight gain, and difficulty sleeping, you may want to see a health care provider to rule out PCOS, which is a treatable condition.
Tracking your mood, life events, and symptoms in an app like Flo can help you gain perspective on your level of stress, and taking simple measures like exercising or making time for meditation can help you get your period back on track.
Read Also: How Do You Know If You Have Your Period
How Much Delay In Periods Is Normal
Menstrual cycles are considered normal if they last anywhere between 21 to 35 days. Your cycle can vary, but your period is considered late after five days from the date when you expected it to come. A period is considered to have been missed if its been six weeks or more since the first day of your last menstruation.
Normal Cause Of A Missed Period During The First Year
- Skipping periods is common during the first 1 to 2 years after they start. This is due to not releasing an egg each month.
- This is most likely the cause if less than 2 years since the first period
- Has missed periods in the past or has had only 1 or 2 periods
- Otherwise healthy
- No signs of pregnancy such as breast tenderness, breast swelling or nausea
You May Like: Why Am I Not Getting My Period
Referral To A Specialist
If your GP thinks a medical condition might have caused your periods to stop, they may refer you to a specialist.
Depending on what your GP thinks is causing the problem, you may be referred to:
- a gynaecologist â a specialist in treating conditions affecting the female reproductive system
- an endocrinologist â a specialist in treating hormonal conditions
You may have a gynaecological examination and various tests, including:
- blood tests â to see if you have abnormal levels of certain hormones
- an ultrasound scan, CT scan or MRI scan â to identify any problems with your reproductive system or the pituitary gland in your brain
The Best Time To Take A Pregnancy Test
If you have a regular menstrual cycle , then you are only at risk of pregnancy if you had unprotected heterosexual sex or had a high risk of sperm touching your genitals during your fertile window. This is the six days leading up to and including ovulation, usually around the middle of your cycle . You can take a pregnancy test about two weeks after your estimated ovulation day, but the earlier you take a test the less accurate it may be and some brands are more sensitive than others . You should probably take a pregnancy test or contact your healthcare provider if your period is nine or more days late.
If you have an irregular cycle , then unprotected sex or exposure of sperm on your genitals at most times represents a risk. You can take a pregnancy test about two weeks after your last unprotected sexual encounter, though the earlier you take a test the less accurate it may be and some brands are more sensitive than others .
If you get a negative result at first and your period still hasnât come after a week, you might want to try taking another pregnancy testâjust to be sure. The sooner you know if you are pregnant or not, the sooner youâll be able to develop a plan . You can get confidential testing and counseling in most healthcare providersâ offices and clinics.
Recommended Reading: When Do You Know Your Period Is Coming
You Have A Chronic Condition
Certain chronic health problems, especially celiac disease and diabetes, are sometimes associated with menstrual irregularities.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that affects your digestive system. When people with celiac disease eat gluten, their immune system reacts by attacking the lining of the small intestine.
When the small intestine is damaged, it impairs the bodys ability to absorb nutrients from food. Subsequent malnourishment affects normal hormone production and leads to missed periods and other menstrual irregularities.
Those with type 1 and type 2 diabetes might also experience a missed period in rare cases. This tends to only happen when blood sugar levels arent managed.
Your Doctor May Schedule Your Appointment During Your Period
You may typically avoid going to a gynecologist while youre on your period, but IUD insertion is different. Your doctor may actually want you to come in while youre bleeding.
Why? Its partially about your comfort. Although an IUD can be inserted at any point in your cycle, your cervix may be softer and more open while youre on your period. That makes insertion easier for your doctor and more comfortable for you.
Being on your period also helps assure your doctor that you arent pregnant. You cant get an IUD while you are pregnant.
Having an IUD during pregnancy can cause serious risks to both you and the fetus, including:
- infection
Don’t Miss: How Do You Know When Your Period Is Coming
When To See Your Gp
See your GP if you’re not pregnant you’ve had a negative pregnancy test and you’ve missed more than 3 periods in a row.
If you’re sexually active and you have not taken a pregnancy test, your GP may advise you to take one.
They may also ask you about:
- your medical history
- any emotional issues you’re having
- any recent changes in your weight
- the amount of exercise you do
Your GP may recommend waiting to see whether your periods return on their own. In some cases you may need treatment for your periods to return.
You should also see your GP if your periods stop before you’re 45 or if you’re still bleeding when you’re over 55.
Things That Delay Your Period
A missed period is often the first sign of pregnancy, but there are other reasons for lateness, too. Here are some other factors that can delay your monthly flow:
Extreme diet and exercise
A healthy diet and regular exercise can do wonders for your health. But if you overdo it, you might say bye-bye to your periods, at least temporarily.
Athletes who train really hard or who dont get enough calories may stop menstruating, Dr. Higgins says. Its the bodys way of telling you that it doesnt have enough resources to support a pregnancy.
When your periods stop due to weight loss, diet or exercise, youre experiencing secondary amenorrhea. This means you previously had periods, but they have stopped. Secondary amenorrhea might happen to you if you:
- Eat an extreme, calorie-restricted diet.
- Have an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia.
- Lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time.
- Undergo hardcore exercise training, such as for a .
Polycystic ovary syndrome
PCOS is a hormonal imbalance that interferes with the release of an egg . When you dont ovulate, you usually dont have a period. Many people with PCOS have irregular, late or missing periods. Other symptoms of PCOS include:
- Excess facial or body hair.
- Thinning hair.
- Weight gain or trouble losing weight.
Doctors diagnose PCOS by checking your symptoms and performing medical tests when needed. Medication and lifestyle changes can help manage the symptoms.
Stress
Some examples of major stress include:
Youth
Read Also: How To Stop Period Pain Naturally
How Long Are Normal Perimenopause Periods
Ordinarily, your menstrual cycle occurs every 21 to 35 days and lasts from 2 to 7 days. However, perimenopause periods can last much longer. Some months, the ovaries might not produce sufficient levels of estrogen and progesterone, preventing menstruation altogether. Other months, the imbalance might cause the uterine lining to become overly thick, which means it will take longer to be shed by your body to shed.
Excessive bleeding and long periods are fairly common during perimenopause. Many women experience an increased flow and extended perimenopause periods before entering menopause.
If youve had periods that are several days longer or more frequent or heavier than usual, its a good idea to see your doctor.