Your date’s approaching and you’re pretty damn sure you’re not pregnant. But as soon as you reach your date, your periods don’t make their bloody appearance. Your mind wanders off to the worst case scenario (if you’re not ready for it, that is) and you’re shit scared that you might be pregnant. You jog your memory, rewind and play a slideshow of every time you’ve had sex in the past month, trying to find one nano second where your partner may have sown the seeds. So much drama, right?
All our brains rush to pregnancy the minute we miss our periods, but ladies, it’s not always so. Getting pregnant is a really long shot and there are so many other reasons that can be the cause for delay in periods.
So worry not, because there can be other reasons like these, behind your periods being delayed:
1. Stress
Oh yes! Stress can be a major factor for delayed period. When you’re stressed, your super smart brain shuts down secondary functions and boosts up the primary ones to give you some balance. Which means that your reproductive system takes a break when you’re stressed. So, calm down, yeah?
2. Illness
When you’re unwell, your body uses the same reason and prioritises. So if you have so much of a simple cold or a flu near your due period date, your brain will trump up your health over your periods. So instead of making you even more unwell, your brain automatically takes care of you.
3. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
PCOS causes hormonal imbalance in your body, because of which the normal levels of progesterone, estrogen and testosterone keep shifting. This may cause you to either have irregular periods or spotty ones. Other common characteristics of PCOS include weight gain, facial hair, acne, type-2 diabetes and more. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, we suggest you to visit a gynecologist right away.
4. Birth Control
Starting and stopping birth control can cause Aunt Flo to take a break. If you have just started birth control, or discontinued its use, then it takes your body some time to bring back normalcy and resume proper function. So don’t you worry, it’s just a simple side effect of birth control.
5. Hormonal Imbalance
Hormonal imbalance can be caused by several factors. From stress to poor diet, your periods can be delayed by everything and anything. If the food you’re eating lacks nutrients that your body needs, your periods can be delayed. Medicines can also cause this imbalance in your body.
6. Excessive Exercise
Who would’ve thought, right? But it’s true. When you overdo your workout and are also on a diet to lose weight, your body fails to produce enough estrogen to complete your menstrual cycle. So get your food intake back on track and exercise in moderation and you’ll be good.
7. Weight Gain/Loss
Rapid weight gain can throw your cycle off and delay your periods. Same goes if you have dropped down to 2 sizes in a short span. Any rapid changes in weight can affect your hypothalamus – the small gland in your brain that regulates your menstrual cycle.
8. Thyroid Disorder
When thyroid does not function properly, it can delay your periods. An overactive thyroid can cause your flow to be lighter and less frequent. An underactive thyroid function can cause the flow to be heavier. If you’re losing or gaining weight rapidly, you can blame it on your thyroid.
9. Change in Routine
Any major change in routine can changed your menstrual cycle. Even a slight diversion from your day-to-day routine can hamper your normal menstrual cycle.
10. Emergency Contraceptives
If you’ve been popping the pink pills, it can alter your menstrual cycle. The pills contain little amounts of estrogen and progestin that work to prevent the pregnancy, which stops your menstrual cycle as well. After popping a pill, you also experience a withdrawal bleeding caused by the drop in hormones. So don’t worry, but remember that i-pill is a last resort, not the first option.