Google Image

According to Health and Fitness News Online, 30 years of effort to bring contraceptive technologies within people’s reach have not been in vain. In developing countries, contraceptive prevalence has risen from around 10% in the early 1960s to 59% at the turn of the millennium” despite this the fear of unplanned pregnancies is always looming over the head.

Generally, people think that a “normal” period happens every 28 days in a perfectly fine clockwork manner. But, sadly that is not the case in reality. All women at some point of time in their lives will experience a late or missed period at least once and that would be without being pregnant.

Even though this is normal, for many, a late period means potential pregnancy. A late period doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re pregnant.

No two menstrual cycles are the same. Healthy cycles can range in length from 21 to 35 days and can vary in length month to month by a couple of days. Unless your irregular cycles are due to a medical condition, you will most certainly know where your next period will be.

A period is considered late if it hasn’t started within 7 days from the expected date. If you’re worried about pregnancy, most tests will be able to detect it by the time your period is late.

If you get a negative pregnancy test after missing a period, and you have not gotten a period for more than a week now, you may want to see your gynecologist.

If you get a negative pregnancy test yet still haven’t gotten your period, and experience early pregnancy symptoms, consider retaking the pregnancy test.

Home pregnancy tests, in some cases, might give you a false negative result if it’s early enough in the pregnancy to detect hCG in your urine. In these cases, it can take a bit longer to know you’re pregnant after a late period.

What are the Reasons for a late period except for pregnancy

How Late Can a Period Be Without Being Pregnant?

There are lots of causes for a late period that aren’t pregnant. Some of the most common causes of late periods include:

Hormonal birth control

One of the ways in which hormonal pill works is by thinning your uterine lining, the layer that sheds from your uterus during menstruation each month. Since birth control pills make this layer thinner, many women experience lighter periods while they’re on it.

Google Image

In the worst cases, the wall lining gets so thin that menstruation doesn’t happen. Every woman is different, and as long as you’ve been taking your birth control correctly, missing a period on birth control pills should not be a cause for concern. You might consider taking a pregnancy test for peace of mind.

Stress

Google Image

Stress affects everyone these days. When you experience chronic or extreme stress hormones like cortisol can interfere with your menstrual cycle. Since everyone reacts to stress differently, it’s hard to determine exactly how much stress you have to experience for this to occur.

Weight fluctuations

Google Image

Being underweight or overweight can cause hormonal imbalances since fatty tissue plays a role in synthesizing hormones. Also, gaining or losing a significant amount of weight in a short amount of time can affect your hypothalamus, the gland that controls the release of estrogen. Too much or too little estrogen can cause a late or missed period.

Medications

Certain medications, such as certain antipsychotics, can create hormonal imbalances which can lead to a late or missed period. Talk to the doctor and the pharmacist about the side effects before taking medicines.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

PCOS is a condition that causes irregular periods because it affects the way your body ovulates. If you have these symptoms you might suffer from PCOS

Excessive body hair growth or hirsutism

Scalp hair loss

Weight gain

Acne

Mood swings

Pelvic pain

Headaches

Infertility

Clearly, a late period doesn’t mean that you’re pregnant. However, if you’re worried about the cause of your late period, it’s always helpful to take a pregnancy test and go to the doctor if other symptoms arise.

Be well.

For more such health and fitness news articles stay connected to Connect Gujarat.