What Causes Irregular Periods
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There are a variety of reasons why you may be experiencing menstrual irregularity. Excessively heavy, irregular, or prolonged periods is called menorrhagia.
Common symptoms include a period that lasts longer than 7 days or bleeding thats so heavy you have to change your period product every hour.
Causes of menorrhagia may include:
- Medications. Some anti-inflammatory or hormone medications can affect menstrual bleeding. Heavy bleeding is also a side effect of the IUD birth control.
- Hormone imbalances. An excess of the hormones progestin or estrogen, which regulate the lining of the uterus, may cause heavy bleeding. Hormone imbalances occur most frequently in girls who have recently started menstruating or women approaching menopause.
- Medical conditions. Pelvic inflammatory disease , endometriosis, inherited blood disorders, and benign growths and cancers have all been found to possibly cause menstrual irregularity.
How Long Will It Take To Get Pregnant
Most hormonal birth control methods stop you from ovulating, or releasing an egg. If you do not release an egg, there is nothing for sperm to fertilize. This is why you do not get pregnant.
When you stop using hormonal birth control, you will start ovulating again. When you are ovulating, you are fertile. But a return of fertility does not automatically mean you will get pregnant.
If You Want To Get Pregnant
Doctors usually recommend trying to conceive for one year before getting a fertility evaluation. However, this doesnt apply if you have signs or symptoms of a fertility problem. That would include amenorrhea.
If youre not getting your periods, you may be dealing with infertility. Make sure that you andyour partner are evaluated. There may be more than one reason you arent conceiving, and male infertility is more common than you may realize.
Depending on why you arent ovulating, and if there are other fertility problems, treatment possibilities include lifestyle change, weight loss or gain, or medication change. You may also need treatment for an underlying medical condition, or fertility treatments.
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Warm Compress Or Bath
A warm bath can do wonders for relaxing tight muscles and relieving emotional stress. Perhaps this is the reason for anecdotal reports that this can help to bring on your period.
Try adding some relaxing scented oil to a bath for added effect. You could also try using a warm compress such as a hot water bottle by applying it to the abdomen.
The heat isnt only relaxing. It may also increase blood flow to the area, thus gently accelerating the menstrual cycle.
Ways To Kick Start Your Period With Pcos
One of the symptoms that most women with PCOS struggle with is an irregular menstrual cycle. It impacts on fertility and is an indication that our bodies are simply not doing what they are meant to be doing. So, lets have a look at 8 ways to kick start your period with PCOS. If you want even more strategies on how to manage your PCOS naturally , you should check out my FREE masterclass, How to Manage PCOS Naturally.
Before we get on to that, lets explore why women with PCOS have an irregular cycle. What is going on with that?
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Should You Be Concerned If Your Period Is Irregular
A couple of irregular periods per year are usually nothing to worry about. Any more than that, and you should see a doctor to be sure an ovulation problem or health condition isnt the cause. If you are someone who’s not on contraceptives and not of age for perimenopause or menopause and your periods are irregular, you should alert your physician. For example, if you do have PCOS, an irregular cycle can increase your risk of uterine cancer, says Lynn.
A Curious Case Of Anovulation
Irregular periods may also be a sign of anovulation. During the menstrual cycle, a mature egg releases. When ovulation does not occur, the cycle is anovulatory. Though not a disease, research shows consistent anovulation indicates an underlying fertility or hormonal issue. In most cases, doctors prescribe fertility drugs or other treatment to improve ovulation and regulate the period.
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Irregular Periods After Pregnancy
When menstruation does return, it might not look the same as before. Your cycle could be shorter, longer, lighter, heavier, or more crampyand all of these changes are normal, says Dr. White. One of the most common complaints, though, is about irregular periods after birth as your hormones return to normal. So dont worry if your cycle switches from 24 days to 35 days between monthsyour body is simply regulating itself.
Tell your doctor if your period becomes super heavy , lasts longer than seven days, or contains clots larger than a quarter. Also let him/her know if you skip a period after menstruation begins, or if you have spotting between periods. These symptoms may indicate infection, fibroids, polyps, a thyroid dysfunction, or other issues.
Will Birth Control Affect Menstruation
You can resume using most birth control methods including the pill, patch, condom, implant, and intrauterine device immediately after, or within a few days of, your abortion.
If you had a second-trimester abortion, you might have to wait about four weeks to start using methods that are inserted, like the diaphragm, cervical cap, or IUD.
Hormonal birth control methods like the pill may make your bleeding lighter and reduce the number of days you bleed after an abortion. You may also get back into your normal menstrual cycle faster if youre on the pill.
Many healthcare professionals recommend that you wait until post-abortion bleeding stops usually about two weeks to have vaginal sex after a medical or surgical abortion.
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Does The Morning After Pill Affect Your Fertility
There is no evidence to suggest that taking the morning after pill will affect your fertility. In fact, the WHO has claimed that any media coverage suggesting that taking the morning affect pill affects fertility is factually incorrect.
Acupuncture For Regular Flow And Balanced Hormones
Acupuncture is a naturopathic remedy that balances hormones and regulates blood flow. I interviewed a Certified Contemporary Medical Acupuncturist in Acupuncture for Fertility and Getting Pregnant. Heres what she said about how acupuncture affects female health and fertility.
For women, acupuncture has been known to:
- Regulate menstrual cycles.
- Regulate hormones to produce a better quality eggs and to produce a larger number of follicles during infertility treatments, decreasing FSH levels if elevated, and increasing estrogen levels if these are low.
- Increase implantation rates in in vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination by 40%.
- Increasing blood flow to the reproductive organs and nourishing the thickness of the uterine lining.
- Improve sperm quality and quantity.
- Help to relieve the side effects of stimulation drugs during assisted reproductive technology or infertility treatments.
- Easing stress, anxiety and depression, and promoting deep relaxation.
Even if youre not actively trying to conceive, consider a consultation with an acupuncturist. My husband tried it for male infertility, but it didnt work. He did say that he felt calm, relaxed, rested and peaceful after every acupuncture session.
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What Causes Of Irregular Menstrual Cycles Make It Harder To Get Pregnant
There are many different conditions that can cause irregular cycles. Experiencing irregular cycles occasionally due to stress or illness can be normal. But if cycles remain irregular for long periods of time, a health care provider can help determine the cause of any menstrual problems.
This is especially important for those who want to learn how to get pregnant fast with irregular periods naturally. The following conditions can cause irregular cycles:
It’s Impossible To Get Pregnant The First Time You Have Unprotected Sex
It is a common myth that you can’t get pregnant the first time you have unprotected sex. This is simply not true. There is always a possibility that you will get pregnant if you have unprotected sex even the very first time. If you are having unprotected sex and don’t want to get pregnant, you will need to choose a method of contraception that will suit you.If you have had unprotected sex, .
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How To Get Pregnant When You Have An Irregular Period
Timing is an important part of getting pregnant. But how can you predict when youre ovulating if your period doesnt have a consistent schedule?
May 22, 2018
If its always a bit of a mystery when your period is going to show upperhaps your cycle is 35 days some months and 21 days othersyou might find getting pregnant more challenging because you never know when youre ovulating. So whats going on down there? Heres what you need to know about your irregular periods.
Can I Chart My Cycle With Fertility Awareness If I Have An Irregular Period
Yes! It is a woefully inaccurate myth that Fertility Awareness-Based Methods are only for women with regular periods. Not only is it true that a woman with irregular periods absolutely can use fertility awareness, FABMs can better serve a woman with irregular periods, because charting her bodys signs can help pinpoint any underlying issues that may be causing or contributing to her irregular cycle.
To read more:
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Black Cohosh To Regulate Periods
Natures Way Black Cohosh Root is a dietary supplement that some women take to regulate periods, ease PMS symptoms, and induce labor. Black cohosh has also been used to relieve arthritis pain and help lower blood pressure. However, research has not verified how effective black cohosh is in regulating menstruation. It might be effective for some women, but ineffective for others.
How much black cohosh root do you need to take to get a regular cycle? It depends on your body and health issues. It also depends on your height, weight, age and reason that your hormones are out of balance. Taking a black cohosh dietary supplement without knowing what your body needs is not the best way to regulate your cycle. If you arent taking prescription medications and are otherwise healthy, research the effects of black cohosh on hormones of a woman your age. This supplement may affect your body differently at your age than it might in five years, or 20.
Why Do Women With Pcos Have An Irregular Menstrual Cycle
To understand how to kick start a period, we need to understand what is actually happening in our bodies to cause an irregular menstrual cycle.
In the diagram below, you can see that just before ovulation, there is a spike in levels of luteinizing hormone . The problem is that many women with PCOS have high levels of LH throughout their cycle. That means that you arent getting that spike of LH so no ovulation is being triggered.
Now, the next problem is that youll see that progesterone levels go up after ovulation. This is because progesterone is produced by the corpus luteum (the left over follicle, after the egg has been released. It is the sharp fall of progesterone that causes a bleed.
If we are not ovulating, we wont have a corpus luteum to produce the progesterone. If we have no progesterone, we are not going to have a period.
We have one more thing that we need to consider. ANDROGENS or testosterone, The American Congress of Obstetricans and Gynecologists suggest that high levels of testosterone also impact on ovulation and may prevent an egg from being released .
So, what can we do about this?
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When Is Pregnancy Possible
You should start ovulating about three weeks after a medical abortion. Some people start as soon as eight days afterward. This means you can get pregnant again, even if you havent had a period yet. Talk to your doctor about birth control options.
Having an abortion doesnt affect your fertility in most cases. There is concern that repeated surgical abortion may cause scarring in the uterus by the instruments used to remove the pregnancy. This scarring, called intrauterine adhesions, could be a possible cause for infertility in some cases.
Symptoms Of Irregular Periods
You have irregular periods if the length of your menstrual cycle keeps changing.
Your periods may come early or late.
The average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, but it’s normal for it to be a bit shorter or longer than this.
After puberty, many women develop a regular cycle with a similar length of time between periods. But it can vary by a few days each time.
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Irregular Periods May Occur After Miscarriage Pregnancy Loss
Also referred to as a spontaneous abortion, a miscarriage happens when an embryo or fetus dies before the 20th week of pregnancy. After 20 weeks, pregnancy loss is considered a stillbirth. After these events, it can take a couple of months before you will start having regular periods again, says Lynn.
How To Quickly Get Pregnant With Irregular Periods
A health care provider can help find a diagnosis and suggest treatment for those with irregular menstrual cycles. There are also habits that may make it easier to get pregnant fast with irregular periods naturally. Although these habits cant replace medical treatment, they may help improve the chances of conception.
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Detecting Ovulation When Cycles Are Irregular
If you are ovulating, but irregularly, you’ll need to make a special effort at determining your most fertile time. There are many ways to predict ovulation. You might need to use more than one to help figure out when is the best time for you to have sex.
Ovulation predictor tests work a lot like pregnancy tests, in that you pee on test strips to determine when you’re most fertile. However, in some women, the tests give multiple “false positives.” This is especially common in women with PCOS.
Another possible pitfall of using these tests when your cycles are irregular is that you’ll need to use more than the average number of test strips. You don’t use the tests your entire cycle, but only around the general time you might expect to ovulate. When your cycles are irregular, that possible ovulation window may be longer than it is for other women.
You may want to consider charting your basal body temperature . BBT charting can show you when you actually ovulated. You can also share your BBT charts with your doctor. They may be able to use this information to make a diagnosis.
Of course, the most accurate way to detect ovulation, or lack thereof, is through a trans-vaginal ultrasound and/or through bloodwork taken at your physician’s office. Talk to your doctor about these options to determine if they are right for you.
What Fertility Treatments Can Help When You Have Irregular Periods
If you talk to your doctor about medical assistance for getting pregnant with an irregular period, youll likely be prescribed medication to induce ovulation. One of the best and most effective ways to get pregnant with an irregular period or with a condition like PCOS is medication like Letrozole or Clomid, Dr. Conti says. These treatments make you reliably ovulate every single month as if you had a normal period.
While these medicines dont erase the underlying problem, they help your body ovulate each month that you take them. The goal is to increase the rate of pregnancy to what it would be if your cycles were regular. Sometimes thats all you need to help the sperm reach the egg and conceive. If not, treatments like in-vitro fertilization and IUI can help increase your chances of getting pregnant.Dr. Conti also recommends scheduling a preconception appointment before you actively begin trying to get pregnant so that you can prepare for what your fertility journey may entail. You can also ask any questions you may have about your cycle so that you know whether or not youll need to take some additional steps to conceive.
This articlewasreviewed by Dr. Jennifer Conti, MD, MS, MSc.
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Drink Apple Cider Vinegar Daily
Research from 2013 showed that drinking 0.53 oz of apple cider vinegar daily may restore ovulatory menstruation in women with PCOS. More research is needed to validate these results, as this study involved only seven participants.
Apple cider has a bitter taste, which may be difficult for some people to consume. If you want to try taking it but have a hard time with the flavor, you can try diluting it with water and adding a tablespoon of honey.
When Will I Get My Period After Birth
In the postpartum phase, youll experience a vaginal discharge of blood, mucus, and uterine tissue. This discharge, known as lochia, starts off heavy and bright red. Within the next six to eight weeks, it will lighten, become more irregular, and turn dark brown/yellow before tapering off.
Although lochia resembles a periodand you’ll need to wear a pad to control the blood flowits not the same thing as menstruation. Your actual period wont return for a few weeks or months after giving birth. The timeline largely depends on whether or not youre breastfeeding.
If you’re not breastfeeding… your period will probably return four to eight weeks after childbirth, according to Amina White, M.D., clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
If you are breastfeeding… you’ll likely get your period much later, since prolactin wards off ovulation. Menstruation may take weeks or months to return. Irregular periods while breastfeeding are especially common if youre doing a combination of formula-feeding and breastfeeding.
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