Irregular Periods And Natural Ways To Maintain A Regular Menstrual Cycle
If you have not had a menstrual period for a full year and then experience bleeding, this is different from irregular periods. This is called post-menopausal bleeding.
By the way, it is a myth that a woman goes into menopause because her body runs out of eggs. If this were true, then women who experienced menarche (the first period in a woman’s life) earlier would enter menopause earlier. In fact, the opposite is true — early menarche is associated with late menopause. In the same vein, women who had more pregnancies and thereby fewer periods, would have menopause later, and that doesn’t happen, either. If you are experiencing increasing irregularity, you may be suffering from hormonal imbalance or entering perimenopause, and should be evaluated by a healthcare practitioner.
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Am I in perimenopause if I have irregular periods?
Not necessarily, but irregular periods are one of the most common signals of perimenopause. That’s why it’s best to check in with a healthcare practitioner.
Women entering perimenopause often have irregular periods due to an imbalance of progesterone that upsets their cycle. Because progesterone regulates the amount and length of bleeding, periods can last longer and be accompanied by very heavy bleeding (also called menorrhagia or hypermenorrhagia). However, shorter or spottier periods can also indicate perimenopause.
What does it mean if I miss a period or two?
The most common type of irregular period we see at the clinic is anovulation, or a cycle in which a woman does not ovulate (i.e., does not release an egg). This is frequently the cause of a missed period (an anovulatory cycle) and is considered normal if it occurs only once or twice a year. Clotting is also considered normal if it is cyclic.
Sporadic episodes of poor diet, high stress, emotional trauma, illness, or strenuous physical exercise are the usual suspects behind occasional anovulatory cycles. Sometimes something as simple as a family holiday or a week with the in-laws will play havoc with a menstrual cycle. Monthly periods are quite susceptible to dips and spikes in our emotions and our health. For the most part, once our lives return to normal, so do our periods.
On the other hand, a woman will sometimes skip her period for a few months and then start a heavy period that lasts for days or even weeks. This can be a sign that a woman is entering perimenopause. More and more we are seeing patients of all ages come into the clinic who have irregular periods due to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), an easily recognizable and treatable diagnosis that often occurs with insulin resistance. In this condition, the ovaries produce a quantity of follicles that generate high levels of estrogen but never release an egg. The high estrogens stimulate the uterine lining to thicken to a point where it must slough off. Women with PCOS are not having what are considered “real” menstrual periods because they do not regularly ovulate. For more information, we recommend you start with our articles in our Insulin Resistance section, where you will find other helpful thoughts about this topic.
What if I’m just spotting or not getting a period at all?
We’ve all heard stories from friends who have suddenly lost a lot of weight or begun a strenuous exercise regimen, then stopped getting their period. Anorexic women or those who exercise two to three hours a day can find their menstrual cycles diminish or stop due to a decrease in body fat. These women have low estrogen and are not ovulating. This is called stress-type hypothalamic amenorrhea, and it occurs when poor nutrition and stress alter the brain proteins and hormones. The brain can’t trigger the right hormones for follicle development, which make the necessary estrogens. Women with this irregularity tend to be at higher risk for bone loss (osteoporosis) and should be evaluated (read our many informative articles on this topic in our Bone Health section.