It’s that time of the month but Miss Flo is taking her glorious time to make her appearance and you are going out of your mind as to why. Your monthly cycle is unique to you and your body chemistry plays a major role in it being on time or otherwise. From time to time, our cycles “readjust”, for luck of a better word, and you may notice a 2 or 3 day delay with this cycle then that becomes your new start going forward. Other internal and external factors can and may affect our periods, from when it starts to how much flow comes.

1- Stress: this can lead to you missing your period for months on end, and no, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you otherwise. When your body is under stress, it produces a hormone known as Cortisol. Depending on how your body handles stress, you may either have a delayed, light or no period at all (amenorrhea). Am not talking about everyday stress oo, something like finishing your master’s thesis whilst working on a big project in the office, now that is stress. If the stress goes on for a long time, you may be looking at some months without your period, now isn’t that a nice holiday, lol.

2- Lifestyle Changes: Summer is here and we all want to look good, go to the beach, on vacation and put on that hot bikini; now if you waited last minute to get in shape and you just came across this diet/exercise program promising results in 3-7 days, chances are you are going to have a delayed or missed period.

Drastic lifestyle and nutritional changes such as gaining or losing significant weight, dieting, changes in exercise routines, travel, illness, and other major disruptions in your life can delay, reduce your flow or cause it not to come at all.

3- Birth Control: Have you noticed each time you go for your shot or start the pill, you period either gets lighter or skips, yeah, that is because most birth control contain a combination of hormones (estrogen and progestin) which works to prevent ovulation. Some pills contain only Progestin and some women have reported having bleeding episodes in between periods. When you stop birth control, it may take your body a while to regroup, anywhere from a month to 6 months, this should be factored into your plans when planning to conceive.

4- Undiagnosed Medical Conditions: Conditions such as Uterine Fibroids, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, just to name a few, can cause delayed, missed or irregular periods. It is best to seek medical help as soon as possible, this can greatly help with management and treatment of these conditions and an improvement in your everyday life.

5- Pregnancy: When everything else has been ruled out or you are as accurate as the day and night, then it is safe to say you are pregnant. An at home pregnancy test can be taken as early as 5-10 days after missing your period (some tests are very sensitive) or you can visit the hospital and have a test done. As early as 6weeks, an ultrasound can be done to confirm the pregnancy.

Breastfeeding especially on-demand breastfeeding, sometimes causes a delay in your period resuming after delivery or a lighter flow though this should not be taken as a mode of contraception as you can still get pregnant even without “seeing” your period after delivery. Yes you, am talking to you paa.

Speak to your doctor or midwife for an appropriate method of Birth control after delivery.

It is safe to say that your period may be delayed, missed or light for so many reasons and reason A working for Abena might not be the same for Afua. It is always advisable to speak with a qualified medical doctor or midwife before jumping to conclusion.

Do not self-medicate as this can make things worse or lead to complications.

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