June 21st, 2012 by Hasham

Long Menstrual Cycle and Basal Body Temperature BBT

The first thing to do if you have a long menstrual cycle is you should confirm that you are not pregnant by doing a pregnancy test. If you are pregnant and you take your temperature then you don’t have to continue taking your temperature.

Normal cycles last between 21 and 35 days.

Menstrual cycles lasting longer than 35 days are called oligomenorrhea (=not enough menses). Menstrual cycles shorter than 21 days are called polymenorrhea.

You should check and see if you ovulated or not. With very long cycles, chances are that you did not ovulate. (What does your BBT curve say?)

Long cycles are usually associated with ovulation problems: It’s very likely that there is no ovulation (anovulation), that ovulation is very irregular, or that ovulation is abnormal (egg quality is inadequate). If you ovulate very late in a cycle, chances are that implantation is impaired because both the egg and the endometrium are too old.

If you did ovulate very late, then you may want to start another graph starting two to three weeks later, and continue the graph knowing that it’s longer.
If you did not ovulate, then you may want to see your ob-gyn or an infertility doctor (reproductive endocrinologist) and find out what’s going on.

Your doctor will examine you and see if there is a problem with your ovulation and assess how to treat it. Sometimes your doctor will give you medication to induce bleeding so that you can start a new cycle.

Abnormally Long Periods

I have had a period lasting almost three weeks now. It came about one week earlier than my usual 26-day cycle and is still going on after almost three weeks. Up until this month I have been like clockwork and my periods usually last about 5-days. Should I be concerned and call my doctor?

Answer:

A period lasting 3 weeks might be strange in your mid-twenties. If you are at the age where you may be approaching perimenopause, an unpredictable menstrual cycle is the norm.

In fact, more than half of perimenopausal women complain about their off-beat menses – which can include skipped periods, periods that happen more than once throughout a month, or drastically lengthy periods. They can even include menses with thick blood clots and a very heavy flow. The menstrual cycle is usually the first indication that you might be approaching your menopausal years.

If you’re experiencing a very long period, I’m assuming that your menses flow is lighter than normal? Don’t be frightened, this is your body’s natural reaction to your change in hormones.

You see, as a woman approaches menopause her body’s estrogen and progesterone (both female hormones) levels decline and as a result her ovaries release fewer eggs. As the body’s female hormone levels slow down, she will begin to produce more of the follicle stimulating hormone which is released by the pituitary gland in the brain. As these hormones adjust and try to balance each other out, the female reproductive system – your period – can react a little chaotically. Once your hormone levels rebalance and you’ve entered full-menopause, your periods should cease.

If you’re period is lasting 3 weeks and your menses flow is extremely heavy – so heavy that it’s causing you to feel dizzy or nauseated -it might be wise to see your doctor immediately to get to the root cause and to calm your concerns.

What Causes Long Periods of Menstruation

Some women sometimes have irregular menstrual cycles, like when its period is too fast or too late. Well, here are three things that can affect menstrual cycle.

Technically, a normal menstrual cycle lasts between 21-35 days and averagely woman gets their period every 28 days. But every woman have different cycles, so they must know how their cycle are.

“But if someone gets a wild or very irregular menstrual cycle, for example this month is 22 days while the following month it becomes 35 days, then they should consult their doctors to be sure,” said Lissa Rankin, a doctor of obstetrics and gynecology from Mill Valley, California.

Rankin said that for women who just had a period, then the variation in the cycle is normal. This is because the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and ovaries also takes time to become mature in order to have a regular monthly cycle.

But according to Sheknows, there are some things that can make someone’s menstrual cycle becomes faster or even slower, which are:

Diet and exercise
If a person does not consume enough nutrition (excessive dieting) or a marathon exercise, the body will assume the person is not ready to become pregnant so they get a late menstruation.

This will make estrogen levels decrease and stop ovulation which makes it late or even not getting a period. This type of irregular period is called hypothalamic amenorrhea.

Weight loss
Just like the problem of diet and exercise, people who have a thin body will make their body think that they’re not healthy enough to get pregnant so that causes late menstruation. But being overweight can also be a problem.

“If you are overweight, the levels of estrogen in the body will be excessive and causes heavy menstruation (menorrhagia) or irregular and heavy menstruation (menometrorrhgia),” said Rankin.

Using birth control
Various forms of birth control generally do things on hormones in the body that has the effect on the menstrual cycle.

Rankin pointed out that certain birth control pills if used continuously will make a person only experience several periods in a year. While other forms such as the IUD will make menstruation become heavier or lighter depending on the type.