June 20th, 2012 by Hasham

Missed or Irregular Periods – Home Treatment

There is no home treatment for missed or irregular periods. But the following information may help you find the cause of your missed or irregular periods:

Eat a balanced diet. Being underweight or overweight can cause missed and irregular periods. For more information, see the topics Healthy Eating and Weight Management.
If you are an endurance athlete, you may have to cut back on your training. Be sure to talk with your doctor about hormone and calcium supplements to protect against bone loss if you are missing periods. For more information, see the topic Fitness.

If you think you might be pregnant

Do a home pregnancy test if you had sex since your last period. If the result is positive, practice the following good health habits until you see your doctor:

Eat a balanced diet.
Do not smoke or use other tobacco products.
Do not use alcohol or drugs.
Avoid caffeine, or limit your intake to about 1 cup of coffee or tea each day.
Do not clean a cat litter box, to avoid the risk of toxoplasmosis.
Avoid people who are ill.
Take a vitamin supplement that contains folic acid or a prenatal vitamin.

If the home pregnancy test is negative but you continue to have pregnancy symptoms, it is a good idea to see your doctor to confirm the results. Practice good health habits until you see your doctor.
Symptoms to watch for during home treatment

Call your doctor if any of the following occur during home treatment:

You have early symptoms of pregnancy, such as:
Missed periods.
Increased urination.
Fatigue.
Breast tenderness or enlargement.
Nausea and vomiting.
You have missed more than two menstrual periods in a row.

Missing Periods Treatment

Treatment

Patients can play a key role in restoring their reproductive health. Seek medical care if menstrual periods do not start by the age of 16, or if periods have stopped for 3 months. Also seek medical treatment if there are no signs of puberty by the age of 14.

Ask your physician to refer you to additional medical professionals, as appropriate. For example, if you are overweight or underweight, a nutritionist can determine your ideal calorie intake and teach you to put together nutritionally balanced meals.

If your amenorrhea is due to an eating disorder, you may find that psychological or psychiatric counseling will help resolve the emotional issues at the root of your problem.

Lifestyle changes and stress reduction may restore balance. In some young women, certain lifestyle changes may be sufficient to remedy primary amenorrhea. Treatment for eating disorders may be required. Additionally, changes in nutritional intake may be necessary to correct weight problems. Stress reduction may benefit patients with either primary or secondary amenorrhea. Psychotherapy or counseling also may be helpful for patients with underlying emotional disorders or concerns.

Your doctor is the best source of information on the drug treatment choices available to you.

Nutritional deficiencies should be addressed. Nutritional requirements, particularly in female athletes, should be met. Most patients with underlying nutritional deficiencies will benefit from taking supplements and/or eating foods rich in vitamin B complex (brewer’s yeast, wheat germ) and zinc (fish, poultry, and lean meats). To prevent osteoporosis, women with amenorrhea should consume more calcium-rich foods, and also may need to take calcium supplements with vitamin D.

Surgery may be required for some patients with amenorrhea. In some young women with primary amenorrhea, minor surgery may be required to make an opening in an intact hymen so that menstrual fluid can empty out through the vagina. Surgery is also required for removing hormone-producing tumors. Surgical treatment also can be beneficial in women with pituitary disorders or reproductive organ malformations.

Teenage girls who do not show the normal signs of puberty will probably be concerned about their delayed development. Their distress may interfere with their schoolwork and social life. Psychological counseling may help these young women cope with their anxieties.

Amenorrhea seldom generates a short-term health risk. The absence of menstrual periods usually does not pose a health risk. Amenorrhea often can be cured with hormone therapy, or by treating the underlying disorder. Certain causes of amenorrhea, such as Turner’s syndrome and premature ovarian failure, however, cannot be cured.

Long-term amenorrhea in a woman who has low circulating estrogen levels can cause a failure of proper bone growth and/or osteoporosis (premature thinning of the bones). For this reason, women who have gone 3-6 months without menstrual periods should seek medical attention and consider using hormones to reduce this health risk.

Women who are not menstruating and who do not want to become pregnant should be cautioned not to discontinue birth control methods. Even though a woman is not menstruating, she could ovulate without warning and possibly become pregnant.

Patients with amenorrhea require ongoing follow-up. Patients receiving hormone therapy for delayed puberty should be examined every three to six months to monitor the progression of puberty. Patients on hormone therapy or who are taking other medications should remain under the care of their physician and be evaluated at regularly scheduled visits.

Causes For Missed Period

Women are very serious about their health and it strikes a fear when they misses their monthly periods. Normally women have 11-13 menstrual periods every year. Periods are usually irregular when there is first period. It may take several years for the hormones to control the menstruation to reach a balanced state.

Possible reasons for missed period:

• Undergoing stress: Emotional or Physical stress may be responsible for missed period. Depression or loss of loved one, stress on a work place or going for a new career trigger the adrenal glands to produce cortisol hormone. High level of cortisol hormones affects the level of other hormones like estrogen or progesterone hormone.

• Increase in body weight: Being obese can be another reason. Most women have their normal cycles and fertility with the loss of weight.

• Low in body weight: Being underweight also contributes to the factor. If your body fat is less than your desired range, sometimes the period may stop altogether. On medical term it is called “amenorrhea”.

• Pre-Menopause: Usually at this stage women’s body changes its gear from reproductive stage to non reproductive stage. During this period women experience missed or irregular period.

• Menopause: At this stage women experience no ovulation or menstruation. Menopause is a natural event or surgically it occurs due to hystectomy or due to use of chemotherapy.

• Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa also contribute to the cause.

• Problems in pelvic region like imperforate hymen, PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). Hymen-it is a thin tissue present around the entry of vagina. Imperforate hymen means it does not have opening in the vagina so the vagina is completed closed. When a girl starts her periods, because of closed hymen the menstrual blood cannot pass through the vagina thus the blood backs up causing pain and pressure in the pelvic region. However it can be surgically cured .PCOS occurs when there is a hormonal imbalance that interferes with the women’s ovulation. Common symptoms are weight gain, acne, male type hair growth on face and body. Treatment focuses on correcting reproductive levels, metabolism problems and having an ideal body weight followed by regular exercise and balanced diet.