What Causes Missed Periods?
In order to deal properly with missed periods we need to understand and — if possible — remove the underlying causes and risk factors. We need to ask: "What else is going on inside the body that might allow missed periods to develop?"
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Accurate diagnosis of the factors behind missed periods consists of three steps:
Step 1: List the Possible Causative Factors
Identify all disease conditions, lifestyle choices and environmental risk factors that can lead to missed periods. Here are eight of many possibilities (more below):
- Hormone Imbalance
- Mercury Toxicity
- Hirsutism
- Anorexia/Starvation Tendency
- Brain Tumor
- Hemochromatosis
- Adrenal Fatigue
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist
Identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:
severe tongue swelling
low calorie intake
low energy/stamina
absent sexual desire
major fatigue for 3-12 months
frequent dieting
moving white lines across nails
chronic thyroiditis
poorly-removed amalgams
anorexia
occasional sore throats
low Metformin use
severe tongue swelling low calorie intake low energy/stamina absent sexual desire major fatigue for 3-12 months frequent dieting moving white lines across nails chronic thyroiditis poorly-removed amalgams anorexia occasional sore throats low Metformin use... and more than 130 others
Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause
A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of missed periods:
| Cause | Probability | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Anorexia/Starvation Tendency | 94% | Confirm |
| Polycystic Ovary Syndrome | 20% | Unlikely |
| Mercury Toxicity | 13% | Unlikely |
| Adrenal Fatigue | 2% | Ruled out |
| Hemochromatosis | 2% | Ruled out |
| Hormone Imbalance | 2% | Ruled out |
| Brain Tumor | 0% | Ruled out |
| Hirsutism | 0% | Ruled out |
* This is a simple example to illustrate the process
Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis
The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.
If you indicate being premenopausal or being perimenopausal, The Analyst™ will ask further questions including this one:
|
Have you experienced missed periods that are unrelated to pregnancy, breast feeding, menopause or birth control pill use?
Possible responses:
→ No / don't know→ Yes, but not in the last two years → I occasionally miss a period → I regularly miss a period or 1 to 2 in a row → My periods are infrequent or absent |
Amenorrhea
Amenorrhea also suggests the following possibilities:
Brain Tumor
Although amenorrhea (abnormal cessation of menstruation) is usually explained by something else, in rare cases it can be caused by a brain tumor.
Hypothyroidism
In many cases, an underactive or overactive thyroid gland is responsible for the absent menstrual cycles.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
In many women with polycystic ovaries, menstruation begins at the normal age. After a year or two of regular menstruation, the periods become highly irregular and then infrequent.
The Effects Of Overtraining
Many young female athletes in training experience absent menstrual cycles due to low body fat content. Exercising women with regular menstrual cycles and amenorrheic women who do not exercise excessively demonstrate a clear diurnal rhythm of leptin levels. Exercising women with amenorrhea lose this normal rhythm, which raises the possibility that this cycle is important for the maintenance of reproductive function. Leptin levels normally rise during the afternoon and reach a peak in the early hours of the morning, then decline towards dawn.
For some women, simply explaining the need for adequate calorific intake to match energy expenditure results in increased intake and/or reduced exercise, and their menses resume. For those women in whom no other cause of amenorrhea can be found, but who are unable or unwilling to either increase food intake or decrease the amount of exercise, estrogen replacement therapy is strongly indicated. Appropriate therapy consists of any estrogen replacement regimen that includes endometrial protection.
Anorexia / Starvation Tendency
Women with anorexia and/or bulimia often experience amenorrhea as a result of maintaining a body weight that would be too low to sustain a pregnancy. As a result, as a form of protection for the body, the reproductive system shuts down because it is severely malnourished.
Bulimic Tendency
Women with anorexia and/or bulimia often experience amenorrhea as a result of maintaining a body weight that would be too low to sustain a pregnancy. As a result, as a form of protection for the body, the reproductive system shuts down because it is severely malnourished.
Problems Caused By Being Overweight
Women who are obese often experience amenorrhea as a result of excess fat cells interfering with the process of ovulation.
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Last updated: Feb 13, 2024