Women at the age where they are going through perimenopause and menopause can begin to experience menstrual cycle irregularities. There is typically nothing to cause most women alarm, as this is just the natural process of the body shutting down its reproductive system. Nevertheless, it is a good idea for women to discuss any irregularities with her doctor to be certain there are no underlying issues going on, such as cysts, fibroids or cancer.
Irregular periods will differ for each woman experiencing them. This is due to the wide range of menstrual symptoms, like PMS, bloating, flow, length of days and so on. For a menstrual cycle to be considered irregular, the difference the woman is feeling must be evident. One very simple way for a woman to know if she is having irregularities is by a change in the cycle itself; for instance, if a woman usually always started her period on or around the 10th of every month and now they are coming at all different dated.
For women to be able to evaluate if their cycles have become irregular, she must first know what her normal is. This can be done by simple keeping track of it in a journal or chart. However, for many women there are a lot of similar menstrual irregularity symptoms that they share. Some of those are:
Irregular Periods Symptoms
• New painful cramps that have never been there before, dysmenorrhea• An extended number of days on cycle and heavier flow, menorrhagia
• Metrorrhagia, increased cycles
• Noticing clotting for the first time
• Amenorrhea, missing periods
• Having soreness in the breasts for the first time
• New headaches and/or bloating
Every one of these symptoms and their severity will be different for each woman and is dependent on health, age and which symptoms are actually being experienced. The causes of them are just a varied and range from stress to illness. Some things, like over-exertion, daily stress, inadequate nutrition, lack of sleep and hormonal imbalance due to the onset of menopause.
Irregular Periods Causes
There are some abnormal menstrual period irregularities that are cause for concern and they are as follows:• Blood flow that is very heavy and comes on suddenly
• Any amount of bleeding that is considered in extreme excess of the norm
• Periods that come more than every three weeks
• Any spotting or full out bleeding during or after intercourse and/or between cycles
Women experiencing any of these should contact her Ob/Gyn right away and make an appointment to get examined for serious conditions or illnesses.
It is best for women hold off on using herbal supplements due to their addictive effect on the body and HRT as a last resort because it puts women in a higher bracket for developing cancer. The ultimate choice for combating irregular periods is a diet change with the additional daily exercise routine. Foods like olive oil, flax seeds and their oil, EFA’s, plenty of water, seaweed, fresh fruits and fish, legumes, super lean meat and a ton of fresh vegetables will all aid in controlling a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Know more about late menstrual cycles in women.
