Periods HELP

[Askingforamate91]

Posting on behalf of someone who doesn’t use this site, we thought it might be worth a post in case anyone has any ideas!

A very close friend of mine has never had typical periods. They have always been extremely irregular and are often absent altogether. It’s extremely rare that they follow the correct cycle and a typical period diary is similar to this;

Jan- absent
Feb- normal and at start of the month, lasting 5 days but not particularly heavy
March- absent
April-absent
May-normal and at the end of the month, lasts 3 days
June-absent
July- normal and at start of the month

ok I’m sure you get the picture! They either don’t come at all and when they do come they are usually light and don’t follow any sort or cycle or pattern. She gets no cramps or period pain other than diarrhoea. Healthy BMI and good lifestyle. She said she gets significantly excess body hair eg face and chest but she’s previously had blood work (FBC and hormones) and an ultrasound (abdominal I think) and was cleared of everything concerning. She had previously just accepted it was just the way her body was as it’s always been this way until the age she is now (30s), but no other females in the family are like that and she is only concerned as she’s at a stage in her life where she’s thinking about trying to conceive and isn’t sure if the period situation could cause a problem.

So my question is does anyone know what is going on? Is it just the way her body is and harmless or is it possibly a problem? I said I would post here to see if anyone has a similar experience or could shed any light on the situation.

Bump 😀

It sounds like polycystic ovaries to me, but they've ruled that out? Has she not been prescribed any sort of contraceptive pill to regulate her periods? Unfortunately often you don't get much help with this sort of thing until you are trying to conceive.

Agree they should check for PCOS.

Is she very thin? Does she work out loads and not eat much?

Sounds like PCOS but she would need to get on to her GP for tests to know for sure as there are so many different things it could be

She’s thin but doesn’t appear underweight- I’m not sure exactly what she weighs but she appears healthy and doesn’t excessively exercise (as far as I know)

she said she had her hormones and blood tested and apparently it was normal, would this rule out PCOS?

My pcos was only formally diagnosed following an internal ultrasound, then I had a laparoscopy which also confirmed it. My bloods always came back fine, but it all depends on when in the cycle they're taken. My cycle has been as long as 90 days and as short as 27 days.

If your friend isn't trying to conceive, it may be worth her going onto the pill, just to make sure she is having enough periods in a year. I know there are concerns about uterine cancer if you don't shed the lining regularly enough.

Just because bloods and an ultrasound said it's not pcos, there is still a chance it could be. It might also be linked to her body weight and how much exercise she does. I know when I started at the gym, my period disappeared for 3 months.

Hope I've helped.

I see you say she's thinking of ttc. In that case if she sees her gp, they may prescribe provera which will bring on a period. She may need Clomid to help her ovulate at the correct time, as pinpointing ovulation with long cycles is difficult. She might find ovulation tests helpful. I know I found charting my temperature a huge help in understanding my cycles.

Another PCOS suggestion here. It sounds like she is not ovulating or is rarely ovulating.

Tell her to start eating more, work out less. Put on a few pounds to stimulate her body. If she's already been checked for PCOS she's probably just too thin. Being too fat or too thin can have a massive impact on fertility and cycles in general. I know because I've yoyod my whole life but conceived my 2 easily when I was just touching "overweight" on BMI.

Has she seen a gynaecologist? That would be my first port of call. GPs don't know enough.

No, no gynaecologist referral. She said the GP didn’t think anything further was necessary because the blood tests and hormone tests were normal so no PCOS or any hormonal problems. It was left there and she said she was told it was just normal for her and her body is a bit different but that there’s nothing harmful causing it.

She doesn’t do lots of exercise (just a standard amount) and she said she’s actually not underweight. It could be weight related though as she is still slim but she said the periods have been like this since they started and at that point she wasn’t unusually skinny or excessively exercising

of course it is possible this is just her normal and for whatever reason her body doesn’t ovulate like normal, but we just thought we would post here in case anyone knew anything about it.

she said it skipped a month again. No cramps or pain or typical period symptoms and no bleeding at all.

Honestly I speak from knowledge on this, she needs to eat more and exercise less for a bit, put on a few pounds and get her body working properly. I know loads of people will disagree with me but tell her to try it.

what is a "correct cycle" ? 😕

My periods weren't as often absent as that, but maybe not that different, either. -4 children later...

How old is she? The last couple of years before my periods stopped altogether (when I was 54), my "cycle" was a bit like this. One year I had one in February (which was light but stop-start for most of the month), one in June, then two quite close together in the autumn. The following year I just had one in March and that turned out to be the last one.