Irregular periods 16 year old any advice?

[MummytoBoth]

Hi I will try to keep this brief. 16 year old daughter started her periods age 13 and had a normalish cycle for around 1 year ( although some months were very light usually lasting 1 day). Two years ago her periods became more irregular and she hasn’t had one in over six months now. Dr has done blood work ( normal apart from low folate) urine samples ( all fine) and has referred for scans at the hospital which again were normal fine. Has anyone else had something similar? I am inclined to think exam stress etc may of caused this as daughter is very hard on herself and pushes herself academically but she says she isn’t stressed?

It could absolutely be due to stress. How were her periods pain wise when she was having them? Did you notice any weight loss before they stopped?

She was never in much pain with her periods when they were regular. Other than them sometimes being a light bleed/ short bleed they were normal.

Very likely to be exam stress. It can really throw them out.

Ask for them to check her prolactin levels op. Dds periods stopped altogether and after lots of investigations is on a 5 year treatment plan.

Hi I am worried also - our daughters sound the same - mine is now in her first year of A Levels and works extremely hard
She had her first period in Year 9 and it was regular, after a fashion, but I honestly cannot remember the last time she had one over a year I am sure
She is reluctant to go to the doctors but I feel as though we need to look into this

As someone up thread asked- how is her weight? If it’s on the low side it might be that she needs to actively put on weight. Doctors are sometimes dismissive if bmi/ weight for height is within ‘normal’ range but it might not be the ideal weight for your daughter. Teenage girls are often overlooked when it comes to how many calories they need to continue growing and developing whereas all the talk of teenage boys is that they are ‘ ravenous’ ‘eat you out of house and home’ etc and that that’s expected. Girls have high nutrition/ calorie needs too. I thought my daughter being ‘naturally skinny’ was fine but when her periods stopped it took a keen eyed GP to pick up on her low weight and she was subsequently diagnosed with anorexia. I’m not suggesting your DD had this too ( although being reluctant to go to the doctors could be a concern) but low weight can affect periods so worth boosting if needed.

Thank you - we went to the doctors and they are now taking some blood tests tomorrow - she is extremely skinny and has always been - although maybe a bit skinny than before. I did think the Dr would have weighed her but they did not just felt her stomach. I'm trying to not worry my daughter but I am really quite worried but will see what the results come back as.

Does she have any bowel issues at all? I had undiagnosed celiac disease which caused very rare periods and I was skinny. As soon as it was sorted they suddenly were regular and fine!

Well sort of she doesn't go every day but she says that is her normal. Saying that a few months back she did get into quite a lot of pain and we had to get some medication from the Pharmacy - the first lot we were given had no effect and then we went back to another Pharmacy and they gave us something else which really worked!!!

Oh also her bloods have come back ok so now the doctor said they are going to ask the gynecologist at the hospital for advice as to what to do next

In my experience with my 2 teenage girls it can definitely be weight related. Mine were both slim but periods stopped or.became very regular when the weight dropped further due to stress or other factors.