Is it normal to have delayed menstruation occasionally?

During menstruation, you should pay close attention to your menstrual cycle and be prepared if your period comes early or late. Women’s menstrual cycle is fixed. If it is advanced or delayed by three or four days, it is generally considered normal. However, if it is too long, it is a disease factor. The cause needs to be strictly identified and then a targeted judgment needs to be made. Women with irregular menstrual cycles need to pay attention to their lifestyle habits. So, is it normal to have an occasional late period?

1. Pregnancy

For women of childbearing age who have had sexual life, when their menstruation is delayed, they often doubt whether it is menstruation abnormality or they are pregnant. This problem is a very common phenomenon in daily life. How to rule out pregnancy and how to determine whether it is a menstrual disease are the first issues that need to be clarified. First, determine whether you are pregnant. If your menstrual cycle has always been normal, with no signs of delay, and there are some signs of pregnancy, you should use an early pregnancy test strip to test your urine on the fifth day after your delayed period (or the fifth day calculated from the start of your period). If the test result is positive, you should have a gynecological pelvic examination. If the cervix changes to purple-blue, the uterus is full or enlarged, and there may be accompanying symptoms such as breast tenderness and nausea, you can be diagnosed with pregnancy. Of course, B-ultrasound can also quickly determine whether you are pregnant.

2. Side effects of drugs

For example, endocrine disorders after long-term use of contraceptives can also cause delayed menstruation. Doctors also found, based on patient feedback, that a new generation of gastric motility drug, metoclopramide, also known as domperidone, may also cause this condition. Since metoclopramide does not easily cross the blood-brain barrier, it is believed that it has no inhibitory effect on central dopamine receptors. Central dopamine receptors are inhibited, resulting in a decrease in the amount of hypothalamic release factors entering the anterior pituitary. As a result, the anterior pituitary secretes less gonadotropin and corticotropin, leading to amenorrhea and delayed ovulation.

3. Caused by surgery

Menstruation after surgical or medical abortion is determined by the degree of recovery of the endometrial wall, which may cause menstruation to be delayed to a large extent.

Intrauterine surgery can cause cervical adhesions, which can lead to menstrual blood stasis and thus delay menstruation.

4. Endocrine disorders

Endocrine reasons such as polycystic ovary syndrome and premature ovarian failure can also lead to delayed menstruation. Timely examination should be carried out and treatment should be started as soon as abnormalities are found.

5. Premature ovarian failure

Premature ovarian failure is caused by abnormal ovarian function. It often manifests as delayed menstruation, infrequent menstruation, amenorrhea and infertility. Symptoms similar to menopause such as vaginal dryness, dyspareunia, hot flashes and insomnia may occur. If menstruation is delayed only 1-2 times occasionally and there are no other accompanying symptoms, it does not fall into the category of menstrual disorders. When the interval between menstrual cycles is more than 35 days, it is called oligomenorrhea, and when menstruation stops for more than 3 menstrual cycles, it is called amenorrhea. The absence of ovulation after amenorrhea can also lead to problems such as osteoporosis and endometrial hyperplasia, which must be taken seriously. You should go to the hospital immediately for a comprehensive examination.

6. Long-term exposure to harmful radiation, chemotherapy drugs, etc. may also cause premature ovarian failure and delayed menstruation. Pay attention to ovarian protection. For older women (over 40 years old), delayed menstruation and exclusion of other endometrial lesions are mostly caused by the gradual decline in ovarian function, and no special treatment is required clinically.