Irregular Periods Causes: Learn What Causes Irregular Periods

Irregular periods, or oligomenorrhea, can occur for many reasons and a number of these relate to hormone levels. The following are some of the most common reasons behind irregular periods:

Uncontrolled diabetes – If one has uncontrolled diabetes, the combination of blood sugar levels and hormones might interrupt the menstrual cycle, resulting in irregular periods.

Eating disorders – One may have irregular or skipped periods if one have an eating problem like anorexia or bulimia. This is due to a lack of hormones produced and circulated by the body to regulate the menstrual cycle.

Hyperprolactinemia – This is a condition in which a woman's blood has too much prolactin, a protein hormone that causes irregular periods.

Medications – Some drugs, such as anti-epileptics and antipsychotics, can produce irregular periods.

PCOS – PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome, is characterised by an imbalance of sex hormones, which can cause irregular menstruation. When the ovaries or adrenal glands overproduce "male" hormones (androgens) and the body develops insulin resistance, this metabolic and hormonal condition emerges.

Stress – Stress hormones can interfere with menstruation, and long-term stress might cause your period to be delayed or missed completely.

Natural causes – The body goes through a lot of changes during puberty. The hormones that control periods might take several years to settle into a consistent rhythm. It is usual to have irregular periods at this time. Oligomenorrhea can also happen after a baby is born and while nursing, until the hormones return to normal.

Starting or stopping birth control pills- During the first few months of using the pill, patch, implant, or hormonal intrauterine device (IUD), a person may suffer irregular bleeding. It's possible that this will grow more frequent over time or that it may stop completely. Similarly, if one quits taking hormonal birth control, their periods may become irregular. It takes some time for the body's hormonal cycle to return to normal.