Reasons for a Missed Menstrual Cycle

The majority of women begin menstruating in their early teenage years and will continue experiencing menstruation into their 40s or 50s until they enter menopause. Most women's bodies operate on a 28-day menstrual cycle, ovulating and menstruating in that time period. However, it is possible and not altogether uncommon for a woman to miss her period depending on her age, circumstances and lifestyle. While missing three periods in a row indicates a condition referred to as amenorrhea, missing a single period may be an indication of any conditions listed below.

Pregnancy

• One of the most common reasons that a woman misses a menstrual cycle is because she is pregnant. Menstruation is the body's way of getting rid of the materials in the uterus that were present in the case that a woman's egg was fertilized and a baby began to grow there. When a woman becomes pregnant, the body needs those materials and menstruation is skipped. If a woman suspects she is missing a period because of pregnancy, she should take a pregnancy test and contact her doctor.

Weight Loss

• If a woman rapidly loses weight, she can experience a missed menstrual cycle. This is because the body needs a certain amount of body fat in order to ovulate and menstruate. Many athletes as well as women with eating disorders experience missed menstrual cycles because of their low body fat percentages. Most women's bodies will return to normal and once again menstruate once they have been restored to a healthy weight.

Using or Stopping Birth Control

• If a woman is taking a birth control pill that does not contain enough estrogen for her body, this can cause her to miss a menstrual cycle. If this is the case, a doctor should be consulted and the birth control prescription altered so that hormone levels return to normal. When a woman stops using birth control, it can take up to three months for her body to adjust and to get back into a normal menstrual cycle. During the time that her body is adjusting, she may miss periods.

Menopause

• Menopause is the period in a woman's life when her body changes and she becomes unable to reproduce. Although this process can take many years to complete, a change in a woman's menstrual cycle is often one of the first indications of menopause. If a woman is between the ages of 45 and 55 and experiences a missed period, she may want to consult with her doctor in case it is a sign that she is entering menopause.

Stress

• Stress can cause a woman to miss a menstrual cycle. When a woman experiences a significant amount of stress due to a lifestyle change, death of a relative or friend, traveling, a divorce or some other stressful circumstance, her body may decrease the level of hormones it produces which would normally cause ovulation and menstruation. Without these hormones, the body will not ovulate, and she will experience a missed menstrual cycle. When the stress passes, her body should return to normal.