Does anyone not menstruate for extreme periods of time?

MissLincolnTaylor
MissLincolnTaylor Posts: 66 Member
edited November 27 in Health and Weight Loss
I am currently on a 127 day cycle and only had 4 periods last year. Im not on the pill and im not pregnant and its not PCOS. Im just wondering whether anyone else has something similar. Im thinking it could also be due to being obese.
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Replies

  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
    You need to ask your doctor. Seriously.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    I would be at my doctor so quick.
  • MissLincolnTaylor
    MissLincolnTaylor Posts: 66 Member
    I've been to the doctors and they've done blood tests and a vaginal ultrasound. They suspected PCOS but it turns out it wasn't that. Think they are pretty stumped right now.
  • wrenak
    wrenak Posts: 144 Member
    I used to be regular. My cycles were 28-31 days. Recently they've been getting weird. My shortest was 25 days, my longest was 51. That could be age-related (41), weight-loss related, or whatever it is that's going on up there. Had an ultrasound last week and the doc wants to get a biopsy of the uterine lining so obviously SOMETHING is going on. Your best bet would to go see the gyno and discuss things to see what might be the cause and if it's something to be concerned about.
  • grinning_chick
    grinning_chick Posts: 765 Member
    edited January 2016
    Clinical obesity can certainly contribute to anovulation and subsequent lack of a menstrual cycle. However, you should really have a(n) MD/DO/OB-GYN perform an exam +/- misc diagnostic tests to rule in/out that is what is indeed what is going on with you and not something else (i.e., achieve a medical diagnosis). As opposed to just assuming that's what is going on or listening to teh [sic] internets/some rando stranger online. (:
  • MissLincolnTaylor
    MissLincolnTaylor Posts: 66 Member
    I was completely normal up until i moved in with my fiance a year and a half a go. Im waiting to be refereed to gyno. Hopefully when they get my next set of bloods back.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    It is good that you've been to doctors about it. That would have been my first advice as well.

    My cycle gets weird anytime I make a sizable (more than 250ish calories) change to my calorie expenditure. I often have cycles of 60 days or so, though I've never gone as long as what you are describing. It is possible that your weight is a factor and that it will improve as you lose weight. Are your doctors concerned at all? At this point, for me, I don't get worried about long cycles because they are very much my norm. If your doctors are not concerned, I would focus on losing weight and getting healthy and then pay attention to whether that helps.
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
    The only time this has ever happened to me was when I was exclusively nursing. I went over a year without menstruating with both children.
  • WeaTheRgrlx0x
    WeaTheRgrlx0x Posts: 48 Member
    My last cycle was 38 days. I'll have a cycle thats 5-6 weeks apart, then they'll get closer for the next few months, and then be long again. Who knows?!
  • Lovee_Dove7
    Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
    An exam would be a good idea. You don't want the uterine lining to build up, it's not safe.
  • kw0728
    kw0728 Posts: 7 Member
    I recently went nearly 9 months without a period, with no explanation from a doctor besides the fact that I wasn't ovulating. Now I have had my period 111 days straight. I've had exams, and studies done with no real answers.
  • MissLincolnTaylor
    MissLincolnTaylor Posts: 66 Member
    kw0728 wrote: »
    I recently went nearly 9 months without a period, with no explanation from a doctor besides the fact that I wasn't ovulating. Now I have had my period 111 days straight. I've had exams, and studies done with no real answers.

    I dont know what is worse. Not having them at all or having them non stop x
  • wrenak
    wrenak Posts: 144 Member
    kw0728 wrote: »
    I recently went nearly 9 months without a period, with no explanation from a doctor besides the fact that I wasn't ovulating. Now I have had my period 111 days straight. I've had exams, and studies done with no real answers.

    That sounds awful. I think I'd be ready to rip my uterus out by hand!
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    I used to have like... 1 to 2 periods a year. No PCOS, Not on the pill, not pregnant, etc. The problem: I was severely obese. Once I started losing weight, guess what. They started back up and started becoming regular/closer together until now I can count on exactly when AF is due.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    kw0728 wrote: »
    I recently went nearly 9 months without a period, with no explanation from a doctor besides the fact that I wasn't ovulating. Now I have had my period 111 days straight. I've had exams, and studies done with no real answers.

    This happened to me, when I was in my early 20's. I went to the doctor, he gave me a hormone shot and things went back to "my" normal.

    OP, I frequently had long cycles throughout my reproductive years, because I was not ovulating on a regular basis. There were tests done and nothing specific was wrong. It was difficult for me to get pregnant when I was ready to have children.
  • ammo7
    ammo7 Posts: 188 Member
    When I started eating at a deficit, I didn't get my period for 7 months. I wasn't eating at an extreme deficit (1400 calories each day gave me about a 400 calorie deficit per day) but I was eating super low fat accidentally, since I was choosing the lowest calorie foods I could find, to try to get the most food for the least calories. I think consuming too little fat can contribute to losing your period temporarily.

    Everything is working fine for me now on the pill and eating at least 20% of my daily calories from fat.
  • ARC1603
    ARC1603 Posts: 113 Member
    The only time I had this was after coming off the pill. I'd been on it for over ten years before stopping it to try for our first child. It took about nine months for my body to settle down and for me to get pregnant. It probably didn't help I was having a stressful situation with changing jobs at the time either.
  • owen1826
    owen1826 Posts: 53 Member
    edited January 2016
    Your hormones are obviously way out of wack. Excess weight definitely plays a part. But Doctor, yes. Now.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    My period just stopped for no apparent reason the last two months, which has never happened before. I'm not pregnant. The doctor suspects it's the new birth control we switched me to in August. But she suggested other possible causes besides PCOS could be a hormone imbalance or a benign growth on the pituitary gland (which controls hormones). If my period doesn't return with the latest birth control, she plans to do more blood work to test hormone levels, check for PCOS, and then if necessary do an MRI to look for a growth on the pituitary gland.
  • I can go months without mine for no reason. The longest I have gone was 5 months no show. So it could show up in 30 days or 5 months from now and with no cramps, cravings, or mood swings its a surprise every time.
  • rhianna818
    rhianna818 Posts: 85 Member
    Yes, I have experienced this for going on 10 years now. Being over 300 lbs, my period pretty much stopped. I would have random ones here and there, so maybe 1 a year. But I would also have random mini periods where I would bleed for a day or afternoon, then nothing again. I've been to the doctors multiple times, many different doc's. Its all be linked to my weight. Since losing 50+ lbs, they have started to be more regular, and unfortunately seems to be making up for lost time w/ 20-25 days of extremely heavy bleeding.
    My doctor and I hope that as my weight loss continues that my hormones will even out and I will be as regular as I was in my teens.
  • meredithgir199
    meredithgir199 Posts: 243 Member
    Have the OB check your prolactin level. I have very irregular periods, almost non existent and was having some other symptoms like breast milk production years after I stopped nursing. The doctor discovered that I had a tumor on my pituitary gland.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    kw0728 wrote: »
    I recently went nearly 9 months without a period, with no explanation from a doctor besides the fact that I wasn't ovulating. Now I have had my period 111 days straight. I've had exams, and studies done with no real answers.

    You need to be checked for fibroids--these are classic symptoms.
  • Wheezy629
    Wheezy629 Posts: 1 Member
    I had all these symptoms. ....no period for months at a time then get one for months. Next one would be normal. No rhyme or reason to it.
    Did all the tests...ultrasound, uterine biopsy, nothing found. This went on for a good 5-6 years. Last period I had lasted 4 1/2 months straight. I had enough, demanded answers. Last thing to do was a d&c.
    That is when they found the cancer. The tumor is what was bleeding for months on end and stopping me from having a period for months and months. Terrifying I'm only 45 with 2 children at home.
    Cancer is a scary word and my post is not to frighten anyone but your body is telling tou something. Please listen to it. What was happening to me was not normal. I implore anyone having this problem to not let your symptoms to be dismissed. If caught early uterine cancer is 97% curable, many times with just surgery. I was one of the lucky ones.
  • adwilliams03
    adwilliams03 Posts: 147 Member
    kw0728 wrote: »
    I recently went nearly 9 months without a period, with no explanation from a doctor besides the fact that I wasn't ovulating. Now I have had my period 111 days straight. I've had exams, and studies done with no real answers.

    You need to be checked for fibroids--these are classic symptoms.

    Seconded. I had mine for over two and a half years and they finally said it was fibroids. Had a uterine ablation, lost about 40 pounds, and have been regular ever since.
  • MissLincolnTaylor
    MissLincolnTaylor Posts: 66 Member
    Update for you all... after being told i dont have PCOS it turns out i do. God damn health service.
  • yoplait311
    yoplait311 Posts: 56 Member
    Interesting post here. I went for 16 mnths with no period - and for no reason. Doctors couldn't find any abnormalities and didn't really seem all that concerned. I think it was due to extreme over-exercise even though my body fat levels were normal. My period hasn't been normal my entire life, and it's more than frustrating.
  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
    Update for you all... after being told i dont have PCOS it turns out i do. God damn health service.

    I dunno if I'm happy that you have an answer or sad that you have PCOS. In any case, here's wishing you good health!
  • DaisyBlinks
    DaisyBlinks Posts: 18 Member
    Just wanted to throw out that I got pregnant on like day 130 of my cycle a couple of years ago. I had assumed/trusted Dr. Google that it was extremely unlikely to get pregnant on such a long cycle so I was a bit shocked. I was wanting to be pregnant so it was a welcome surprise but I just wanted to throw out there that even on long cycles, it's probably a good idea to take a test every once in awhile. Nobody wants to end up on "I didn't know I was pregnant" :D
  • WendyLaubach
    WendyLaubach Posts: 518 Member
    Sorry it's PCOS after all, but happy it's not cancer! This business of waiting for approval for a referral is maddening. I'm hearing it more and more these days.
This discussion has been closed.