I am 16. I missed my Period. What should I do?

Missing your period could be caused by a number of things medically. It may not mean you are pregnant, especially if you are not sexually active. It is not unusual to miss a period during teenage or adolescent years especially during the first two years when you start menstruating. It may take a little while for your body to develop a regular cycle. Menstruation is the monthly loss of blood and tissue from the uterus through the vagina. It is also called Period. It could start from age 12 in some girls, earlier in some and later in others. It is a cycle and it happens averagely on a monthly basis. The first menstruation is called menarche. If you are not prepared for it, it can be embarrassing. There are known cases of girls who were told their skirts have been stained by their male classmates. If you desire more explanation about menstruation, feel free to chat us up on Whatsapp, 07080800047 or speak to a trusted adult around you.

I am not sexually active and I missed my period

Don’t worry. There are other factors that can contribute to missed or late periods. This can be late because of weight loss or weight gain, increased exercise, stress, sleep schedule changes, side effects of some medications, eating habits, hormonal imbalance and illness. For instance, participating in long hours of sports particularly strenuous or high-intensity sports could make you experience less bleeding, late or missed period because the body is trying to conserve energy during the activity. Your period may return to its normal cycle in months once you reduce your level of sports activities. Taking hormonal birth control pills can alter your period. It is perfectly normal. An excessive amount of stress is not good for the body. Overload of emotional stress, depression or pressure is also known to affect the period cycle.

What if I’m sexually active?

Early pregnancy symptoms like cramps, nausea, fatigue, bloating, breast tenderness, craving for a certain type of food are similar to what you experience before menstruation, so you might be pregnant. Don’t freak out yet, getting a pregnancy test would be the first thing you make sure you do especially if you’ve had sex in the time frame. Upon taking the pregnancy test, the test result is always two ways. If it comes out negative, then it may be any of the factors mentioned earlier.

If the test is positive, you also need to calm down. Go and take a blood test to confirm again. As a teenager, the most dreaded result you might see is positive, which may cause an uproar of emotions and feelings. If that is the case, it will do a lot of good to call a professional counselor to attend to you. We know it may be very difficult to tell your parent or guardian. The disappointments, anger etc. Whatever the case, do not anything harmful to your self. Okay?

Should I be worried about missed periods?

Worrying does no good to anyone, talking to a trusted health care provider is better especially if your period becomes irregular. The following are signs you may have to go to see one: less often period (less than 45days), spotting or bleeding in between periods, more often period (less than 21 days), longer periods (more than 7days), regular periods that became irregular when your period stops.

If you are an adolescent girl and you have other questions or want to ask for your friend, please call or chat with us on 07080800047.