When Stress Delays Your Period and How to Bring it Back

A missing or late period can be stressful. Or when it's late, delayed and taking its sweet time to start! "What's wrong?" "Am I pregnant?" The questions can feel endless. Even worse, stress alone can delay or alter your period. Do you think that stress may be delaying your period? Read on to learn about the connection between cortisol and menstruation.

Learn how to improve your diet and other methods you can take to reduce stress

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If you weren't planning for pregnancy, this can create some stress and panic. This begins a vicious cycle, as periods are directly impacted by stress! So when your stress levels rise - particularly for a prolonged period of time - your period can be negatively impacted. This stress might be from what you’ve experienced earlier in your cycle or even the stress you’re experiencing waiting for your period to arrive - and both can actually make your period arrive late.

If you’re breastfeeding, have PCOS, are entering perimenopause or menopause, have a thyroid issue, or if you’ve recently come off hormonal birth control, those factors can also impact your period. If none of these reasons are present, it's definitely time to assess your stress levels.

How long can stress delay your period? Well, that depends. Stress causes late periods because of how it disrupts hormonal patterns. Your hormones need to meet certain levels and follow certain patterns in order to trigger both ovulation and your period. So if stress gets in the way, this can impact your cycle. A rise in stress hormones, specifically cortisol, affects all other hormones, the levels that are produced and their interaction.

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5 things to know about stress, anxiety, and your period

If stress and anxiety have been delaying your period, we've got you covered. Once you learn the causes, you can learn how to get your period "unstuck." Stress has more meanings than just emotional stress. Physical stresses on your body can also delay your period in similar ways. Read the following 5 facts related to late periods caused by stress:

1. Stress raises cortisol levels and disrupts your blood sugar, which disrupts your ovulation and period.

2. The stress hormone cortisol blocks progesterone production and lowers progesterone levels. Your body actually uses your progesterone to make more cortisol, in reaction and response to the stress. This can not only mess with your cycle, but make it difficult for you to conceive.

3. Stress around the time you normally ovulate can delay or even prevent ovulation. Cortisol can suppress ovulation. This makes sense - a pregnancy on top of a stressful period in a person’s life is not ideal.  Your body, in a way, is trying to keep your energy available to address the stress before conception takes place.

4. Stress post-ovulation can cause hormonal imbalance. If you do ovulate and stress comes later in your cycle, it can potentially cause spotting, an early period or a period that looks or feels different to your norm (in consistency, color, length, or symptoms like cramping).

5. A late period may not be considered a period at all - it’s more of a breakthrough bleed. You didn’t ovulate, so it’s not a physiological period - however, your uterus still needs to shed the lining it has built up.

Here's the reality: your hormonal cycle is a chain reaction. If one stage of your cycle does not occur as it should, the following stages will not receive the correct triggers. When your ovary releases an egg, the ruptured egg sack produces progesterone. The increase of progesterone in your body encourages the buildup and eventual release of the lining of your uterus, aka your period.  

We advocate for listening to your body, and a late period is your body saying something loud and clear...but what exactly is your body trying to tell you? A messed up cycle is a message. It’s a call-to-action!

Your late period can signal that you are under constant or chronic levels of stress. To restore ovulation, lowering stress levels is key.  Lack of ovulation is not only an issue if you want to conceive, it also sets you up for greater hormone imbalance and period problems - everything from PMS, to acne, to cramps. A late period is more than just a nuisance or inconvenience, it’s also going to come with a bunch of other health issues.

Once you period is late, there’s not much you can do to make your period come when you want during that cycle. But you can absolutely avoid late periods in the future by taking action today! It's not "too late" to get yourself back on track.

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4 steps to avoid stress-delayed periods

1. Take a Healing Bath - Stressors can be unavoidable, but your response to stress is in your hands. This can mean a deeply relaxing bath 3 times a week with epsom salts and essential oils. It can mean reading a good book before bed each night. It can mean getting creative - taking a painting class, starting a project that inspires you, or even coloring at home. You can use your menstrual cycle to sync your schedule to your hormonal patterns - making everything feel easier and less like an uphill battle. It can also mean making time for more pleasure in your life, and not just sex. Or it can mean all of the above and then some, which is all-encompassing self-care, and the most effective.

2. Go on a Sleep Diet  - Poor sleep or an inconsistent sleep schedule (staying up past midnight and waking up late) creates a burnt out, stressed-out situation. Physiologically bad sleep will cause high levels of stress hormones. But it also leaves you feeling like you're constantly behind. When you’re in bed earlier and waking up earlier, you will naturally have more time in the morning to get centered and ready for your day. This will help you feel more grounded and clear. Put yourself on a “Sleep Diet” to have this sleep schedule every day for 21 days.

3. Try Maca - When we’re stressed, we often have the knee-jerk reaction of reaching for coffee first thing in the morning, (we think it’ll help us get everything done!) and alcohol at night, (we think it’ll help us unwind!). Both of these things raise cortisol levels and actually make you feel more stressed in the long run. Detox from coffee and manage your alcohol intake to avoid chronic stress. Try maca root powder for the energy boost you’re seeking - this adaptogen can give you pep without harming your sleep schedule (try adding it to your smoothie or oats).

4. Focus on Micronutrients - Micronutrients are absolutely essential when it comes to balancing hormones and resolving symptoms like PMS, weight-loss resistance, acne, mood swings, bloating, cramping, missing periods, and painful, heavy periods. The micronutrients you need more of when it comes to hormone balance are: Vitamin D3, Vitamin K, B vitamins, Magnesium, as well as Micronutrients that support liver health, and Compounds and nutrients that support gut health. These micronutrients, in the right amounts, will help you get back on track hormonally and bring relief from your symptoms.

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Love & ovaries,

Alisa