According to the results of medical research, every tenth woman at some point in her life is faced with the problem of stool disorder in the form of diarrhea due to a delay in menstruation. For some, this disorder is temporary, for others it is permanent. Be that as it may, everyone suffers equally, so the question of why diarrhea began instead of menstruation has not lost its relevance for many years. The answer to this can be found in this article, which contains key information on this topic.
When menstruation is delayed, a woman may experience a wide variety of symptoms, ranging from pain in the lower abdomen, weakness, and ending with nausea and a feeling of nausea, bowel problems such as constipation or diarrhea. If you don’t have your period and diarrhea starts, then there can be a lot of reasons for this problem. In most cases, the reasons for diarrhea and the fact that there is no menstruation for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 days, if there is no menstruation for 1, 2, 3 weeks or even a whole month, are interrelated. Further in the article, we will detail what to do if diarrhea is accompanied by a delay in menstruation and what the main causes of bowel dysfunction may be in the absence of menstrual periods.
Diarrhea and delayed menstruation
What changes in the body cause diarrhea to appear along with a delay in menstruation? About 70% of women suffer from premenstrual syndrome during their cycle. In most cases, PMS is accompanied by irritation, softening of stool and moderate abdominal discomfort with normal general health.
But severe diarrhea and delayed periods are not the norm when changing phases of the menstrual cycle. Since these symptoms may be a sign of pregnancy, medications should not be taken. Such a violation also indicates food poisoning, dysfunction of the endocrine glands, and many other diseases.
Therefore, if menstrual periods often start untimely and a disorder occurs, or this was an isolated case, it is recommended to do an hCG test and undergo an examination by a gynecologist. If necessary, he will refer you for further examination to a gastroenterologist, endocrinologist and/or another doctor.
What to do if you have diarrhea and no periods for 1, 2, 3 weeks or even 1 month
If diarrhea with a delay in menstruation occurred only once or the diarrhea quickly passed, then there is nothing to worry about. Diarrhea can be called dangerous when the diarrhea continues for 2 or 3 days and does not end. Before planning treatment for diarrhea in the absence of menstruation, it is recommended to be aware of the symptoms that require mandatory consultation with a doctor. In what case is a delay in menstruation and diarrhea a reason to urgently consult a doctor and which doctor should you make an appointment with? If you have the following symptoms, you should consult a gynecologist and gastroenterologist as soon as possible:
1 for pain in the stomach or lower abdomen;
2 in case of foreign impurities appearing in the feces;
3 at high or low-grade body temperature;
4 if diarrhea lasts longer than two days, while the frequency of bowel movements is eight or more times a day;
5 if the digestive process is disrupted or there are signs of acute poisoning.
You should immediately call an ambulance if diarrhea that occurs due to a delay in menstruation is accompanied by increasing abdominal pain, a rapid deterioration in general well-being, or a sharp increase or decrease in blood pressure. You cannot hesitate in such a situation - you could lose your life. Prolonged diarrhea when there is no period is dangerous due to dehydration of the female body. Therefore, it is important to know how to properly help a person with severe diarrhea if it does not stop. Symptoms are also dangerous if loose stools and missed periods are accompanied by very severe weakness, dizziness, or even loss of consciousness.
Common causes of diarrhea when menstruation is delayed
The cause of diarrhea is the consumption of foods that have a laxative effect. Frustration and delay of menstruation due to disruption of the menstrual cycle may simply coincide. There are other harmless and dangerous factors that provoke such a violation.
Causes of diarrhea when menstruation is delayed:
- ectopic pregnancy;
- colitis, gastritis, pancreatitis, other pathologies in the digestive system;
- appendicitis;
- intestinal infection or poisoning of the body with harmful substances;
- a consequence of hormonal changes during PMS or pregnancy;
- dysfunction of the reproductive and endocrine glands;
- inflammation in the genitourinary organs.
Diarrhea with delayed menstruation is not the only symptom: the development of pathologies or physiological processes is accompanied by other signs. To accurately determine the diagnosis, laboratory and hardware tests of the body are required.
Associated symptoms
Premenstrual syndrome is accompanied by symptoms of vegetative-vascular, nervous and endocrine disorders. In 75% of cases, women complain of psycho-emotional instability, soreness of the mammary glands, abdominal discomfort, bloating, upset stool, and migraine. The PMS symptom complex appears monthly before menstrual periods and disappears at the end without the help of medications.
Delayed menstruation and diarrhea occur with gynecological, gastroenterological, endocrinological or neurological diseases.
The main signs of pathologies with diarrhea and absence of menstruation:
- Gynecological diseases. Often accompanied by pain in the lower abdomen, menstrual irregularities, and the appearance of uncharacteristic vaginal discharge.
- Ectopic pregnancy. A nagging pain on one side of the lower abdomen appears 3-5 days after fertilization of the egg. Every day it intensifies and is poorly relieved by analgesics.
- Hormonal disbalance. It is characterized by systematic irregularities in the menstrual cycle, pain in the temples and/or abdomen, nervous lability, and swelling of the mammary glands.
- Pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract and other organs of the digestive system. Accompanied by nausea, flatulence, heaviness in the stomach after eating, and other signs of dyspepsia. There is blood in the stool.
- Appendicitis. Accompanied by increasing acute pain in the right side of the abdomen, 1-2 times vomiting. Sometimes the temperature rises.
- Intestinal infection or poisoning of the body with harmful substances. Signs of intoxication are observed: frequent loose stools, repeated vomiting, fever, and a sharp deterioration in general health. The stool may bubble and/or contain blood, mucus, or yellow-green specks.
With a single delay in menstruation, diarrhea is a sign of pregnancy. Successful conception in the early stages will be indicated by drowsiness, softening of stool and frequent trips to the toilet, nausea or vomiting after eating, intolerance to the smell of certain foods and perfumes. This disorder goes away as the female body adapts to new conditions.
Your period is late, but the test is negative: what to do?
A delay in menstruation with a negative test is often found in modern women.
Hormonal disorders, excess weight, inactive lifestyle, changing climate conditions, stress - all this provokes menstrual irregularities.
As soon as you notice that your period is a few days late, purchase a pregnancy test at the pharmacy to conduct a home diagnosis. This will make it possible to exclude conception with a high probability and select effective ways to restore the menstrual cycle.
How to recognize a delay in menstruation?
Normally, the menstrual cycle lasts 21-35 days. If the test is negative and there is no menstruation, you need to contact a gynecologist.
The absence of menstruation for more than 5-7 days against the background of a negative pregnancy test is a reason for additional examination.
During diagnosis, the true reasons for the absence of menstruation can be determined.
Keep in mind that a negative test during a delay may be false, especially if you do it on the day of your expected menstruation, when the level of hCG (the hormone that is produced after fertilization and fixation of the egg) is insufficient to determine pregnancy.
Delayed menstruation is divided into several types:
- cycle disorder, which is accompanied by rare menstruation with an interval of 40-60 days, while the duration of menstrual bleeding is only 1-2 days;
- the cycle lengthens, lasts more than 35 days, and menstruation is delayed;
- absence of menstruation for more than 6 months.
The usual delay in menstruation lasts several days and does not pose a threat to health. But if menstruation constantly comes irregularly, is delayed by weeks or months, then you need to sound the alarm.
Signs of delay due to cycle disorders are practically no different from the manifestations of the first weeks of pregnancy. The symptoms for both of these conditions are similar.
Delayed menstruation and possible pregnancy
How can a woman understand that she has a slight delay or is pregnant? The ideal solution would be to conduct a test. If the results are questionable, a barely noticeable second line appears, be wary and consult a doctor.
Test again the next day. Buy it from another pharmacy to eliminate the risk of using low-quality products. The sooner you find out about your pregnancy, the better. If you have even the slightest doubt, it is better to consult a gynecologist before taking any medications or using treatment methods.
In the early stages, pregnancy can be accurately determined only by the results of an ultrasound (ultrasound) or a blood test for the presence of hCG (pregnancy hormone).
An ultrasound examination allows not only to confirm conception, but also to determine the number of fetuses, determine the fetal heartbeat and assess the risk of miscarriage based on the condition of the uterus.
You can independently suspect the development of pregnancy against the background of a delay in menstruation only based on presumptive signs:
- increase in basal temperature (the lowest temperature reached by the body during rest) to 36.9-37.1°C: by the beginning of the first phase of the menstrual cycle it usually has lower values, which indicates the imminent onset of menstruation;
- engorgement of the mammary glands;
- mood swings;
- change in the color of the external genitalia: the mucous membrane of the genitals and vagina acquires a bluish tint (this happens due to high blood supply);
- nagging pain in the lower abdomen: they occur against the background of attachment of the embryo to the walls of the uterus.
Reasons for missed periods in the absence of pregnancy
Why am I not having my period but the test is negative? Every modern woman has asked this question at least once in her life.
Even the most effective methods of contraception are not 100% guaranteed. Therefore, any delay should alert the woman and force her to take a simple pregnancy test.
The causes of menstrual irregularities and absence of menstruation can be very different:
- stressful situations, severe emotional shock;
- frequent weight fluctuations, severe dietary restrictions;
- change of climate zone;
- starting to take hormonal contraceptives, switching to another method of preventing unwanted pregnancy;
- recent genital surgery;
- hormonal diseases;
- obesity or, conversely, underweight;
- past abortions;
- inflammatory processes of the genitourinary organs;
- neoplasms of the uterus and ovaries.
The main reason for a delay in menstruation with a negative test is a disruption in the cycle caused by stress or hormonal changes. If such a problem occurs periodically, we can talk about persistent menstrual irregularities.
Only a gynecologist can make an accurate diagnosis after receiving complex diagnostic data. When contacting the clinic, a woman will be asked to undergo an examination, laboratory blood tests, and ultrasound.
The sooner you seek help from specialists, the sooner you will be prescribed effective treatment for cycle disorders and detected diseases. Don't forget to bring your past examination data to your doctor's appointment. Experts ask some women to show a menstrual calendar, which reflects the consistency, duration and other features of the menstrual cycle.
In recent years, women have begun to take the periodic absence of menstruation lightly and frivolously. They are in no hurry to consult a gynecologist, which leads to a delayed start of treatment and a disastrous result.
Many benign tumors of the genital organs grow without significant pain or discomfort, but they often disrupt the cycle due to hormonal imbalances that occur.
Any delay in menstruation with a negative test is a cause for concern. The regularity of the menstrual cycle is an indicator of women's health. If you do not pay close attention to it and miss alarming symptoms, then in the future there may be problems with conception, bearing a child and childbirth.
A woman’s hormonal background reacts sharply to adverse effects: stress, treatment with antibiotics and other potent drugs, alcohol consumption, smoking, climate change.
Menstruation may disappear if you become interested in sports, when the body is subject to serious stress, especially combined with diet therapy.
Cycle disturbances often appear during vacation, when a woman spends a lot of time under the scorching sun and abruptly switches to a different diet.
Almost always, menstrual cycle disorders occur due to hormonal imbalance, malfunction of the glands involved in the regulation of the basic functions of the body and the ovaries. And, as you know, hormones directly affect a woman’s condition - her beauty, mood, performance and life expectancy. The longer menstrual function is maintained, the better the woman will feel.
When the production of female sex hormones ceases, the risk of developing arthrosis (age-related joint deformation), arthritis (joint deformation independent of age) and other joint pathologies, as well as cardiovascular diseases, increases sharply.
What to do if your period is late and the test is negative?
A negative test during a delay is a reason to contact your gynecologist. Do not rush to take the test on the day of your expected menstruation - wait 2-3 days. This period is considered harmless - a slight deviation in the date of menstruation is a variant of the norm.
It is better to take two pregnancy tests from different manufacturers. Then the probability of obtaining a false negative result will be practically reduced to zero.
Do not try to induce menstruation using dangerous and untested methods of traditional medicine - this can lead to bleeding and increased signs of the underlying disease.
The duration of the menstrual cycle is controlled by sex hormones, which can only be influenced by special medications. They should be selected by a doctor - and only on the basis of laboratory diagnostic data, determination of hormone levels in the blood and ultrasound results.
If you seek help in a timely manner, cycle disorders can be easily corrected.
So, if your pregnancy test is negative and you have not had your period, make an appointment with a gynecologist to dispel all doubts and begin treatment in a timely manner if irregularities are discovered. Every woman should maintain her health for as long as possible, because this is the key to her femininity, beauty and physical activity.
Reasons to see a doctor
If you have severe PMS, delayed periods, pain in the stomach, or unnatural vaginal discharge, immediately go to the gynecologist. Diarrhea (diarrhea) is often observed in the event of a disruption in the menstrual cycle and the development of pathologies of the organs of the reproductive system, but is not one of their mandatory symptoms. It is not recommended to postpone examination by a doctor until the end of your critical days, since you may miss diagnostic signs of uterine disease.
Contact a gastroenterologist immediately if:
- systematic stomach problems;
- blood in vomit or stool;
- temperature;
- severe diarrhea (more than 8 times a day);
- diarrhea for more than 30 hours;
- signs of poisoning;
- unnatural color of feces or inclusions in feces (blackening, yellow, green mucus, etc.).
Call an ambulance immediately if bowel dysfunction is accompanied by increasing abdominal pain, a sharp deterioration in well-being, or with blood pressure below or above normal 100/70─120(140)/90 mm Hg. Art.
Therapy and prevention of diarrhea with delayed menstruation
If your period is late, you should not take antidiarrheal drugs without the knowledge of your doctor without establishing the cause of the diarrhea. Such conditions may indicate pregnancy, so they go away on their own. Expectant mothers are allowed to use Enterosgel, Polysorb, Kaopectate, Linex, Smecta, Regidron. In some cases, it is necessary to eliminate an intestinal infection, gastritis or other pathology with medication.
To treat diarrhea in the absence of pregnancy, doctors use:
- No-shpu (pain relieves, relieves spasms);
- Duphaston;
- Loperamide;
- Non-Ovlon (hormonal agent).
To prevent delays or diarrhea due to stress, it is very useful to drink herbal teas with the addition of lemon balm and mint at night. On the recommendation of a doctor, use herbal remedies with valerian, Relaxil, Endau, Mastoklin, and other homeopathic or hormonal remedies.
Stool upset can be prevented by correcting the diet. A week before the expected start of menstruation, it is recommended to eat boiled and steamed foods. You can eat dietary meat, fish, rice porridge, baked apples. Green tea, carbonated drinks, fatty, fried foods, dairy products, carrot and beet salads, fresh fruits, and alcohol are temporarily excluded from the menu.
Treatment of diarrhea that occurs due to a delay in menstruation, how to treat it correctly?
Before taking any medicine, you need to make sure that the delay is not a consequence of pregnancy. Medicines can harm the embryo and disrupt its development, which is why before using antidiarrheal drugs you must take a pregnancy test or take a blood test for hCG. If their results confirm the fact of conception, it will be possible to resort to such drugs as Polysorb, Linex, Regidron, Kaopectat, Smecta, Enterosgel. Other drugs for the treatment of diarrhea during pregnancy cannot be taken without the permission of the attending physician, so before taking them you will need to consult with a specialist - a gastroenterologist or gynecologist.
If it turns out that diarrhea due to a delay in menstruation is not a sign of pregnancy, but a symptom of a malfunction of the digestive organs or hormonal imbalance, it will be necessary to undergo a course of treatment with appropriate medications. In the first case, the doctor may prescribe antidiarrheal, antibacterial, antiviral, choleretic, enzymatic or antiparasitic drugs. In the second case, hormonal agents like Duphaston and Non-Ovlon are used.
If the reason for the delay of menstruation and diarrhea lies in constant stress, herbal preparations with mint or lemon balm, peony tincture, herbal remedies based on motherwort or valerian, “Relaxil”, “Mastoklin”, “Endau” will help to cope with worries and improve the functioning of the digestive and reproductive systems. " In order for the product to work better, a week before the start of menstruation, you need to go on a diet - reduce the amount of fast food, fatty, spicy, salty foods, sweets, baked goods, completely eliminate alcohol, coffee, green tea and sweet carbonated drinks. The diet should include dietary meats (rabbit, turkey, chicken, veal), lean fish, dairy and fermented milk products, baked fruits, jelly, rice and oatmeal with water, durum wheat vermicelli.
Diarrhea as a sign of pregnancy
Morning vomiting, nausea, odor intolerance, drowsiness and other signs of pregnancy appear after implantation bleeding and delayed menstruation. Symptoms of successful conception go away on their own, and the gynecologist-obstetrician selects medications on an individual basis to alleviate the severity of toxicosis.
Shortly after fertilization of the egg, 7% of women experience diarrhea as a sign of pregnancy. Diarrhea lasts until menstruation is delayed until the body adapts. This is due to an increase in progesterone, which reduces the tone of the gastrointestinal tract and other smooth muscle organs. Food is digested at an accelerated rate, so bowel movements become more frequent up to 3-5 times a day. Symptoms such as diarrhea, bloating and abdominal discomfort can be eliminated with a diet or methods recommended by a antenatal clinic doctor.
