Irregular periods can be hard to deal with and can occur to women of all ages. If your periods have been irregular for the last few months, you may be wondering what is causing this. While there are a number of things that can cause irregular periods, stress is one of these causes. If you have been under a lot of stress for months, this could be the cause of your problem. Here is how stress can affect your body and your menstrual cycles.

Your Body Naturally Reacts

Stress might seem that it only affects your mind and mood, but it actually affects your entire body. When your body detects stress, it begins fighting right away to try to resolve the stress it feels, and one way it does this is by the brain releasing chemicals. These chemicals then trigger your body to make more blood sugar. Your body will also react by increasing your heart rate and tensing the muscles in your body. All of these reactions can affect every system in your body, including your menstrual cycles.

The Reactions Can Affect Your Menstrual Cycle

As your body reacts to the stress, it can interfere with the estrogen and progesterone your body produces, and these hormones affect your menstrual cycles. When this happens, it can lead to a variety of issues with your periods, including irregular cycles. Stress can also cause you to skip periods and experience spotting in between periods.

What You Can Do

If you believe that stress is causing irregularities with your period, you may want to try finding ways to relieve the stress you have in your life. Here are some common ways to do this:

• Yoga – Taking part in yoga can make a big difference in the amount of stress you feel in your life. Yoga teaches you how to relax, and this can help clear your mind out.
• Exercise – Exercising is also a great way to find relief from stress in life, and it also offers positive effects for your body and your health.
• Counsel – Attending counseling is another good way to find out how you can relieve your stress naturally. In some case, just talking about how you feel may be the best remedy for stress.

If you begin doing things like this and find that your periods are getting back to normal, you can probably assume it was the stress that was causing the problems. If you start doing these things and find stress relief but are still having irregular periods, you should schedule an appointment with an OBGYN.