Content
- Woman monthly cycle and delay concept
- On what day can a pregnancy test be done
- Possible Reasons for Delay with a Negative Test
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Ovulation
- Diseases that can cause disruption of the cycle and pain
- Appendicitis
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract
- Pathology of the genitourinary system
- Endometrial hyperplasia
- Polycystic ovary
- Infections
- Ovarian inflammation
- Endometritis
- Endometriosis
A stable monthly cycle, when menstruation comes regularly at every certain date, is an indicator of the good condition of a woman's reproductive system. The main reason for the absence of the next critical days, most women consider the onset of pregnancy, but it causes a delay only in 70-75% of cases. Often, gynecological pathologies, hormonal disorders, and stress become factors that provoke cycle failures. If there is a delay in menstruation, pulls the lower abdomen and lower back, but the pregnancy test is negative, the girl needs to visit a gynecologist and find out the cause of this symptomatology.
Woman monthly cycle and delay concept
The first menstruation (menarche) begins in a girl at the age of 11-13 years, but deviations of 1-2 years in one direction or another are not a pathology. During the formation of the hormonal background, a girl may experience regular monthly delays. Critical days come every one or two months, the breaks between them can be up to six months.
As the functions of the reproductive organs improve, such deviations will go away on their own. With persisting symptoms of an unstable menstrual cycle for more than two years, parents need to show the girl to a doctor for early detection of gynecological problems and hormonal disorders.
In women of reproductive age, the average cycle time is 28 days, but its duration of 21–35 days is not a deviation from the norm. The countdown begins from the first day of menstruation. The absence of menstrual bleeding in a woman outside of pregnancy, accompanied by pulling pains in the abdomen and lower back, can be triggered by several factors:
- long-term treatment with antibacterial drugs;
- the onset of menopause (at the age of 45–55);
- the use of emergency contraception (Postinor, Escapel), which can greatly affect the hormonal background;
- the period of getting used to a new oral contraceptive;
- abrupt cancellation of the use of OK;
- consequences of abortion, miscarriage or diagnostic curettage of the uterus;
- cauterization of the cervix;
- hysteroscopy, colposcopy.
A delay can be considered the absence of menstruation for 7-10 days. A single cycle fluctuation that caused a delay in menstruation for a period of 2-3 or even five days does not apply to pathology and can be triggered by natural factors - stress, colds, climate change and etc.
On what day can a pregnancy test be done
To get an answer to the question why there are no regular periods, and the test is negative and the lower abdomen hurts, you need to learn how to use pregnancy tests correctly, in order to avoid getting false result. Most standard test strips are capable of detecting conception as early as 1-2 days after the onset of the delay, since they react to the level of hCG in urine from 25 mIU / ml. In the early period of gestation, the device may not show pregnancy, so it is recommended to conduct self-diagnosis again after three or four days.
A reliable test result will be obtained only if the following rules are observed:
- Do the test at a time that coincides with the maximum peak of the hCG content in urine - immediately after waking up.
- Collect urine in a sterile container.
- Carry out hygienic treatment of the intimate area using neutral soap.
- Hold the test strip upright, do not lower it in the urine than indicated by the arrow on the device.
- To assess the result, place the test on a dry, clean surface, not located near a source of elevated temperature.
- Examine the result for 5-10 minutes.
If you do not want to collect urine in a container and get an error if the test is used incorrectly, you can use a more modern device - inkjet, digital and electronic. The advantage of such devices is that they respond to a lower concentration of hCG in urine, from 10-15 mIU / ml, and this facilitates the early diagnosis of conception.
Find out in the article at the link, how many days before menstruation a pregnancy test can be doneif it is highly sensitive.
Possible Reasons for Delay with a Negative Test
When a woman has a 3 or 4 days delay in her period, she pulls the lower abdomen, but ultrasound and the test confirmed that pregnancy did not occur, you need to seek medical help at the nearest week. Sometimes the absence of menstruation is due to non-dangerous factors that the lady can correct on her own:
- Stress and excessive psycho-emotional overload.
- Physical exhaustion when a girl is fond of hard sports or is busy with exhausting work.
- Eating a large number of unhealthy foods, fatty, salted, smoked foods with preservatives, flavor enhancers and synthetic additives.
- Abuse of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages.
- Deficiency of folic acid, vitamins C, E, group B, iron as a result of strict diets.
- A sharp change in climate - can provoke a delay of up to 10-12 days.
- Recently transferred disease of an inflammatory and infectious nature.
- The postpartum period and breastfeeding - unstable hormonal levels can cause a delay, which will recover after the complete end of breastfeeding.
- Overweight and low weight - adipose tissue contains female hormones estrogens, which affect the maturation of follicles in the appendages and the timely onset of ovulation. If there are too many or few of them, the process of folliculogenesis is disrupted, the time of the ovulatory phase is shifted. There is a delay in menstruation, accompanied by the usual pain in the abdomen, radiating to the back.
- The use of hormonal contraceptives - pills can cause a delay in menstruation if they are used incorrectly or self-prescribing, when a woman chooses a contraceptive not after being examined by a doctor, but on the advice girlfriends.
To stabilize the cycle, a girl needs to eat well, rest, sleep at least 8-9 hours a day, protect yourself from stress and excessive physical exertion, keep weight under control body.
Read about how to quickly cause menstruation at home with a delay not caused by pregnancy or illness.
Ectopic pregnancy
An ectopic pregnancy is a dangerous cause of symptoms, when the test is negative, and there has been no period for two weeks and the lower abdomen hurts. With the development of the ovum outside the genital organ (in the ovarian cavity, fallopian tube, peritoneum), the test may show one strip or a very pale second.
Ectopic gestation is dangerous for a woman's life, as it can end in rupture of the tube and the beginning of intense internal bleeding. To avoid dangerous complications and death, you need to know about the alarming signs of pathology:
- pain in the lower abdomen, similar to premenstrual, which is given to the lower back, but every day it becomes more intense (discomfort may be felt stronger on one side);
- subfebrile temperature for one to two weeks in a row;
- nausea with vomiting (vomiting does not bring relief);
- chills, febrile symptoms, clammy sweat;
- lowering blood pressure to critical levels;
- fainting, weakness;
- lack of appetite.
Noticing similar symptoms in myself, when menstruation is absent during the second week, and the test gives out one strip, the girl must urgently call the ambulance and go to the medical institution.
Ovulation
Often, against the background of hormonal disruption, a delay in menstruation is caused by late ovulation. If a disruption in the work of the endocrine system occurred once, as a result of severe stress, a long serious illness, the ovulatory phase occurs later due to the long stage of follicle maturation. The woman is already expecting menstruation, and at this time the egg is just entering the uterine cavity, preparing for fertilization.
Symptoms of the presence of late ovulation:
- pulling soreness in the lower abdomen;
- engorgement of the breast;
- discharge from the genital tract of a viscous translucent fluid - cervical mucus.
The delay in late ovulation can last up to two weeks. After the end of menstruation, it is better for a lady to visit a gynecologist and find out the reason for such a failure.
Diseases that can cause disruption of the cycle and pain
Appendicitis
If menstruation has not begun on the fourth or sixth day of the delay, and pain in the lower abdomen and the lower back does not pass, a specialist, with timely access to him, may suspect inflammation appendix. The infectious process in the appendix is fraught with complications that threaten the health and even the life of the patient, therefore, it needs urgent diagnosis.
It is possible to identify appendicitis by characteristic symptoms - when the catarrhal period of inflammation ends, the pain syndrome increases. The woman lies only on her left side, trying to pull her legs to her stomach. At the same time, fever, chills, diarrhea, nausea, and changes in blood pressure occur.
Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract
With some serious disturbances in the work of the gastrointestinal tract, there may be a delay in menstruation by 8 or 9 days, but the test is negative, and the stomach hurts as before menstruation. The reasons for the deviations that can so intensely affect the functioning of the reproductive system:
- hernia or adhesions in one of the parts of the intestine;
- acute inflammatory processes in the intestine;
- degeneration of a benign intestinal tumor, not detected in time, into a malignant one.
Even a sharp exacerbation of gastritis can provoke a delay with a special sensitivity of the female body (inflammation of the stomach walls), aggravated by irritation of the small intestine (duodenal or ileal intestines). Lower abdominal pains are accompanied by nausea, heartburn, vomiting, flatulence, most often the patient is worried about causeless diarrhea. Painful sensations, similar to those that are present before the onset of menstruation, pass to the back and the umbilical region, they have a pulling and cramping character.
Pathology of the genitourinary system
It so happens that the reason for a delay of 5 or 6 days, when the lower abdomen pulls like during menstruation, and there is no bleeding, hidden gynecological diseases become apparent, manifested by additional symptoms:
- pain in the abdomen and back can be aching, cutting, sharp or intermittent;
- periods are delayed for the third or fourth month in a row;
- discharge from the genital tract, appearing in the middle of the cycle, has an unusual color (bloody, brown, yellow) and smell;
- the skin and mucous membranes in the intimate area may redden, swell and itch;
- discomfort and burning sensation in the urethra during urination join.
Delays in menstruation, especially those that occur simultaneously with the listed symptoms, on a regular basis, should not be ignored. Lack of treatment for latent diseases of the genitourinary system can lead to their chronic course and secondary infertility.
The following gynecological diseases can affect the monthly cycle:
Endometrial hyperplasia
A pathological change (proliferation) of the mucous layer of the uterus caused by an increase in estrogen levels is called endometrial hyperplasia. With the glandular-cystic form of the disease, benign cysts are formed, with focal - glandular and fibrous polyps. Atypical hyperplasia is dangerous by the degeneration of uterine cells into negative (malignant) ones.
Polycystic ovary
With this pathology, many follicles develop and grow simultaneously in the appendages, but none of them becomes dominant (capable of growing a mature egg). Against the background of hormonal disturbances, ovulation is absent, and the content of androgens and their derivatives, as well as testosterone, rises in the blood. Patients with polycystic appendages often experience delays, and the disease may be indicated by a rough voice, male-pattern body hair growth, oily skin, and acne.
Infections
The most common infection is thrush, caused by the Candida fungus. It manifests itself as white cheesy discharge from the genital tract, itching and burning of the mucous membrane. Sexually transmitted diseases (trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, ureaplasma, mycoplasma) manifest themselves with yellow, green secretions, the smell of rotten fish or missing meat. The symptoms are complemented by pulling abdominal pain and delayed menstruation.
Ovarian inflammation
Adnexitis in the initial stages of development is manifested by pulling pains in the lower abdomen, an increase in temperature to 37–37.5 ° C. As the pathology progresses, the stomach sips more and more intensely, the delay can reach 5-7 days. With severe pain and acute inflammation, the patient needs help in a hospital setting.
Endometritis
Inflammation of the inner uterine layer of a bacterial nature that occurs as a result of abortion, curettage, complications after childbirth is called endometritis. In addition to the delay in menstruation, a woman is worried that her back and stomach ache, fever, chills, and a decrease in blood pressure. Treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics is required to avoid suppuration inside the uterus and the development of sepsis;
Endometriosis
This is a disease in which the tissue lining the uterus from the inside grows outside the genital organ (in the vagina, rectum, cervix). In the middle of the cycle, a woman has scanty smearing brown discharge, and regular monthly delays of up to 7-10 days may occur.
The most effective treatment of diseases of the gynecological sphere is noted at the initial stages, in situations where the pathology did not have time to affect the important functions of the reproductive system. Therefore, it is unacceptable to delay a visit to a doctor with frequent delays.
The absence of menstruation may not be dangerous, be rare and go away on its own as soon as the woman eliminates the provoking factors. If a woman has a delay of 2 or 3 days, the pregnancy test is negative, but the lower abdomen pulls strongly, it is not always worth relying on forums on the Internet when looking for reasons. Experts recommend that you immediately undergo an examination and identify the cause of the violations, so that the doctor selects an adequate treatment tactics to eliminate delays.