Can Stress/birth Control Cause a Missed Period?
Im a MALE trying to reassure myself and provide reassurance that my girlfriend is not pregnant. Ive been dating her for a little over 4 months and have been sexually active with her for at least 3. Penetration has only been experienced 2 times, for sure, without a condom. However, we all know how long that last so, like most say, i "pulled out". She tells me that she has irregular periods and always has. Since ive been dating her shes only had 2 periods and her most recent was "missed". She also mentioned that hers are normally light and short. She is on birth control but ran out for about a week, ordered a new cycle, and restarted her BC soon thereafter. 2 weeks later, she spotted a little but stopped after a day or so.
Heres what i think could possibly be the factor. Shes 18, about to graduate high school, prom is near, her mom keeps asking if she is pregnant, her family has some issues like most and her dog just had an expensive and serious leg surgery recently. So, after all this on her plate, she hasnt started in over a month. She says she doesnt feel like shes pregnant nor is she showing ANY typical signs of pregnancy other than a missed period. No problems with nausea, tender breast or color change, no cramps or any other sign. She is however tired a lot but not so tired she cant function. She still goes out with me, goes to school, work and even the gym. Occasionally she experiences a strong headache. With all of this, I urged her to take a test. I bought a 2 pack (cant remember which kind) she took one that afternoon and then one the following morning as soon as she woke. Both were Negative, but still no signs of the red devil. I think its some MAJOR stress shes dealing with right now but im no expert. Suggestions? Comments? Advice? Anything at all could be helpful.
If you KNOW that you’ve been dating her for 4 months, and yet she’s only had 2 periods, it is possible she is lying to you about being on birth control.
Some types of "The Pill" allow a woman to go 3 months without a period, but since she’s had 2 periods recently, it’s clear she’s not on that kind. So let’s talk about the normal variety of the pill: She takes the active hormone-contaning pill for 3 weeks. Then, she either takes an inactive sugar pill for 1 week or takes nothing at all for 1 week. A few days into that off-week, she will begin to bleed due to the drop in hormones. Over time (usually after being on BC for at least a year) and depending on the particular type of birth control being used, some women find that they gradually experience less and less bleeding.
Having irregular cycles might be the reasoning why she’s on birth control. If she told you her cycles are irregular to explain that, then it makes sense. If she’s telling you about irregular cycles to explain why she missed her last period, that makes NO sense. Once she goes on BC, it does NOT matter what her cycles used to be like. While on birth control, while taking it correctly, your cycle is exactly 28 days long. End of story.
As for whether stress can affect a birth-control-affected cycle, no, it absolutely cannot. It might affect some symptoms, but no the timing of the bleeding in anyway. Stress CAN affect a woman’s NATURAL cycle during some parts. BEFORE she releases the egg, stress can stretch out a cycle easily. AFTER she releases the egg, it doesn’t matter how stressed she gets, the period will follow roughly 2 weeks later no matter what. The release of an egg causes a change in hormones, and that second set of hormones (progesterone) can’t be affected by stress. Bleeding happens due to the drop in hormones. Birth control pills generally contain hormones that mimic that "after-the-egg" state without ever releasing an egg. After taking 3 weeks of active pills and then moving on to the inactive pills, the hormone levels WILL drop, and the bleeding WILL come. Stress absolutely has no affect on the timing of bleeding for a woman on birth control.
If she ran out of birth control and started a pack of pills a week late, as you suggest, I hope you used condoms for the full week after she started taking the pills again. The makers insist that a full week be allowed for the hormones to fully protect you if you don’t take packs back-to-back as intended. It’s theoretically possible that it would already be too late if she allowed a break at all.
Finally, keep in mind that the pill just flatly doesn’t work for some women. It can also fail sometimes for no known reason and can also fail if just one dose is missed or taken at an improper time. I also know a woman who recently found out her 15-year-old is 7 months (!) pregnant. The girl was even on birth control, and she continued to take it for several months, thinking that the few symptoms she had were related to the pill. The pill caused her to continue to bleed monthly, so she didn’t even have that clue.
Also, getting a negative on a home pregnancy test doesn’t really mean all that much. There has to be a minimum threshold of hCG (the pregnancy hormone) for it to register. Sometimes, women can get a positive when their pregnancy is only 5 or 6 days old. Sometimes, women will continue get a negative for 3 or 4 weeks after they conceived.
Hope this helps…. by casting doubt into every corner. Sorry!
Stop acting like an a-hole. That’s my advice.
Yes, being stressed about something or starting out on the pill can cause a period to be delayed or go missing.
However, I would recommend that she check with her doctor as well to see what they say.
here is the thing..stress can definitely cause a missed period. Not properly taking your b.c will also cause an irregular period. However, if she has missed her period, and still has not had one, in conjunction with tiredness and headaches means that you NEED to go to planned parenthood and get a test done there. Ive known people who were two months pregnant, took an at home test and came up negative. That is not uncommon. To be sure you need another test at a doctors office or a blood test.
As far as the light/no symptoms are concerned, everyone is different, and many women experience hardly any symptoms.
Don’t be stupid and go to planned parenthood to be sure.
good luck.
if she started a new pack of birth control she isn’t going to have a perios until she gets to the placebo pills at the end of the pack. it sounds like she isn’t pregnant just because of the pregnancy tests. she took 1 in the morning too which is the best time to take a test because the hormone levels are the strongest for your first urination of the day. i think you are in the clear. just to be safe, wait until she is on her placebo pills and see if she gets her period. that should be in another 2 weeks or so. if she doesn’t, time for another test. if she gets it, you guys are in the clear. make sure she stays on top of her prescription!