No period after stopping birth control

[vanessa21]

A few months after I got married, I stopped taking my birth control. Its been almost a year ago now, and I haven't had a period. I had been on bc for a over three years before stopping. I was put on it originally because I was diagnosed with PCOS. The insurance my husband has for us right now does not cover hardly anything, so I wasn't able to go to my yearly. Any advice?

[drshana]

A few months after I got married, I stopped taking my birth control. Its been almost a year ago now, and I haven't had a period. I had been on bc for a over three years before stopping. I was put on it originally because I was diagnosed with PCOS. The insurance my husband has for us right now does not cover hardly anything, so I wasn't able to go to my yearly. Any advice?

Dear Vanessa,

Thanks for writing in! Yes, PCOS can definitely cause menstruation to stop. Another condition that always needs to be ruled out when a woman's period stops is pregnancy! Any chance you could be pregnant?

PCOS causes irregular menses for a number of reasons. You may have read on our website, www.pcos.insulitelabs.com, the underlying cause of PCOS in most cases seems to be insulin resistance. With insulin resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin produced by the pancreas, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other androgens (male hormones).

The increased testosterone is responsible for many of the symptoms of PCOS such as hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles.

With regards to birth control pills, they are synthetic hormones that mask some of the symptoms of PCOS but they do not cure PCOS. Treating absent menses with oral contraceptives does not treat the underlying disorder of PCOS and when the contraceptives are discontinued, the PCOS symptoms will persist.

In addition, several lifestyle/environmental factors can affect menstruation, including: loss of a significant amount of weight, anorexia and bulimia, extreme exercise, and extreme stress.

Finally, there are a host of other reasons why menstruation stops, including menopause (which is a natural phenomenon) and other hormonal changes that would be more indicative of a disease state.

This is where the tests come in that your doctors will need to do. They will do a blood test to check your LH, FSH, prolactin, and possibly other hormones too. They might also want to perform imaging studies of your uterus and ovaries.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions, Vanessa. Please write again with any additional concerns.

[vanessa21]

There is always a possibility, but I don't think that I am. My main concern was that I haven't had a menstrual cycle in a year. No bleeding what so ever. I am getting worried about it because its been so long. It can't be healthy. But my husband and I don't have the insurance or money for me to go to the doctor. Is there anything I could do?

[drshana]

There is always a possibility, but I don't think that I am. My main concern was that I haven't had a menstrual cycle in a year. No bleeding what so ever. I am getting worried about it because its been so long. It can't be healthy. But my husband and I don't have the insurance or money for me to go to the doctor. Is there anything I could do?

Dear Vanessa,

The best thing for you to do is to see a licensed physician. What city do you live in? I'm asking because it's possible that there is a lower cost medical clinic or even a medical school that you could go to for a check up. Also, many doctors will accept a lower payment if paying in cash instead of with insurance.

I'm sorry that I cannot be more helpful, Vanessa, and I am happy to help you find a lower cost clinic in your area.

[gracecharlotte12]

Just thought I would pass this info on to anyone suffering with PCOS - I too have PCOS - I have two children despite have incredibiliy irr mens cycle - I have been seeing a physio recently for back pain and she advised to me to do pelvic floor exercises reg - since doing so I have had three regular periods in a row - which never happens to me - the physio told me other women have said the same to her . ps I do them regular throughout the day x