There’s no area of our lives immune to stress, and whether the stress manifests mentally, emotionally or physically it’s something that we need to learn how to deal with as best as possible for our overall wellbeing and quality of life.

Physically, stress can look like tension headaches, insomnia, constant fatigue, diarrhea, muscle tension or pain and lowered sex drive. If you menstruate, your hormones will be directly affected by consistent and extreme levels of stress which can alter your menstrual cycle and in some cases stop menstruation altogether. Below we list 4 ways that stress can impact and change the menstrual cycle:

1. Ovulation is delayed

If stress occurs during the follicular phase of the cycle, (which is the phase before ovulation) the follicle which contains the egg won’t ripen and ovulation will be delayed. If this happens, the release of the hormones that trigger ovulation might not happen at the right time.

2. Your period might be late and the length of your cycle could increase

If your period is late due to stress this means that the eggs have grown and the ovaries are still making estrogen, however it takes much longer to ovulate which delays menstruation. This means that the length of the first part of your cycle increases due to a shift in the hormones.

3. Irregular periods

With irregular periods the eggs grow and estrogen is released, however ovulation doesn’t take place. This is called an anovulatory cycle, where the lining of the uterus will shed, but the period will begin very early or very late. The menstruator may also bleed on or off for a time.

4. Missed period

This is the most extreme result of stress. The ovaries don’t make enough estrogen so the uterus lining doesn’t thicken which means there will be no period at all. If this happens, especially more than once it’s advised to see a doctor for a check up and assistance on ways to reduce stress.