No menstral periods

[Downrivergirl]

I am a 39yr old and have not had a period in 7 months, before that they were not all regular, but did have them. I have been to the DR.. He did blood work, said my estrogen levels came back fine. Also had pelvic exam and paps, results come back fine as well.. I am not sure if I should get a second opinion. Just a little confused on why I am not having my regular cycle. I did have my tubes tied 8 yrs ago.
Please help me out with this frustratiing issue the best you can.
Thanks

[Simran11]

Hi , I guess I am also having the same problem like u. I am suffering of irregularity of periods since the beginning. I am presently 25 yrs. I consulted with many doctors but the problem still pursists. I did ultra sonography of my lower abdomen and the result was I was having polycystic ovaries. Then I was asked to do following blood test like :

TSH : 3.67 micro IU/ml [normal: 0.27 - 4.2 in adults]
testosterone : 1.17 mg/dl [normal: 0.06 - 0.82 in female]
Liver Function test : normal result.

Accordingly I was asked to take medicine to regularies my periods like DIANE 35, which I took for almost 2 yrs and had regular periods. But once if I stopped taking it again there were irregularities. Like according to my doctor I stopped taking my medicines from June, and I didn't have my periods since then.

My question is will I have to continue taking medicine to regularies my periods through out my life? Will there be any problem in future if I want to be pregnent? Is there any other way I can solve my problem permanently ? I am really confused and feeling frustrated Please help me.

[Machelle Seibel, MD]

Not getting an answer is very frustrating. There are many reasons why a woman stops having her period. Pregnancy is among the most common and it can happen even if tubes were tied.  Other common causes are weight gain/weight loss, stress and excessive exercise.  There are also a number of hormonal imbalance conditions such as polycystic ovaries and though you are on the young side, perimenopasue.  Blood tests usually provide the diagnosis.

Ask your doctor to get blood tests for FSH, LH, prolactin, estradiol and TSH if those have not been done. Sometimesa blood test for testosterone is also done.

Consider the common causes for menstrual irregularity mentioned above. Also, sometimes in perimenopause, the FSH value is not so much elevated to above the abnormal range as it is in the upper normal range.  If all these tests have been done and you don't have the answer, you might want a second opinion from a reproductive endocrinologist.  They typically deal with this type of problem routinely.
Machelle M. Seibel, MD