PMS Symptoms But No Period

Delayed, missed or no period often raise huge anticipation for pregnancy in women who are trying to conceive. In fact during the reproductive years of a woman's life, a failure to menstruate or no period is often considered as an indication that she is pregnant. But not always will a missed or no period be considered as a pregnancy symptom. This is because there are many cases wherein a woman experience PMS symptoms but no periods, and she is not pregnant. But what is PMS and its symptoms and what are the various factors that contribute to this problem, we will know in the following sections.

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)

PMS is physical and psychological changes that a woman experience just a couple of hours or days before her menstruation begins. Majority of the women world wide experience PMS symptoms, though the severity, onset and duration of these symptoms vary from one woman to another. Hence for some women these symptoms are so mild that they subside in a day or so after the period begins while for others, these symptoms can be severe and may cause too much discomfort. These symptoms include breast tenderness, cramping, mood swings, bloating, hot flashes, weight gain, nausea, backache and many more.

The major cause for premenstrual syndrome is the hormonal changes the body undergoes during the entire menstrual cycle. Normally an average menstrual cycle is 28 days and it can be divided into three stages, which are the follicular, ovulatory and luteal stages. The follicular stage begins with menstrual bleeding along with shedding of the uterine wall lining. The levels of estrogen and progesterone hormones are low but as the day progresses the level of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) starts increasing in order to stimulate the ovaries to release an egg. During the ovulatory stage, the levels of luteinizing hormones and FSH increase, as a result the egg or ovum is released by one or both the ovaries in case of fraternal twins.

Finally in the luteal stage, if the released egg is fertilized, a woman is considered to be pregnant and there will be no period. But if it is not fertilized, the levels of luteinizing hormones (LH) and the follicle stimulating hormones (FSH) fall, the egg starts disintegrating and the body starts preparing itself for having the next period. Hence all these hormonal changes and fluctuations in the estrogen and progesterone levels lead to the various PMS symptoms in women. All these factors also contribute to PMS symptoms after periods.

Causes

As explained above, the major causes for the symptoms of PMS without periods are hormonal imbalance and pregnancy. Here are some other probable causes for this.

• Stress: Mental or physical stress, anxiety or tension can be one of the major reasons for PMS symptoms but no period.
• Birth Control Pills: Another cause can be the use of birth control pills as they can affect your regular menstrual cycle and delay your period by a few days.
• Certain Medications: Certain medications for some illnesses like hypertension, diabetes, etc. can also delay your periods by a couple of days.
• Eating Disorders: Eating a diet which is deficient in essential vitamins and minerals required for normal functioning of the body can lead to irregular menstrual cycle.
• Menopause: Menopause which is the end of a woman's monthly menstruation cycle or the fertile period of her life can also bring some substantial changes in the frequency, duration as well as the nature of the menstrual cycle.
• Other Illnesses: Other diseases like Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) or ovarian cyst, Premature Ovarian Failure (POF), ectopic pregnancy, Bulimia, etc., can also be some probable causes.

The causes can be myriad and not all of them may be of serious health concern. However, if there is a considerable delay in your period and the symptoms become severe with time, do a pregnancy test and if it comes negative, consult your gynecologist to diagnose the underlying cause for having these PMS symptoms but without periods.