What is the cause of menstrual irregularities? Common Causes of Period Disorders

Let's start with what exactly is a violation? menstrual cycle- This is a consequence of a violation of the hormonal function of the ovaries. It can manifest itself as delays or irregular menstruation. Many women very often do not pay attention to this problem, believing that this is a feature of their body. Although often a violation of menstruation may indicate a health hazard. A normal menstrual cycle should last no more than 3-7 days and the interval between menstruation should be 21-35 days.

Causes of menstrual irregularities

In most cases, menstrual irregularities can be caused by physical or emotional stress.

TO psychological reasons disorders include nervous tension, which can cause either, or abnormal periods. Many changes in your life can affect not only the emotional, but also the physical condition. These could be changes such as a change of job, place of residence, breakup of a relationship, fear of losing a loved one.

TO physical stress are debilitating physical exercise and diets. Negatively on hormonal system Women are affected by weight loss or gain over a short period of time.

Long-term abstinence may cause menstrual irregularities

Sometimes even minor changes in your lifestyle can have a significant impact on irregularities in your menstrual cycle. Many women have repeatedly asked this question:

So, if a girl, after a long pause, has updated sex life, then the absence of menstruation may be the body’s response to renewed activity. But we shouldn’t rule out that this could also mean pregnancy.

It can often be unpredictable for those who have recently reached puberty (in teenage girls). The body needs time to accept these changes and return to normal.

The first periods may be very heavy and last several weeks, but then stabilize for up to five days. Very often, in order to regulate the menstrual cycle, you need the help of professional gynecologists.

If you don't start timely treatment problems with menstrual irregularities in teenage girls, then in the future they may experience negative consequences and complications.

Treatment of menstrual irregularities

It is always necessary to correct menstrual irregularities. Treatment for menstruation disorders can be different, but first of all it is necessary to identify and treat the disease that caused this syndrome. If it is an infectious and inflammatory process, then they help antibacterial drugs and physical therapy. Regular and balanced diet and physical education classes. It is also recommended to take vitamin preparations in case of menstrual irregularities.

Today, herbal remedies for menstruation disorders are very popular; they have significantly expanded their treatment capabilities gynecological diseases. In some cases of treatment, they can even replace hormonal medications. Action herbal preparations much gentler than hormonal medications, and they are also much safer.

Vitamins for menstrual irregularities

Many women have faced the problem of menstrual irregularities. This pathology may be caused for various reasons, but if the doctor did not find any pathological reasons, then in this case the woman needs to adhere to special diet, as this may be caused by a lack of body essential vitamins and microelements.

First of all, nutritionists recommend reducing the amount of liquid you drink before the start of the menstrual cycle, with the exception of dairy products, since on the contrary, they should prevail in the diet. Try to include more dairy products such as cottage cheese, kefir, milk, and sour cream in your diet.

During the period of desquamation, a woman needs to pay attention to products such as sauerkraut, pumpkin, tomatoes, poultry, beef liver, and it also wouldn’t hurt to take multivitamins on menstruation days.
Four days from the start of menstruation, vitamins can be replaced with red cabbage, apples, raspberries, gooseberries, cherries, turkey meat, and spinach.

This diet increases estrogen levels and will help relieve uterine vascular spasms.

Vitamin E is often of great importance for menstrual irregularities. It is prescribed in combination with other vitamins to regulate the menstrual cycle.

Regular menstruation is one of the signs of health reproductive system, accompanying a woman from adolescence to menopause. Any deviations in it frighten and force you to consult a gynecologist. And that’s right, because the reasons similar phenomenon can be very serious and require treatment. But sometimes it's a violation menstrual cycle it is not like that at all. Should I worry or wait until it recovers on its own? How to adjust the cycle? There is no single answer to these questions for all cases.

Read in this article

What is considered a deviation from the norm?

In a healthy woman childbearing age go with a frequency of 21-35 days in 3-7 days. The amount of blood removed from the uterus should not be more than 80-100 ml. During menstruation, especially in the first days, pain, malaise, drowsiness or irritability are felt. The indicators may slightly differ from the indicated values ​​due to the characteristics of the woman’s body. But only a doctor who has been observing the patient for more than one month can confirm this.

At first adult life, cycle inconstancy is acceptable. This is due to hormonal imbalance in young girls. You should not look for signs of illness in the instability of the cycle during the first 2 years. In such circumstances, you should not use the expression “menstrual irregularity”, because there is none here.

Women who are soon expecting their 50th birthday () also note changes in the timing of their periods, the amount and color of discharge. Their reproductive function fades away, the ovaries do not work as intensively as before. Hormonal levels also undergo changes, which is reflected in cycle instability. This is absolutely normal.

When menstruation sets off alarm bells

If a woman has crossed the first threshold and has not reached the second, she should be careful and alarmed when:

• Unreasonable irregularity of the cycle. From time to time this may be the case in full health. But menstruation after 40-60 days or earlier than after 20 cannot be considered the norm;
• Difficult to bear during critical days. A slight discomfort is inevitable, but if the sensations are such that there is no strength to endure and it is required, this is already a pathology;
• Excessively intense discharge. By the time of menstruation, the replaced layer of the endometrium thickens and is filled with spiral arteries, which colors the excreted masses in a bloody color. But there is a limit to increasing the functional part of what is rejected. And when the gasket needs to be changed every couple of hours or more often, this is already... It also makes a woman’s well-being significantly worse than on ordinary critical days.

Any of the listed manifestations individually and all of them together are violations. They are the ones who send 70% of women to a specialist, as they signal a variety of gynecological diseases. According to statistics, so many patients experience a similar phenomenon.

Why is it broken?

All causes of cycle disorders are divided into several subgroups:

• External. This is the most harmless part of the reasons for failure. Stressful state, abrupt change climatic conditions life, violations of nutritional principles can affect what happens inside the body. Once they are eliminated, the functioning of the reproductive system will return to normal, unless, of course, the process has gone too far;
• Medication. They could be classified in the first subgroup, but taking medications is always forced by some kind of disease, so it makes sense to consider this reason separately. Most often the cycle is affected, but not only. Violations in this area are caused by anticoagulants, antidepressants, and corticosteroids. Both the start of taking medications and the withdrawal can have an impact;
• Pathological. These are diseases and conditions that are characterized by failure of menstruation. There are so many of them that it is worth considering each one separately. Menstruation can be either or extremely rare. Sometimes bleeding appears unexpectedly between periods. Or when the woman has already stopped waiting for them, that is, a year or more after the onset.

Diseases that are accompanied by cycle disorders

Everything that happens during menstruation, including the preparation of the body for it, occurs with the direct participation of. Not only they are “guilty,” but also the organs that produce them, as well as those involved in the process of regular renewal of the functional layer of the endometrium. That's why the list of ailments causing problems with menstruation, so big:

• Ovarian diseases. This is the most common reason cycle disorders. This includes problems of synchronizing the work of organs with the pituitary gland, and injury to ovarian tissue, drug effects on it, malignant tumors ovary;
• Failure in the hypothalamic-pituitary system, which is responsible for the functioning of the glands internal secretion. Under these circumstances, the production of hormones that determine the regularity of the cycle (follicle-stimulating and others) is disrupted;
• Diseases of the adrenal glands and other estrogen-producing tissues. This group of hormones influences the development of the uterus, secretion dominant follicle. Their deficiency provokes irregular cycle menstruation, or even absence at all;
• endometrium. Benign neoplasms cause intermenstrual bleeding. This is spotting. And menstruation in normal timing are more abundant;
• due to the proliferation of organ tissue, it causes intense discharge, and even with severe pain;
• Inflammatory diseases of the uterus in chronic form provoke disturbances in the development of the endometrium. Its functional layer does not mature, so you should not be surprised that your menstrual cycle has gone wrong;
• Artificial termination of pregnancy, if done poorly, can damage the endometrium. Menstruation is disrupted, and with additional trauma inflammatory process is also accompanied by severe pain during menstrual periods;
• on the ovary can affect the functioning of the organ, that is, make the formation of follicles difficult, and therefore delay the timing of menstruation;
• with the degeneration of its tissue into cirrhotic tissue, the concentration of estrogen increases. Your periods are much more frequent and intense;
• Bleeding disorders give long periods, albeit within the usual time frame;
• Malignant neoplasms localized in the reproductive organs can also lead to menstruation coming and going;
• Dysfunctional uterine bleeding are caused by a disruption in the production of hormones responsible for the cycle. Menstruation becomes longer and more abundant. It is also possible to defer them for for a long time, although the organs are not changed;
• Recent pregnancy and childbirth. After them, after a considerable time, when it is time for the cycle to normalize, this may not happen.

Is it possible to determine cycle failure yourself?

A woman herself is capable of feeling trouble in this area. After all, everyone, at a minimum, keeps a calendar critical days. But due to their diversity, only a specialist, and perhaps more than one, can identify the causes of menstrual irregularities. List necessary research it is not random, but represents a specific algorithm:

• Questioning the patient about the medications she is taking, possible recent or other external circumstances that could disrupt the cycle;
• Visual and gynecological examination. Exhaustion, pallor of the skin, mucous membranes and whites of the eyes are revealed, possible changes size of the liver, thyroid gland, discharge from the mammary glands. At gynecological examination What matters are the painful sensations from palpation of the cervix, the nature and amount of discharge, visible neoplasms in the pelvic area;
• Taking swabs and samples for infections. Their prolonged existence in the body can cause disruption of the menstrual cycle;
• Ultrasound of the pelvic organs or abdominal cavity. This examination will show changes in the uterus and ovaries, give an idea of ​​the presence and size of follicles. If no pathologies are found in this area, it makes sense to conduct an ultrasound thyroid gland to find out whether a failure in the cycle is a consequence of problems with it;
• General and biochemical blood tests, coagulogram. Disorders of its coagulation, as well as diseases of the hematopoietic tissue, are detected. The most important aspect is the calculation of the concentration of hormones in the blood;
• Hysteroscopy. Provides an opportunity to examine the condition of the endometrium and the presence of polyposis. The material taken can be sent for histology to determine whether there are malignant cells;

It is not necessary to prescribe all examination methods at once. Sometimes a few are enough to determine the cause of menstrual irregularities. But it happens that only comprehensive diagnostics is able to indicate it. And it happens that in addition to those listed, an expensive, but very informative method examinations - . Thanks to him they become known pathological changes tissues up to neoplasms.

Treatment of menstrual disorders

A woman faced with similar problem, they are concerned, rather, not with the reasons for the failure, but with how. But it is the elimination of provoking factors and direct culprits of menstrual irregularities that is the most effective therapy. Indeed, in the vast majority of cases, a serious cycle failure is a symptom of a disease. Treatment is possible in several ways.

Drug therapy

It is logical that first it is necessary to eliminate all negative factors influencing the process. To do this you need:

• Forget about hard ones;
• Exclude exorbitant ones;
• Replace medications that have a bad effect on the cycle with others that do not affect it;
• Try to normalize your psychological state.

Heavy bleeding during menstruation requires symptomatic treatment hemostatic drugs:

• , . They are injected into the muscle and taken in tablet form;
• Tranescam. The drug is administered via a dropper and additionally taken in tablets;
• Aminocaproic acid. It is administered intravenously through a drip.

Symptomatic treatment is meaningless without hormonal therapy. Regulation of the menstrual cycle is possible with the use of oral contraceptives containing a large amount of estrogen and progesterone. Sometimes it is hormone therapy is the main part of the treatment.

The following are often used to restore the menstrual cycle: hormonal drugs:

• . His main active substance Dydrogesterone is a synthetic analogue of progesterone. It thickens the endometrium, causing menstruation to occur if it is delayed. Naturally, if a woman is not pregnant. Usually, a tablet of the drug 2 times a day from the 11th to the 25th day of the menstrual cycle is sufficient;
• Utrozhestan. It is also prescribed for menstrual irregularities caused by progesterone deficiency, from the 16th to the 26th day of the cycle. A sufficient dose is 1 capsule 2-3 times a day.

Less commonly, Norethisterone and Medroxyprogesterone acetate are used to normalize menstruation.

If problems with the menstrual cycle plague a woman over 40 years of age, it is advisable to prescribe medications to make her periods disappear completely or partially:

• Danazol. It suppresses the body's production of follicle-stimulating hormone, which reduces the amount of discharge. Take no more than 400 mg of the drug per day;
• Gestrinone. It has a suppressive effect on endometrial tissue, which leads to its atrophy. In addition, the drug reduces the level of hormones responsible for menstruation. Dosage - 2.5 mg capsule 2 times a week.

To completely stop menstruation, GnRH agonists are prescribed, which block the hypothalamic-pituitary system, that is, directly interfere with hormone production. These are the drugs Decapeptyl, Buselerin, Goselerin. Their use is impossible for longer than six months. Otherwise, the woman faces osteoporosis, which many people cannot escape with age.

Or the inability to clearly determine the cause of the disease. Then the question of how to normalize the menstrual cycle can be solved in one of the following ways:

• Curettage of the uterine cavity;
• Burning out the endometrium with a laser beam;
• Balloon ablation of the endometrium;
• Uterus removal.

Regular, normal periods - necessary condition for a happy pregnancy and birth healthy baby. Disorders of the menstrual cycle should not be ignored in mature age. After all, even then a woman wants to be healthy and attractive.

Before using any medications Be sure to consult a specialist doctor. There are contraindications.

Indicated for menstrual irregularities hormonal agents, homeopathic medicines, hemostatics, iron-containing medicines, vitamins, analgesics and sedatives.

What medications are used for menstrual irregularities?

Disorders of the menstrual cycle in women are not always associated with lack of weight or stress; sometimes the cause of the disorder is hormonal imbalances, lack of vitamins, psychological problems. In such cases, therapy requires various medications that will eliminate health problems. Only a doctor can prescribe medications for menstrual irregularities, so the information below is written to familiarize yourself with the effect of medications.

Before describing different groups medications intended to normalize the menstrual cycle, it is necessary to understand why menstrual irregularities occur in the first place. There are several reasons that can cause menstruation problems:

In addition, menstrual irregularities at different age periods may be associated with the appearance cancerous tumors in the mammary glands, uterine fibroids, cysts in the ovaries and other pathologies.

It is impossible to independently find the causes of menstrual irregularities; to do this, you need to contact a gynecologist, take blood tests for hormones and biochemical composition, do an ultrasound of the pelvic organs, and others diagnostic procedures. Only the attending physician, who knows the girl’s health parameters, will be able to correctly prescribe her treatment; you should not use any medications on your own.

Medications for menstrual irregularities

If the menstrual cycle is not due to pathologies that need to be treated surgical method, after tests and diagnosis, the doctor will prescribe medications to normalize menstruation. Medicines for recovery can be divided into the following groups:

• hormonal drugs and oral contraceptives;
• homeopathic medicines;
• hemostatics and preparations with iron;
• uterotonics;
• painkillers and antispasmodics;
• vitamin and mineral complexes;
• sedatives.

The information below is provided to familiarize you with the mechanism of action of drugs on the menstrual cycle; you should not start using them on your own.

Hormonal drugs and OK

One of the main reasons leading to the failure of menstruation is the imbalance of hormones in the girl’s body due to malfunction endocrine organs, reception medicines, use of steroid medications or sudden weight loss.

If the problem is a lack or excess of active substances, the doctor must first determine which ones are disrupting menstruation. To do this, the gynecologist will definitely prescribe a blood test for hormones, and after that a more detailed diagnosis, for example, ultrasound of the thyroid gland, pelvic organs, MRI to examine the pituitary gland.

Restore the menstrual cycle when hormonal imbalances possible using replacement therapy, that is, the girl will use hormonal drugs or oral contraceptives to correct the functioning of the endocrine organs. Choice medicine depends on which hormone is missing or in excess, so you can’t choose OK on your own or buy a cheaper one. Most often, correction of the menstrual cycle is carried out using the following drugs:

• Duphaston;
• Yarina;
• Utrozhestan;
• Progesterone (injections or tablets);
• Norkolut;
• Janine.

Duphaston, Utrozhestan and Progesterone help normalize the production of progesterone, the hormone responsible for the separation of the endometrium and its removal with the egg from the uterine cavity. Treatment of menstrual irregularities associated with an excess of male sexual active substances is carried out with the help of antiandrogenic drugs (Diane-35, Janine). If a woman has impaired estrogen production, the hormone levels are regulated with the help of Estradiol or its analogues.

Homeopathic remedies

If a woman’s periods are irregular, but there are serious disturbances in hormonal levels and work endocrine system no, you can eliminate menstrual irregularities with the help of homeopathy. Homeopathic medicines are medicines based on herbal components, which, like hormonal remedies or OCs, contain active substances, but their dosage there is much lower.

Upon admission homeopathic remedies practically healthy girl behind a short time will be able to restore monthly cycle, and there will be no such negative consequences, How excess weight, hair loss, rash and others. It is important to understand that homeopathy will not help if a woman has serious disorders, for example, ovarian hypofunction, insufficient output thyroid hormones, etc. – this will require more pharmacologically active medications.

TO homeopathic medicines to restore the cycle include the following:

• Dysmenorm;
• Manalgin;
• Remens;
• Feminalgin;
• Mabustin.

Some herbs have weak hormonal activity because they contain phytoestrogen. To correct the menstrual cycle, use a decoction of hop cones, sage, and flax seed jelly. But before consuming herbs, you need to consult a gynecologist, as some of them can negatively affect the functioning of the kidneys and liver, especially with urolithiasis.

Hemostatics and preparations with iron

With anemia, anemia, lack of formed elements and other blood diseases, a woman may stop having periods completely. With menstruation, up to 100 ml of bloody discharge comes out, but there are problems with this resource in the body - no influence of hormones will force it to accept such losses. On the other hand, if there is a clotting disorder, the bleeding may become excessive.

Menstrual irregularities, the symptoms of which indicate problems with the blood, must be treated with hemostatic agents and iron supplements.

Hemostatic promotes accelerated cell division bone marrow for the formation of red blood cells and other blood cells. Hemostatic drugs are a group of medications that are aimed at different spectrum problems, for example, to increase blood clotting due to vitamin K, to accelerate the division of blood cells, to normalize hemoglobin levels, to improve vascular tone.

Hemostatic drugs include the following:

• vitamin K;
• Vikasol;
• Dicynone;
• Ascorutin;
• vitamin C.

These drugs come in the form of tablets and injections. The choice of the form of the drug depends on the complexity of the problem, since when administered intravenously or intramuscularly, the active substances will penetrate faster to their destination sites, and their concentration will be higher than when taken orally. A medicine in this group can be prescribed not only to restore the menstrual cycle, but also as a prophylaxis several times a year, because regular heavy menstruation weaken the body of every girl.

Preparations with iron

Iron supplements are aimed at combating anemia, because its first sign is not only pale skin, but also the absence of menstruation. You can restore the level of this element using individual drugs(Ferraplekt, Ferlatum, Maltofer, Ferrum Lek) or vitamin and mineral complexes containing iron. In addition, in the fight against anemia, it is important to adjust the diet to include red meat, spinach, sesame and halva.

Uterotonics

Sometimes menstrual cycle disorder is not associated with hormones, blood counts or pathological neoplasms, but is caused by weak uterine tone. Most often there is a connection to this phenomenon genetic predisposition, and correcting the problem is difficult. Physical activity will slightly improve the contractile function of this organ.

In the case of low uterine tone, menstruation does not occur because this organ cannot normally “push out” blood and clots, against which the body adapts and reduces the abundance of menstruation. In such situations, under the supervision of a doctor, the woman will drink or inject oxytocin, a hormone that increases uterine contractions. This remedy should not be used without control, as deviation from the indicated dosage can cause pain in the uterus, bleeding and other unpleasant consequences.

Vitamins

Few people notice that menstrual irregularities in girls occur not in summer or autumn, but in winter and spring, when there are practically no fresh fruits and vegetables, so the body does not receive the required amount of vitamins, and vitamin deficiency begins. a lack of useful substances causes disruption of the menstrual cycle, the treatment of which requires adjustment of the diet and the intake of vitamin and mineral complexes.

Main for women's health are , C, A, and B12.

And B12 regulates hemoglobin levels, strengthens blood vessels and stimulates normal uterine contractions during menstruation. Vitamin E and A are involved in the production of female sex hormones: estrogen, progesterone and others.

If the menstrual cycle is disrupted, tablets with individual vitamins are used more often, because this way you can better control their dosage. Vitamin E in the form of an oily solution of alpha-tocopherol is usually prescribed to be consumed 2-3 times a day after meals, 5 drops along with folic acid, which improves its absorption. Ascorbic acid and B12 can be consumed before meals 1-2 times a day. Retinol, like vitamin E, should be taken after meals 1-2 times a day.

Cyclic is an excellent prevention of vitamin deficiency; it consists in the fact that a woman consumes certain vitamins during the period specified by the doctor, for example, in winter or spring, to prevent problems with menstruation.

Useful substances can be obtained not only from tablets, but also from food. Vitamin E along with vitamin A are found in oils, seeds, nuts, oily fish. B12 is present in buckwheat, oatmeal, fresh herbs, and ascorbic acid can be easily obtained from fruits, strawberries, sorrel and cabbage.

Sedatives

Due to hard work, intensive study, problems in personal life or eating disorders a girl may experience strong emotional stress, while her body releases a stress hormone - cortisol, which disrupts the functioning of many endocrine organs, and the consequence of this will be the cessation of menstruation. Treatment of menstrual irregularities in such cases requires taking sedatives that will gently soothe nervous system and reduce cortisol levels.

TO sedatives include tablets and Herb tea. Sedatives There are a lot of pharmacies on the shelves, but it’s difficult to choose them yourself, because when misuse a person experiences drowsiness, allergies, or even becomes irritable, so it is better to entrust the choice to a therapist or neurologist.

Soothing tea is gentler than tablets, but it is much less likely to cause negative effects and drowsiness. Sedative herbs: chamomile, sage, mint, lemon balm - can be consumed 2-3 times a day, as well as during bouts of stress. You need to brew tea for 7-10 minutes so that the plants have time to release their beneficial substances.

Having discovered a menstrual cycle disorder, treatment should be started immediately, because in the future, problems with women’s health can interfere with pregnancy, cause accelerated aging of the body and other problems. Only a doctor can select a drug that restores menstruation, because for therapy it is necessary to find out the cause of the disorder, and this requires diagnosis.

The female body - great mystery! And like inexplicable events in nature, changes in the phases of the moon, a woman’s life also changes. Many scientists have noticed that the cyclical nature of the heavenly body is reflected in a girl’s menstrual cycle. But sometimes there are storms, and a woman’s health is susceptible to changes from the outside and disturbances occur in the body, which can bring a lot of inconvenience to a woman’s life, and most importantly, deprive her of the opportunity to experience the joy of motherhood!

Let's figure out what a normal menstrual cycle is

This is a cyclical, monthly period in the life of every healthy woman, except for the period of pregnancy and breastfeeding, starting from the first day of the appearance of bleeding (menstruation) and until the first day of the next period. Normally, this period ranges from 21 to 35 days, plus or minus 3 days. If the cycle is shorter or longer, then we can already talk about pathology and sound the alarm. The menstrual cycle plays a huge role in reproductive function women and is necessary for the ability to fertilize, bear and give birth to children.

A girl becomes a girl with the onset of her first period (menarche), which usually begins between 11 and 14 years of age. They may be irregular at first, but after a couple of years the cycle becomes established. And throughout life it is stable, until the period of premenopause, somewhere around 40–50 years.

From birth, a girl’s ovaries contain up to 2 million follicles; by the beginning of menarche, there are up to 400 thousand of them left. One menstrual cycle “uses” one ripening follicle to release an egg.

Cyclic changes normally in women have a two-phase cycle and are clearly controlled hormonal mechanism influence of the endocrine glands.

Normal parameters of the menstrual cycle:

• The duration of the cycle is from 21 to 35 days. On average 28 days.
• The duration of menstruation is from 2 to 7 days. On average 5 days.
• Conditional blood loss is from 40 to 60 ml. On average 50 ml.

Cycle phases

• The first phase, or follicular. During this period, the follicle grows and matures in the ovaries under the influence of hormones from the pituitary gland and hypothalamus (follicle-stimulating hormone or FSH). An egg is released from a mature follicle during ovulation (the middle of the menstrual cycle), ready for fertilization.
• The second phase, or luteal. During this phase, again under the influence of brain hormones (luteinizing hormone or LH), the corpus luteum matures, releasing the follicle egg. If, nevertheless, pregnancy occurs during ovulation, then from this follicle a corpus luteum pregnancy, producing progesterone up to 16 weeks, the high level of which helps maintain pregnancy. And at 16 weeks, the placenta takes over this function.

Parallel to the ovaries, cyclic hormonal influence The endometrium in the uterus is also affected.

The endometrium, as is known, consists of several layers, the superficial layers are represented by the functional and intermediate layers. The basal layer is not rejected during menstruation, but ensures the restoration of the rejected layers. The intermediate one, being rejected, comes out in the form of menstruation.

Cyclic changes in the endometrium are distinguished in the form of the following phases:

• Proliferation ( follicular phase). The active hormone in this phase is estrogen. It lasts from the 5th day of the cycle for 12–14 days. During this period it grows surface layer endometrium with tubular glands up to 8 mm thick.
• Secretion (luteal phase). During this phase, both progesterone and estrogen levels increase and lasts approximately 14 days. During this period, the tubular glands begin to produce secretions, the peak of which is reached on the 21st day of the cycle. Blood flow to the endometrial arteries increases on the 22nd day of the cycle, creating favorable conditions for implantation of the zygote.
• Menstruation. When pregnancy does not occur, due to the low amount of hormones produced by the ovary, blood supply to the endometrium decreases, blood clots and spasms form in the vessels, and then their sharp expansion leads to endometrial rejection. This is observed by the 24th–27th day of the cycle. Menstruation itself consists of the following phases:

1. Desquamation (rejection of the functional layer).
2. Regeneration (healing of the functional layer). This phase begins immediately after the endometrial intermediate layer is shed. The basis for this, as mentioned above, is the basal layer. And on the 4th day, epithelization of the entire surface of the endometrium occurs after its rejection.

Continuous cyclical process of friendly reproductive organs– glands, ovaries and endometrium, throughout the entire menstrual cycle promotes maturation, release of the egg from the ovary and its fertilization, attachment to the already prepared endometrium (thanks to the two-phase cycle) and further development and maintaining pregnancy to a greater extent by ovarian hormones. If fertilization does not occur, then the functional layer (necessary during pregnancy for the embryo to attach to it and ensure its vital activity) is rejected in the form of menstruation.

The process of regulation of the cyclic process is carried out by the neuroendocrine system through direct and feedback hormones, i.e. when some hormones decrease, others increase and vice versa. There is the following hierarchy of levels of regulation of the menstrual cycle:

1. The first level is the cerebral cortex, limbic system, hippocampus and amygdala. Influence top level depends on its initial state, action external factors. Therefore, menstrual irregularities often depend on mental state women, and sometimes you can observe a delay in menstruation after suffering stress.
2. The second level is the hypothalamus. It is influenced by the feedback principle of sex hormones coming from the blood.
3. The third level is the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, which produces LH and FSH, prolactin, adenocorticotropic and thyroid-stimulating hormones.
4. The fourth level is the ovaries, thyroid gland and adrenal glands.
5. The fifth level is sensitive to the action of hormones (uterus, endometrium and mammary gland).

But, unfortunately, not all women have a regular menstrual cycle and work like a clock. All violations are divided into the following categories:

• Irregularity of the cycle.
• Pain when releasing menstrual blood.

Reasons why the menstrual cycle is disrupted

• Impact on the body from the outside - stress, overwork, malnutrition, change of place of residence and climate.
• Internal factors – accompanying illnesses(pathology of the ovaries, central nervous system, adrenal glands, endometrial diseases, curettage of the uterine cavity and abortions, liver diseases, impaired hemostasis, etc.).
• Under the influence medicinal substances(hormones, anticoagulants, drugs used in psychiatry, etc.).

Types of menstrual irregularities

Menorrhagia (hypermenstrual syndrome)– cyclical heavy menstruation. It in turn is divided into:

• Polymenorrhea – prolonged bleeding, occurring cyclically with an interval of less than 21 days.
• Proyomenorrhea – increased menstruation.
• Hypermenorrhea – a large number of menstrual flow.

Hypomenstrual syndrome – external manifestation decreased menstruation:

• Hypomenorrhea – scanty menstrual flow.
• Oligomenorrhea – duration of menstruation up to 2 days.
• Opsomenorea is an interval between menstruation of more than 5–8 weeks.
• Spaniomenorea - mensis is observed up to 2-4 times a year.
• Amenorrhea is the absence of menstruation for more than 6 months.

• – bleeding that began a year or more after the cessation of menstruation in older women.
• Metrorrhagia is acyclic bleeding that is not accompanied by endometrial rejection.
• Intermenstrual bleeding – occurs between periods.
• Algodismenorrhea – painful menstruation.
• Juvenile bleeding – profuse bloody issues in teenage girls.

Treatment of menstrual disorders

After full examination women, including collection of anamnesis, detailed general and gynecological examination, performing ultrasound, taking smears, clinical and biochemical analysis blood test, coagulogram, hormonal examination, hysteroscopy, and sometimes an MRI, you can begin treatment.

1. First of all, it is necessary to exclude the influence of external factors.
2. Treatment of concomitant diseases.
3. Hemostatic therapy is provided for bleeding.
4. Surgical treatment (curettage of the uterine cavity, removal of the uterus).
5. Hormonal therapy. Combined oral contraceptives, gestagens, and GnRH agonists are used.

Self-medication is extremely unacceptable! This is dangerous for a woman's life. If menstrual irregularities occur, you should seek help from medical institution, because delay can lead to inflammation in mild cases, endocrine disorders, infertility, and in extreme cases - to fatal outcome. Take care of yourself and your health - it is priceless!

A constant menstrual cycle is the key to women's health, and its disruption signals problems in the functioning of the body. Every woman reproductive age at least once in her life she faces the problem of menstrual irregularities. After all, female body so sensitive that it can be influenced by internal and external negative factors.

Period failures can occur for many reasons.

What is the menstrual cycle

The menstrual cycle is cyclical changes in a woman’s body that occur at regular intervals. To determine the duration of the cycle, you need to count the number of days from the first day of one menstruation to the first day of the next one. The optimal cycle is 28 days, but this is only an average.

After all, each organism is individual and the cycle cannot be absolutely the same for everyone. Therefore, the normal cycle length is from 21 to 37 days, but taking into account consistency.

Deviations from one to a maximum of three days are considered acceptable. The duration of menstruation itself is no less than 3 and no more than 7 days. If your cycle meets these conditions, you are healthy. But, if you notice a failure, you should immediately visit a gynecologist. Since the reasons for the failure can range from harmless to dangerous for reproductive function and health in general.

Failures in the three day range are quite normal

Types of menstrual cycle disruption

Often, a failure of the menstrual cycle is understood as a delay in menstruation. But this opinion is wrong. Because when analyzing the menstrual cycle, a number of characteristics are considered: duration, regularity, intensity, accompanying symptoms. Based on this, types of failure are identified.

1. Amenorrhea is the absence of menstruation for more than 3 months.
2. Polymenorrhea is a very short menstrual cycle, less than 21 days. With polymenorrhea, menstruation can occur several times a month.
3. Oligomenorrhea is the exact opposite of polymenorrhea. The main symptoms of oligomenorrhea are as follows: cycle duration is more than 38 days, scanty discharge during menstruation.
4. Menorrhagia is excessive blood loss during menstruation during a regular menstrual cycle. The norm for blood loss is no more than 50-80 ml per day and 250 ml during the entire period of menstruation. The first two days are characterized by the greatest blood loss. Every day the amount of blood released decreases. If your period comes on the 5th day in the same volume as on the first day, then this is not the norm, and to determine the cause you need to undergo an examination.
5. Metrorrhagia – long-term and frequent discharge, which can be both abundant and insignificant, at irregular intervals. Metrorrhagia, like menorrhagia, are forms of uterine bleeding.
6. Uterine bleeding between periods is also considered as a symptom of menstrual irregularity.
7. Dysminorrhea - bad feeling or by people's PMS. With dysminorrhea, symptoms can be very different. Common symptoms include nervousness, mood swings, severe pain lower abdomen and lower back, nausea. Why do women tolerate them and do not seek help to alleviate their suffering? It's just that most people consider them the norm.

Often, discharge during menstruation may be accompanied by blood clots, which may give cause for concern. But this normal phenomenon, which is explained by the fact that during heavy periods, blood accumulates in the vagina and coagulates into clots. Women with IUDs face this more often.

You shouldn't be happy if your periods are accompanied by scanty discharge. This is very convenient, but the small volume of blood released indicates a lack of estrogen in the body.

Dysmenorrhea - severe pain during PMS

Causes of menstrual cycle disruption

A one-time unscheduled menstrual cycle may not be dangerous, but may be rather an exception of rules rather than regularity. But, if the failure lasts for a long time or is repeated, then there are unpleasant reasons for this. Let us consider in detail exactly what reasons provoke disruptions in the menstrual cycle.

• Sexual infections (syphilis, gonorrhea, trichomonas, chlamydia, microplasma, etc.). They are also called pelvic infections. If your menstrual cycle is off, then you need to take tests that will refute or confirm the presence of pathogens in the body. Because, analyzing all the reasons, it is the infectious ones that most often lead to failures. A characteristic feature of these infections is that they are all sexually transmitted. Therefore, if you are sexually active, then you should take care of safety measures, namely: having one permanent sexual partner, using a condom during sex. But, if you are already infected, you need to undergo a course of anti-inflammatory treatment.
• Hormonal disbalance. Hormones are responsible for the normal functioning of the reproductive system; if a failure occurs, this will primarily affect the menstrual cycle. To understand where the failure occurred, you need to undergo a series of studies (thyroid gland, adrenal glands, ovaries, pituitary gland). After 25 years occurs hormonal changes in a woman’s body, which can lead to a decrease in progesterone levels.
• Gynecological diseases. Among them, we highlight the following: inflammation of the ovaries and appendages, polyps, endometriosis. Moreover, in girls who suffered from inflammation in adolescence, the menstrual cycle often gets confused in adulthood.
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Every year the problem of polycystic disease affects everyone large quantity women. What should you be afraid of when faced with PCOS syndrome? With polycystic disease, the follicles do not leave the ovary, but stop developing with immature eggs. As a result, the woman does not ovulate. Clinically, polycystic disease manifests itself in a disruption of the menstrual cycle and can lead to infertility. In addition to failures, PCOS is accompanied by the following endocrine symptoms: increased body hair growth, oily skin and hair, acne, hair loss, body fat in the abdominal area.
• Previous history of rubella or smallpox. These viruses are dangerous because they affect the number of follicles in the ovaries.
• Weight problems. People suffering from overweight They also have problems with menstruation. Why is this happening? The answer is very simple. Adipose tissue is directly involved in the formation of hormonal levels through the production of estrogen. At the same time, lack of weight and exhaustion of the body are no less dangerous.
• Premenopause For women aged 45-55 years, problems menstrual nature, are harbingers of menopause and do not require intervention from doctors, since they are the norm. The only exception would be uterine bleeding.
• Adolescence. In the first two years from the beginning of menstruation, disruptions indicate the hormonal adjustment of the body.
• Change of climatic conditions. When changing your place of residence or going on a business trip or vacation with a change in climate zone, be prepared that your body may react unpredictably. After the acclimatization process is completed, the menstrual cycle will regulate.
• Stress and physical activity. Stress is the most common and common cause of all diseases. It is important to minimize the impact of negative factors on emotional condition. The body may perceive heavy physical activity during work or sports as stressful situation and fail. Therefore, do not forget to distribute the load evenly and rest regularly.
• Medications. Frequently, menstruation is disrupted under the influence of medication or after it has ended. Greatest influence have hormonal contraceptives. In this case, it is important to consult a doctor and replace one medicine with another.

Constant cycle - key indicator women's health and reproductive capacity.

If your menstrual cycle is interrupted, immediately contact a qualified gynecologist. After all, timely identification of the problem and its causes are the key to successful recovery.

And remember that even healthy woman should visit a gynecologist at least once every six months. After all, many problems do not immediately make themselves felt, but appear over time.