Why did my partner with regular cycles miss her period?

Question

Hello doctor,

I and my partner had safe sex before three months, after that we never had sex. She had regular periods till now, but this month she did not get her periods on the expected date and till now no periods. She is saying that there is some white discharge. Is this any symptom of pregnancy? If periods are regular why she delays this month? Please explain.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

If your partner has regular periods and you have not been sexually involved, then she is unlikely to be pregnant. It is not necessary that she should get her menses on that very date itself. If pregnancy is ruled out with a urine pregnancy test, then the most common cause of delayed menses is stress per se, which can be either psychological, emotional or physical which can cause a hormonal imbalance and can cause a possible delay in the periods. Also, if she is experiencing a white discharge per vaginum, then it can be a part of the premenstrual syndrome itself which usually occurs generally a week prior to the onset of menses and may include symptoms like nausea, headache, sore breasts, mood swings, lower abdominal pain or increased frequency of urine. Though it mimics early pregnancy symptoms it also occurs in the absence of pregnancy indicating that menses shall ensue in the next few days.

As it has already been more than seven days now, it is advised that she may wait till 15 days post missed periods to allow her menses to return naturally, and if it does not then she may get an ultrasound pelvis to check for the endometrial thickness (ET). If the ET is more than 10 mm, then she can opt for a withdrawal bleed with progestins to resume her menses. But if by any chance pregnancy is suspected, then it is always wise to get a urine pregnancy test done to rule it out first to allay any anxiety associated with it.

I hope this helps.