why is my period late?

[laura23]

Sooo I was supposed to get my period 5 days ago but i haven't gotten it yet idk why im freaking out since the only time I was engaged in a pregnancy risk activity (accidental contact of genitals) was on may. I got my period every month after that and took several pregnancy tests and all turned out negative. My last period was VERY light but lasted the usual time. I managed to get over my pregnancy scare somehow but this is bringing all my fears back! I am once again freaking out but then I think to myself that there's NO WAY I am indeed pregnant and still haven't had any symptoms or somewhat of a belly (its been like 4 months)but then again I can't think of any other reason why I haven't gotten my period yet, like the only thing that comes to my mind is this. You guys already clarified that a negative pregnancy test and a period means im not pregnant so im not really asking if im pregnant or not bc according to science, I am not. But why else is this happening?! Please helpppp I dont want to fall back to where I was when I went through my pregnancy scare

[Heather]

Well, it's outside our control, however we answer you, per if you fall back into a pattern of anxiety. That's something much more about you and what you can do for yourself than us!

But per your periods, can you give me the dates of your periods for say, the last three or four cycles? In other words, what were the dates of when your period started for the last four or five months, so we can get a sense of what, if anything, may be up?

[laura23]

May 22
June 16
July 13
August 11
idk if its just me being Paranoid but I think my periods changed after that time that I was with my partner. Before I believe I would always get my period either the last week of the month or the first days of the month and then after that I started to get my period like halfway through the month o.O... idk, maybe im just going crazy bc I never really tracked my periods before so I have no way to be sure. The only reason I'm saying my period is late is bc according to my last 4 periods, my cycle lasts for like 28-29 days and my period app says im 5 days late -_-

[Heather]

So, looking at those dates, what we know about your menstrual cycle since May is that your cycles have been 25, 27, and 29 days long: just in those few months, you have a four-day deviation, but that's not uncommon with regular periods. But yep, you're at day 33 now, which is later than usual over the last few months.

Sex with a partner, of any kind, can't change our menstrual cycles. However, stress from that -- and how we do or do not manage that stress, more to the point, sure can. As well, a menstrual cycle that stays regular won't happen around the same time of month for more than a few months because the number of days in each month are not the same. So, what's happened with when your periods come on the whole is as expected with a fairly regular cycle.

So, why is this one later? Maybe you're dealing with a shift, maybe you're not managing all of the stress you're under well. Maybe you have changed your sleep or activity patterns, or how you eat. Cycles can change or shift for so many reasons, at any time, really. And sometimes we do just skip periods altogether for a cycle.

But really, all you can do is wait this out, and if you can think of a culprit here, see what you can do to correct it, like managing stress better or getting more rest.

[laura23]

Okay yeahh I see. I did start school 2 weeks ago and I guess you could say I've been under lots stress. So the only reason why this worries me (bc before I did anything I could care less when I got my period or how heavy or light it was) is that somehow or some way this delay is related to what I did in May especially since after that day I felt like my periods were not the same as before. I mean I guess its just my mind playing tricks on me again but I guess I'll just wait. Thank you so much (: