When Menstrual Periods Stop

A hormonal abnormality may be the reason that your periods were never regular and now have stopped. Some women have abnormal androgen production without being aware of other body changes. Occasionally a woman can have a condition known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), without any noticeable increase in body hair. It is usually accompanied by excess body hair, acne, and an increase amount of male hormone (androgen) in the blood. PCOS affects somewhere between five and ten percent of American women.

Even if you have not notice new hair growth, your doctor will want to measure male hormone levels, especially testosterone.

Your doctor will be guided by whether one or more androgen levels are high.

In addition, there are rare hormonal disorders associated with decreased egg production in the ovaries with irregular and absent periods. In these cases, the androgen level in a woman can be low.

What if one of my levels is high? What if my androgen levels are normal?

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Online Medical Reviewer: Faculty of Harvard Medical School Date Last Reviewed: 5/26/2006 Date Last Modified: 5/18/2006 Source: from Harvard Health Decision Guides, Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.