Health & Wellness

Q&A: Is there something wrong if I get my period every three months?

Most likely nothing is wrong. Some women have infrequent periods their whole lives while others have stretches of time with periods that come every few months. Most of the time, having long stretches between your periods is due to lots of exercise, weight loss, physical or emotional stress, or occasionally chronic illness. If you are healthy and at an appropriate weight, not exercising a ton, and not under any more stress than usual, this is just who you are. The good news is that your bones will still be strong and you will still be just as able to get pregnant later in life even if your period only comes every 3 months or so. If you start having even longer stretches between your periods (more than 3-4 months) or if you are feeling stressed or losing weight, you really should see your health care provider and talk about it. Sometimes infrequent periods are a bonus and sometimes they’re a pain. If you are frustrated by the lack of predictability, you can use medications to regulate your cycle. Talk to your health care provider about all of your concerns.

It’s so hard to tell with periods. For a young lady new to the menstruation scene, it is not uncommon for periods to be all over the calendar – frustrating, yes, something wrong, not necessarily. That being said, I would advise discussing the situation with your health care provider as there could be some underlying physical issues that could be causing the issue. Check out Dr. Molly’s answer for a health expert’s perspective.

A lot of girls have irregular periods. I’m not even sure if there’s such thing as a regular period. If there is, I think I’m missing out on it too. Just to cover all bases, a certain type of birth control may be causing your scarce periods, so if you’re on birth control, you may want to look into the side effects. Either way, you should see a health professional to find out exactly why you’re only having four periods a year. For now, you can think of it this way: It’s like you have a summer vacation between every period!