How to get periods early: remedies and medicines

Periods or menstruation is an essential part of women's health. It is a very subjective cycle, one might never know exactly when it is going to arrive and how many days it is going to stay. Periods usually vary in occurrence from person to person, sometimes month to month. One can not blindly rely on last month’s period date to predict the current month’s date. It is usually 3 to 4 days earlier or later than the previous menstruation date. However, a woman’s life does not work according to their menstruation cycle, there comes a need to induce a period earlier at times.

This article will discuss all the possible causes for not getting a period on time and methods to induce a period safely and effectively. Continue reading to gather all the knowledge.

Possible reasons for inducing a period
Causes for delayed periods
How to get periods
Medicines to induce periods
Home remedies to get periods
Risks of inducing periods
When to see a doctor for delayed periods

Doctors for How to induce periods

Possible reasons for inducing a period

Important event

You might have some extremely important unavoidable prior commitments that unfortunately fall on your period days and requires physical work or involvement.

Holiday

Maybe you want to go for holidays and don't want PMS (premenstrual syndrome) symptoms to interfere with your vacation joy.

Pregnancy planning

In order to increase the chances of conceiving during a specific time frame, there might be a need to induce a period earlier.

Delayed periods

Delayed periods is one of the major reasons that most women go for menstruation inducing remedies. Though it usually occurs due to stress and anxiety, other health conditions may also be responsible for a delayed period. Also, if you were already trying to conceive, you might want to rule out pregnancy as a cause.

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Causes for delayed periods

Hormonal imbalance is the most common health condition responsible for a delayed period. It may occur due to various factors including poor lifestyle, imbalanced diet and oral contraceptives. However, your reproductive hormones are not the only culprit behind your menstrual problems.

Many other conditions are also associated with this. Let us take a look at them one by one:

Thyroid disorders: Over-secretion of the thyroid gland, producing excess thyroid hormone leads to a condition called hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism could cause delayed or lighter periods.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOD): It is a condition characterised by multiple ovarian cysts and hormonal imbalance resulting in irregularities in the period. This is so common that 1 of the 10 women with irregular periods suffers from PCOS.
Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI): This is a condition that occurs when your ovaries stop working before the age of 40. Teenage girls may also suffer from this disease. POI is strongly associated with irregular periods.
Eating disorders: If you have a habit of starving yourself knowingly (anorexia nervosa) or you are a binge eater, this could be the reason for a delay in your period.
Hyperprolactinemia: Hyperprolactinemia refers to elevated levels of prolactin, a hormone responsible for the growth of breasts during puberty and regulating the menstrual cycle. It is one of the major reasons for a delayed period.
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID): Another health condition associated with an irregular or delayed period is PID. PID occurs due to an infection in the reproductive tract or organs, though it is also associated with abdominal pain and offensive vaginal discharge. Sexually transmitted diseases are the most common reason for developing PID.
Obesity: Obesity is the sole reason for various diseases. The extra padding of fat in and around your body leads to an increment in the production of estrogen. This extra dose of estrogen can remodel your menstruation cycle, leading to irregular, delayed or missed periods.
Uncontrolled diabetes: Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes could cause a late onset of periods. But once your blood sugar comes back to normal, you will get a normal menstruation cycle.

Tips: Usually teenage girls and women close to menopause may have irregular or delayed periods. Teenage girls start getting regular periods after a few months. So, if you are someone who belongs to any of the two categories, don't try to induce periods, it's physiological for you, your body will adapt to a regular cycle slowly.

How to get periods

Once you have ruled out an underlying condition, you can easily induce your period by making some minor changes in your daily routine. Some home remedies and birth control methods also work well in inducing a period early. So, read on to find all the ways that can help you get your period earlier.

Contraceptive pills, rings or patches to induce periods

If you are someone who is tired of waiting for periods or sick of PMS symptoms, hormonal birth control pills, rings and patches could be an excellent option for you to get regular periods. Various kinds of contraceptive pills are available in the market, though for regularising menstruation and inducing early periods, a combined pill works the best. Unlike the mini pills, these pills contain both estrogen and progesterone hormone (hormones that regulate menstruation cycle) which help maintain a regular rhythm of 28 days menstrual cycle. Depending on your cycle, the dosage of these pills can be changed a bit to induce an early period. However, it is best to check in with an ob-gyn to know the right way to do so otherwise it may lead to hormonal imbalances.

Contraceptive rings and patches work also contain estrogen and progesterone and apart from the mode of administration, they in the same way as a pill.

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Sex to induce periods

It may seem contradictory to believe that having sex can induce mensuration, but it stands true.

It's been proven that male semen can trigger the mensuration cycle of the female.

So, your partner can possibly help you with menstrual difficulties. In fact, all the hormonal effects responsible for causation of periods can be enhanced by your male partner. They may contribute for additional prostaglandins (used as an abortive agent like misoprostol, mentioned above) leading to induction of a period.

(Read more: Benefits of sex for health)

Stress management to induce periods

As you already know, stress is one of the major reasons for a delayed period. If you reduce stress, your body functions will return back to normal including regular menstruation cycle. Find ways to manage your stress levels and induce relaxation. Here are some of them:

Mediation: Try to calm your nerves by aligning your mind in a single direction. (Read more: The right way to meditate)
Yoga: There are few yogas like pranayama, which helps in relaxing your body, mind and soul thereby relieving stress.
Other activities: Swimming, dancing, playing sports or any creative activity may also help reduce anxiety and stress.

Warm compress to induce periods

You might have seen people applying heated water bag or bottle on the abdomen to relieve menstrual pain. But did you know it can also help induce period? A warm compress may not induce menstruation directly but it increases blood flow in the uterine lining thereby providing you with the much-needed relief from pain and bleeding irregularities. Just soak a cloth in warm water and apply it on the lower abdomen to get the much-needed relief or you can use a warm water bag for the same.

Medicines to induce periods

Mifepristone is an anti progestational steroid, used in combination with misoprostol (a type of prostaglandin) to induce uterine bleeding. It is mainly used to end unwanted pregnancy within 70 days of conception and it acts by inhibiting the activity of progesterone (a hormone responsible for maintaining pregnancy).

If you are someone who wants to induce periods due to a risk of possible pregnancy, this could be one of the best options. Just after 2 hours of consumption of this medicine, bleeding may start. However, bleeding induced by these drugs is usually associated with cramps, nausea and sometimes diarrhoea.

A clinical study including 720 women (both pregnant and non-pregnant) demonstrated that Mifepristone and misoprostol are highly effective in inducing menstrual bleeding reporting success in about 95% of the cases.

However, it's always safer to consult a doctor before taking this medicine for inducing periods.

Home remedies to get periods

There is very little scientific evidence on the effectivity of natural home remedies for inducing periods. However, there are a few herbs and spices that may help in inducing a period and regularising your menstrual cycle. To explore what are they, continue scrolling through the article.

Vitamin C to induce periods

It is a common belief among women to not to eat vitamin C rich foods while on a period as it will cause heavy flow. Related to this, comes to another saying, eating lots of vitamin C rich food will induce periods. There is minimal scientific proof on how exactly they work but few studies have suggested the dominant effect of ascorbic acid on estrogen and progesterone levels in the human body. This could be the reason behind the faith.

If you are trying to induce a period, vitamin C could be a safer and nutrient-rich way to induce a period in a natural and healthy way. Some vitamin C rich foods are:

Fruits like oranges, kiwi, strawberries, pineapple and papaya
Green leafy vegetables like spinach, broccoli and kale

Ginger to induce periods

Just like acidic foods, ginger is also defamed for increasing menstrual flow. However, there is no scientific evidence to support this belief. In fact, studies report that consumption of ginger while on period significantly reduces excess bleeding as well as lowers abdominal pain or cramps. The main attributing factor to alleviate the pain and heavy bleeding are anti-inflammatory properties of ginger along with its inhibitory effects on certain chemical mediators causing body pain. If you still want to give it a try, you can add ginger in your salads or foods or make a ginger tea for yourself by infusing a small piece of ginger in a cup of boiling water.

Garlic to induce periods

Another spice from the kitchen rack associated with the belief of inducing period is garlic. One can not deny the benefits of garlic on human health but unfortunately, when it comes to period induction, there is no scientific evidence to prove it. Simultaneous occurrence of periods and consumption of garlic might have occurred with some, making them believe that garlic can induce a period, this might be due to some indirect effects of garlic on individual physiology. Also, garlic is considered to be a warming herb, which may aid in part to early induction of periods.

Other spices to induce periods

There are several other species which are traditionally used as emmenagogues (inducing or increasing menstrual flow) but there is no appropriate research to prove their effects. These include:

Angelica sinensis (Dang Gui) to induce periods

Dang Gui or Angelica sinensis is a well-known herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Roots of these plants are used for treating irregular menstruation as well as amenorrhoea (complete absence of menstruation). Animal studies suggest that this herb has the potential to influence estrogen hormone. Though no clinical studies are available to assess its effect on the human body, it's therapeutic benefits cannot be denied completely.

Dang Gui is available in the form of capsules and ointments. You can certainly take advantage of this ayurvedic herb in order to induce period but only the supervision of an ayurvedic doctor as long term consumption of dang gui could have some side effects.

Risks of inducing periods

Period is an integral part of a female’s physiological cycles. While you may take herbs or pop in pills to induce a period, it is best to let nature work its way instead of pushing your body. Some of the herbs mentioned above may have some additional effects on the body, depending on the physical and physiological condition of the individual. Also, birth control pills don’t suit everybody equally.

If a yet undetected pregnancy is the reason for your missing period, taking emmenagogues to induce period could terminate the possible pregnancy and cause severe bleeding and abdominal cramps. Incomplete abortion may lead to an urgent need for surgical intervention.

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When to see a doctor for delayed periods

It is always a wise decision to seek a doctor's consultation before taking any step that is related to your reproductive health. There are various health conditions that may be responsible for a delayed period. Talk to a gynaecologist if you notice any of the following: