SECONDARY AMENORRHOEA (SECONAMEN)

As we have seen in our previous posts, the female sex organ ovary responds to hormone messages from hypothalamus and pituitary glands, this cyclic function is called hypothalamic pituitary ovarian axis. This produces regular menstrual cycles, we have seen that sometimes these menstrual cycles never commence and this situation is called Primary Amenorrhoea, however when a woman has commenced her regular menstrual cycle and then she stops the cycle it is called Secondary Amenorrhea(seconamen).


There is also another word mixed with seconamen called oligomenorrhoea, this means that the periods are somewhat irregular and infrequent.


The two physiological causes of seconamen are pregnancy and menopause.


Doesn't matter how old or young a women is between the ages of twelve and fifty always make sure she is not pregnant. Many people consider seconamen only if they have missed two or three months, but I do not agree with that , I feel one should do a pregnancy test or see a clinician after six weeks especially if this is an unplanned pregnancy.
In my practising lifetime I have seen three females aged twelve, thirteen and fifty-one with unexpected pregnancy. The two young girls in fact had never had a period.
The twelve year old was a school girl who went for a picnic and perhaps became pregnant with her very first period, she had a very complicated pregnancy and she and her mother looked after the baby well.
The other person I saw was a thirteen year old girl who had no idea about menstruation or realities of life. She was left alone with her sixteen year old cousin and they had sex and when we saw her she was full term pregnant and in labour.
We delivered the baby and with the consent of the mother and other parties the baby was adopted.
The third person I saw was a fifty-one year old women who was in menopause transition.
It is important to continue contraception if you do not want to get pregnant in later years of your life for twelve to eighteen months when you have stopped having periods.


The other common causes of seconamen are
1- Obesity
2- Too Much Exercise
3-Losing too much weight as in sports women*
4-Anorexia
5-Anxiety and Stress (such as exams, new job, domestic problems and so on)
6-Drugs used to treat psychological disorders
7-Under Active and Over Active thyroid
8-Failing Hypothalmic Pituatary and Ovarian Axis 
9-Pituitary Tumour - Prolactinoma
10-Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome


Generally the symptoms of seconamen are not very conspicuous despite the fact that you have not had a period. You may have some change in your moods, diet habits, nausea and vomiting if you are pregnant.
If that's the case you can do a home pregnancy test or go and see your GP.


Look into your weight, stress, anxiety, abnormal thyroid function, polycystic ovary syndrome as they can all affect your weight gain or loss.
*Losing too much weight by exercising has been documented to being a risk factor for seconamen , infertility and osteoporosis.


The three most important reasons for Secondary Amenorrhea  to be discussed further are failing ovarian function, pituitary and hypothalamic function and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
I am sure you all know about PCOS which is the most discussed women's problem in modern society.
I will discuss these in my next post.