Scarleteen

So I've been experiencing irregular period cycles for the past year or so.

Ever since late 2021, when I started preparing for my college entrance exam, my periods became really close to each other, like 20 days apart, but they were still somewhat regular. After the exam (which was in January 2022), they finally started to be a bit normal, but sometimes I still have a month with no period.

And recently, apart from going to college, I'm also working a part-time job, with me being anxious and tired for almost everyday, my cycle seems to be a bit weird again.

I just wanna ask, is it normal to have this many changes to my period cycle over the past year or so? I've asked my mom and she said that it's normal since I've been facing a lot of huge life changes. I also have anxiety problems, so maybe it's related to that too?

It's common to have changes in cycles through all of life, and certainly for them to be more common or frequent during certain times of life (and these kinds of changes in the teens and 20s are particularly common).

In the situation you're in -- and my sympathies, I know too how hard is is to go to college and work at the same time -- where you are probably sleep-deprived, where rest and eating is likely erratic, and where your stress load is high, I'd expect your cycles to be a bit wonky. I'd also kind of take that as a cue to see what you can do to better care for yourself as much as possible. For instance, can you at least be sure to eat regularly? To get even a little more rest? To do some things to help you manage your stress and anxiety?

Hi Heather

Thank you for the empathetic and reassuring response, it really calmed me down a lot.
I think for now I'll try my best to focus on my own mental health, good news is I can probably go to therapy again in September, so maybe I'll talk to them about managing my anxiety and stress.

Thanks again for being an amazing person