BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Infertility Late period--hopeful but also doubtful

Hello to all-- To briefly summarize, I am no 46 and have 3 healthy children--the last two I had at age 37 and age 42. Last month I started taking B6 (200 mg daily) hoping to lenthening my luteal phase (only 11 days) LMP was 8/23--which makes me about 16+ days late. Multiple urine pregnancy tests have been negative. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why my period has not arrived yet? I'm usually like clockwork at 24-25 days. I know Vitamin B6 is known to lenghtening by a few days but I didn't think THIS many. Things have been a little bit stressful at home, but no more than usual. Thanking you in advance for any help you may be able to offer. Donna

Hi Donna, one cause of an unexplained late menstrual period can be an ovarian cyst which is continuing to secrete estrogen, preventing the usual shedding of the uterine lining. Cysts sometimes cause pain and other times do not but they can be visualized on ultrasound. Stress can also be a factor but you may want to check out the possibility of a cyst, especially if you have any discomfort in the ovary region.
The pregnancy tests from blood that a physician does are much more sensitive than urine tests and may help to sort out if you have low level hCG in your body from a recent implantation. Hope that this helps.

At 46, hormonal issues related to perimenopause can cause all sorts of irregularities in the cycle. After being regular as a clock for most of my life, my periods got erratic about then (and still are!).