Menstruation

Anything that causes ill-health or stress around the time of ovulation will delay ovulation, and thus in turn delay menstruation - this also includes being under-weight or radical weight changes that may result in the body thinking you are starving, it will put-off ovulation to prevent pregnancy at a time when you may not be able to support pregnancy. You may also have irregular cycles due to hormonal changes, especially common in teens or going into menopause. Pregnancy is also a possibility if you're sexually active.

Pinkish jelly discharge suggests ovulation - fertile cervical mucus with blood from ovulation bleeding - unless you use fertility awareness method you can't know for sure when you ovulated or when you were fertile so your days may be off. You could have spotting after ovulation if you had a ruptured ovarian cyst.

No, you don't have to miss your period in order to find out that you're pregnant. A pregnancy test can be taken from two weeks after you've had sex, you don't have to wait for a missed period.

Spotting is normal before your period - your period doesn't just suddenly start, it starts slowly at first so only small amounts of blood will leave your body, this is spotting.

No, you don't have to wear tampons during your period.

Most women start-off using pads, also if you use tampons or sponges you have to use pads as it's not safe to use tampons or sponges overnight, with light flow or throughout your entire period. You can use menstrual cups or softcups which don't require you to use pads at all, or there are options such as menstrual release that require nothing.

It is possible.

It depends on the surgery and it's effect on your body, but if your body is unhealthy or under stress it will delay or skip ovulation in order to prevent pregnancy at a time when you may not be healthy enough to carry to term without risking your own health, thus when ovulation is delayed or skipped the same occurs with menstruation.

It shouldn't hurt you to use the bathroom during your period.

Hormonal changes during menstruation can effect bowels and as such it's possible to experience problems like constipation during menstruation, this could explain discomfort when making a bowel movement. Changing your diet can help with this. Occasionally tampons, menstrual cups or softcups can put pressure on the anus so make passing bowel movements uncomfortable, if this is the case try removing these sanitary products prior to making a bowel movement, if you use a menstrual cup try a more flexible cup.

If you have trouble with urination it may be due to the use of sanitary products, specifically menstrual pads - if you use commercial brands such as Always or Kotex these encourage bacterial growth that can increase risk of urinary tract infections, these types of pads also contain chemicals that can irritate the urethra. Try using cotton brands such as Cottons or Emerita, or cloth brands like Lunapads or Gladrags.

The average age for menarche for girls is under 13 years of age. However, individually speaking that can vary depending on several factors including weight.

Imagine menopause like menarche (first period) in reverse - menstruation can just stop then never start again during menopause, but in most cases women going through menopause will experience irregular periods and irregular bleeding between periods, just like pubecent girls do when they start menstruating.

During a menstrual cycle, the uterus thickens its lining in preparation for a possible pregnancy. If pregnancy does not occur, the uterus sheds this lining through menstruation. The cycle is controlled by hormones such as estrogen and progesterone.

You can use Norethisterone up to three days before menstruation to delay your period - taken three times per day it is a progesterone pill that prevents the dip in progesterone that would trigger menstruation, you continue taking it until you want your period to start. There is no other effective means of stopping menstruation, nor can you stop menstruation once it's started for just one day.

Many women do not have cramps with their period and most women don't have cramps after childbirth.

Menstruation typically occurs over 5-6 days - but everyone is different, and younger women may experience irregular periods so have longer or shorter periods.

Menstruation is part of a whole menstrual cycle, in order to menstruate you first have to ovulate - however if you are at all unwell your body will try to delay or skip ovulation in order to prevent you becoming pregnant when unable to cope. Thus if you are suffering from stress ovulation may be delayed or skipped, thus in turn your period would be delayed or you'll skip your period all together that cycle.

They probably aren't normal yet

Most women experience a missed period at some point in her life, if you're in your pre-teens, teens or entering menopause this is completely normal, and there are multiple reasons why adult women may skip menstruation; sickness, travel, medications, stress.

The odd missed period is nothing to worry about, but if you go over three months without a period it is a good idea to see your doctor to make sure there's nothing wrong.

Whether you tell your friends about your period or not is up to you - but there is nothing shameful or embarrassing about menstruation so no reason to hide it or avoid talking about it, in fact talking about your periods can help you find new ways of managing it.

Many women will tell their friends when they get their first period - it's a big deal as it's a sign you've become a woman and you're growing up, lots of girls want to celebrate their periods and let their friends know that they are growing up. Many girls also like to talk about their periods because it's anew experience for them and they need support.

Once you've been menstruating for a while you might mention it to your friends if it comes up - for example maybe your friends want to swim but you're not comfortable using tampons or menstrual cups, thus can't go and thus you need to explain why. Some women talk about menstruation to share experiences or exchange ideas on how to make periods easier to manage, also some women celebrate their periods in Red Tents where they honour their periods and being women.

Whether YOU tell your friends is up to you, but no reason not to.

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Everyone gets cramps. Girls get cramps in their ovaries when they're menstruating.

Unless you are pregant you need a medication for Amenorrhea which is when your period is not coming but not due to pregnancy. See your doctor. It's important to find out why it is late or not coming.

You can't 'bring down' your period, menstruation starts when it is ready - you cannot speed-up your menstrual cycle or skip phases of your cycle to start menstruation earlier than when it is ready.

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Hormonal birth control works by suppressing your menstrual cycles, so you don't ovulate and thus in turn you don't menstruate (the bleeding you get on the pill is a withdrawal bleed caused by the drop in synthetic hormones when going from active to inactive pills). It's normal to have irregular bleeding for the first three months on any new hormonal birth control while your body adjusts to this change. If this is occurring past three months then you need to ask to switch.

A sanitary belt is a way of wearing a sanitary pad - these were commonly used before the invention of disposable sanitary pads with sticky backing that stick straight into your underwear, although many women today still use sanitary belts. You can buy both disposable sanitary belt pads like Dr. Whites or cloth sanitary belt pads like Reddy's.

Essentially the easiest way of wearing them is to first try on the belt and adjust to suit your body so that it sits comfortably around your waste and under your clothing, then take off the belt and attach the pad. Once the pad is attached then you step into the belt just like you would when putting on underwear.

During the day if you need to change the pad it can be a little more awkward, you remove the soiled pad and then have to reattach a new pad - this can be tricky while still wearing the pad but the best way to do this is to attach the pad at the back of the belt first, then pass between your legs and attach at the front.

There are plenty of places online to find a menstrual cycle calculator. Tampax has a very nice menstrual cycle calculator. It is simple and easy to use.