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Harvard Medical School

Amenorrhea

Expected Duration

In many teenagers with primary amenorrhea, puberty is late, but there is no permanent problem. For women with secondary amenorrhea, how long amenorrhea lasts depends on the cause. For example, pregnancy will stop a woman's menstrual periods until after childbirth, while a woman who stops taking birth control pills may not have a period for three months to a full year. Emotional or physical stress may block the release of luteinizing hormone, causing amenorrhea that lasts for as long as the source of stress remains. Rapid weight loss or gain, medications and chronic illness also can cause a woman to miss one or more periods. Amenorrhea is permanent after menopause begins or after hysterectomy.