Not all vaginal discharge should be a problem. Some discharge is for cleaning purposes and lubrication. It tends to concentrate towards a woman’s periods. It’s normal for a woman to experience vaginal discharge. If this discharge is colorless and does not smell badly and if it is not associated with pain and is not excessive, then it’s normal. However, if it is has bad smell or excessive, then it could be due to an infection. You are advised to consult your school nurse or even a gynecologist. Meanwhile, keep yourself clean enough.

Irregular periods among teenagers are normal. It was wrong to use medication to induce your periods. As you grow up, the menstrual cycle stabilizes and you start experiencing your periods normally. Stop any kind of medication and let your body control its systems and processes. Should they not come, consult a doctor.

A woman is born with a finite number of eggs, which are stored in the ovaries. The ovaries also produce the hormones estrogen and progesterone which regulate menstruation and ovulation. Menopause occurs when the ovaries no longer releases eggs. The woman stops menstruating, marking the end of her reproductive period. Natural menopause occurs between 40 and 60 years of age but this varies from woman to woman. The median age is 51 years. Developed countries tend to have late menopause the average age being 55. And in least developed countries, the median age is 44.

Prolonged periods can be brought about by a number of factors:
The most common cause is a change in the hormonal levels. Other causes may include; Cancer of the Uterus, thickening/build up of the Uterus walls, Uterine fibroids, medical conditions, pregnancy complications, change in birth control pills, use of an IUD for birth control, use of certain drugs such as steroids, recent surgery or other uterine procedure, infection in the uterus and stress.

While some girls go through their periods with no or very little pain, others experience painful periods often accompanied by fatigue and even dizziness. This pain is usually felt in the pelvic area and lower abdomen. Menstrual pain is one of the most frequent causes of absenteeism from school among girls.

As part of the menstrual cycle, the lining of the uterus (womb) grows and thickens in anticipation of holding a fertilized egg. If no egg is fertilized, the thickened lining of the uterus has to be shaded off in form of menstrual blood.
The pain during the period is thought to be due to the forceful contractions of the womb (uterus) to open up the cervix (neck of the uterus) to expel the menstrual blood. These contractions are caused by the prostaglandin hormones. These hormones stimulate the contractions of the uterus during the period. These contractions compress the blood vessels to the uterus cutting off the blood supply and depriving the tissues of blood. Too little blood to the uterine muscle may cause pain. Some girls produce an excess of prostaglandin hormones causing too little blood to the uterus muscle leading to excessive pain. The good news is that the pains become milder as one becomes older.

A hot water bottle wrapped in a towel applied to the abdomen and eating iron-rich foods (eggs, meat, poultry, and fish), fresh fruits and vegetables can give relief.

The menstrual cycle is the process by which eggs are released from a woman’s ovary, ready to be fertilized by the sperm. The bleeding is only part of the menstrual cycle.

The menstrual cycle starts on the very first day of the bleeding. It continues up to the first day of the next period. The average length of the menstrual cycle is 28 days with some women having longer or shorter cycles.

In the first half of the cycle, levels of the “female hormone” (estrogen) start to rise and make the lining of the uterus (womb) grow and thicken. At the same time, some of the eggs start to ripen, though usually only one matures ready for fertilization.. Approximately 14 days from the start of the bleeding, one egg matures and is released from the follicle on the surface of the ovary and then into a fallopian tube. This is called ovulation.
After the egg has left the ovary it travels through the fallopian tube to the uterus. Hormone levels rise and help prepare the uterine lining for pregnancy.

If the egg is fertilized by a man’s sperm cell and attaches to the uterine wall, the woman becomes pregnant.
If the egg is not fertilized, it will break apart. If pregnancy does not occur, hormone levels drop, and the thickened lining of the uterus is shed off as a combination of blood, tissue and mucus. This is called menstruation or menstrual period. This starts the bleeding that  comes from woman’s vagina. Periods can be light, moderate, or heavy, and the length of the period also varies. While most periods last from three to five days, anywhere from two to seven days is normal.

Menstruation happens after the unfertilized egg dies and if indeed this egg is dead, then you may not make the girl pregnant.  However, if this egg is not yet dead, a boy may get the girl pregnant and more so if it is an adolescent or teenager, most of whom whose cycles is not steady. Let us not forget that it is also hard to gauge how or what time exactly menstruation is really expected to start.