Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with menstrualcycle

Help me understand complications during the follicular and luteal phase of menstruation.

2X2LcallingCQ — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:57:59 -0800

HormoneFilter: Help me understand complications during the follicular and luteal phase of menstruation. In relation to PMS, I've read that estrogen dominance is often the culprit, exacerbated by certain lifestyle factors such as stress, as both cortisol and progesterone compete for the same receptors. Also, even if you have low estrogen, if you have even lower levels of progesterone, that is also estrogen dominance.

However, why is it that for many women who do experience PMS during the luteal phase, they are fine during the follicular phase? It is my understanding that progesterone is lowest during the first phase of menstruation, while estrogen steadily climbs, which would mean estrogen dominance galore right?

Could the rise in progesterone be the problem, as progesterone is highest during the luteal phase?

Thank you :)

Red States vs Blue Pills

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:25:05 -0800

Dumb birth control pill question: why don't I need to use a backup method while taking the sugar pills? I started the pill a week ago. The brochure states that if I miss more than two days of the pill, I MUST USE A BACKUP METHOD OF BIRTH CONTROL OR I MIGHT GET PREGNANT (It really is in all caps). But during the "period" week, when you're missing seven days of active pills, no backup method is necessary. Why? What's the difference, especially when I'm supposedly allowed to reschedule the inactive week anyway?

I'm on Ortho-Cyclen, so there's no funny business with varying levels of hormones - all the pills are the same, except Week 4.

What got me wondering about this is that I inadvertently began taking the pill a week before my actual period, because I was spotting and mistook it for Day 1 (my cycle is super irregular, which I'm hoping to correct with the pill). So now, my actual period is here (I'm still taking the active pills), and I was thinking about putting off the sugar pill week for four weeks so I don't have to deal with this again so soon.

But when I take the sugar pills, how is that different from just missing pills? Are they assuming you won't have sex while you're bleeding?

I really, really, really, really, really don't want to get pregnant.

(Anonymous due to the hysterics that would ensue if by some hiccup of the cosmos my mother were to find out that her 27-year-old daughter is having premarital sex.)

How can I shorten my period naturally?

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:11:47 -0800

Is there a way to shorten my period that does NOT involve birth control? I have a period that lasts seven to nine days, seven if I'm lucky. At least three to four of those days are quite heavy. It's a huge pain, for reasons detailed under the cut. Would weight loss work? Diet? Increased exercise? Ancient herbal secrets? Is there anything, anything at all? Has anything caused a permanent shortening of your cycle? The heavy seven-to-nine day period has been the norm since I hit puberty, minus the time I was on birth control. Three to four of that is extremely, change-a-heavy-flow-tampon-every-hour-or-two heavy. Another three to four is moderate flow. I get one or two light days on a good month. It is a pain--it's expensive as I go through pads and tampons like mad. The heaviness is a deterrent to my sex life, since neither of us are keen on doing it under an endometrial waterfall. It provides a week of constant worrying about leakage. And due to the length combined with the need for the pad-tampon duo, I don't get as aired out as I should and develop a monthly yeast infection at least halfway through.

My total cycle length is anywhere from 30-32 days. While on birth control, it shortened to 28 days, with a four-day period of light to moderate flow. I was very pleased, just not with all of the negative effects of it. I have tried multiple forms of hormonal birth control and all have caused problems, so I'm not looking for that answer right now.

I would like any suggestions, even wacky ones, of ways to shorten my cycle naturally. Weight loss, diet, herbal remedies, whatever. Please, I'm desperate!

Having extra periods?

Anonymous — Sat, 24 May 2008 20:57:58 -0800

I've been getting "extra" periods... Lately, I've been getting an "extra", very light, period between my normal ones. This has happened three times now, and I wanted to see whether you think this is something to worry about.

I might be providing way more info than is required for a relatively simple question, but I wanted to make sure!
I started my periods when I was 11 (now 20), and, after initially being a bit irregular, everything evened itself out until things were pretty much normal.
I started university in Autumn 2006, and since then things haven't been quite the same: first, my first period since arriving at uni was about 2 months late. I assume this was due to moving to a different city and suddenly living on a corridor in halls full of other girls. After that, my period came back, pretty much as it had been before.
A few months after that, I started getting worse period pains, different to those I'd had before - 'aching' pain in my hips and thighs, and feeling a lot more 'hot and bothered'. This usually goes away after the first day or two, and it's been getting a bit better the past few months.
Now, since March, I've been getting "mini" periods in between my usual ones - so a period every two weeks or so. The "extra" ones are very light, so light the first couple of times that, if I didn't wear a tampon or sanitary towel, it wouldn't seep through my underwear. The most recent one (this past week) was a little heavier, though not much. These "extra" periods have also been coinciding with my girlfriend's periods (we've been living together since last Autumn).
I am not, nor have I ever been, on the Pill or anything like that. I have been fairly stressed at times during the past few months, perhaps over a longer time period than usual, but I've never noticed stress affecting my menstrual cycle before. I don't think my diet has changed much lately.

Any advice on whether this is normal or something I should get checked out?

Stress-induced menstrual issues?

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 07:43:20 -0800

Can a combination of stress and intense physical activity cause problems with my menstrual cycle even though I am on the pill? I am 28 years old and have been on the pill for over 8 years now. In that time, I have never had any problems with breakthrough bleeding during my active pills.

This past weekend, I took a pretty intense exercise class (more intense than my usual routine...). I also found out that my father had been rushed to the hospital with chest pains. He did have a heart attack, and is recovering well. However, it was a very traumatic experience for our family.

On Tuesday, I started experiencing some spotting, which then turned into what looks like a full period. I'm a week and a half into my current pack of pills. I'm also seeing small clots, which I've NEVER noticed with any period in the past.

I spoke to a nurse and have an appointment with my gynecologist in 2 weeks. The nurse told me to watch for extremely large clots, dizziness, or fainting. I've not had any of those symptoms, but I'm still really freaked out by all of this.

Has anyone else every experienced anything like this? How worried should I be?

What's the connection between menstrual cycle and orgasm?

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 13:28:00 -0800

Uh, Embarrassing-Sexual-Question-Filter? There seems to be some connection between being at the end of my menstrual cycle (that is, days from starting my period) and how easy it is to orgasm (that is... not at all.) Is this Science, or something I'm making up? Probably someone obviously from all the scary menstrual talk, I'm a girl, 30s. I don't use hormonal birth control, or, in fact, medication of any kind. I'm healthy. I have a very regular menstrual cycle.

I ordinarily find it fairly easy to climax. I have a high-ish sex drive, I guess: if it matters, I think I average around 35 climaxes over a month, with my boyfriend, if he's around, or, um, not, and all of this applies to both situations.

The highest point of the bell curve seems to be around the midpoint of my cycle, presumably around ovulation. About three of four days before my period is due to start, my libido drops somewhat. I'm still happy to partake, should my boyfriend bring it up, but am less likely to initiate. Once things are actually happening, everything still feels good, but also, somehow... "muted". It's still pleasurable, but it becomes difficult to reach orgasm. Not impossible, just more difficult: more difficult the closer I am to starting my period. I find that I need sharper and sharper stimulation to get there (hence the "muted" description) and when I do orgasm, it's more of a relief than it is an OH JESUS OH JESUS experience.

Don't get me wrong. It's still an orgasm. I don't mean to complain. It just feels a LOT like the orgasms I struggled bitterly to have when I was taking SSRIs, years ago: the loooooong battle to get there, the... less-than-gloriousness when you finally do.

I've started to keep track of my fertility over the last few months, so this is the first time in years, possibly forever, that I've been really aware of where I am in my cycle. That's where my newfound realization comes in. I'd always had a vague awareness that my libido fluctuated somewhat throughout the month, and that sometimes sex was more fun than other times, but my new charts make this pre-menstrual quasi-anorgasmia really obvious, and I'm curious:

Is there a reason for this? High school biology was a long time ago, so my understanding of how a rise or drop in hormone levels might impact a woman's sex drive and ability to climax is really rusty. All the helpful sex ed texts I'm finding on this issue seem to think that most women experience a moderate-to-severe increase in libido and sex greatness just before their period, which is obviously not my experience.

Bad for Kotex, sure, but for me?

chickletworks — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 21:26:18 -0800

MenstrualCycleFilter: My recent periods have been freakishly short. Should I be concerned, or just excited about all the money I stand to save on tampons? It’s my understanding that having unusually long periods can be a sign that something’s wrong. Is the same true for unusually short periods?

My last three periods have been progressively shorter; the last one was two and a half days. When I was younger, my periods were irregular and long, sometimes over a week, but they’ve been normal and quite consistent for the last three years or so.

I’m in my mid-twenties and healthy. I’ve never used prescription birth control and I’m not on any medication. The only contributing factor I can think of is my recent weight loss. I’ve been dieting and have lost about ten pounds since June, but I’m still a normal weight for my height (I was a couple of pounds overweight before dieting) and I eat more nutritiously now than I did when I wasn't dieting.