Menstrual Cycle

Some women have no pain or other problems. But other women have symptoms before and during their periods.
For about a week before a period, many women have some premenstrual symptoms. You may feel more tense or angry. You may gain water weight and feel bloated. Your breasts may feel tender. You may get acne. You also may have less energy than usual. A day or two before your period, you may start having pain (cramps) in your belly, back, or legs. These symptoms go away during the first days of a period.
When your ovary releases an egg in the middle of your cycle, you may have pain in your lower belly. You also might have red spotting for less than a day. Both are normal.

Menstrual,how can women take care of bleeding and symptoms?

You can use pads or tampons to manage bleeding. Whichever you use, be sure to change the pad or tampon at least every 4 to 6 hours during the day. Pads may be best at night.
Many women can improve their symptoms by getting regular exercise and eating a healthy diet. It also may help to limit alcohol and caffeine. Try to reducestress.
A heating pad, hot water bottle, or warm bath also can help with cramps. You can take an over-the-counter medicine such as ibuprofen or naproxen before and during your period to reduce pain and bleeding.

Menstrual Cycle - Normal Menstrual Cycle

The menstrual cycle is the series of changes your body goes through to prepare for a possible pregnancy. About once a month, the uterus grows a new, thickened lining (endometrium) that can hold a fertilized egg. When there is no fertilized egg to start a pregnancy, the uterus then sheds its lining. This is the monthly menstrual bleeding (also called menstruation or menstrual period) that you have from your early teen years until your menstrual periods end around age 50 (menopause).
See a picture of a woman'sreproductivesystem.
The menstrual cycle is measured from the first day of menstrual bleeding, Day 1, up to Day 1 of your next menstrual bleeding. Although 28 days is the average cycle length, it is normal to have a cycle that is shorter or longer.

• A teen's cycles may be long (up to 45 days), growing shorter over several years.
• Between ages 25 and 35, most women's cycles are regular, generally lasting 21 to 35 days.
• Around ages 40 to 42, cycles tend to be the shortest and most regular. This is followed by 8 to 10 years of longer, less predictable cycles until menopause.

Three phases of the menstrual cycle
The phases of your menstrual cycle are triggered by hormonal changes.

Menstrual period

On Day 1 of your cycle, the thickened lining (endometrium) of the uterus begins to shed. You know this as menstrual bleeding from the vagina. A normal menstrual period can last 4 to 6 days.
Most of your menstrual blood loss happens during the first 3 days. This is also when you might have cramping pain in your pelvis, legs, and back. Cramps can range from mild to severe. The cramping is your uterus contracting, helping the endometrium shed. In general, any premenstrualsymptoms that you've felt before your period will go away during these first days of your cycle.
Follicular phase
During the follicular phase, an egg follicle on an ovary gets ready to release an egg. Usually, one egg is released per cycle. This process can be short or long and plays the biggest role in how long your cycle is. At the same time, the uterus starts growing a new endometrium to prepare for pregnancy.
The last 5 days of the follicular phase, plus ovulation day, are your fertile window. This is when you are most likely to become pregnant if you have sex without using birth control.

Luteal (premenstrual) phase

This phase starts on ovulation day, the day the egg is released from the egg follicle on the ovary. It can happen any time from Day 7 to Day 22 of a normal menstrual cycle. During ovulation, some women have less than a day of red spotting or lower pelvic pain or discomfort .These signs of ovulation are normal.

• If the egg is fertilized by sperm and then implants in (attaches to) the endometrium, a pregnancy begins. (This pregnancy is dated from Day 1 of this menstrual cycle.)
• If the egg is not fertilized or does not implant, the endometrium begins to break down.

Menstrual, what is an irregular period?

At the clinic we answer questions all the time about irregular periods. A textbook period happens every 24-29 days, but in truth what is “regular” covers a wide range. Cycles between 23–35 days are very common. A woman may get her period only one to four times a year. Or she might have periods that occur two to three times in a month and involve spotting or extremely heavy flow. Alternatively, she may have heavy episodes of bleeding every two to three months. Irregular periods are simply what is irregular for you.
For the most part, we don’t worry at the clinic about a missed period or two over the course of a year. More variation than that may indicate to us the beginning of perimenopause or a disruption of the natural chain of hormonal events that controls menstruation. A wide variety of factors can be responsible for irregular periods, among them:

• Significant weight gain or loss
• Over-exercise
• Poor nutrition (or a diet too high in carbohydrates)
• Smoking
• Drug use
• Caffeine
• Excessive alcohol use (interfering with how the liver metabolizes estrogen and progesterone)
• Eating disorders
• Increased stress
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome/estrogen dominance
• Uterine abnormalities (fibroids/cysts/polyps/endometriosis)
• Hormonal imbalance related to perimenopause
• Medications
• Chemotherapy
• Recent childbirth, miscarriage, or D&C
• Breastfeeding

As you can see, there are many different ways a woman can be irregular for as many different reasons, and it can be very confusing when it happens.
Why does being stressed out cause irregular periods?
When we are under stress, regardless of the source (danger, personal relationships, work, environment) our adrenal glands are designed to secrete the hormone cortisol (see our articles on adrenal fatigue). Cortisol has a direct impact on the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone, and DHEA. Eating disorders, dieting, drug use, and reliance on stimulants like caffeine and alcohol are also interpreted by the body as kinds of stress. Poor nutrition seems to physically change the proteins in the brain so they can no longer send the proper signals for normal ovulation.

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