Periods: The Bane of Existence
Periods, the bane of an existence for a woman. Nearly every woman has it. Before my experience with fibroids (see link here), I didn’t care much about it. TBH I had done my biology education and didn’t take time to fully understand my cycle and hormones, which now I do, and passing this knowledge to you coz it’s essential you learn how your body is functioning in every phase of your cycle and what hormones are at play.
Understanding a Regular vs. Irregular Period
Ladies, the cycle is really how you get an inclining of how your hormones are balanced or imbalanced and what that means for your body. Typically, a woman in a balanced cycle should be between 21 to 35 days, have a flow for 4 to 7 days, and cramps that can be managed by a painkiller at low dosage. The blood flow varies, heavy at first and it subsides to the last day, and also the product you use (a tampon, pad, or menstrual cup) has frequency to it, but the average range is 3 to 5 hours.
So this is a regular cycle. Now, anything outside this is an irregular cycle. So girlies, having a period that’s so heavy and you soak your product in under three hours isn’t normal. Having cramps so painful you need high dosage painkillers, not normal. Heavy clots, not it. Having a period greater than 7 days is a no. All these point to irregular periods and this means your hormones aren’t balanced and they need your attention. I have covered here hormonal imbalance and irregular cycles here.
The Main Hormones in Our Cycle
Estrogen aka the builder: this is what thickens our uterine lining and supports egg maturation, also improves the mood, energy, libido and skin
Progesterone aka the calmer: maintains uterine lining after ovulation and supports early pregnancy, calms nervous system and balances the mood
LH (Luteinizing Hormone) aka the releaser: triggers egg release
FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) aka the grower: stimulates follicles in the eggs to mature in the ovaries
Neurotransmitters aka Brain Chemicals
Serotonin aka the stabilizer: keeps your mood, sleep and emotions balanced
Dopamine aka the motivator: fuels focus, ambition, motivation and excitement, the I can do anything guy maybe girl, I see it as a girl or what do you think
Oxytocin aka the connector: the love hormone, need I say here we have trust, empathy and bonding
Cortisol aka the alarm bell: it does keep you alert in stress but when too much is what causes the stress coz it makes you overwhelmed and anxious
GABA the soother: emotion regulation, this one calms your nervous system and deep rest
So, note that estrogen stimulates the levels of serotonin in the body and progesterone stimulates GABA activity. Serotonin increases as estrogen increases and falls when estrogen levels decline. Likewise, GABA increases as progesterone rises and drops when progesterone declines.
The Menstrual Phase
Shark week if you know, the days we dread. Basically, this is where we have the actual bleeding, the lining of your uterus is being shed and it comes with a lot. Also, this is the beginning of your cycle so here most hormones are low, that’s why you go through so much moodiness and stress. Estrogen and progesterone are low here, the brain chemicals are low except for the cortisol. FSH begins to rise slightly this phase.
The Follicular Phase
So next is follicular stage. Basically, the ovaries are preparing the egg, days 1 to 20 depending on your cycle length. Estrogen and FSH rise, LH is slowly rising, and progesterone still low. Serotonin increases, dopamine is rising while cortisol is lowering, the GABA is still low. This phase, prioritize strategy, goal setting, creating etc.
Ovulation Phase
Everyone’s fav, we in the middle cycle, day depends with the cycle length but it usually happens in the 14th to 21st day. Yes, it’s only one day. Estrogen is at its peak, LH surges, FSH begins to drop as the egg is now being released for fertilization. And for the brain chemicals, the serotonin peaks too, dopamine peaks too, oxytocin is high, cortisol is low to normal and GABA is low. See why she is the favorite girl? Now you are at your peak confidence so I would tell you, the project you have been meaning to start, do it then, or any other thing you have been afraid to do including the hard convos, do it on this day.
The Luteal Phase
This happens on day 15 to 28, as said before depending on the cycle. The body prepares for pregnancy and if none is happening, we are given our greatest jail sentence for life, the period. So here, the progesterone and estrogen rise to prepare for pregnancy then drop when there is no fertilized egg. LH and FSH drop. For our brain chemicals, the serotonin drops in late luteal, dopamine drops too, oxytocin drops near PMS, and cortisol can rise. GABA rises then drops before period. Here is where PMS is triggered. So please, no stress, prioritize sleep, basically go slow mode girl.
Final Thoughts: Track and Live With Your Cycle
I hope this deep dive helps. All these will happen when one has a regular cycle. So as you track your cycle on your fav app, please keep in mind which phase you are at and what is happening to your body because of the hormone levels. And here is the good thing, you can create a lifestyle depending on your cycle phase. I have covered it more on this post. So this lifestyle includes diet, how to workout, and what to do in terms of your goals.
