4 Signs that Your Menstrual Cycle Needs Some TLC

If you've ever found yourself wondering whether or not your menstrual cycle is normal, whether it's the right number of days or if it's normal to be in so much pain or if you're bleeding too much or not enough...we're going to cover all of that here! Your menstrual cycle, believe it or not, is kinda like your body's report card. I love this analogy because it really does give such a great description in our minds of the importance of paying attention to our cycles. We can learn so, so much about our body's health when we pay attention to our cycles from month to month.You probably don't get as excited as I do with the conversation of your menstrual cycle. I used to cringe every time the topic of my period came up. I remember when I was in 5th grade and my mom was trying to have a conversation with me about periods to prepare me for what was to come. But I wouldn't have any of it! I'd get all red and flush in the face and run out of the room the moment the word "period" was mentioned.But now, especially after not being able to have a period for so many years due to hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA for short), I truly love learning about myself and my body through my period. Because, truly, you can learn so much about your health by paying attention to things like the length of your cycle or when you ovulate. My mission is to get you as excited about your period as I am! Watch out!Let's talk about what IS normal with a menstrual cycle. A "normal", healthy cycle is going to follow these criteria:

• Lasts between 21 days and 35 days from the start of your period to the day before your next period. It's often around the same number of days, give or take, each month.
• Includes Ovulation at around day 14 of your cycle (again, this can differ depending on the length of your normal cycle).
• Is not overly painful or symptomatic.
• Has approximately 3-6 days of bleeding and 25-80 ml blood loss.

So with this knowledge, if you've noticed that your menstrual cycle is repeatedly outside of this norm, it's time to do some investigating. Here are some signs that your menstrual cycle may need a little TLC. 

1. You're not having a regular period.

A regular period means that your period falls within that 21-35 day window AND that you're having it consistently each month. If you've been having irregular periods, periods that are either non-existent or are shorter than 21 days or longer than 35 days, this just shows us that your menstrual cycle could use a little attention. There are a lot of reasons why your period may be irregular... your body could be stressed out either from illness, emotional/mental stress, lack of proper nutrition or from over-exercise or both. It could be irregular due to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). It could also be a sign of a transition to menopause.Regaining a regular period means, first, figuring out what's behind your irregular period. Is it that you've been so stressed out with your new job. Or maybe you're training for a marathon and unintentionally haven't been fueling your body well enough for your long runs. Maybe you've taken healthy too far and, also unintentionally, found yourself not eating enough carbohydrates or fat for your body to function healthily.Figuring out what the source is for your irregular period will help you know how to make some adjustments to regain your period. For the examples above, if you've been stressed from your job and that could be the culprit, maybe you need to look for another job, or if that's not an option right now maybe you need to find ways to manage your stress. If you've been training for a marathon maybe you need to up your nutrition intake, adjusting for the increase in calories you're burning during training. If you've found yourself deep in "wellness-culture" and eat ultra-healthy all the time, just a heads up...that's not always healthy. Sometimes we find ourselves trying to be so healthy that we don't eat enough of the foods that fuel our reproductive system. There's no shame with this. It's an unfortunate result of the diet-obsessed culture we live in. But this may mean you want to work on getting rid of any food rules you have, maybe you even need support through a coach, to help you learn to eat in a normal and healthy way.Now you can start to make some changes to your lifestyle and see how it impacts your menstrual cycle. But know that this may take a few months of implementing some changes in your lifestyle to really see some improvement. So don't lose hope if you give some things a try and don't see an immediate result. 

2. You're not ovulating.

Another cause for your senses to perk up and give your body some attention is if you notice that you're not ovulating. The best way to know this is through tracking your cycle (I did a whole blog post on this HERE if you're interested). What you're looking for if you're tracking your BBT, or basal body temperature, your cervical fluid, and your cervical position is a BBT that has a temperature rise of 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit, cervical fluid that is slippery like egg whites, and a cervical position that's higher and soft. These signs together signal that ovulation has occurred.You want to make sure you have ovulatory cycles because it's only with ovulation that you know your body is getting the benefit from all those wonderful hormones involved, hormones like progesterone and estrogen. Know that just because you have a period doesn't always mean that you have ovulated. It's possible to have what's called "anovulatory" cycles, cycles that produce a period but where ovulation never occurred. That's why it's super empowering to track your cycle to know whether you have ovulatory cycles or not. And not every cycle will be ovulatory, but you do want most of them to be.Anovulatory cycles are common and even expected in girls who just got their periods as well as women nearing menopause. Otherwise, the reasons for anovulation are the same as for not having a regular cycle, so stress can play a role, nutrition, too much exercise or exercise that's too extreme. So treatment would include, again, stress management, more calories and/or more fat/carbohydrates, backing off of exercise. 

 3. You have really painful periods

Painful periods are so common among women. But that doesn't mean that they're normal. Anything more than slight discomfort on or before your period is a sign that something may be off.  You should still be able to go about your normal day when on your period. But I know so many women who lay in bed for days with their periods, too nauseous and in too much pain from cramping to do anything but lay with a heating pad on their low bellies.Normal pain starts a day or two before your period and lasts only a day or so after your period starts. We get this pain due to increases in prostaglandins, hormone-like chemicals in the body that are involved in controlling inflammation. And while we need prostaglandins to help shed our uterine lining each month, too many can cause more pain. Estrogen can make the effects of prostaglandins more intense (i.e. more pain) while progesterone helps to mellow pain out.If you're finding that your period pain is lasting more than just a couple days or that it's keeping you from going about your normal plans, you definitely want to bring this up with your healthcare provider to rule out anything medically. And then, consider lifestyle adjustments that can promote hormone balance such as good sleep, decreasing stress, health-promoting exercise (remember sometimes exercise isn't the best thing for our hormones such as with hypothalamic amenorrhea), decreasing use of hormone-disrupting chemicals such as in our cleaning products or personal care products. 

4. You have an abnormal amount of bleeding

It's important here, also, to mention that the amount of bleeding you have on a regular basis is something to consider. Like I mentioned earlier, normal means about 3-6 days of bleeding and 25-80 ml of blood loss. A period that lasts less than 3 days or more than 6 days could mean you didn't ovulate that cycle. Which, again, can happen occasionally and it's nothing to worry about. But when every cycle is repeatedly out of this range is where you want to cock your head and think about what could be going on.Too light a period could mean you have too little estrogen which can occur with too much stress on the body. So the goal here would be to decrease stress on the body whether it's emotional stress or physical stress (not eating enough and over-exercising). Too heavy a period could mean estrogen excess in your body as well as other causes. All reason to see your practitioner or talk with an expert if you notice consistent deviations in your cycle from the norm. And just a quick note again... teenage years as well as years closer to menopause are going to be a little abnormal. You may have irregular cycles, cycles where you bleed a lot with your period and cycles where you don't bleed as much. This is all normal as your body adjusts to changes happening. So no need to worry! So that's it! I hope you feel more knowledgeable about your cycle and have a better idea of what is and isn't normal and when to seek out help to get your cycle more regulated.