One month your period seems regular, the next month it’s not there at all, the month after that it’s the heaviest it’s ever been… why do our cycles change so much? What is really affecting our menstrual cycles?  Our local period whisperer, Monica Yates, is here with Cityline to shed some light on the shedding of the uterus.

Stress

You’ve probably heard this before – stress can have a huge impact of the regularity and heaviness of your cycle. It can even cause periods to vary in pain levels. The subconscious parts of your brain are in communication with your ovaries, which means that stress or unease will affect your cycle. Trauma, like a huge emotional event or a car accident will cause a massive stress response and disrupt the pathway to your ovaries. Smaller stresses, like work, over-exercise or relationship issues can also build up and impact your cycle. If your brain is constantly stressed, it can result in increased inflammation, ovarian cysts, or other health issues.

Communication between the brain and ovaries can be stopped with hormonal contraceptives like the pill. In these cases, the hormones released take on the role of the signals from your brain, making periods more reliably timed and sometimes reducing symptoms like pain. Overall however, it’s all about understanding how your brain talks to your ovaries, and taking steps to change that communications if your cycle is negatively affected.

COVID-19

Just about all menstrual cycles have been affected in some way by the pandemic. Known to some as Corona Fatigue, the unpredictability, loneliness, unemployment and isolation from loved ones is something we’re all experiencing, cycle or not. Some people have completely lost their periods due to high anxiety level. Also, masks suppress your immune system slightly, which is enough to throw your cycle out of whack.

Past Partners

Yes, actually. This sounds super odd, but holding onto residual feelings of resentment, pining and nostalgia can create some of that subconscious stress we mentioned before. This affects more people than you would think, and sometimes letting go of a past love can be the best thing we can do for getting your body back in a normal rhythm.