Let’s understand how your period works. Many of us do not understand the basics of how our menstrual cycle works. And that’s okay. Who did we have to teach us?
Being able to identify any abnormalities in your cycle is one way to find potential health problems so understanding your menstrual patterns can help you a lot.
You and any adolescent girls in your life might want to consider charting your cycles. There are a ton of apps for this purpose. I can’t personally speak to any of them but I’m sure you know someone who can recommend one.
The bottom line is that your period is a definite reflection of your overall health.
The pill is the doctors answer to period pain, PCOS, irregular cycles, endometriosis, heavy periods, acne….. the list goes on.
One thing you need to know is that being on the pill or any other hormonal birth control does not give you a period. The pill actually forces you to bleed but this is not a period. Bleeding from the pill is from the dose of the hormones in your body and the lack of them in that 4th week. Your period is occurring from an interaction of your natural hormones, ovulation and progesterone production. It occurs about every 28 days- this part most of us already are aware of. Hormonal birth control stops your ovaries from releasing eggs and stops the production of hormones.
Your cycle has 3 phases
FOLLICULAR PHASE 7-21 days long taking place around day six to day 14
You have around 608 follicles, each containing an egg and they produce estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone
Follicles take 100 days to mature from their beginning formation to ovulation. If these follicles are not healthy at any point over those 100 days then that can show up as a problem with your period down the road. Unhealthy cells making unhealthy tissues and you have heard me say this before. So an unhealthy follicle can show up months later as a significant problem for you
When follicles enter the follicular phase, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) tells your follicles to make estrogen
Estradiol comes from your follicles, other forms of estrogen like estrone come from fat tissue and also from your gut bacteria.
Estradiol boosts mood and libido by boosting serotonin and dopamine
It helps you be more sensitive to insulin allowing you to keep fat off and preventing insulin resistance
It also plays a role in your uterus lining growing and thickening- this means, the more estradiol, the thicker your uterine lining and the heavier your period will be
OVULATION PHASE occurs around day 14
This happens when a follicle reaches its destination, swells up and releases an egg. This is ovulation. You may feel the rupture on your lower pelvis. Once this occurs, a pregnancy can also occur
You need ovulation to make progesterone
LUTEAL PHASE from day 15-28
The ruptured follicle that released an egg becomes the corpus luteum and releases progesterone
How healthy the corpus luteum is, is affected by whether or not that 100 day journey of the follicle was healthy. Healthy cells make healthy tissues …..
This phase and the corpus luteum can be affected by your thyroid health and nutrient deficiencies. You need a solid 100 days of good health to produce a healthy corpus luteum
The progesterone made in this phase is really made to build a healthy pregnancy. It also balances out your estrogen levels. it thins your uterine lining, it helps prevent breast cancer compared to estrogen promoting it. It boosts thyroid hormone which is actually part of raising your body temperature.
Having a balance between progesterone and estrogen can keep your period aka your flow light!
Progesterone reduces inflammation, helps you build muscle and helps you sleep. it protects against heart disease and helps you handle stress better by calming your nervous system
Hormonal birth control doesn’t provide this calming effect and may in fact cause anxiety and apparently can even change the shape of your brain according to Peterson & colleagues from the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Your luteal phase lasts 10-16 days if you don’t become pregnant. At this point the corpus luteum shrinks, progesterone drops off and you begin your period.
A healthy body will produce a healthy period.
A healthy corpus luteum with adequate progesterone production will create a healthy flow
period flow should be well formed and flow should not be super heavy
ideally you would not have any clotting which may be occurring in a hypothyroid state
Day one is the first day of your heavy flow and the start of a new follicular phase. This lasts from 5-7 days.
If you are not making enough progesterone it is due to a short luteal phase. Some causes of this are long or heavy periods, PMS, or spotting.
A very heavy period consists of a flow releasing more than 80mL or a total of 16 fully soaked regular tampons or 8 super over all the days of your period. It can also be a period lasting 7+ days. If yours lasts more than 7 days, you should consult your doctor.
Copper IUD’s, perimenopause, no ovulation, thyroid problems, and endometriosis are reasons for a heavy bleed. The biggest cause of heavy bleeds though is having low progesterone and high estrogen. Too much estrogen will also cause sore or tender breasts, PMS and fibroids.
Hypothyroidism is a common reason for a heavy flow. Remember every cell in your body has receptors for thyroid hormone. Every cell needs thyroid hormone. if you don’t have enough thyroid hormone, your follicles won’t be healthy, you may not ovulate which creates whats called an anovulatory cycle and you won’t make progesterone because you didn’t ovulate.
Hypothyroidism affects your body’s ability to coagulate your blood and slows down estrogen metabolism. This means your body can’t get rid of estrogen as well. So if you have a really really soft bowel movement on the start of your period that can be because you are not able to metabolize estrogen well. Not being able to coagulate your blood means a flow that flows more.
This is the basic story. An important story for you to know even if you are in menopause because it may answer questions for you about why you suffered over the years. If you are currently suffering with a really heavy period, what would it be worth to you to be able to solve it? You don’t have to have a heavy, horrible period. I suffered with this very issue my entire life. My wish for you is that you can take control of your health and your body’s healing process so you can have the highest quality of life possible. No more suffering with heavy periods or fatigue or exercise intolerance or whatever else you’re going through.
Don’t waste your time guessing or even wishing things were different. Your health doesn’t really have a price tag does it? What is the cost of your hypothyroidism now? How is your quality of life? How is the quality of your relationships? Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s affect relationships too. Get rid of the crazy that comes with a body that is not getting what it needs.
Are you ready to get off the couch, off the sidelines of your life and feel great again? I’m here to help. I can help you feel better. Health has no price tag and you know you only have this one life here and now. Let’s make it a great one. Schedule your discovery call at helpforhashimotos.com and click on the Get Help tab and you can schedule your discovery call so I can learn more about you.
Sign up for my newsletter while you are there and you can get your Definitive Guide to Hashimoto’s.
Thanks so much for tuning in!