The Impact of Stress on the Menstrual Cycle
When you hear the words, “How are you?” What is your first response?
We hear “How are you?” from our friends, our family, a grocery store clerk, a waitress, it’s a universal saying. And our response is even more defined.
Most of us respond to “how are you?” with “fine thanks!” We say we’re “ok,” that we’re “doing well,” that we “can’t complain.”
And even if you ask the question, do you really answer it? Do you analyze how you’re feeling? Do you stop and think about what’s happening in your body?
Really, how are you?
This past year has pushed us all to the limits of “how we are,” not only are we dealing with the stress of a global pandemic, but most of us are dealing with new factors like working from home, being constantly surrounded by our partners and families, loneliness, and on top of that, for menstruators the stress on our bodies with each monthly cycle.
So what exactly is stress?
We’ve all heard the term stress, we’ve all experienced it. But defining stress is a whole lot harder. For each person it feels different and manifests in very different ways. By definition stress is when you feel unable to cope or completely overwhelmed because of pressures that feel unmanageable.
Adults and Children experience stress. And stress can last for minutes or days at a time.
Stress is our body’s response to pressures from a situation on life event according to the Mental Health Foundation. Stress and how it manifests can vary from person to person and differ based on social, political, and economic circumstances. It is when we feel out of control, when something new arises, and our body triggers a “fight or flight” response to activate our immune system.
These feelings might arise before the first day of school, not knowing what it might entail, going to work with a deadline coming up, giving a big speech over zoom, or it can especially hit hard right before your menstrual cycle when you experience PMS.
How does stress relate to my menstrual cycle?
Stresses and anxieties related to your period tend to occur during the Luteal (the last) phase of your menstrual cycle, which starts after ovulation and may be connected to the rise and fall of hormones, particularly of estrogen throughout the cycle.
These mood swings occur during PMS, affecting menstruators the week before their period, with physical symptoms such as cramps and headaches, as well as the mental health effects like anxiety, stress, irritability and gloominess.
Estrogen levels start to slowly rise after a woman’s period ends and then it will peak two weeks later, dropping quickly during the Luteal phase. This creates those literal peaks and valleys of estrogen which researchers believe propel mood swings that make us feel stressed during this time of the month.
So PMS is definitely causing mood swings, as the balance is off with the hormone levels in your body, but the good news is that science has ways to treat this!
How do we find Stress Relief in this New Normal?
With everything going on during the pandemic and the new world we’re slowly returning to, how do you ease your way back into normalcy?
Not only are we stressed during our cycle, but we also have to contend with the chaos of working from home, being around our partners all the time, loss of income, and fraught politics, there’s no way you’re not stressed!
Create your own New Normal.
It’s up to you to start defining what is “normal” for you. Whether that means staying home more, keeping that mask on, trying to create a self care routine, you need to first understand what this new “normal” means to you.
Make sure you’re staying comfortable!
Being free from stress means that you’re making sure to communicate with your friends and family about what can help you feel ok getting back out into the world. Therapist Rebecca Lantry takes us through how to define our normalcy and how to have those conversations here.
Eliminate the Stress of PMS
At least there’s a way to eliminate one stressor- your monthly mood swings from PMS!
In two clinical trials, a new PMS supplement for mood swings showed that it helped 80% of women regulate their PMS mood swings, including anxiety and stress. And the supplement contains only two ingredients Oxaloacetate (found in the Krebs Cycle) and Vitamin C, so you know exactly what you’re putting in your body.
Scientific studies show that during PMS women with severe PMS mood symptoms send much larger amounts of glucose to a specific area of the brain, the cerebellum.
If there is not enough glucose (energy), the cerebellum can’t properly perform important functions like mood regulation, managing fear, pleasure responses, and motor control. This leads to the four core mood symptoms of PMS: anxiety, gloominess, stress, and irritability. You may have experienced these same mood alterations outside of PMS when you are hungry.
By taking this Oxaloacetate Supplement for PMS, it is helping to manage the glucose levels in the brain, so those ups and downs are more of a wave, and consequently the stress is much more manageable.
Oxaloacetate for PMS is the new solution for helping to manage those PMS mood swings, thereby allowing you to actually say that you’re doing well and feeling great.
There are so many external pressures and problems in the world right now, but you no longer need to stress. Oxaloacetate for PMS is the newest solution to relieving those feelings of stress and anxiety during your menstrual cycle. Clinically formulated to help you regulate your mood swings and feel like your best self every day of the month, oxaloacetate helps regulate your glucose levels so you no longer experience the rollercoaster during menstruation.
With science at our fingertips, there’s a supplement for your mood swings that can now allow you to really feel that “fine” and smile when asked, “How are you?”
