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Welcome back my loves!
After a long, revitalising break away from socials over the Christmas period, I decided to extend my digital detox and instead work on broadening & deepening my knowledge on all things PERIOD POWER.
Something I haven't addressed yet on here is that since recovering my period from HA (read more about my story here if you haven't already!) I have been experiencing some serious PMS issues. I'm talking sore boobs for two weeks pre-period, random mood swings (majority swinging towards the unpleasant/ unbearable to be around side of the scale) and the infamous but deadly cramps.
If you know me personally, you know that I love putting my research googles on and taking matters into my own hands (yes, sometimes this serves me well, others it serves me an endless list of terrifying prognosis and *cough* incorrect self-diagnosis). HOWEVER, one book caught my attention from the get-go, with its suggestive bright floral illustration symbolising a part of the female reproductive system, enter Lisa Hendrickson-Jack's book, The Fifth Vital Sign.
If you're also intrigued about the sexual flower cliche, check out her book here!
WHAT IS A VITAL SIGN?
A vital sign is a bodily response that you use to monitor how well the body is functioning. The four most commonly accepted vital signs are; heart rate, body temperature, respiratory rate and blood pressure.
However, according to the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) and The American College of Obs & Gynaecologists (ACOD), the menstrual cycle should be monitored as a vital sign in adolescent girls as it is vital in reflecting overall health status.
Just as a doctor would be able to tell if there is something wrong with your heart from an ECG, a trained fertility specialist can determine abnormalities in your cycle by looking at your fertility chart (more on this to come!).
SO, HOW DO I KNOW IF THERE'S SOMETHING UP WITH MY CYCLE?
Lisa explains in her book that maintaining healthy ovulatory menstrual cycles are SO important for preserving optimal health. Abnormalities or variations in menstruation, cycle length, cervical mucus and other parameters are usually the first signs of an underlying health issue.
Just like the other vital signs aforementioned, they email predominantly silent when you are healthy, but if an underlying health issue starts to arise, something goes haywire!
Let's dive a bit further into what parameters can show us if there's something 'out of the ordinary' going on...
* Side note - everything I talk about below as being 'normal' only accounts for 90% of the population. There is a chance for some that what is described as ‘normal’ isn’t what you experience - but if you are worried about anything, always seek medical advice!*
1. LENGTH
The length of your cycle is the number of days between periods, counting from the first day of your period until the day before your next period starts.
The average length of a menstrual cycle actually falls between 28 and 29 days, with a normal range sitting between 24 and 35 days.
Virtually NO women experience constant 28-day cycles and every person will fluctuate at some point in their life as well as throughout different stages of their life.
For example:
So, us women can take years to regulate our cycles, and it is only a sign of concern if your cycle length suddenly changes from your normal, to outside the parameters of 24 and 35 days.
In terms of the duration of your actual bleed, this can last from anywhere between 3 to 7 days (average of 4-5 days), with the first 2-3 days being the heaviest of your bleed.
1 or 2 days on top of this of light spotting before and after your period is also normal.
For a more detailed breakdown of your cycle length, check out the table below:
2. FREQUENCY
Again, I want to reiterate that no woman is regular every month of her life. So many things such as hormonal fluctuations, stress, food intake, travel, exercise, hormonal birth control and even the exposure to moonlight can affect the menstrual cycle.
If you fluctuate each month by a couple of days, this is normal, as long as the variance isn't over 7 days average over a 12 month period.
For example, if your menstrual length is 24 days one month, then 35 days, then 26 days, then 40 days, this would be considered irregular.
Also, fewer periods than 9 a year is considered irregular.
3. COLOUR
Changes in your period blood colour are normal. You may have noticed that the first day of your cycle is bright red, then it moves to deep red, and maybe even brown towards the end? No drama! Changes colour depending on how long it has been exposed to air oxygenation.
When it gets a little bit more serious is if your blood is a greyish or pink watery discharge, as this can be a sign of an infection or something more important that needs addressing.
4. AMOUNT / CONSISTENCY
Although a little trickier to measure, the amount, measured by volume, can be an indication factor that something else is going on.
Everyone is different, and depending on height, size of your uterus, history of children etc, this can all affect your flow. What's worrying is if it suddenly your flow changes to be very heavy or very light.
It is said that anywhere between 25ml and 80ml (approx 2 tablespoons) of menstrual blood is considered normal.
Unless you are pretty confident with your menstrual cup and you want to have a go at measuring this out, I'm pretty sure no one would have any clue as to how many ml of blood they shed each month.
So to put it more simply, 80ml of bleeding is equivalent to needing to change your tampon 3 to 4 times a day (1 tampon holds around 1-2 teaspoons of blood).
Light tampons = 3ml
Medium = 4ml
Heavy = 8ml
Super = 12ml
If you notice you may loose under 25ml of blood (perhaps you only need a couple of light/medium tampons for 2-3 days) this is could be an indication that you have a thinner uterus lining due to low hormonal levels and is important to get checked by a healthcare professional.
Heavy bleeding over 80ml or a period that lasts longer than 7 days is called menorrhagia and again would be important to address with your doctor.
5. PAIN
Finally, the reason that bought me to this wonderful post, PMS!
PMS is not normal, and severe/prolonged PMS symptoms are a sign of a hormonal or nutrient imbalance or lifestyle factors such as stress, inflammation, caffeine, smoking and sugar.
Cyclical changes in sex hormones each month do not cause PMS symptoms alone. It is the result of either too much estrogen in relation to progesterone or too little progesterone all together.
When you have increased amounts of estrogen in your body, this can highly affect estrogen-sensitive tissues, these being the breast and the uterus.
So in answer to my original question, why am I getting breast tenderness for weeks before my period?
Answer: because breast tissue is hyper-stimulated by estrogen-dominance.
Also, why do I feel pain during my menstrual flow?
Answer: because the uterine lining is hyper-stimulated by estrogen dominance.
I felt this was such an important one because growing up I have always been told that PMS is normal... that women are destined to suffer before their periods and the only way to help mask the pain is to use hormonal contraceptive drugs!
I hope this post can give you insight into any factors of your cycle that might have been screaming at you for a while to address! I know what's next on my list of things to research and combat! (*cough cough* PMS busting!)
Period love,
Charlotte
xoxo
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