Menstrual Cycle - A Monthly Report Card

Every month a woman gets their menstrual cycle, it gives more information on how the body is doing overall.  I liken it to a monthly report card! 

I encourage women to not only track their day 1's of their cycles (first day of flow), but also to track other signs and symptoms.

• Is the menstrual fluid is mostly liquid, with no clots?
• Is the menstrual fluid red or brown or dark purple?
• How much blood have you lost over the course of the period? (3 TBSP total is a good average)
• Does it last between 2 to 7 days? 
• Is the whole cycle from the first day of flow to the day before the next first day of flow somewhere between 26-32 days?
• How much cervical fluid do you have over the cycle and on what days?
• Do you have pain/cramping with your period or just before?

So what can go wrong?

• No periods
• Late periods  > 35 days OR early periods  < 21 days
• Heavy periods OR light periods
• Pain - cramping, pain during intercourse, mid-cycle ovarian pain
• Mid-cycle bleeding
• PMS - symptoms the 10 days before your menstrual period

Hormonal fluctuation is normal but we need to learn to adapt to the ups and downs. This is what I call hormonal resilience.  Once you have a few cycles tracked, either on a calendar or on an app like Flo, Clue, or Ovia, you will get a better sense of what normal is for you, when you feel at your best, or where in your cycle you need better support.  Sometimes tracking all the information is enough to figure out the hormonal imbalance; and sometimes bloodwork or a DUTCH test is necessary to get the full picture.

Also in Hormonal Health & Fertility