Absent periods refers to menstrual bleeding that is absent for more than 90 days. This and other period problems can disrupt your daily life, including work or school, and affect your overall quality of life.

Factors such as flow, frequency, and color are all the result of a delicate hormonal balance orchestrated by hormones like estrogen, LH/FSH, and progesterone. Imbalances in these hormones can disrupt the natural rhythm of your menstrual cycle. For example, low estrogen can lead to absent periods or light flow, while high estrogen can result in frequent periods and heavy bleeding.

Understanding these menstrual clues can help you monitor your health more effectively.

Anxiety comes in various forms and intensities. In some people, it shows up as OCD or perfectionism. Other people can feel heightened worry, nervousness, or even panic. It can contribute to nervousness in social interactions and can disrupt your daily life.

Hormonal imbalances, particularly in progesterone and estrogen, can trigger anxiety. Progesterone, known as the "feel good" hormone, promotes calmness and restorative sleep. Low levels link to poor sleep and anxiety.

On the other hand, low estrogen can also lead to anxiety and brain fog. Estrogen shortage affects brain areas for mood and behavior regulation.

Bloating can make you feel like you've had a big meal and are full. It can include tightness around the belly, discomfort, and sometimes pain.

There are two types of belly bloating: one caused by excess air in the gastrointestinal tract, and the other by fluid retention under the skin. Gastrointestinal bloating is a sign of poor digestion, while fluid retention indicates hormone and electrolyte shifts.

You might notice more bloating a week before your period, towards the end of the luteal phase. This bloating is due to higher progesterone, which slows down "transit time" – the time it takes for food to be digested and expelled. Elevated estrogen levels can also cause fluid retention, leading to bloating.

Breast tenderness can cause intense pain and make everyday activities like going up or down stairs uncomfortable. It can even disrupt your sleep.

While many believe breast pain is a normal premenstrual symptom, it can sometimes be a sign of estrogen dominance. Elevated estrogen levels lead to the enlargement of breast ducts and fluid retention, resulting in swollen and tender breasts. This holds true regardless of your place in the menstrual cycle, although it's more common during the luteal phase.

Constipation is more than just feeling full and uncomfortable; it can also be quite painful.

Hormonal imbalances, such as excessive androgens (like testosterone) can alter bowel function and cause high progesterone levels. Progesterone, which normally relaxes muscles, can slow down GI tract contractions, leading to sluggish bowel movements.

You may notice less frequent bowel movements around the time of ovulation to mid-luteal phase, before progesterone levels drop.

Dealing with hormonal acne can be a challenging and painful experience, impacting both your physical and emotional wellbeing.

Typically, acne linked to hormone imbalances tends to appear on the lower part of your face, particularly along the bottom of your cheeks and jawline. Testosterone is often the culprit. Elevated testosterone levels stimulate the production of sebum, an oily and waxy substance that accumulates and triggers acne formation.

Furthermore, testosterone levels that are high compared to estrogen and progesterone, can cause, or aggravate acne just before your menstrual period.

Hirsutism, the medical term for excess hair growth, can be both uncomfortable and embarrassing to deal with. It doesn’t just affect your physical appearance, but also takes an emotional toll by impacting your confidence and self-esteem.

People who struggle with hirsutism have hair growth in unusual places, like the face, chest, lower abdomen, inner thighs, and back. Having to deal with shaving, plucking, or waxing can be tedious and painful, not to mention time-consuming and expensive.

This excess hair growth is often caused by an overproduction of androgens, but is also produced inside the hair follicle itself. As a result, it leads to a transformation of hair from vellus (shorter and thinner) to terminal (coarser and darker) hair, and causes it to grow faster and thicker.

For some people, fatigue can show up as brain fog, headaches, dizziness, lack of focus, and irritability. For others, it may manifest as muscle soreness, weakness, joint pain, or increased susceptibility to colds.

While a poor diet could be a primary reason for your fatigue, it's essential to consider other factors like disrupted sleep due to fluctuating hormones. If you're struggling to fall and stay asleep, high cortisol levels could ultimately be contributing to the issue by causing hormonal imbalances. These hormonal imbalances affect your ability to sleep because estrogen tends to be stimulating, while progesterone promotes calmness.

It's important to recognize that your body goes through various changes during your menstrual cycle, so feeling more tired during the end of the luteal phase and menstruation is normal. During these times, listen to your body's cues and prioritize getting enough rest.

Frequent periods refers to a menstrual cycle that is less than 21 days (your cycle is measured from the first day of your period to the start of your next period). This and other period problems can disrupt your daily life, including work or school, and affect your overall quality of life.

Factors such as flow, frequency, and color are all the result of a delicate hormonal balance orchestrated by hormones like estrogen, LH/FSH, and progesterone. Imbalances in these hormones can disrupt the natural rhythm of your menstrual cycle. For example, low estrogen can lead to absent periods or light flow, while high estrogen can result in frequent periods and heavy bleeding.

Understanding these menstrual clues can help you monitor your health more effectively.

Hair loss can manifest in various ways, including overall thinning, patchy areas of complete hair loss, or what's medically termed as "male-pattern baldness," characterized by thinning in the front and sides of the scalp.

Thinning hair often results from elevated androgen levels, which lead to a shortened hair growth phase and an extended period between hair shedding and the commencement of a new growth phase. Concurrently, the structure of the hair follicle changes, becoming smaller and producing shorter, thinner hair strands.

Hair loss can be attributed to stress-induced thyroid dysfunction. Ironically, experiencing hair loss can trigger low self-esteem and stress, exacerbating the issue further.

Headache pain is often experienced as a throbbing pain on one side of your head, but it can also lead to symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. Depending on their frequency and intensity, headaches can disrupt daily life and activities. They can also disrupt sleep, leaving you feeling fatigued.

Headaches can be the result of either sudden increases or drops in hormones, with estrogen being the primary culprit. Estrogen plays a crucial role in cerebral circulation, as well as controlling chemicals in the brain that are responsible for pain sensation.

Headaches often strike just before ovulation, although they can occur during the luteal phase for some individuals as well.

Heavy flow refers to menstrual bleeding that is abnormally long or heavy. If you find yourself losing more than 80 ml of blood per cycle, consistently soaking through pads or tampons every hour, needing double protection, experiencing prolonged bleeding, or passing large blood clots, it can be quite distressing. This and other period problems can disrupt your daily life, including work or school, and affect your overall quality of life.

Factors such as flow, frequency, and color are all the result of a delicate hormonal balance orchestrated by hormones like estrogen, LH/FSH, and progesterone. Imbalances in these hormones can disrupt the natural rhythm of your menstrual cycle. For example, low estrogen can lead to absent periods or light flow, while high estrogen can result in frequent periods and heavy bleeding.

Understanding these menstrual clues can help you monitor your health more effectively.

Irregular periods refers to a menstrual cycle that exceeds 38 days for several consecutive cycles (your cycle is measured from the first day of your period to the start of your next period). This and other period problems can disrupt your daily life, including work or school, and affect your overall quality of life.

Factors such as flow, frequency, and color are all the result of a delicate hormonal balance orchestrated by hormones like estrogen, LH/FSH, and progesterone. Imbalances in these hormones can disrupt the natural rhythm of your menstrual cycle. For example, low estrogen can lead to absent periods or light flow, while high estrogen can result in frequent periods and heavy bleeding.

Understanding these menstrual clues can help you monitor your health more effectively.

Light flow refers to menstrual bleeding that is short and scanty, with less than 30 ml of blood per cycle. This and other period problems can disrupt your daily life, including work or school, and affect your overall quality of life.

Factors such as flow, frequency, and color are all the result of a delicate hormonal balance orchestrated by hormones like estrogen, LH/FSH, and progesterone. Imbalances in these hormones can disrupt the natural rhythm of your menstrual cycle. For example, low estrogen can lead to absent periods or light flow, while high estrogen can result in frequent periods and heavy bleeding.

Understanding these menstrual clues can help you monitor your health more effectively.

Loose stools can be unpleasant, causing electrolyte imbalances, dehydration, and pain.

You may notice that before and during your period, loose stools become more frequent. When progesterone levels drop off before menstruation, it not only signals your period's arrival but can also trigger loose stools.

At the same time, the prostaglandins produced during your period to help expel the uterine lining may have a laxative effect and increase contractility of the intestinal tract, resulting in loose stools.

Low sex drive, also known as low libido, refers to a reduced interest or desire for sexual activity. It can affect your relationships, self-esteem, and overall well-being.

Fluctuations in hormone levels during your menstrual cycle lead to normal changes in libido. Around ovulation, you'll likely experience a boost in your sex drive, which aligns with your fertile window.

Conversely, during the luteal phase, you may notice a decline in sex drive as estrogen levels decrease after ovulation. This drop in estrogen can impact vaginal lubrication and sex drive. As hormones ebb and flow over the month, expect your sex drive to follow suit.

In addition to this, factors like diet, stress, illness, emotions, mood imbalances, and reproductive conditions' pain can all contribute to shifts in your sex drive.

Mood swings can feel like an emotional rollercoaster. They involve sudden shifts from happiness to anger and irritation. Dealing with unidentified causes of mood swings can be incredibly stressful and disheartening.

Hormonal fluctuations play a significant role in these swings. Progesterone impacts the area of the brain that regulates mood. Low progesterone levels can exacerbate mood swings.

Changes in blood sugar and insulin levels are also to blame. Abnormal blood sugar levels, whether too high or too low, disrupt brain function. This affects emotion regulation and leads to feelings of irritability, anger, sadness, and various other emotions.

Nausea can range from mild discomfort to excruciating agony. It often comes with clammy skin and a rumbling or unsettled stomach. Other symptoms include diarrhea, dizziness, or lightheadedness. These symptoms can be incredibly frustrating and disrupt your plans, making it difficult to even step out of your home due to the fear of vomiting.

If you experience nausea before or during your period, it's likely because of the release of prostaglandins in your uterus, which can cause pain and cramping.

Some individuals also endure nausea due to mild hormonal fluctuation that prompts an overproduction of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.

Cramping and pelvic pain can feel different for everyone, ranging from dull aching, intermittent pain or a feeling of heaviness in your pelvis, to severe and steady sharp pains or cramping. Other symptoms include diarrhea, dizziness, or lightheadedness. These symptoms can be incredibly frustrating and disrupt your plans, making it difficult to even step out of your home due to the fear of vomiting.

When estrogen levels are high, they can increase blood flow to the uterus, and increase the lining of the uterus, causing heavy and painful periods.

In addition to that, as prostaglandins, a chemicals involved in the inflammatory process, are released in the uterus during menstruation, contractions increase, along with pain.

Painful sex has a significant impact on both your physical well-being and emotional health. It often brings feelings of guilt, shame, low self-esteem, and fear. Additionally, it can strain relationships by affecting libido and limiting the enjoyment of penetrative sex.

If you have endometriosis, high levels of estrogen can aggravate endometrial lesions, which causes severe pain when engaging in penetrative sex. Some people have lesions very close to the uterosacral nerve. Typically, the closer the lesion is to the nerve and ligaments, the more painful sex will be.

Another common cause is insufficient vaginal lubrication, resulting from low estrogen and progesterone levels, leading to reduced moisture on the vaginal walls, also known as cervical mucus or vaginal secretions. Weak pelvic floor muscles can also cause pain. The muscles that support the pelvic organs (bladder, colon, and uterus) can become restricted, spasmodic, or hypertonic, causing pain when something is inserted into the vagina.

Sugar cravings are those irresistible urges to indulge in sugary treats like cookies, candies, or ice cream. They often result from a complex interplay of hormones in our bodies.

When we consume sugary foods, our blood sugar levels spike, leading to the release of insulin, a hormone that helps regulate our blood sugar. However, this can cause a subsequent drop in blood sugar, leaving us feeling tired and craving more sugar to boost our energy.

Additionally, fluctuations in progesterone and estrogen levels can significantly influence your appetite. Estradiol, a type of estrogen, acts directly on the hypothalamus's appetite center to reduce hunger. Progesterone, on the other hand, opposes the action of estrogen and blocks its effect on the hypothalamus. This means that when you have high progesterone levels, as in an optimal luteal phase, you’re more likely to experience cravings. Remember that if you find your appetite increasing during the luteal phase, it’s completely normal to be hungrier, crave certain comforting foods, and honor those needs.

Weight fluctuations refer to the changes in your body weight that occur over time. These fluctuations can be both gradual and sudden, resulting from a variety of factors, including hormonal imbalances.

Two key hormones that play a pivotal role in your body weight are leptin and ghrelin. Leptin signals fullness, while ghrelin induces hunger. Leptin increases with body fat and food intake, suppressing hunger, while ghrelin rises when you're low on body fat, have an empty stomach, or are stressed or sleep-deprived, triggering hunger.

Cortisol, released during stress, can decrease appetite during acute stress or increase cravings during chronic stress, often leading to overeating. Elevated cortisol levels can impair thyroid function, causing fatigue and weight gain.