EP 296 Is this Normal? Menstrual Cycle Edition
In this episode of the Wholesome Fertility Podcast, Michelle addresses common questions about menstrual cycle symptoms, discussing what is considered normal and what might require more attention. Michelle breaks down the phases of the menstrual cycle and explains various factors that can influence cycle regularity and health.
Key Points:
Understanding the Menstrual Cycle
Normal Menstrual Cycle Range
Irregular Menstrual Cycles
Common Causes of Irregular Menstrual Cycles
Seeking Medical Advice
Tips for Supporting Menstrual Cycle Health
Resources for the episode:
Check out my free ebook: The Best Kept Secrets to Harmonizing Your Mooncycle: https://www.michelleoravitz.com/hackyourcycle
Mira: CLICK HERE AND USE COUPON CODE WHOLESOMEFERTILITY FOR 15% OFF!
Tempdrop: CLICK HERE AND USE COUPON CODE AFWHOLESOMELOTUS FOR A DISCOUNTED PRICE!
Check out Michelle’s latest book here: https://www.michelleoravitz.com/thewayoffertility
Follow Michelle on Instagram @thewholesomelotusfertility and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/ for more tips and updates.
For more information about Michelle, visit: www.michelleoravitz.com
The Wholesome FertilityFacebook group is where you can find free resources and support: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149554308396504/
Transcript:
Is this normal? Menstrual cycle symptoms
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Wholesome Fertility Podcast. I'm your host, Michelle Orbitz, and today I'm going to start a new type of series that is going to come every once in a while. And it starts out with, is this normal? Because oftentimes I do get questions, is this normal from my patients? Or sometimes people DM me on Instagram when it comes to their menstrual cycle.
So I thought that would be actually a really good thing to do. Idea for the podcast because there are many things that can be normal and there are many things that. might require more attention.
So on today's episode, I'm going to talk about what is normal and what is not when it comes to irregular menstrual cycles. So a menstrual cycle in general is not just the period. Sometimes when people hear menstrual cycle, they think of menses or menstruation. And the menstrual cycle itself [00:01:00] starts out from day one, which is the moment a person has a bleed, but not just spotting, but like a full bleed.
And so once they have a full bleed that is considered day one of their menstrual cycle. And typically how you would know how long your menstrual cycle is, is because you would mark the first day of a real bleed to the next day of the next cycles full bleed. So whatever time that is, That is the days between your menstrual cycle and so you start out with the bleed and that is the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle where the follicle grows to be ready for ovulation.
So typically about mid cycle is when ovulation usually occurs, but of course it's different with every person. And then after ovulation from that point until the first day of the [00:02:00] next cycle or continuous if there's hopefully pregnancy, but that is considered the luteal phase. And typically if you were doing a BBT charting, Just to kind of give you an image in your mind, the follicular phase, the first part of the cycle is about 97 degrees of basal body temperature.
And of course it can fluctuate a little up and down. And then the second half is 98 degrees. And. Usually it increases. That's kind of like more of when you look at the yin and the yang. That's more of the yang phase versus the beginning, which is the yin phase. And if you see that the temperature is a little too low or too erratic, those are things that might want to get your attention, maybe to check your thyroid.
And go to an OB just to kind of get general labs drawn or a reproductive endocrinologist, which I always recommend anyway, just to kind of get your baseline. [00:03:00] So that being said, that is the menstrual cycle. That's typically, , the different phases of the menstrual cycle.
And today I am going to mention what might not seem like a textbook cycle, but it's still within the normal range. So, typically, a textbook menstrual cycle is 28 days between the first day of the first period, and To the second day of the second period, the next period, and that is textbook. And the reason why I say textbook is most of the time people do not follow what is in the textbook.
It is the majority of people are around 28 days and usually they will ovulate. Around the middle, like, so about 12 to 14 days is usually when ovulation happens, but that can, that can also shift a little bit depending on the person and within a normal range. So a normal [00:04:00] range of a menstrual cycle can actually be between 21 and 35 days.
Although I would say 21 days is short in my book, I would definitely try to extend it a little bit. For me personally, as an acupuncturist, I would like to have it 24 days or more. 35 days can happen and I actually prefer longer than shorter. And the reason is because for pregnancy, you definitely don't want a short luteal phase.
You want to have enough time for the egg to mature in the follicular phase and you want to have enough time. For implantation to occur in the luteal phase and if the cycle is too short, you kind of wonder, is there something that's being compromised in the process.
So those are the concerns that I would have. It's kind of almost like allowing enough time to cook for lack of a better explanation, but basically that's [00:05:00] what I would. And I'm not sure what you guys prefer personally. Although I've had patients before with, coming in with secondary infertility that have always had 24 23 day cycles and they got pregnant with that cycle multiple times with healthy babies.
So it does happen. So I did want to kind of mention that. So if your menstrual cycle is not pretty healthy, Perfectly 28 days, don't let that get you down because it doesn't necessarily mean that you're not going to be able to get pregnant. There is a range but like I said, 21 days for me, even though that's kind of like the widely known range, that to me is a little too short.
So first, let's cover what is considered like an irregular menstrual cycle or what seems to be something that would be looked at as Not normal. So some of the things that can happen is when cycle lengths vary. So every single month, it's different. One month, it's like 26 [00:06:00] days. Another month, it's 35 or longer and it really goes all across the board.
There's no regularity. And when I see that, I think to myself, like the pulse is not regular. There's something's off with the pulse. So if you think about it, it's kind of like, I can compare it to like an irregular heartbeat, but I also don't want to cause any major concern. I mean, I had irregular periods for 12 years before I got my own.
So. Checked and taken care of, but to me, something was off with my rhythm and eventually it can be something that can get worked out. So this is more for you just to kind of keep in mind that if that is the case, look into seeing your doctor. but also possibly seeing a practitioner and really like figure out what's happening beneath the surface that's causing the pulse to not be regular.
Another thing is missed [00:07:00] periods, which is what I went through. So are you having it every other month? Are you having it every three months? Every month and a half like what's going on? Like why is it so long? Why are you getting missed periods again? This is another form of the rhythm not being a strong pulse
or is your cycle extremely short? 23 days or less. Like I said, they consider 21 days to be within like the bottom range, but I personally would like it to be more. So that's another reason you have to really uncover what's going on. Is the follicular phase too short? Is the luteal phase too short? This is one of the reasons why I highly suggest doing BBT charting because it gives you a really good idea of what the pulse looks like from month to month.
And even if it is stressful, it is something to kind of consider because it'll help you out in the long run.
And consider even doing [00:08:00] it for a short time or just a couple of months, almost to just measure and see what's going on.
Another concern could be unpredictable menstrual bleeding. So it's just all over the place. You never know when it's going to come. It could be too short. It could be too long. It just comes out of nowhere. Spotting between periods, so when you're ovulating, spotting between periods is really something to look into, there can be many reasons for that.
Very heavy or very light periods when it's too scanty, you barely have any blood and it's like barely even fills up a pad. So that's something to consider. Like, why is there not enough blood? Because , when you see the blood, it actually shows you what's happening with your uterine lining and that can be hormonal.
It could be many different reasons. Another thing to consider is. not getting periods. So I have seen a case where one woman was not getting periods, but she was ovulating. So if [00:09:00] somebody's ovulating, but not bleeding, they need to look into, is there scar tissue adhesions? Like what's going on? What's causing the blood to not bleeding?
happen or the uterine lining to not increase. Something's really getting in the way of that. So that's something to consider as well.
Now, if you get occasional irregular periods and you find that during those months you were traveling, you might've gotten sick. You know, there's some people that have had it with COVID or the flu. Or you're stressed, you have increased stress or you're working out a little too much. Those kinds of things are actually normal variations.
It's just the body is responding to some kind of stress or that there's more of a load. And it's such a perfect example of something that I often say is that the body really needs a lot of energy in order to support its reproductive health. So this is like a perfect example of that. That sometimes things happen and people go through [00:10:00] grief, just unexpected events in life.
can throw off that pulse and just kind of think about it as almost like a weather pattern that's out of norm. And all of a sudden, boom, a wind hits you from the side and that throws off that normal pulse. So then you go back on track and you're back to normal. So that can explain that.
Sometimes you can have mild variation, so it's not really a huge difference. Just a few days,
but really the things to consider are if you're not getting a period, obviously that's not normal. That's something to look into. And if you're getting your period way too soon. every single time. And there's no rhyme or reason or there's severe pain or excessive heavy bleeding. And of course you really need to get that checked out immediately
Because there are certain dangerous situations, and you don't want to excessively heavily bleed in general. And then severe pain could be even an ectopic pregnancy, [00:11:00] so those kind of things would definitely prompt a visit to the ER.
So some causes of irregular menstruation are conditions like PCOS or thyroid disorders. Which is why it's important to go to a doctor and get a baseline test to make sure that everything's going well and that there's no underlying health factors that are causing issues with the menstrual cycle.
So another thing is something called hypothalamic amenorrhea, and that is when a person expends more energy than their body is able to keep up with. So when the body is at a deficit of energy through stress or through lifestyle, like over exercise or through not eating, so they're at a deficit of the calories that they need, to support their reproductive health.
That will cause the body to start to switch gears, focus [00:12:00] more on survival than it does on the reproductive health. And it shuts down hormone production, slows everything down. So it really is important to make sure that you're getting sufficient sleep and sufficient energy and with food and protein.
because reproductive health demands a lot of energy
and high stress can lower progesterone, which can also impact your menstrual cycle and cause mid cycle bleeding. Other factors are just overall stress. So stress in general takes a lot of energy out of your body. So whether it's physical stress, emotional stress just not getting enough sleep. All of those things can impact a menstrual cycle, significant weight loss or weight gain.
So I've seen people that have a high BMI or a low BMI similarly have issues with ovulation [00:13:00]and menstrual cycles.
Other medical conditions can be endometriosis, which can cause really, really painful periods. Sometimes people will feel it in their back and they'll also tend to have gut issues. That is something that can only be diagnosed through something called a laparoscopy. So if a doctor tells you when you go to a doctor that they did an ultrasound and that you have endometriosis, I would get another opinion because they cannot tell you that and confirm that you have endometriosis unless they actually go in through a laparoscopy, which is a
surgical procedure when they go in and they check, because there is no other way to diagnose endometriosis. Endometriosis and also never self diagnose. You really want to confirm. So just because you have painful periods doesn't mean you have endometriosis and then uterine [00:14:00] fibroids.
If, depending on the location that they're in, if they're inside the uterus on the actual area where the uterus sheds, it can cause really, really heavy bleeding. Endometriosis. Endometriosis. If they're within the muscle of the uterus or outside of the uterus, that usually does not impact fertility and it also doesn't really impact the menstrual cycle.
Pelvic inflammatory disease can cause a lot of pain and it can also cause issues with menstrual cycles and
pain during sex as well. Other factors that I've seen are birth control methods. So like birth control pills, people who have been on them for years and years and years and then as soon as they come off they don't get their period back right away. And I say right away because most of the people, actually all of the people that I've seen that have had post birth control amenorrhea Have gotten their period back.
So acupuncture works really [00:15:00] well on getting a period back if it's lost, especially with birth control pill, but also with PCOS. I've had great success with that. So it is a really good way to. get that pulse back. And that's kind of what I found. Certain medications can impact menstrual cycle, environmental toxins xenoestrogens.
So those are things to definitely keep in mind when it comes to other factors that can cause issues with menstrual cycles. So
if you think or suspect that there's some kind of issue or abnormality with your ovulation or that your cycle's too short, too long, and you want to look into more what's going on my first thing is always get your baseline from an OB or a reproductive endocrinologist. If you're actively trying to conceive and you're listening to this podcast, most likely you are, [00:16:00] then I would definitely go to a reproductive endocrinologist and get your baseline.
And if you're not interested in IVF, that's fine. They might suggest it to you. Just go. Knowing that you're going really to get the baseline test first and then you can decide whatever you want but it's good to get the information and They will know what to look for and that's kind of what's What is really good about going to a reproductive endocrinologist is because they'll really look for everything when it comes to conception and what is getting in the way of conception.
So I would also highly suggest to do BBT charting. I kind of brushed upon that before, but BBT charting for at least three months because you want to see if your ovulation is normal. a happening B when it's happening and also is it regular? Is it, is the pulse normal? Like, is it [00:17:00] always the same or is it shifting all over the place?
If it's the same, it's amazing because then you'll know more or less really what your regular time is. And then of course you can work on that. And if you do decide to go to practitioner, that is great information for the practitioner to know because based on that, at least for me, When I find out what's going on, I actually could work out a lot of the kinks with herbs and supplements and acupuncture.
So all of those things could definitely help because if I know the temperature is low, I can work on that. I can increase it with herbs. I can do something called moxa. So that's really great information for. A practitioner to know and some Ayurvedic practitioners or nutritionists can also work it out
, so a lot of people know how to shift things based on their knowledge and their perspective. And it is a lot easier to do that if we know what's really [00:18:00] going on beneath the surface. As far as the temperature goes and like what the rhythm is.
Another alternative is there are certain bracelets and devices that you can put on your arm like the Ava bracelet that goes on your wrist or TempDrop that goes on your arm and those are great because they will check your, skin temperature.
And based on that, they can see when you're ovulating and where you are in your cycle and when your fertile window is, which is awesome. And if you don't want to do that, you can also do something like Mira or Inito,
which is basically little test trips. That check not just your LH, which is typically what you'll find from over the counter OPK kits which OPK stands for ovulation predictor kits. But this actually will monitor the different types and it'll give you a nice little graph and tell you what's normal, what's [00:19:00] not normal.
They have an app. And if you want, I actually have a discount code for Mira, which I'm going to put in the episode notes. So you can check that out.
So those are the three ways I would recommend if you really want to get confirmation. If you ovulated, , I wouldn't say I would rely on the LH sticks. They can be confusing, especially if you have PCOS and you really just are getting information about your brain releasing LH, which is trying to get the body to Ovulate, but you don't really know or can't confirm if the ovulation actually happened just based on the LH6.
So if ovulation isn't really happening, it can be very confusing.
So here are some tips that you can do, which generally speaking. Are going to help your body with fertility and reproductive health and are going to support your menstrual cycle health and number one is stress management. It is really, really important [00:20:00] to counteract a lot of the demands that We are having in general, like in general life, modern day times, but also all of the demands that especially are heavier during the fertility journey.
So things like meditation, which I can go on and on about, which I'm sure you kind of figure that out. And even yoga, which I consider to be like an intelligent exercise. and it works really well with calming the nervous system and your nervous system matters. And this is one of the reasons I think that acupuncture works so well for fertility.
It works amazing on the nervous system. It calms the body, calms the mind, and it allows your body, because when you're in this state of calm, you're able to sleep better. Your body's able to regulate itself and hormones start to regulate. So those things are really important. And then also not skipping breakfast.
If you want to do an intermittent fasting, if you [00:21:00] are trying to lower the BMI, that would be the only time I would suggest to do something that is not quite intermittent fasting. Like you'll hear about it normally, but it's just eating earlier. Like having your last meal around 5 or 6 PM. Transcription Outsourcing, LLC.
And then consider working with a practitioner or somebody who really understands PCOS if that's what you have to address it with diet. And there's certain supplements that can really help. And you can do acupuncture and even massage. I'm a huge fan of because it really helps calm the nervous system.
Also be sure that you're eating enough. Not under eating and not over eating. Avoid processed foods. Try to eat as many whole foods as possible and many whole food ingredients as [00:22:00] possible.
And lastly, connect with mother nature. So studies show that sleeping at certain times is better, more supportive for menstrual cycle health. One of the things that I actually forgot to mention is that sometimes shift work can impact ovulatory function and menstrual cycle function. So it's important to anchor your circadian rhythm by getting early morning sunlight.
Allowing your eyes to feel the sun, so don't look directly in the sun, but allow the sun to hit your eyes from the side so that your eyes are processing that it's daytime. By doing that, you're going to anchor your circadian rhythm and that's going to impact your mental cycle rhythm, but it's also going to help your sleep wake cycle and it's also going to help your sleep.
So, it is one of the hands down best practices. Besides meditation that I often recommend, and then also earthing, putting your feet on the earth. and really connecting with nature because we're talking about [00:23:00] this huge pulse and the nature always has its pulse and it continues to have that. So we always can anchor to that and use that pulse that nature has in order to help our own pulse, which is for women, the menstrual cycle.
So I hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you have any questions, you could definitely DM me on my Instagram, which is at the wholesome Lotus fertility. And thank you so much for tuning in today. And I hope you have a beautiful day.