Can stress impact your menstrual cycle? We all know that stress is bad for your body and mind, but can it also impact your period? The answer is yes!
Stress triggers a bunch of physical and hormonal changes in the body that can have a knock-on effect on the regularity of your period and the severity of your symptoms. Here are just a few ways that stress can affect your menstrual cycle.
Stress can cause your cycle to become irregular
Stress is a part of everyday life, but our body hasn’t evolved to a point where it can recognise the difference between modern-day stress (an overflowing inbox) and the threats it used to deal with back in prehistoric times (like a sabre tooth tiger attack).
When you are seriously stressed your body releases stress hormones – like adrenaline and cortisol – to help you cope with the perceived threat (think fight or flight mode). This response is controlled by hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Your HPA axis interacts with another axis in your body known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis – and that’s where things can go wrong for your period.
The HPG controls the release and production of the hormones involved in all things reproductive health – including luteinising hormone(LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. These hormones are responsible for the regulation of your menstrual cycle, so what happens to them when we are stressed?
Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea
When your HPA axis is constantly being triggered by stress it can alter the function of your HPG – and play havoc with your sex hormones, which can lead to a condition called hypothalamic amenorrhoea (HA).
HA is when a region in your brain called the hypothalamus stops working effectively. It can stop giving the correct signals to the rest of your body to produce the sex hormones needed for ovulation and menstruation. This can lead to delayed or irregular periods – or in some cases no periods at all. It can also make your menstrual cycle shorter.
When stress stops or delays ovulation
It kind of makes sense – if your body perceives you to be in an intensely stressful – and possibly unsafe situation – then it will try to prevent pregnancy by delaying ovulation or stopping the release of an egg altogether. You can learn more about stress and fertility here.
This can be particularly unhelpful if you are trying for a baby – but even if you’re not on a fertility journey, missing, late or early periods can become a source of even more stress – and the cycle continues..
Stress can make pain and PMS worse
Another menstrual health issue caused by stress is that it can make symptoms like PMS and period pain worse. Now – painful periods and debilitating PMS symptoms are not things we should normalise or put up with. If you are struggling with intense pain around the time of your period, you should always seek medical advice – as it’s likely that the pain is your body’s way of telling you something is not right. However, studies have found a link between stress and dysmenorrhoea (painful periods) so it’s worth thinking about whether your pain is worse when you have been going through a stressful time.
Likewise, it makes sense that if you struggling with negative emotions – anxiety, low self-esteem, sadness – ahead of your period, that stress will exacerbate those feelings. As we come to the end of our luteal phase, the changing hormones can impact our production of serotonin – one of our feel-good hormones. Chronic stress is known to affect serotonin (5HT) neurotransmission in the brain which is why you may find that your PMS is worse when you are stressed.
Stress and our lifestyle
It’s important to remember that whilst the hormonal changes that come with stress can have a direct impact on our period health – when we are stressed we tend to fall into unhealthy lifestyle habits.
If we get busy with work, we might start skipping our workouts. If we’re feeling overwhelmed and tired we might reach for Deliveroo rather than cooking a healthy meal – or skip dinner altogether. If we’re dealing with a stressful family situation we might try to find some escape by drinking more alcohol. All of these lifestyle factors will not only make our stress worse – but they can also contribute to issues with our menstrual cycle.
How to reduce stress
There are lots of things you can do to help reduce stress in your life and its impact on your menstrual cycle.
- Practice mindfulness and meditation – taking some time out of your day to focus on your breath and clear your mind can do wonders for lowering your cortisol levels. We have some great guided meditations on the Parla App.
- Get enough sleep – A lack of sleep can contribute to the hormonal rollercoaster caused by stress – so try to get at least 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night
- Exercise – When you get your heart rate up your body releases endorphins, which are great at combatting stress
- Eat healthily – A balanced diet of fruit, vegetables and essential fatty acids (like the ones in oily fish) can help keep your hormones balanced and your brain healthy.
