If your period seems to cause you so much pain and discomfort despite how you’ve done just about anything to prevent it, the problem could be in the things you do every day.
Here are 10 everyday things you do that could potentially worsen your period pains, cramps and aches.
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If your job involves shift work or you work irregular hours because you deal with different time zones, your cycle can get affected too. Research has shown that women who work irregular hours are more likely to have cycles that are less than 21 days or more than 40 days (ie. too short or too long), as opposed to women who work set hours.
This is because working irregular hours affects your body’s circadian rhythm, which controls a lot of functions in your body, including your period.
If you don’t get enough sleep, apart from feeling perpetually, your hormones will be affected too. This then affects the process of ovulation, as well as your menstrual cycle in general.
Another thing affected when you lack sleep is your melatonin levels, which has a part in regulating your cycle.
Too many fat cells in your body results in higher levels of oestrogen, which stops the process of ovulation. This is why is very common for obese women to have heavy, infrequent and longer-lasting periods.
Having elevated oestrogen levels for a long period of time increases your risk of endometrial cancer – as your endometrial lining still continues to get thicker – so try to lose weight or speak to your doctor about going on the pill, as this makes your endometrial lining thinner.
You might have noticed that when you’re going through a period of immense stress, your period tends to be very unpredictable. This is because of your body’s natural response to high stress levels – it shuts down the production of hormones that you need to ovulate.
However, this doesn’t happen if you just have the usual everyday stresses of living in the 21st century; it only happens in periods of extreme stress, such as losing a loved one or going through a divorce.
Don’t be surprised if you find that you’re slowly but surely getting your period around the same time as your best friend, sister or flatmate. It’s not a myth, your period actually does get affected by other women’s cycles, especially those in close proximity to you. This is called menstrual synchrony and pheromones are the reason it happens.
Certain types of prescription medicines can affect your cycle, especially when you first get onto or get off the course of medication. Some examples are steroids, antidepressants, blood pressure pills and even allergy medicines.
This is because your body is adjusting to the medication, or lack of it. If your period stops when you’re going through this, you should see a doctor
We’re not talking about going on holiday twice a year here, it’s when you’re flying between time zones every few days. If that’s part of your job schedule, your period might be suffering too.
This relates to the melatonin produced by your body, which gets out of whack when you’re switching between daylight and night time very irregularly.
Yes, there really is such a thing as too much exercise. With excessive exercise, your period can either get lighter or just stop altogether – this is, in fact, a common issue with female marathon runners.
This is because your body needs a certain amount of fat in order to ovulate so if you have very low body fat as a result of excessive exercising, your body stops producing reproductive hormones. Skipping your period for a month or two might be okay but if you go three months without getting a period, it’s time to see your doctor.
When you’re underweight, your body doesn’t produce as much estrogen for your uterline lining to form. As such, your period doesn’t occur.
For some people, trigger foods like caffeine, salty foods or fried foods could trigger period cramps.
Just before your period, monitor the foods you eat and try to eat as clean as possible so avoid and prevent cramps from happening.
Text: Balvinder Sandhu/HerWorldPlus