How does stress impact the menstrual cycle?

Have you ever thought about how stress can affect your cycle? Maybe you've noticed a "late" period in the past, or noticed spotting or other bleeding when you weren't expecting it. Maybe even skipped a period?

I feel like stress is such a buzzword, we have way too much of it in general, sometimes we’re aware of it, other times we’re not sure if that’s what we’re really experiencing.

And then there is this rabbit hole of how stress affects our menstrual cycle.

Before we dive in, let’s distinguish between two types of stress:

1. Acute stress
2. Chronic stress

Acute stress can be things like studying for/taking a test or preparing a presentation for work; illness; a new job; an argument with your partner or your boss; moving - generally things that most people can recover from fairly quickly. Even travel, a wedding, or some other exciting event can be perceived by the body as stress, since you’re not going about your typical routine or are mentally preparing for the event ahead!

Chronic stress on the other hand can be a low-grade inflammation that’s going on in your body, that you might not even be aware of; pressure to make enough money to pay the bills month after month; a toxic relationship or work environment; loneliness or isolation; over-exercising and/or under-eating; just to name a few.

On the chart, stress can show up in different ways, which is due to different people responding differently to stress, but also because stress, especially chronic stress, is rarely an isolated factor.

Think about how you react or behave when you’re under a lot of stress - are you a “stress eater”? Do you stop eating when you’re stressed? How does stress affect your sleep?

Obviously those things will affect your menstrual cycle as well.

Some ways this can show up on your chart are

• delayed ovulation

• double peaks/multiple mucus patches

• less cervical mucus

• lower or higher BBT

• short/shorter luteal phase

• increased PMS

• heavier/clottier/more painful periods

When I’m experiencing stress it usually shows up with multiple mucus patches and delayed ovulation. I noticed that quite a bit when I was in college and always studying for one test or another and working on all the projects at once. But I was ALSO drinking lots of coffee and a LOT more alcohol than I do now, and staying up late to do homework. Obviously other people experience stress and everything that comes with it in a different way and their charts will look different, too.

Client Chart Highlight

When Judy (name altered) and I started working together, her first cycle looked fairly normal, with a mucus pattern and a discernible temp shift.

Then she experienced a big emotional upheaval - she went through a series of interviews and was offered a new job, then she met someone and ended up turning down the job because she did not want to end her new relationship as she would have had to relocate for the new job opportunity.

In her charts, this is reflected by several anovulatory cycles and a continuous mucus pattern, along with erratic BBT readings.

Judy took a break from charting for a couple of months as it was only adding to her stress load at that point.

A few months later, when the situation had calmed down, her cycles fell back into her pre-stress pattern.

Have you ever noticed a correlation between stress and your menstrual cycle?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Until next time,

Amy

‍