Mood Changes During Menstruation: 5 Effects Of Hormones On The Menstrual Cycle

There are many women who experience different emotional changes during or before menstruation Still, for most, menstruation mood swings are usually relatively mild. However, some women may experience a lack of emotional control and different psychological and physical symptoms that can even interfere with their relationships or daily life.

How do hormonal changes affect menstruation?

The menstrual cycle hormones They can cause certain emotional changes, such as discouragement or irritability in some people.
After ovulation, which occurs in the middle of the hormonal cycle, estrogen and progesterone levels begin to decrease. The rising and falling levels of the menstrual cycle hormones that we have mentioned can affect neurotransmitters in the brain such as serotonin and dopamine, two of the substances that can influence a woman’s emotional changes. In this way, low levels of serotonin and dopamine can influence the following:

1. Sadness: The hormonal changes of the period They can make women feel more down and sad. The reason is that the hormones of the menstrual cycle can affect serotonin, known as the ‘sadness hormone’.
2. Anxiety: He emotional lack of control that the hormones we have mentioned can produce, can trigger certain feelings of anxiety.
3. Irritability: Another of the mood swings during menstruation caused by the effect of hormones on the menstrual cycle is irritability. In this way, women may feel angry for no reason or simply feel more stressed than in their usual state.
4. Sleeping problems: Emotional changes, as well as physical symptoms of periods They can cause insomnia or other sleeping problems, causing women to not get enough rest and may suffer more emotional changes.
5. Food Cravings: The desire to eat specific foods may be driven by our body because it seeks to replenish the energy it requires for the lining of the uterus. Additionally, it may also be an attempt to increase the low levels of serotonin that the body is producing.

Normally, after the start of the period, the levels of estrogen and progesterone, that is, of the hormones in the menstrual cycle, They increase again, causing the symptoms associated with emotional changes to disappear.

Causes of emotional changes in women during menstruation

Some people may be hypersensitive to emotional changes which usually occur during menstruation. Even so, when these effects are very severe, they may indicate the following:

• Premenstrual syndrome: Premenstrual syndrome describes a wide variety of physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms that occur before menstruation.
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder: This is an extreme form of premenstrual syndrome. The main difference from PMS is the severity and duration of the symptoms. In fact, women who have this disorder during menstruation can have such significant mood swings that they can interfere with their relationships as well as their professional and personal lives.
• Premenstrual exacerbation: A woman suffering from a mental health disorder may feel that her condition is worsening due to the effects of hormones on menstruation.

Are emotional changes normal?

The emotional changes, as well as other period symptoms, are very common. In fact, most of the effects caused by menstrual cycle hormones are usually not serious. However, premenstrual dysphoric disorder is not a rare condition either and can appear due to a period of excessive stress, the presence of depression, anxiety or having a family history with this disorder.

How to deal with mood swings during your period?

If the effects of the rule are wreaking havoc on your life, it is important that you go to a doctor or a professional psychologist to find out what could be behind these drastic emotional changes during menstruation. Even so, we recommend that you follow the following tips:

• Keep a mood diary: By keeping track of your emotional changes as well as detecting when they occur, can help you recognize those factors that can worsen the effects of the menstrual cycle and hormones.
• Have a balanced diet: Eating a balanced diet means not eating too many sugars, too fatty foods, or drinking too much coffee.
• Exercise regularly: Regular exercise can reduce mood swings during menstruation as well as the symptoms associated with premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric syndrome.
• Reduces stress: To better deal with the effects of menstrual cycle hormones, it is advisable to try to reduce stress. For example, yoga and meditation can help you reduce stress levels and balance emotional changes.

Women should consult their doctor if they experience emotional changes, as well as other symptoms of premenstrual syndrome or premenstrual dysphoric syndrome. There is a solution to stop living with severe pain during menstruation.