With the UK’s lockdown extended for three more weeks and everyone on high alert about coronavirus , it’s fair to say you might be feeling a little stressed right now .
And this stress can have all sort of affects on your body.
For some , they might be experiencing regular headaches, others could be struggling to get out of bed in the morning.
But a couple of women on social media have reported that their periods have been pretty irregular during lockdown, experiencing everything from getting their period early to having intense cramps and light spotting for the first time.
If you’ve noticed any of these changes in yourself, you’re definitely not alone.
A doctor has explained how stress might cause your period to seem a little out of the ordinary over the next few months.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan.com,
Dr Sarah Toler, Doctor of Nursing Practice and a science writer at female health app Clue , said: “Stress activates a hormonal pathway in the body called the hypothalamic -pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Together, these three components (that’s the HPA axis, cortisol, and CRH) help to control stress response in the body. ”
She added: “Excess release of cortisol can suppress normal levels of reproductive hormones, challenging leading to abnormal ovulation, which can disrupt your cycle.”
The expert continues to say this disruption could cause your period to start later than you expected or you could find that you don’t get a period at all.
As well as this, stress can impact the length of your cycle, with some people having longer or shorter periods than they usually would.
If that weren’t enough, women may also find themselves in more pain, as feeling like you have low control over your situation and low support are factors that have previously been linked to dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation) .
And even if you haven’t yet experienced any of these changes to your menstrual cycle yet, there’s still a chance that you might in the future.
Dr Toler warns th ough that changes might not be evident right away and could take a little while to present.
“Stress from the preceding month may also affect the frequency of dysmenorrhea, so someone might not experience painful menstruation as a result of stress until their period the following month, “she explained.
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