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For the women, what are your periods like since become ill? Do they change with how you feel?

Messages
84
One of the very first signs for me that I was sick and that something was wrong with my body was I stopped getting my period! Even before I started feeling sick I knew something was wrong with my body when I stopped getting my period for a few months. These days it comes and goes but that always seems to correspond with how I am feeling. When I am feeling really sick/in a flare I wont get my period (which can last a couple months). As I start feeling a little more normal it will come back. Or I will still be feeling really unwell and it will come back and I know that it's a sign that I will start feeling better soon, and within a day I will start feeling better.

So I was wondering if anyone out there has a similar pattern? Or any other weird things that happen with their menstrual pattern? What has your period been like throughout your illness?

It seems like our periods (their presence, their absence, their heaviness and the symptoms they cause) can tell us a lot about our health. I was also told that often when a woman's body is sick, the first thing it will do is stop menstruating in order to preserve that energy so it can go towards other things like healing whatever is going on.
 
Messages
13
Same thing happened with me. Stopped getting my period. I had my hormones tested and my Prolactin levels were below the reference range. Perhaps a result of neuroinflammation?
 
Messages
84
Same thing happened with me. Stopped getting my period. I had my hormones tested and my Prolactin levels were below the reference range. Perhaps a result of neuroinflammation?
I thought for sure I would have a hormone that was to high or too low like you, but I also got all my hormones checked and all good. Never in my life have I wanted to get my period on a regular basis, ha...because when I dont its a sign that things are out of whack on my body.
 

Lieselotte

Senior Member
Messages
250
Location
Orange County, CA
When I got hypothyroidism more than 10 years ago one of the most marked symptoms was the change with my period. It went from 6-7 days down to 3 seemingly overnight. Now that I have ME, it's more like 1 day and some spotting. It's definitely a sign that things are awry.
 

Pyrrhus

Senior Member
Messages
4,172
Location
U.S., Earth
It is important to note that an exacerbation of symptoms before menstruation was noted in the original 1959 descriptions of ME.

For a more recent mention:

Onset Patterns and Course of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Chu et al., 2019)
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...hronic-fatigue-syndrome-chu-et-al-2019.84716/
Pregnancy, menopause, and menstrual cycles exacerbated many women's symptoms.


Note: There are also anecdotes from people who report that their symptoms are reduced during pregnancy, but that they might get worse after pregnancy...


P.S. And a comment from another discussion:
Another example of a leaky blood-brain-barrier occurs in menstruation.
Right before, and during menstruation, the lower level of estrogen causes the blood-brain-barrier to become slightly more permeable. Some have speculated that this might contribute to pre-menstrual syndrome.
 
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Pyrrhus

Senior Member
Messages
4,172
Location
U.S., Earth
Related discussions:

For all the ladies...
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/for-all-the-ladies.18698/
I'm pretty high functioning (about a 7) when it comes time for "Auntie Flo's visit" my fatigue gets like 10 times worse and my O2 levels drop. 2 days before "the visit" I'll start to get more tired than usual and horrid "I think I'm in labor with an elephant" cramps. :(


Ladies, do you feel worse before your period?
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/ladies-do-you-feel-worse-before-your-period.52551/
 
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