Is Your Period Normal?
What is natural? How do you know if your body is having a regular menstrual cycle? What is even a regular period when everyone around you seems like they are having an irregular cycle?
Here’s the thing about periods we all have some issue with them whether having a heavy period, cramping, major mood swings, or cravings but that isn’t supposed to be normal. Most people I know have been on birth control once in their lifetime which leads to the main topic of menstruation. So many women are on some form of birth control and aren’t aware of what is a normal period or menstrual cycle. Women don’t ever give their bodies a break and the only way to fully know if your body is healthy and working properly is by getting off birth control and letting your body tell you what is going on.
Birth control does a funny thing where it fakes out your body and has you ovulate during the same time every month to feel like you’re having a regulated menstrual cycle. The scary part about that is how many hormones this one pill is affecting and realizing how much harm it is doing, then good. What we thought of as normal period symptoms, in the long run, could be more serious such as stagnation of blood and blocked chi in the body. A normal period should be between 30-40 days anything under is early and anything over is late. I’ve read a lot about periods and I thought the best way to figure out my own body and to de-stigmatize it, is to write about my journey.
For about 7 years I was on birth control I didn’t have many side effects or so I thought but I realized my moods weren’t the absolute best. I’ve never been on birth control before so what did I know about my body, side note you should always know what feels right for your body and when to reflect and say let me do something about it because something feels off. I had indifferent moods I was very edgy and agitated by little things and felt very moody constantly and my emotions were calmer on the last week of my birth control pack which are placebo pills. Other than that I felt like I had thoroughly adjusted to being on birth control except I had the urge to eat so much before my period, breast tenderness, and having a heavy period that lasted no more than 4 days.
As time progressed from being on birth control I realized I was becoming very anxious and couldn't pinpoint it but wondered if birth control was making me feel this way. I felt hyper-aware or way more sensitive to what was going on during quarantine which was already a tricky time to deal with emotions and the world. I stopped birth control to let my body acclimate itself and what better time than being in quarantine since I had all the time to give my body a break and do some self-reflection.
I learned that it takes 3 months for your body to adjust to a normal period if you have never had issues before, and 6 months for your hormones to regulate and fix all the kinks that come along with being on birth control for years. I wanted to know if there were any issues that I was having that were affecting me negatively because of birth control, that I wasn’t realizing because that was my norm. My regular period showed up within a month and it felt normal I didn’t have any cramps, breast tenderness, or mood changes before getting my period which being on birth control I did. My mood seemed like it got better and I felt not as anxious compared to most other days when I felt edgy and anything could anger me, I was the exact opposite. Losing hair was one of the cons but with the regulation of hormones that was going to happen but that was the only noticeable thing on my body.
Seeing how hormones play a significant role in one's body it’s good idea to realize how to clean the toxins out by just changing one thing like birth control. If you have an issue that you can’t figure out the first thing you can do is eliminate things such as birth control to see where the issue is stemming from and cleaning up your whole system so that your body can work a little better and get to the root cause. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, menstruation deals with the liver, and having early or late periods means you have stuck chi in the body. Cramping frequently is your body letting you know there are too many yin foods affecting you such as cold drinks and fruit and they can all affect the reproductive organs. Try things out and see what works for your body, a break from hormonal birth control can be good especially if your body has had toxicity overload. A small change like this will help your body readjust and see if there are underlying issues that need to be addressed once you see if everything is working properly.
Where do we start as women and how do we find natural ways to change up our menstruation game. Here are a few ways:
Many new apps have a period tracker to help you figure out if you have normal, late, or early periods every month
Buying natural pads and tampons will help you eliminate toxins in your body a few brands are L, Lola, Seventh Generation, and Rael.
Nettles are a great herb before you start your period
Dandelion is also good for breast tenderness and PMS.
Find your favorite brand of chocolate such as Honey Mama’s for that time of the month because it’s the little things!