April 28, 2020

10 Interesting Facts About your Period

Buckle up girls, we’re about to blow you away with some awesome facts about periods! We hope this post will help you better understand your body and how you can expect to feel throughout your monthly cycle.

  • Most women will have up to 450 periods in a lifetime.
  • The average age of women getting their first period is 12-13 years and average age of periods stopping (menopause) is 51-52 years in Australia.
  • Most people overestimate the amount of blood lost during their period. The average blood loss is 30-60mls (it probably feels like a lot more!).
  • You can often expect some bowel changes leading up to and during your period (constipation the week prior and loose bowel actions during) due to hormones and prostaglandins which have a direct effect on bowel function.
  • Sleep is often disturbed leading up to your period as the hormone progesterone assists with falling and staying asleep as your progesterone levels drop the few days prior to your period.
  • You’re most fertile period is the 5 days leading up to ovulation and the day following ovulation.
  • You may be better at fighting off the flu during the middle of your cycle with the spike in Oestrogen being proven to assist with immunity.
  • Certain lifestyle factors can delay ovulation such as excessive exercise, stress, jet lag and dietary changes.
  • People who suffer from asthma can have a worsening of asthma symptoms during the first days of their period due to increases in circling prostaglandins which occur at this time.
  • You can still get pregnant during your period if you happen to ovulate earlier than expected or have shorter than 28 day cycles. Sperm last in the body up to 5 days so there is always a possibility of pregnancy occurring if you don’t take precautions.

Dr Bronwyn Hamilton