In The Know Mom: The new period talk

The new period talk

Give your period talk an update! After you tell your daughter about her new menstrual cycle, here’s what to tell her about her new hormone cycle:

Along with a "menstrual cycle", you also have a "hormone cycle"

Getting your period means your body has started its menstrual cycle. This is a process where your body builds up a uterine lining and then sheds it for about three to five days every month.

Getting your period also means your body has started its “hormone cycle”. This is a process where three of your body's hormones—estrogen, testosterone and progesterone—go up and down like a rollercoaster and affect you in a variety of ways, including your mood, brain skills, how much energy you have, food cravings, how social you feel and your health.

Your hormone cycle lasts from the first day of your period, which is called Day 1, until the day before your next period. A typical cycle lasts 28 days, but it can also last anywhere from 21 days to 35 days.

This is what the daily ups and downs of your hormone cycle look like:

How your hormone cycle affects you

Knowing about your hormones is important because they affect many aspects of your life including your mood, memory, verbal ability, energy level, how social you feel, your health and more. When you know how your hormones affect you every day, you'll understand your body and yourself in a whole new way, and that can help you make every day of your cycle better.

Here's what you can expect throughout your monthly hormone cycle:

Week 1: Day 1 (first day of your period) to Day 7 OPTIMISTIC
What your hormones are doing: Estrogen and testosterone start at the bottom on Day 1 and rise throughout the week.
How your hormones affect you on these days:
	MOOD: Just a few hours after you get your period, the dark clouds of PMS part and you feel happy and optimistic. Problems seem easier to overcome and you're more likely to overlook the faults of others on these days.
	MIND: You may notice that as you get closer to Day 7, your memory gets sharper and it's easier to remember small details and big words.
	ENERGY: Early in the week, your energy is low. But your pep increases as the week goes on.
	FRIENDS: As the week goes on, you get more and more interested in spending time with friends and doing social activities.
Health alert: If you have asthma, migraines, allergies or epilepsy, you may notice that your symptoms worsen during the first few days of your period.

Week 2: Day 8 to Day 13 (the day before ovulation)
EXCITED

What your hormones are doing: Estrogen and testosterone rise until they reach their peaks on Day 13.

How your hormones affect you on these days:

MOOD: As the days go on, you feel increasingly excited, impulsive, chatty and a bit daring. You feel most confident about yourself and your life.

MIND: On these days, your memory is at its sharpest, making it easier to remember small details and big words. You're thinking fast on your feet and your verbal fluency is also at its best. You're speaking more quickly on these days than on any other in your cycle.

ENERGY: Your energy and endurance peak on these days.

FRIENDS: You're feeling the pull to be even more social than in recent days. You want to hang out with lots of people, go shopping and talk on the phone with all your buds.

Health alert: Will you be ovulating tomorrow? Scroll down to "How can you tell when you're ovulating?"

Week 3: Day 14 (ovulation in a typical 28-day cycle) to Day 22 MELLOW
What your hormones are doing: Estrogen and testosterone go down from Day 14 to Day 18, then rise again. Progesterone rises until it peaks on Day 22.
How your hormones affect you on these days:
	MOOD: You feel calm, cautious and less chatty. You have a more realistic view on people and issues in your life than you've had in the past two weeks. If you’re sensitive to progesterone, you may feel a little blue or down in the dumps.
	MIND: As you get closer to Day 22, you may notice that you're a little tongue-tied and have trouble coming up with the exact words you want to say.
	ENERGY: Progesterone is a sedating hormones, so you feel a lot less energized than in the first half of your cycle. You may even feel downright sleepy.
	FRIENDS: You prefer to hang out with just one or two pals rather than a whole bunch. You're also interested in doing mellower activities than in past days, such as going to the movies or shopping at a favorite clothing store.
Health alert: You may experience constipation during these days due to progesterone, which slows down the digestive tract. Drinking water and eating fiber-rich foods, like fruit, veggies, and whole grain crackers, can help. You may also start craving salty, fatty or sweet foods. If you don't give in during the first few days, these cravings become a lot less intense for the rest of your cycle. Women who suffer from migraines may experience one in the first half of the week due to descending hormones.

Week 4: Day 23 to Day 28 or the end of your cycle INTROSPECTIVE
What your hormones are doing: Estrogen, testosterone and progesterone go down.
How your hormones affect you on these days:
	MOOD: At times, you may feel a bit blue, self-conscious and irritable. These are some of the symptoms of “premenstrual syndrome” or PMS. The good news? You don't feel these symptoms all day long—they just pop up every now and then. In between PMS symptoms you're feeling quiet or daydreamy. You may also be dwelling on problems and issues in your life that need to be dealt with.
	MIND: Concentrating is a bit harder on these days. So is remembering little details, like the exact instructions of your homework assignment or that you were supposed to get a permission slip signed for school.
	ENERGY: Your energy is going down along with your hormones, so you may have to push yourself to do activities that require a lot of pep, like going to gym or soccer practice.
	FRIENDS: You're feeling less social, so you'll probably want to avoid crowded places, like the mall. Doing low-key and solo activities, like vegging out in your bedroom, is more your speed on these days.
Health alert: If you have asthma, migraines, allergies or epilepsy, you may notice that your symptoms worsen on the days right before your period.

about pms

In some girls, the symptoms of PMS can be intense and frequent. In other girls, PMS is so mild, they hardly notice it.
     PMS symptoms can also vary in intensity and frequency from month to month depending on a number of factors, such as stress, diet and caffeine consumption.
     The good news? PMS symptoms can usually be made milder by taking a daily multivitamin, avoiding caffeinated beverages (like soda and tea), exercising and indulging in your favorite activities such as taking a bubble bath, watching a sitcom or sitting down with the latest chick lit novel.
     Learn more PMS-squashing tips by clicking here.

sleep and pms

Girls may find it more difficult to get to sleep or stay asleep during PMS because of declining estrogen.
Luckily, you can help your daughter get a better night's rest during her premenstrual days with a few easy tips: Air out her bedroom (women are more sensitive to smells on these days and that can wake you up), use a sound machine or fan to mask sleep-robbing noise and keep her away from emotionally-charged TV right before bed.
Also, if she's achy, consider giving your daughter a pain-reliever, like ibuprofen, 30 minutes before bed. Low estrogen during PMS makes girls more sensitive to pain. So a light headache or strained muscle could be keeping her awake.

Did you know...
It’s normal for a girl’s first few menstrual cycles to vary in length month to month. Some girls may even have cycles that vary in length for a whole year. And some women have cycles that vary their entire life!

How can you tell when you're ovulating?
The second half of a girl’s hormone cycle begins at ovulation. There are lots of easy ways that your daughter (and you) can figure out when you've ovulated:

* Use a basal thermometer. Take your temperature before getting out of bed in the morning. When your temperature rises .5 to 1 degree, it indicates that you’re ovulating.
* Use a fertility detector microscope. These handy lipstick-sized mini-microscopes measure the amount of salt in your saliva. When your salt peaks, so does your estrogen, which means it's Day 13 in your cycle, or the day before you ovulate.
* She can check vaginal secretions. When your secretions are thin and watery, you're at or near ovulation.
* Feel for a cramp. About 25% of women feel a cramp-like pain when they ovulate and may see a spot or two of blood in their discharge, which is normal.

Note: During the first few menstrual cycles, some girls may not ovulate.