Having Irregular Periods during the COVID-19 Lockdown?
You are not alone ladies! If you are having problems with our monthly menstrual cycles and have no answers to that - we might have!
Some of us may have experienced irregular periods in the past: heavy flow, very light flow, no flow at all. But if you are normally pretty regular, you may have found that your cycle has gone a little crazy during lockdown. Why? Well it is probably because of the foe: Stress.
Our bodies don’t like stress. They don’t know whether an increase in the stress hormone cortisol is the result of lack of sleep, a global pandemic, famine or being chased by a tiger – so it just puts out the same response. The social distancing may exacerbate mental symptoms along with our cyclical symptoms. It might make some of us anxious or gloomy, or allow dark thoughts. Because we probably wouldn’t want to be pregnant during a famine or in a dangerous situation, cortisol spikes can suppress normal levels of reproductive hormones and that can lead to anovulation (no ovulation), amenorrhea (lack of period) or a delayed bleed.
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."
The NHS lists ‘stress’ as being one of the most common reasons behind periods stopping, alongside pregnancy, PCOS and weight issues.
This is happening to most of the women all over the world so, you don’t need to panic at all. However, there are things you can do to aid this cycle to maintain the normality as much as possible.
It is very importance to sleep at least for eight hours during the day. Since we are home all day, the time we spend lazing on the bed, watching TV and playing games doesn’t compensate for our sleep. Make sure to repulse the urge of staying up late night since there is no office next morning. During our periods, it is normal to crave for junk food. But make sure you are still getting enough nutrients.
And the most important thing – EXERCISE! While going to the gym of walks is not posisble during this lockdown, makes sure you take out sometime at home to do some exercise. It helps!
