Irregular Cycles: How I Handled Cycle Weirdness During a Stressful Summer | Ep. 52

Even if you know a ton about hormones and cycles, sometimes life gives you a little practical application work to do. Earlier this year I had a series of irregular cycles and hope is that you can learn from what I did to navigate them and give my body the support it was asking for.

I focused on:
- Moderate exercise
- Avoiding alcohol/caffeine
- Tracking symptoms carefully
- Removing unnecessary to-dos from my calendar
- Nourishing through adequate food + sleep

I also tried out incorporating:
- Maca powder
- Cryotherapy and red light therapy
- Melatonin

References:
- Ep. 18 What is PCOS?

Note: These things may or may not be a good fit for you and your body! If you're looking for 1:1 support, click the link below to set up a consult call. 

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Chapters

• 0:05 Supporting Hormone Health With Bridget Walton
• 14:47 Supporting Hormone Health and Wellness

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome to I'm Hormonal, your source of information about women's hormone health and how to support your body. Naturally, I'm your host, bridget Walton, and I'm a certified functional hormone specialist and menstrual cycle coach. I am on a mission to hold these hormone conversations with as many menstruators as possible because you deserve easier access to accurate information about what's up with your unruly menstrual cycle and with your fertility mysteries. Don't you think it's time that we figure this out once and for all? All right, gang, let's get going with episode number 52 of I'm Hormonal. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for finding me. My name is Bridget. Of course, I'm your host. I am a women's hormone coach and my jam here is sharing the information that I know about hormones, menstrual cycles, what we can do to support hormone balance, support feeling good and really just understand what's going on. So that's what we're going to get up to today and every day here at I'm Hormonal Real quick. Thank you so much for listening. I really love getting all of the DMs seeing the reviews, just being in touch with you listening. So if you want to take a second to send me a question, that you have any feedback or an episode request, I'm here for you. I can't wait to see your message Today.

Speaker 1: 1:33

What I want to talk to you about is actually an overview of my experience earlier this summer having some irregular cycles. For me, my cycle irregularity stemmed from some stress. Right, we're all going to have stress once in a while. Well, hopefully I want my fingers crossed for you, actually that you somehow avoid that. But, like the rest of us mortals, we have stress once in a while and, of course, that can impact your cycle, your cycle regularity and, overall, what's going with your hormones. So I don't share this with you because I think that you can think back to this episode and say what could this be telling me about what's going on in my body and what are some of the first things that I can change, do, remove, in order to get things back on track. So we'll get to that in just a second. As always, I'll remind you that the information I share with you today is for educational purposes only, should not be used as a replacement for any sort of one-on-one support from a certified practitioner, not a replacement for medical diagnosis or other medical advice. Now, that being said, if you are looking for one-on-one support, then I do work with clients one-on-one as a women's hormone coach, so you can check out the link in the show notes or connect with me on Instagram at Bridget Walton if you want to learn more and understand how I can support you in getting things back on track.

Speaker 1: 3:19

Let's dive right in. And the background here is that I was just going through like a little bit of added stress for me, which oftentimes comes in the form of travel, right, if I'm on the move, I'm traveling away from home, away from my normal foods. To me that is a stressful event and that's what kind of kicked things off for me or what I've deduced. But if your cycles are irregular maybe you listening you've had an irregular cycle lately. That's how you've got to be in the podcast, or rather listening to the podcast. What does that mean? What does that say about what's going on? Let's talk about that first. If you have irregular cycles, that is because, or that should be, indicating to you that your ovulation is not occurring at a regular cadence, or perhaps it's not occurring at all. If you are somebody who takes your basal body temperature, or, of course, if you use ovulation strips, that can be, or those are two ways that you can know whether or not, you're ovulating Also by what's going on with your cervical mucus or if you check your cervical position. Those are other ways that you can get clued into. Okay, am I ovulating or what's happening here?

Speaker 1: 4:38

When my cycles started to be a little bit irregular and I'll give you guys the rundown in a moment of what each cycle length was that was a good signal to me of, okay, I'm overdoing it a bit, I need to pull things back and I really need to take this opportunity to nourish my body, listen to my body and really treat it just the way that I would treat a friend. Or if I had a child. I guess if my cat was sick, you know, I'd really say how can I take care of my cat Betty and help her get better sooner? What does she need? She needs sleep, she needs good food. She needs to cancel all of her girls' nights. Man, can you imagine cats at girls' nights? But getting back on subject here, I just mentioned that because those are my first thoughts and my first takeaways when things got irregular.

Speaker 1: 5:34

Now, for me, what irregular looked like was having a cycle that was first 25 days. I knew that I ovulated in that cycle because I tracked my basal body temperature. But I had a cycle that was 25 days, followed by a 33-day cycle, followed by a 30-day cycle, then a 40-day cycle and then I ovulated and we were back down to 26 days. What should you be looking for? Numbers-wise, if you have irregular cycles, it would be a deviation of more than four days per cycle. So if it's more than a four day difference, that's how you can say okay, this is a little bit wonky.

Speaker 1: 6:17

Let me walk you through what were the first five things that I did when my cycles became irregular. I'll come back and explain why for each of them, but here we go the first five things I did when my cycles became irregular. I'll come back and explain why for each of them, but here we go. The first five things I did when my cycle started to get weird was I went down from more intense exercise down to moderate exercise. Second, I avoided alcohol and caffeine as much as I could. Third, I really tracked my symptoms carefully. For me, I use an app. Next, I just really tried to cancel any kind of unnecessary plans, anything that would be what I would consider stressful or taxing. And then the last thing I tried to focus on was really nourishing my body through eating enough, eating whole foods, eating a variety of foods and, I guess, final honorable mention here I also focused on sleep. Was I getting enough sleep? Was I feeling rested? And so those are the first couple of areas I focused on. Let's come back to each of those and I'll explain to you why that was something that was top of mind for me.

Speaker 1: 7:33

Now, I didn't do particularly crazy intense workouts before, but I decided to take a step back, do some moderate exercise only, and to me that looks like weightlifting, that looks like walking, that looks like the elliptical, because during a time of stress, I didn't want to add more stress by doing heavy workouts. Right, of course, exercising is good for you. It can bring down inflammation or support better inflammation levels. However, if you're doing really intense exercises like HIIT or CrossFit or you're going to spin classes all the time, then sometimes that amount of cortisol your stress hormone, can be a little bit too much. So I said, okay, let's take a step back. Moderate exercise, let's cruise here for a bit.

Speaker 1: 8:19

The second thing I mentioned was avoiding alcohol and caffeine. Now, if you've been here before, then you've heard this before. But alcohol is certainly inflammatory the toxins that it puts into your body are going to then have to be filtered out by your liver. Our liver has so many jobs to do. Thank you, liver. Everybody. Say thank you to your liver, give it a little pat, because, especially when it comes to our hormones, in addition to the other zillion things it does, it's important when it comes to keeping everything balanced. It's important when it comes to keeping everything balanced, and I didn't want to overtax my liver by introducing alcohol, so I just I don't consume a lot of alcohol anyway, but I said, all right, let's just put this to the side for a little while till things get back on track.

Speaker 1: 9:10

Now. I mentioned caffeine too. Caffeine can raise cortisol levels, so it's not something that I need to like operate. I like a latte, I like a dirty chai, but I will normally just ask for decaf, and so that's one pretty easy thing that you can do if you're not, like, addicted to caffeine. I guess and this is again in the vein of how can I keep my cortisol levels down. One last note on this, in case you are new here then, or just as a reminder you should know that our cortisol levels, when they're too high, that can just cloud communication pathways for our hormones. So, generally, stress isn't good in any situation, unless you're running from a threat, but especially that chronic, prolonged stress can certainly impact what's going on with your cycle, so I just said let's walk that back.

Speaker 1: 10:12

The third thing I mentioned was that I tracked my symptoms really carefully. Now, if you are already tracking your cycle, love this for you, definitely encourage it, and if you are not yet tracking your cycle, I would really strongly recommend that you start doing so. If you are a little bit nerdy like me, just like to look at the data from time to time, are a little bit nerdy like me, just like to look at the data from time to time, see how things shift over the months or, eventually, over the years, then that will give you a good window into what's going on. In a situation like this, though, when your cycle is irregular and you want to really understand what that picture looks like, of course, keeping some sort of journal about that or noting it in your app is going to be really important. Not rocket science there, but there are a ton of great apps out there. Download a couple. If you're like on a walk, if you're doing the dishes right now, just take a quick pause, check out a couple options. Personally, I use the Flow app, but again, check out a couple options. Personally, I use the Flow app, but again, so many great options out there.

Speaker 1: 11:18

The fourth thing I mentioned was that I canceled some unnecessary plans. So this was a time when I was able to say, okay, I'm going to put a pause on the travel that I might have otherwise been doing. Okay, I'm not going to be on planes, I'm not going to be driving long distances, which, again, for me, is just something that is stressful, namely because that was work travel. It's not like I was going to Bali to chill, but I would just stay at home, stay in my comfort zone. Maybe that looks a little bit different for you, maybe that is, I don't know, maybe that's in-person meetings, if you are somebody who works remote or works part-time, part-time, in-person is what I mean. Actually, I guess in 2024, we call that hybrid mode, don't we? But anyway, it's just to say what are the things that I have to do, like, absolutely have to do, like, absolutely have to do, and then what are the things that I want to do? And just trying to stay in that zone.

Speaker 1: 12:22

Now, next, I mentioned, I really took a focus to what was I eating. Was I eating enough, and was I eating well enough, or were the foods that I eating more inflammatory? It's just, you know, maybe we should not. Maybe we should treat our bodies like this every day, of giving ourselves the best food that we can, the most nutritious foods that we can, avoiding things that are going to cause inflammation. But again, in this time of investigating and seeing what you can do differently, this is a good place to start.

Speaker 1: 12:59

If you are somebody who has never tracked your food actually, let me revise that I don't necessarily, across the board, recommend tracking your food. I don't think that the calories or any of the macro measurements are nearly as important as the more objective questions of do you like what you're eating? Do you feel full? Do you feel good, like, do you physically feel good? I say that to say, though, for me, sometimes I say, okay, let me track my meals for a couple of days just to make sure that I'm getting enough protein, I'm getting a variety, and it helps me to just grow awareness of what I am consuming, awareness of what I am consuming. On the note of sleep, too, I, for a while, I just stopped using an alarm clock, which worked for me, because my cat, betty, will wake me up by 6.30, lately more earlier, which is annoying, but regardless, that was something that worked for me where I could say how can I get more rest to support better, lower inflammation levels in my body? Now, what else might you be? What about my diet, lifestyle, stress, movement, all of the kind of normal foundational categories that we talk about. But also, is there a new medication that you're taking, a new supplement that you're taking? Just what, emotionally, is going on and start investigating from those points.

Speaker 1: 14:47

The other thing I want to mention about irregular cycles, because I mentioned that irregular cycles are oftentimes due to a lack of ovulation or irregularly timed ovulation. So, to that point, irregularly timed ovulation. So, to that point, everything that I've mentioned so far, the avoidance of alcohol and caffeine, making sure you get sleep, food, etc. That is all in the name of supporting ovulation, of supporting optimal, ideal health, so that your body feels safe and has the nutrients necessary in order to grow a healthy follicle and release an egg from that follicle. That's ovulation.

Speaker 1: 15:34

It's worth clarifying that irregular cycles and PCOS have some similarities, but are not necessarily the same thing. It's possible to have one without the other. When it comes to PCOS, though, irregular cycles is a pretty common symptom of PCOS. If PCOS is new to you, this is polycystic ovary syndrome. Basically, what happens is your ovaries, they produce a lot of follicles right, these little nests, I suppose, that prepare an egg for release during ovulation. But for one reason or another whether it's due to insulin resistance, inflammation or something else happening in your body those eggs don't actually release, and so lack of ovulation results in irregular cycles and other symptoms generally associated with higher levels of androgens too. Third note is that if this is something you're investigating with your doctor, they might've mentioned that you can see the poly right. Poly meaning multiple cysts, well, cystic, so poly, multiple cystic cysts on your ovaries. Even if you don't have PCOS, you can still have multiple follicles growing.

Speaker 1: 16:58

But why am I saying all this? I'm saying this just to paint the picture of. If you are listening and you say is this the same thing as PCOS? Is this the same thing that I should be doing if I have PCOS? I would say that this is a slightly different situation, although maybe some of the principles apply right. It's never going to be a bad idea to get better sleep and eat better. So hopefully that makes sense. I have another episode on PCOS where I get more into the details there. I'll drop that link in the show notes for you. So if that is your situation, just take a peek there, give it a listen. I've got a couple more thoughts for you and then we will wrap it up for the day.

Speaker 1: 17:40

But what did I do next? What were the next things that I added on to those five core areas I mentioned? So one thing I incorporated into my diet was maca powder. Maca, which is a root, maca is an adaptogen and overall can help support your body's resilience during times of stress. So I said, all right, maca powder, let's get over here. Join me in my smoothies, because during the summer I like to have smoothies each day. Super easy way for me to incorporate it you can find it at your local health food store, like if you have a sprouts in the area. It might not be at the kind of standard ones like Trader Joe's or Ralph's Kroger if you're here in the US, but anyway, maca powder is what I selected for myself, although there are certainly more and different types of adaptogens that you may want to investigate and consider what is right for you.

Speaker 1: 18:40

The second thing I incorporated after a couple of months was melatonin supplements. This was my first time trying melatonin. I actually selected one called erbitonin, because it's melatonin that's derived from a plant source For me. I said, okay, I'm sleeping all right, but I want to sleep better. I want to sleep better and melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant. So I said if there's some stress and some inflammation going on in my body, then why don't I just aid it more with melatonin? This isn't something I think I'll take forever, just as one other note on that, although if that's something you do, I'm not commenting about whether or not that's right for you, but just for me. This is how I chose to use it for a couple of months as things got back on track.

Speaker 1: 19:33

Third and final and this is a little bit over the top, but it's something I was wanting to investigate anyway I started going to a place nearby me that has cryotherapy and red light therapy I think I'll do another episode on this sometime. Specifically, when it comes to cryotherapy, which is cold exposure that can be supportive in basically just like resilience, metabolism, lymphatic drainage, also red light therapy, it's kind of like at the place I go anyway. It's kind of like a tanning bed except it's not a tanning bed, it's just red light and, again, can be supportive of good sleep, lower inflammation. There's an array of benefits. I'll talk more about that in another episode, but that's something I added on that I was doing probably six days a week. I noticed after doing all of these things or rather after doing cryo, red light and melatonin for about a month, six weeks. For me, that happened to be when my cycle came back to normal. Of course that won't be the same for everybody, but I wanted to add that just for some context, just for a little bit more details in the timeline of what was going on here in my body. On the note of timeline, this will be the last thing. Then we'll wrap it up.

Speaker 1: 20:53

If you're having irregular cycles, then don't stress, or don't stress too much, right? If it takes you a little bit longer than what you'd hoped for to see changes. If you make changes this month, you probably won't see your cycle regulate next month, and that's because the follicles that I mentioned on our ovaries, those follicles take about 100 days to get in shape for ovulation. So if you start doing something today, some of the things I mentioned, maybe, or maybe anything else that you've looked up that would be supportive of your health, then I would say, okay, well, what's going to be going on in 100 days from now? On that same note, if you, if last month was your first irregular cycle, you might ask yourself, okay, what came up about three or four months ago that maybe could have contributed to this change in my cycle? So some of these things take time, just due to the nature of how long it takes a follicle to develop. But that's okay.

Speaker 1: 22:02

These different changes when it comes to supporting your hormone health, it's more of a lifestyle change, right? It's not like there's no band-aids, there's no quick fixes, or if there are, then I would really encourage you to look at it from the perspective of lifestyle and it's not just saying, oh, I'm stressed, so I'm going to take maca powder in my smoothies. It's saying, okay, if stress is contributing to my cycle irregularity, to hormone imbalance, to me not feeling as best as I can, then what are the things that I can change in my lifestyle to support that, namely, mitigating stress. Easier said than done. With that, guys, I think we will just wrap it up. I hope that was interesting, if nothing else, but more than that. I hope that was helpful for you.

Speaker 1: 22:53

If you are going through your regular cycles, if you've had a couple of those and are trying to figure out where to start again, send me a message on Instagram. You can find me at Bridget Walton. I would love to hear what questions you have or, in general, your thoughts about the episode. And then, last but not least, if I'm being honest, I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't mind to rate or review the podcast on whatever platform you're listening to it on. It's really helpful to get people who are looking for podcasts to see that the show is out there and grow the I'm Hormonal community. So thank you in advance. If you're able to take out 45 seconds from your day to do that for me, all right. That's it for me this week. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate you more than you know and I will see you in the next one. Thank you, thank you.