[Mini] Have You Fallen for These Five Hormone Myths? | Ep. 97

Today we debunk five common hormone myths to help you understand what's truly normal for your menstrual cycles and what symptoms might indicate hormonal imbalances.

• Your cycle doesn't have to be exactly 28 days—anything from 21-35 days is considered normal
• Not everyone ovulates on day 14—ovulation timing varies widely among individuals
• Signs of approaching ovulation include increased, stretchier cervical fluid and a temperature rise after ovulation
• Pregnancy can only occur during your fertile window (5-6 days before ovulation), not anytime in your cycle
• Severe period pain that disrupts daily activities isn't normal and warrants investigation
• Extreme mood swings that impact relationships or productivity may indicate hormonal imbalances
• Understanding your unique cycle patterns gives you more control over your hormonal health

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Hormone Myths
• 1:02 Myth 1: The 28-Day Cycle
• 2:00 Myth 2: Ovulation on Day 14
• 5:25 Myths 3-5: Pregnancy, Pain & Moods
• 9:10 Closing Thoughts & Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey there, friend, welcome to today's episode of I'm Hormonal. I'm your host, bridget Walton, and today we are going to get right into it with this mini episode. I'm going to be talking about five hormone myths. This is a continuation, a little extension, of this week's earlier longer form episode, where I talked all about the basics of your hormones as it relates to your cycle. And so, yeah, I thought, okay, let's just dive into some of these myths here, let's dispel them, let's understand what is normal, what's not normal, and we'll go from there. So why don't we just dive in? That's why I love these minis, because we just dive right on in.

Speaker 1: 0:42

The first myth your cycle should be 28 days long every month. Now, yes, it is true that 28 days is like an average cycle length. Many, many, many gals out there, many menstruators out there, have a cycle that is 28 days plus or minus. But if we're going to be dispelling this myth and getting really specific with how long should your cycle be, I want you to keep in mind 21 to 35 days. Now, if your cycle, which again is the first day of your period to the next first day of your period, if that time span is 21 days to 35 days, then you are probably in all right shape. Now, certainly, there are some people who have cycles within that length and yet they don't have particularly balanced hormones. But if we're looking at what the literature says, if we're just setting some left and right limits, then your cycle should definitely be within 31. Your cycle should definitely be within 21 to 35 days, but it doesn't have to be exactly 28 days. That's the first myth.

Speaker 1: 2:00

I wanted to touch on Myth number two everybody ovulates on cycle day 14. Now, this one I feel really passionate about dispelling, because so many of us are using different apps to log our cycles, and that's a great idea, I think. If that's what works for you, use an app. If you're a journal gal, also great for you. Whatever it is. Personally, I use an app to track my period and cycle information and symptoms. That's where I'm at that every menstruator is ovulating in exactly the middle of the cycle, and I think that this is so important to clarify because one it's like an assumption that is false in a lot of cases. Sometimes, or for me personally, I've learned that I normally ovulate around the 16th, 17th, 18th day of my cycle. It's also good to understand that, just because your app says that you're ovulating doesn't mean that you're actually ovulating.

Speaker 1: 3:16

Looking at the signs or symptoms of ovulation is going to be helpful and is something you should definitely do. Let's talk super quickly about what are some of those signs or symptoms. First of all, you'll want to be monitoring for changes in your cervical fluid just before, or rather in the lead up to, ovulation. You'll notice that your cervical fluid is well, there's more of it. There's like it's more overall, but it's also generally going to be stretchier. You might have cervical fluid that is that stretchy, like egg white kind of consistency, and so that's a good way to say, okay, cool, we're about to ovulate. Because once you ovulate, then you're going to have a lot of stress, and so that's a good way to say, okay, cool, we're about to that cervical fluid is generally going to dry up. Also, if you're somebody who takes your temperature or maybe you're not yet, but you want to know if you're ovulating or you want to become pregnant sometime, and so you're like, okay, let's add another tool to this toolbox. Anyway, you'll know that after you ovulate, that next day, your temperature is going to go up by about a third of a degree, so that's a good way to say okay, I know for sure which cycle day I normally ovulate on, because I can see that my temperature goes up. Important to all be on the same page that you don't necessarily ovulate in the exact middle of your cycle is because if you are somebody who, well, whether or not you want to conceive, if you do want to conceive, you will naturally want to know what day that you like, when is your fertile window? But also, if you don't want to conceive, then you want to know when is your accurate fertile window. So, assuming that you were ovulating on cycle day 14 or otherwise, the middle day in your cycle is maybe not enough. Maybe that's not accurate for you.

Speaker 1: 5:20

Myth number three you can get pregnant anytime in your cycle. Now throwback to Mean Girls. Right Of like, you can get pregnant anytime and die. What is the quote from Mean Girls? Maybe I should have looked that one up, but I think when we were younger, when I was younger, I thought, oh my gosh, yeah, I could get pregnant anytime in my cycle, which is not necessarily the case. No, you can get pregnant generally within the five or six days which is the fertile window just before ovulation. So, depending on the quality of your cervical fluid. But you know, let's just call it five days, six days, to be safe you will want to either have intercourse or avoid intercourse again depending on what your goal is surrounding pregnancy those five or six days before you ovulate. So you can't get pregnant your entire cycle. You aren't going to get pregnant on your period if it is a true period, as opposed to some other sort of bleeding, and I think that's really important to know For everybody who menstruates and also if you are trying to conceive.

Speaker 1: 6:44

Myth number four today period pain is normal. I mentioned this a little bit in the earlier episode this week, but period pain is very common but it's not necessarily normal. If you are experiencing period pain that prevents you from going to work, going to school, going about whatever your normal daily activities, then that's going to be a good signal to you that there's something to investigate, there's something going on. Is there a bit of imbalance? Because if everything is in line and in pretty good shape meaning your hormones are all in line and in good shape, then you shouldn't be experiencing period pain that prevents you from going about normal daily life Along the same lines.

Speaker 1: 7:40

Myth number five today is that mood swings are normal. They're something that are common, right and societally we acknowledge them as like just a fact that every person who cycles will have mood swings like this. But it's worth clarifying that if you are seeing whether it's yourself or somebody else who's close to you, if those mood swings are really swinging, then what's behind that? Right, if it's impacting your relationship with others or your relationship to yourself, or your productivity or whatever, that your mood swings might be negatively impacting and this actually goes for any other symptom that you see is tied to different parts of your cycle. You're like, ah, wow, every four weeks I'm feeling this way. Then there's something to investigate, to say are my hormones balanced, in good shape and what can I do to better support them?

Speaker 1: 8:47

If you've been listening to I'm Hormonal for more than just this one episode, then I'm confident. You know that you have a lot of influence. There's so much that you can do to influence what's going on with your hormones, how balanced they are, how good you feel, how strong you feel. So you've got this. Just a little vote of confidence for you.

Speaker 1: 9:10

Thank you so much for listening today, and I would love for you to share this episode with somebody in your life who just might need a little bit of a reminder on these myths, somebody who has period pain, who has mood swings, who has an unpredictable period. So share this with them. I would so appreciate you helping me to expand the I'm Hormonal community, and I know your friend or sister would appreciate it as well. All right, gang, thank you for listening today. I can't wait to see you again on the next one.

Speaker 1: 9:43

If you loved today's episode and got something good out of it, make sure you subscribe so that these episodes show up automatically in your feed, no work needed on your side. Let's put it on autopilot. As always, I need to give you my reminder that the information I share with you here is for educational purposes only, and it should not be used as a replacement for medical advice or diagnosis. Now, if you are, on the other hand, in the market for some one-on-one support, then I would love for you to take me up on my offer for a free strategy call. You can find these links and more in the show notes.