December 11, 2025 • 20 mins
How much do you REALLY know about the menstrual cycle?? Jana and Kristen admit they’re still a bit fuzzy on the different phases and what it all means besides simply “getting your period”.
Dr. Hazel Wallace is here to clear things up and help us all understand! She shares the scientific reason behind cravings in the luteal phase, and she tells us the truth about sex on your period.
Plus… did you know there’s an actual “glow” during ovulation??
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Wind Down with Janet Kramer and I'm Heart Radio podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
All right.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
On this week's Adult Education, I got KB here with
me and we're going to talk periods.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Girl off five days ly.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
I don't know about d I could be ambushed any moment,
and that's the season of life we're in.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Oh, but I cannot wait to talk about I need.
I actually have something really embarrassing I'm going to admit.
And we have doctor Hazel Wallace here, so let's just
get her on and I'll just go right ahead and
embarrass myself.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Sisters in cycle. Ohway we go. Hi doctor, how are
you going?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Doctor Hazel Wallace? We have a lot of questions for
you. You're wearing such an appropriate color. I'm feeling pastive, Yes exactly,
she's wearing red. You're feeling got a book, not just
a period. So this this is good?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Well, thank you for coming on the show. We're just
going to jump right into it. Is that cool?
Speaker 5 (00:52):
Yeah? Perfect?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Great?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So I think I'm I'm honestly embarrassed to admit this,
but I still don't know and I should, as a
forty almost two year old woman, know what my phases
of my periods are and I don't like when I
go do my blood work, Nate's like, oh, you're in
your loop. Couldn't even pronounce it face, And I'm like,
(01:14):
I should know. How does a man know this more
than I like? But I don't think i've ever I
don't ever remember being taught the phases of our periods.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Never ever.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I just was like, you started your period, you're done
with your period. And then it wasn't until I started
following Tanya rad and like getting to know her because
she talks a lot about her you know, the whatever phases.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
But I just I still don't know. I don't understand it.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And she's like, hey, you shouldn't work out in this
phase and that, and I'm like what huh?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
And there's no where we're not supposed to make decisions.
Did you know this?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
No?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I know nothing, So can you just educate my forty
two years of And I mean, this is so embarrassing, Like,
am I the only woman that doesn't know this?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Or do other women? Like I don't help me understand?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
No, I mean it's so common when we learn about periods.
We learn just about the bleeding phase, maybe a little
bit about what to do when you bleed, tampons, things
like that, but nothing about the twenty three or so
days of the.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
Entire menstrual cycle.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
And during that entire cycle, your hormones are fluctuating, so
you don't feel the same on any single day. So
it's just wild that we are not told anything about
this when we go through puberty, and again, like up
to your thirties or forty, some women are only figuring
out what's happening to their bodies now. I think there's
a big movement to learn more and be more autonomous
(02:35):
when it comes to our bodies.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
So I love that. I love that we're having this conversation, but.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I think just so we're all on the same page
when it comes to the menstrual cycle. We're talking about
a textbook twenty eight day cycle, but it's normal if
your cycle length is anywhere between twenty one to thirty
five days, and in that time, the key hormones that
are fluctuating are estrogen and progesterone, and yes, they in
(03:00):
fluence when we have our bleed, which is typically one
to five days the first five days of your cycle,
but they also influence everything from your skin health, your mood,
your gut health, even your cravings. So it's really important
we learn what's happening. So that first part of your
cycle is your bleeding phase, and after that we know.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
What isn't it technically called there's a term for it.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
So that's your follicular phase volicular phase.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yes, okay, I do know that. I do know that one,
but the other, like the lunar is there a lunear
or something with an.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
L louteal phase?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, okay, So, and an easy way to think about
it is this is how I learned it in med
school is follicular comes first, louteal comes last, and so
the follicular phase lasts the first fourteen days on average.
It includes the bleeding phase, but it also includes the
days afterwards when your estrogen rises and you feel usually
(03:54):
a lot better than ovulation happens, which is right in
the middle of your cycle. And then you move into
the lutel phase, which is when progesterone, the other hormone,
starts to rise. That's usually when women don't feel great
because you're getting symptoms like tender boobs, You're maybe feeling
a bit bloated, sleep might be disrupted. There's quite a
(04:15):
few things that could happen during that time, and for
some women they sail through it, but for ninety percent
of us we get some sort of pre menstrual symptom
during that time.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I am not sailing. I am just not sailing. It's
getting worse.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well, I'll say that there's something in the forties where
I always kind of knew when my period was coming,
usually the week before. I get a little agitated, I
get a little you know, annoyed with things quicker than normal.
But now in my forties, I'm like, it's extra like.
I'm extra annoyed, I'm extra angry, I'm extra like likable,
(04:50):
and I'm.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Extra pad tie, extra pad time.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
And I want some really bad yeah. Yeah, and carbs.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Last night, I'm five days late for my period, which
is not which is very typical for being forty two.
I think, and the changes of the period, but I
always know when I down a bag of chips and
I'm like, wow, she's gamming.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
And when you're as you're eating it, you're wondering what
you'll eat next.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
So is it common for hormones to I mean, obviously
the commons, yes, to change when you get older, but
this the mood swings is that a typical difference when
you get older.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
Really common.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
It's common for your cycle length to change as well
as like through time, it never usually stays the same.
Some women say also after pregnancy they find that their
cycles are completely different to what they were.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Like prior to that.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
And then as we approach like late thirties forties, cycle
length can change again. It can become longer or shorter.
Symptoms can be a bit more disruptive because when we
think about like approaching the perimenopause and the menopause, it's
not like your hormones just garadually decline in this really lovely,
you know, easy to manage fashion.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
It's really erratic. It's up and down, and.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
So it's really hot to track that and for some
women that can be quite an emotional roller coaster, and
also physically the symptoms can be intense. But your experience
of having like cravings, especially for like salty foods, is
very common for all women. And one of the things
I find fascinating is there is a biological reason for this.
(06:20):
So in that luteal phase, when progesterone's high, you're resting
metabolic rates, so that's how many calories you burn at
rest actually increases, so some studies report that you're burning
three hundred extra calories than normal during that time, so
in the week before your period, and our bodies are
very smart, so they just we just naturally eat more.
(06:42):
And because we are looking for foods that are high
in energy, it's typically foods that are salty, sweety, sweet,
and fatty. So chocolate is like reported to be the
most commonly reported craving during that time. But I find
it's quite interesting that this is happening for a biological reason.
It's not us going crazy and actually having a bit
(07:05):
more compassion towards ourselves. And you know, my body's working
hard right now, so it's not about just living off
chocolate for that two weeks prior to your period coming,
but maybe giving yourself a bit more grace and and
also thinking about right, I should be having regular meal times.
We're not skipping meals during this time. We're not, you know,
having unbalanced meals. We're making sure we're getting our protein
(07:26):
in our complex carbs are fats, so we're supporting our
energy as well.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I would personally like for you to speak to the
husbands for a second, because I would like the segment
to have the wives press play Right at this moment,
what would you like husbands to know about that week
before and during the period, Like if you could just
be like, here is a gift that I'm going to
give to every husband about your wife's period, what would
that be?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
This is such a great question, And I think first
and foremost, don't just assume it's hormones. We do this
to ourselves. We're like, oh, you know, I'm really moody
or I'm really forgetful. It must be my period coming.
But there's so many other things. So first of all,
don't assume, but be supportive. So something that's really interesting
(08:12):
is when we look at the research around PMS or
pre menstrual syndrome. There's research where they looked at a
woman having couples therapy or therapy on our own, and
it actually shows that having couples therapy is more effective
at reducing your PMS symptoms.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
And there's a lot of other research showing.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
How how much our partner actually influences our experience of
our cycle.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
So if they can be.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
More supportive the week before our period, we're actually going
to have a better time.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
So they're going to have a better time, So.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
It's an everyone's best interest for you know, if it
means taking the bins out or you know, picking the
kids up, or choosing to make dinner that week, that's
going to be really helpful for everyone.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Okay, there's a lot that goes into what's wild is obviously,
I mean, I'll be forty four soon, so I've been
doing emi late. Bloomer didn't get my cycle. It didn't
start till I was sixteen, so that's pretty late. But
I feel so naive when it comes to just how
to well nurture myself over those weeks. Like I know
(09:28):
that there's certain times we shouldn't be exercising, or maybe
exercising less. You know, obviously, I think movement just for
anxiety and overall mood is probably a necessity for any woman,
any person, but particularly women. But I know there's certain
times we shouldn't be making big decisions. There's because I've noticed,
even more recently, there's this huge push for me to
(09:51):
not I feel so wildly and decisive and that's not
my character and it's driving me nuts. I feel like
I'm stuck in my own body, and then you know,
I shame and judge myself or like, why can't you
just make a decision Kristin, This shouldn't be so difficult,
but I'm so it's so foreign feeling to me. So
walk us through, like how do we best support just say,
you have a typical twenty eight day cycle, how can
(10:14):
we be eating or moving or what feels most beneficial
in which phase?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
And I just to add on to this, I don't
know if I read this right or wrong, but I've
been doing this because Glamour told me when I was
twenty that you lose more calories when you're on your period.
So I've been like hustling my butt off on my periods.
I'm like, I'm gonna lose more galories because Glamor told
me that back in the day.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Is that a myth or not? And I think that
sponsored by hydroxy cup and let's go to the good doctor.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
It's a really good question when it comes to like
how should you live across your cycle? And the thing
is like, I really don't think that we should be
telling women what they canta can do, So I don't
believe in telling women they shouldn't exercise when it comes
to different phases of their cycle. Now the caveat to
that is you may feel like your performance drops in
(11:03):
certain parts of your cycle. Typically that's during your period,
and you might find things feel harder in the gym, So.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
We talk about that like your perceived efforts.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
So maybe last week you were able to lift this
particular weight ten times, you can only get to eight
reps this week.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
That's completely normal. But exercise has an.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Antioxidant effect and it's anti inflammatory, so it can help
with symptoms. So my approach to it is I think
we should support women moving, but it's very individual on
what your ability is. Now, we all know women who
have really awful periods and they just can't get off
the floor during their cycles. But we know other women who, yes,
(11:43):
they may have some cramping, but actually they can get
up and they can keep going. And for those women,
I think it's really beneficial to keep moving, even if
that's something like lower intensity, because that feels better for
you right now. Maybe it's you're swapping like a barrier's
boot camp for a yoga class because you don't really
want to be putting yourself through that intensity during that time,
and that's absolutely fine. The risk of telling women not
(12:06):
to exercise during one or two weeks of the month
means that we're going to become undertrained. And as we
know women are, we tend to be less active than
men as well. Our bones are a bit more brittle,
so we need to keep them strong. So my message
is track your cycle, learn about what weeks for you
you feel maybe less strong, you feel less energetic, and
(12:30):
try to be try to keep moving, but maybe plan
more low intensity activities because we.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Want to keep that up.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
And then the weeks that you feel stronger and for
women that's typically the week after your period. As estrogen rises,
you know, you might feel more energetic, your motivation's up.
We even talk about this thing like an ovulation glow
because estrogen really helps with like making your skin look
you know, more glowy. It boosts collagen production. So that's
a really great time to do a lot of things.
(12:59):
Make big decision is like, you know, go into the workplace,
decide to take on that project. But it's important that
we try to support women and cross the entire cycles
so that we're not having this stop start effect to life.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Remind me again, the dip in for the moods? Is
it the dip in progesterone that gives us the that anxiety,
annoyance feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, so progesterone and estrogen are both high in that
lately teal phase, so like the week before you appeared,
and then they both drop, and it's that drop that
we think the thing is. The drop or the level
of hormones is very similar in all women, but some
women are very sensitive to the drop, so that it's
(13:43):
kind of.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
Like falling off a clip.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
And then it happens again when you go through postpartum
and then through the menopause, just on varying different levels,
and so you can be feeling just like incredibly flat
from one day to the next. And I think again
thinking about how we can support women during that time,
or I support yourself so that you don't really feel
(14:05):
like you have to press palls on everything again, trying
to get moving, doubling down on sleep. Sleep is often
really disrupted during that time, and so if it means
getting into bed a little bit earlier, cracking the window
open and making sure your room is nice and cool,
dark and quiet, even swapping to pajamas that are really breathable,
(14:25):
like cotton pajamas as opposed to silk and just giving
yourself those extra little boosts so that that time is
a little bit easier, and again thinking about your cravings.
Maybe during that time you are meal prepping a bit more.
You're thinking more about having those balanced meals. We're not
skipping meals, and we also are chatting to our partners
about what's coming up and how they can support.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
Us as well.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, I'm so tired right before my period. It's wild.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
I'll take a nap every it is clockwork, and I
won't know right now. I'm in the phase of not
knowing when the period's coming, a little bit of an
ambush situation happening. But I can tell the day before
because I ravenously eat and I'm not eating for like sport.
I'm just I like literally can't get full.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
It's wild. And then I always want to take a nap,
and that's not like me. What I do notice that
changes is want I don't usually want to have sex
leading up to my period, but on my period. I
think it's common that women have more higher sex drive.
So is it healthy and okay to have sex on
a period or what is your thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, it's completely healthy and safe to have sex junior period,
and there's actually some kind of hypothetically some research that
it may help with pain reduction, so if you have
like a lot of crams, because the impact of an
orgasm basically releases a lot of pain relieving chemicals, so
it can help theoretically.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
I believe that I do. I think it does help.
You don't feel sexy, but you do it anyways.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
You know that's it, and you know if you are
feeling like that's something that you want to do. It
may be from an evolutionary perspective. After your period, you
approach opulation, so it's almost like your body's priming. Now
some women have the opposite effect and they do not
want to think about sex or being near like a
partner or anything during that time. And again it's like
(16:19):
a difference in like symptoms, it's a difference in hormone profiles.
And I guess the take home messages like, no two
women are the same and.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
No two menstrual cycles are the same.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
So it's like it's such an individual thing on how
we can guide women when it comes to their menstrual cycle.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
What is the biggest red flag with a period.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
If it starts to become a regular. Now, that could
mean a few things. As we talked about, it can
become longer your cycle and can come longer as you
approach your forties. But if it starts becoming a regular
or more ratic and then suddenly disappears and you're not
approaching menopause age, that could be a sign that a
you're incredibly stressed. Sometimes that can happen if you go
(17:01):
through a big life event, like when we went through
the COVID pandemic, a lot of women found their cycles
just went all over the place because our cycles are
very tightly linked to like cortisol.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Production, stress in our body.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
But also if you're over exercising, under fueling, that can
cause your cycles to disappear. It's very common in women
that I see in my clinic. Other really like big
red flag symptoms for me would be extremely painful periods.
For a long time, we've normalized painful periods, and periods
should not be so painful that they stop you from
(17:36):
what you're doing. They should not stop you from going
to work. You should not be using annually for or
holidays because your periods are that bad. But unfortunately a
lot of women do because they're afraid of the stigma
to speak up to their employer and say, hey, I'm
really struggling about my periods. But if we don't investigate
why that's painful, you could be experiencing something like endometriosis,
(17:59):
which is in packs one in ten women, and it
takes so long to get diagnosed because we don't take women.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
Seriously when it comes to their pain.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
So painful periods are regular periods, very heavy bleeding where
you're maybe flooding through a lot, you're waking up at
not because of it, you're having to use two period
products at a time. And then the final thing as
well would be bleeding when you're not supposed to be bleeding.
So in between your cycle, after sex and after the
(18:27):
menopause is there.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
And I have a really beautiful, wonderful women's group. My
OB's office is incredible, But I know that a lot
of women struggle with going to their OBS or you know,
the no bgui N office and kind of getting dismissed
and saying what you're saying, which is like we always
thought it was so common, and so that's just that
is what's the best way for them to advocate? What
are what's the best way for us to advocate for
(18:51):
ourselves when we're in a doctor's office and going like,
I think something's wrong here, you know, And a lot
of women have like heavy clotting at the beginning, and
a lot of that is not normal, even if it's typical.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yeah, that's key what you said, Like, even if it's common,
it doesn't mean it's normal. One thing I love, and
one thing that's really helpful for doctors is if you
come in with a symptom diary. Now this doesn't have
to be like you don't have to keep a notepad,
but if you're tracking your cycle, and like some of
the cycle tracking apps are really clever now and you
can track a lot of things you can track like
(19:24):
mood symptoms, how have your bleeding was, any other symptoms.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Having that to.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Hand so you can show a pattern of like when
it's been happening, how severe it is, is really helpful
as a first hand going in with what you're concerned with.
I like when a patient would say to me, you know,
I'm really concerned it might VX or why, because then
we can really cut to the chase quickly and I
can reassure you, or we can go down that route
(19:50):
of exploring why it might or might not be that
thing the other thing. That's really helpful, and I hate
that we kind of are at this point where I
have to suggest this, but it's bringing to with you
just so you have a bit more confidence with speaking
up for yourself, or if you don't have anyone who
can come with you, having someone at the end of
the phone. I've had Patience do that so many times
where they've said, like, you know, my partner cup be here,
(20:12):
but they're just listening in. And sometimes it just gives
you the confidence to say, you know what, I don't
feel like you're listening to me. I'm feeling a bit
dismissed and having someone to back you up. And if
all of that fails, you can also ask to see
another doctor if you feel like the doctor that you're
with is just not taking you seriously.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Well, Doctor Hazel Wallace, thank you so much for coming on.
You have a book that came out in September. It's
called not Just a Period, Reclaim your Cycle, Harness your hormones,
and take control of your health. We so appreciate you
having this conversation with us.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Thank you, No we know our phases. I know so
excited
Wind Down with Janet Kramer and I'm Heart Radio podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
All right.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
On this week's Adult Education, I got KB here with
me and we're going to talk periods.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Girl off five days ly.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
I don't know about d I could be ambushed any moment,
and that's the season of life we're in.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Oh, but I cannot wait to talk about I need.
I actually have something really embarrassing I'm going to admit.
And we have doctor Hazel Wallace here, so let's just
get her on and I'll just go right ahead and
embarrass myself.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Sisters in cycle. Ohway we go. Hi doctor, how are
you going?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Doctor Hazel Wallace? We have a lot of questions for
you. You're wearing such an appropriate color. I'm feeling pastive, Yes exactly,
she's wearing red. You're feeling got a book, not just
a period. So this this is good?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Well, thank you for coming on the show. We're just
going to jump right into it. Is that cool?
Speaker 5 (00:52):
Yeah? Perfect?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Great?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So I think I'm I'm honestly embarrassed to admit this,
but I still don't know and I should, as a
forty almost two year old woman, know what my phases
of my periods are and I don't like when I
go do my blood work, Nate's like, oh, you're in
your loop. Couldn't even pronounce it face, And I'm like,
(01:14):
I should know. How does a man know this more
than I like? But I don't think i've ever I
don't ever remember being taught the phases of our periods.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Never ever.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I just was like, you started your period, you're done
with your period. And then it wasn't until I started
following Tanya rad and like getting to know her because
she talks a lot about her you know, the whatever phases.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
But I just I still don't know. I don't understand it.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And she's like, hey, you shouldn't work out in this
phase and that, and I'm like what huh?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
And there's no where we're not supposed to make decisions.
Did you know this?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
No?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
I know nothing, So can you just educate my forty
two years of And I mean, this is so embarrassing, Like,
am I the only woman that doesn't know this?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Or do other women? Like I don't help me understand?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
No, I mean it's so common when we learn about periods.
We learn just about the bleeding phase, maybe a little
bit about what to do when you bleed, tampons, things
like that, but nothing about the twenty three or so
days of the.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
Entire menstrual cycle.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
And during that entire cycle, your hormones are fluctuating, so
you don't feel the same on any single day. So
it's just wild that we are not told anything about
this when we go through puberty, and again, like up
to your thirties or forty, some women are only figuring
out what's happening to their bodies now. I think there's
a big movement to learn more and be more autonomous
(02:35):
when it comes to our bodies.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
So I love that. I love that we're having this conversation, but.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I think just so we're all on the same page
when it comes to the menstrual cycle. We're talking about
a textbook twenty eight day cycle, but it's normal if
your cycle length is anywhere between twenty one to thirty
five days, and in that time, the key hormones that
are fluctuating are estrogen and progesterone, and yes, they in
(03:00):
fluence when we have our bleed, which is typically one
to five days the first five days of your cycle,
but they also influence everything from your skin health, your mood,
your gut health, even your cravings. So it's really important
we learn what's happening. So that first part of your
cycle is your bleeding phase, and after that we know.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
What isn't it technically called there's a term for it.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
So that's your follicular phase volicular phase.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yes, okay, I do know that. I do know that one,
but the other, like the lunar is there a lunear
or something with an.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
L louteal phase?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, okay, So, and an easy way to think about
it is this is how I learned it in med
school is follicular comes first, louteal comes last, and so
the follicular phase lasts the first fourteen days on average.
It includes the bleeding phase, but it also includes the
days afterwards when your estrogen rises and you feel usually
(03:54):
a lot better than ovulation happens, which is right in
the middle of your cycle. And then you move into
the lutel phase, which is when progesterone, the other hormone,
starts to rise. That's usually when women don't feel great
because you're getting symptoms like tender boobs, You're maybe feeling
a bit bloated, sleep might be disrupted. There's quite a
(04:15):
few things that could happen during that time, and for
some women they sail through it, but for ninety percent
of us we get some sort of pre menstrual symptom
during that time.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I am not sailing. I am just not sailing. It's
getting worse.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Well, I'll say that there's something in the forties where
I always kind of knew when my period was coming,
usually the week before. I get a little agitated, I
get a little you know, annoyed with things quicker than normal.
But now in my forties, I'm like, it's extra like.
I'm extra annoyed, I'm extra angry, I'm extra like likable,
(04:50):
and I'm.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Extra pad tie, extra pad time.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
And I want some really bad yeah. Yeah, and carbs.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Last night, I'm five days late for my period, which
is not which is very typical for being forty two.
I think, and the changes of the period, but I
always know when I down a bag of chips and
I'm like, wow, she's gamming.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
And when you're as you're eating it, you're wondering what
you'll eat next.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
So is it common for hormones to I mean, obviously
the commons, yes, to change when you get older, but
this the mood swings is that a typical difference when
you get older.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
Really common.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
It's common for your cycle length to change as well
as like through time, it never usually stays the same.
Some women say also after pregnancy they find that their
cycles are completely different to what they were.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Like prior to that.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
And then as we approach like late thirties forties, cycle
length can change again. It can become longer or shorter.
Symptoms can be a bit more disruptive because when we
think about like approaching the perimenopause and the menopause, it's
not like your hormones just garadually decline in this really lovely,
you know, easy to manage fashion.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
It's really erratic. It's up and down, and.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
So it's really hot to track that and for some
women that can be quite an emotional roller coaster, and
also physically the symptoms can be intense. But your experience
of having like cravings, especially for like salty foods, is
very common for all women. And one of the things
I find fascinating is there is a biological reason for this.
(06:20):
So in that luteal phase, when progesterone's high, you're resting
metabolic rates, so that's how many calories you burn at
rest actually increases, so some studies report that you're burning
three hundred extra calories than normal during that time, so
in the week before your period, and our bodies are
very smart, so they just we just naturally eat more.
(06:42):
And because we are looking for foods that are high
in energy, it's typically foods that are salty, sweety, sweet,
and fatty. So chocolate is like reported to be the
most commonly reported craving during that time. But I find
it's quite interesting that this is happening for a biological reason.
It's not us going crazy and actually having a bit
(07:05):
more compassion towards ourselves. And you know, my body's working
hard right now, so it's not about just living off
chocolate for that two weeks prior to your period coming,
but maybe giving yourself a bit more grace and and
also thinking about right, I should be having regular meal times.
We're not skipping meals during this time. We're not, you know,
having unbalanced meals. We're making sure we're getting our protein
(07:26):
in our complex carbs are fats, so we're supporting our
energy as well.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I would personally like for you to speak to the
husbands for a second, because I would like the segment
to have the wives press play Right at this moment,
what would you like husbands to know about that week
before and during the period, Like if you could just
be like, here is a gift that I'm going to
give to every husband about your wife's period, what would
that be?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
This is such a great question, And I think first
and foremost, don't just assume it's hormones. We do this
to ourselves. We're like, oh, you know, I'm really moody
or I'm really forgetful. It must be my period coming.
But there's so many other things. So first of all,
don't assume, but be supportive. So something that's really interesting
(08:12):
is when we look at the research around PMS or
pre menstrual syndrome. There's research where they looked at a
woman having couples therapy or therapy on our own, and
it actually shows that having couples therapy is more effective
at reducing your PMS symptoms.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
And there's a lot of other research showing.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
How how much our partner actually influences our experience of
our cycle.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
So if they can be.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
More supportive the week before our period, we're actually going
to have a better time.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
So they're going to have a better time, So.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
It's an everyone's best interest for you know, if it
means taking the bins out or you know, picking the
kids up, or choosing to make dinner that week, that's
going to be really helpful for everyone.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Okay, there's a lot that goes into what's wild is obviously,
I mean, I'll be forty four soon, so I've been
doing emi late. Bloomer didn't get my cycle. It didn't
start till I was sixteen, so that's pretty late. But
I feel so naive when it comes to just how
to well nurture myself over those weeks. Like I know
(09:28):
that there's certain times we shouldn't be exercising, or maybe
exercising less. You know, obviously, I think movement just for
anxiety and overall mood is probably a necessity for any woman,
any person, but particularly women. But I know there's certain
times we shouldn't be making big decisions. There's because I've noticed,
even more recently, there's this huge push for me to
(09:51):
not I feel so wildly and decisive and that's not
my character and it's driving me nuts. I feel like
I'm stuck in my own body, and then you know,
I shame and judge myself or like, why can't you
just make a decision Kristin, This shouldn't be so difficult,
but I'm so it's so foreign feeling to me. So
walk us through, like how do we best support just say,
you have a typical twenty eight day cycle, how can
(10:14):
we be eating or moving or what feels most beneficial
in which phase?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
And I just to add on to this, I don't
know if I read this right or wrong, but I've
been doing this because Glamour told me when I was
twenty that you lose more calories when you're on your period.
So I've been like hustling my butt off on my periods.
I'm like, I'm gonna lose more galories because Glamor told
me that back in the day.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Is that a myth or not? And I think that
sponsored by hydroxy cup and let's go to the good doctor.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
It's a really good question when it comes to like
how should you live across your cycle? And the thing
is like, I really don't think that we should be
telling women what they canta can do, So I don't
believe in telling women they shouldn't exercise when it comes
to different phases of their cycle. Now the caveat to
that is you may feel like your performance drops in
(11:03):
certain parts of your cycle. Typically that's during your period,
and you might find things feel harder in the gym, So.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
We talk about that like your perceived efforts.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
So maybe last week you were able to lift this
particular weight ten times, you can only get to eight
reps this week.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
That's completely normal. But exercise has an.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Antioxidant effect and it's anti inflammatory, so it can help
with symptoms. So my approach to it is I think
we should support women moving, but it's very individual on
what your ability is. Now, we all know women who
have really awful periods and they just can't get off
the floor during their cycles. But we know other women who, yes,
(11:43):
they may have some cramping, but actually they can get
up and they can keep going. And for those women,
I think it's really beneficial to keep moving, even if
that's something like lower intensity, because that feels better for
you right now. Maybe it's you're swapping like a barrier's
boot camp for a yoga class because you don't really
want to be putting yourself through that intensity during that time,
and that's absolutely fine. The risk of telling women not
(12:06):
to exercise during one or two weeks of the month
means that we're going to become undertrained. And as we
know women are, we tend to be less active than
men as well. Our bones are a bit more brittle,
so we need to keep them strong. So my message
is track your cycle, learn about what weeks for you
you feel maybe less strong, you feel less energetic, and
(12:30):
try to be try to keep moving, but maybe plan
more low intensity activities because we.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
Want to keep that up.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
And then the weeks that you feel stronger and for
women that's typically the week after your period. As estrogen rises,
you know, you might feel more energetic, your motivation's up.
We even talk about this thing like an ovulation glow
because estrogen really helps with like making your skin look
you know, more glowy. It boosts collagen production. So that's
a really great time to do a lot of things.
(12:59):
Make big decision is like, you know, go into the workplace,
decide to take on that project. But it's important that
we try to support women and cross the entire cycles
so that we're not having this stop start effect to life.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Remind me again, the dip in for the moods? Is
it the dip in progesterone that gives us the that anxiety,
annoyance feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, so progesterone and estrogen are both high in that
lately teal phase, so like the week before you appeared,
and then they both drop, and it's that drop that
we think the thing is. The drop or the level
of hormones is very similar in all women, but some
women are very sensitive to the drop, so that it's
(13:43):
kind of.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
Like falling off a clip.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
And then it happens again when you go through postpartum
and then through the menopause, just on varying different levels,
and so you can be feeling just like incredibly flat
from one day to the next. And I think again
thinking about how we can support women during that time,
or I support yourself so that you don't really feel
(14:05):
like you have to press palls on everything again, trying
to get moving, doubling down on sleep. Sleep is often
really disrupted during that time, and so if it means
getting into bed a little bit earlier, cracking the window
open and making sure your room is nice and cool,
dark and quiet, even swapping to pajamas that are really breathable,
(14:25):
like cotton pajamas as opposed to silk and just giving
yourself those extra little boosts so that that time is
a little bit easier, and again thinking about your cravings.
Maybe during that time you are meal prepping a bit more.
You're thinking more about having those balanced meals. We're not
skipping meals, and we also are chatting to our partners
about what's coming up and how they can support.
Speaker 5 (14:46):
Us as well.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, I'm so tired right before my period. It's wild.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
I'll take a nap every it is clockwork, and I
won't know right now. I'm in the phase of not
knowing when the period's coming, a little bit of an
ambush situation happening. But I can tell the day before
because I ravenously eat and I'm not eating for like sport.
I'm just I like literally can't get full.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
It's wild. And then I always want to take a nap,
and that's not like me. What I do notice that
changes is want I don't usually want to have sex
leading up to my period, but on my period. I
think it's common that women have more higher sex drive.
So is it healthy and okay to have sex on
a period or what is your thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, it's completely healthy and safe to have sex junior period,
and there's actually some kind of hypothetically some research that
it may help with pain reduction, so if you have
like a lot of crams, because the impact of an
orgasm basically releases a lot of pain relieving chemicals, so
it can help theoretically.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
I believe that I do. I think it does help.
You don't feel sexy, but you do it anyways.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
You know that's it, and you know if you are
feeling like that's something that you want to do. It
may be from an evolutionary perspective. After your period, you
approach opulation, so it's almost like your body's priming. Now
some women have the opposite effect and they do not
want to think about sex or being near like a
partner or anything during that time. And again it's like
(16:19):
a difference in like symptoms, it's a difference in hormone profiles.
And I guess the take home messages like, no two
women are the same and.
Speaker 5 (16:26):
No two menstrual cycles are the same.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
So it's like it's such an individual thing on how
we can guide women when it comes to their menstrual cycle.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
What is the biggest red flag with a period.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
If it starts to become a regular. Now, that could
mean a few things. As we talked about, it can
become longer your cycle and can come longer as you
approach your forties. But if it starts becoming a regular
or more ratic and then suddenly disappears and you're not
approaching menopause age, that could be a sign that a
you're incredibly stressed. Sometimes that can happen if you go
(17:01):
through a big life event, like when we went through
the COVID pandemic, a lot of women found their cycles
just went all over the place because our cycles are
very tightly linked to like cortisol.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
Production, stress in our body.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
But also if you're over exercising, under fueling, that can
cause your cycles to disappear. It's very common in women
that I see in my clinic. Other really like big
red flag symptoms for me would be extremely painful periods.
For a long time, we've normalized painful periods, and periods
should not be so painful that they stop you from
(17:36):
what you're doing. They should not stop you from going
to work. You should not be using annually for or
holidays because your periods are that bad. But unfortunately a
lot of women do because they're afraid of the stigma
to speak up to their employer and say, hey, I'm
really struggling about my periods. But if we don't investigate
why that's painful, you could be experiencing something like endometriosis,
(17:59):
which is in packs one in ten women, and it
takes so long to get diagnosed because we don't take women.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
Seriously when it comes to their pain.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
So painful periods are regular periods, very heavy bleeding where
you're maybe flooding through a lot, you're waking up at
not because of it, you're having to use two period
products at a time. And then the final thing as
well would be bleeding when you're not supposed to be bleeding.
So in between your cycle, after sex and after the
(18:27):
menopause is there.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
And I have a really beautiful, wonderful women's group. My
OB's office is incredible, But I know that a lot
of women struggle with going to their OBS or you know,
the no bgui N office and kind of getting dismissed
and saying what you're saying, which is like we always
thought it was so common, and so that's just that
is what's the best way for them to advocate? What
are what's the best way for us to advocate for
(18:51):
ourselves when we're in a doctor's office and going like,
I think something's wrong here, you know, And a lot
of women have like heavy clotting at the beginning, and
a lot of that is not normal, even if it's typical.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yeah, that's key what you said, Like, even if it's common,
it doesn't mean it's normal. One thing I love, and
one thing that's really helpful for doctors is if you
come in with a symptom diary. Now this doesn't have
to be like you don't have to keep a notepad,
but if you're tracking your cycle, and like some of
the cycle tracking apps are really clever now and you
can track a lot of things you can track like
(19:24):
mood symptoms, how have your bleeding was, any other symptoms.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Having that to.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Hand so you can show a pattern of like when
it's been happening, how severe it is, is really helpful
as a first hand going in with what you're concerned with.
I like when a patient would say to me, you know,
I'm really concerned it might VX or why, because then
we can really cut to the chase quickly and I
can reassure you, or we can go down that route
(19:50):
of exploring why it might or might not be that
thing the other thing. That's really helpful, and I hate
that we kind of are at this point where I
have to suggest this, but it's bringing to with you
just so you have a bit more confidence with speaking
up for yourself, or if you don't have anyone who
can come with you, having someone at the end of
the phone. I've had Patience do that so many times
where they've said, like, you know, my partner cup be here,
(20:12):
but they're just listening in. And sometimes it just gives
you the confidence to say, you know what, I don't
feel like you're listening to me. I'm feeling a bit
dismissed and having someone to back you up. And if
all of that fails, you can also ask to see
another doctor if you feel like the doctor that you're
with is just not taking you seriously.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Well, Doctor Hazel Wallace, thank you so much for coming on.
You have a book that came out in September. It's
called not Just a Period, Reclaim your Cycle, Harness your hormones,
and take control of your health. We so appreciate you
having this conversation with us.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Thank you, No we know our phases. I know so
excited
Host
Jana Kramer
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