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

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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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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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 miniepisode.
I'm going to be talking aboutfive hormone myths.
This is a continuation, alittle extension, of this week's
earlier longer form episode,where I talked all about the

(00:21):
basics of your hormones as itrelates to your cycle.
And so, yeah, I thought, okay,let's just dive into some of
these myths here, let's dispelthem, let's understand what is
normal, what's not normal, andwe'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
.

(00:42):
The first myth your cycle shouldbe 28 days long every month.
Now, yes, it is true that 28days is like an average cycle
length.
Many, many, many gals out there, many menstruators out there,
have a cycle that is 28 daysplus or minus.

(01:02):
But if we're going to bedispelling this myth and getting
really specific with how longshould your cycle be, I want you
to keep in mind 21 to 35 days.
Now, if your cycle, which againis the first day of your period
to the next first day of yourperiod, if that time span is 21

(01:27):
days to 35 days, then you areprobably in all right shape.
Now, certainly, there are somepeople who have cycles within
that length and yet they don'thave particularly balanced
hormones.
But if we're looking at whatthe literature says, if we're
just setting some left and rightlimits, then your cycle should

(01:50):
definitely be within 31.
Your cycle should definitely bewithin 21 to 35 days, but it
doesn't have to be exactly 28days.
That's the first myth.
I wanted to touch on Myth numbertwo everybody ovulates on cycle
day 14.
Now, this one I feel reallypassionate about dispelling,

(02:15):
because so many of us are usingdifferent apps to log our cycles
, and that's a great idea, Ithink.
If that's what works for you,use an app.
If you're a journal gal, alsogreat for you.
Whatever it is.
Personally, I use an app totrack my period and cycle
information and symptoms.

(02:36):
That's where I'm at that everymenstruator is ovulating in
exactly the middle of the cycle,and I think that this is so
important to clarify because oneit's like an assumption that is
false in a lot of cases.

(02:56):
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 understandthat, just because your app says
that you're ovulating doesn'tmean that you're actually
ovulating.

(03:16):
Looking at the signs or symptomsof ovulation is going to be
helpful and is something youshould definitely do.
Let's talk super quickly aboutwhat are some of those signs or
symptoms.
First of all, you'll want to bemonitoring for changes in your
cervical fluid just before, orrather in the lead up to,

(03:38):
ovulation.
You'll notice that yourcervical 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 fluidthat is that stretchy, like egg
white kind of consistency, andso that's a good way to say,
okay, cool, we're about toovulate.
Because once you ovulate, thenyou're going to have a lot of

(03:59):
stress, and so that's a good wayto say, okay, cool, we're about
to that cervical fluid isgenerally going to dry up.
Also, if you're somebody whotakes your temperature or maybe
you're not yet, but you want toknow if you're ovulating or you
want to become pregnant sometime, and so you're like, okay,
let's add another tool to thistoolbox.
Anyway, you'll know that afteryou ovulate, that next day, your

(04:23):
temperature is going to go upby 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 Ican see that my temperature
goes up.
Important to all be on the samepage that you don't necessarily

(04:47):
ovulate in the exact middle ofyour cycle is because if you are
somebody who, well, whether ornot you want to conceive, if you
do want to conceive, you willnaturally want to know what day
that you like, when is yourfertile window?
But also, if you don't want toconceive, then you want to know
when is your accurate fertilewindow.
So, assuming that you wereovulating on cycle day 14 or

(05:10):
otherwise, the middle day inyour cycle is maybe not enough.
Maybe that's not accurate foryou.
Myth number three you can getpregnant anytime in your cycle.
Now throwback to Mean Girls.
Right Of like, you can getpregnant anytime and die.

(05:32):
What is the quote from MeanGirls?
Maybe I should have looked thatone up, but I think when we
were younger, when I was younger, I thought, oh my gosh, yeah, I
could get pregnant anytime inmy cycle, which is not
necessarily the case.
No, you can get pregnantgenerally within the five or six
days which is the fertilewindow just before ovulation.

(05:56):
So, depending on the quality ofyour cervical fluid.
But you know, let's just callit five days, six days, to be
safe you will want to eitherhave intercourse or avoid
intercourse again depending onwhat your goal is surrounding
pregnancy those five or six daysbefore you ovulate.

(06:21):
So you can't get pregnant yourentire cycle.
You aren't going to getpregnant on your period if it is
a true period, as opposed tosome other sort of bleeding, and
I think that's really importantto know For everybody who
menstruates and also if you aretrying to conceive.

(06:44):
Myth number four today periodpain is normal.
I mentioned this a little bitin the earlier episode this week
, but period pain is very commonbut it's not necessarily normal
.
If you are experiencing periodpain that prevents you from

(07:04):
going to work, going to school,going about whatever your normal
daily activities, then that'sgoing to be a good signal to you
that there's something toinvestigate, there's something
going on.
Is there a bit of imbalance?
Because if everything is inline and in pretty good shape

(07:27):
meaning your hormones are all inline and in good shape, then
you shouldn't be experiencingperiod pain that prevents you
from going about normal dailylife Along the same lines.
Myth number five today is thatmood swings are normal.
They're something that arecommon, right and societally we

(07:50):
acknowledge them as like just afact that every person who
cycles will have mood swingslike this.
But it's worth clarifying thatif you are seeing whether it's
yourself or somebody else who'sclose to you, if those mood
swings are really swinging, thenwhat's behind that?

(08:11):
Right, if it's impacting yourrelationship with others or your
relationship to yourself, oryour productivity or whatever,
that your mood swings might benegatively impacting and this
actually goes for any othersymptom that you see is tied to
different parts of your cycle.

(08:32):
You're like, ah, wow, everyfour weeks I'm feeling this way.
Then there's something toinvestigate, to say are my
hormones balanced, in good shapeand what can I do to better
support them?
If you've been listening to I'mHormonal for more than just this
one episode, then I'm confident.

(08:53):
You know that you have a lot ofinfluence.
There's so much that you can doto influence what's going on
with your hormones, how balancedthey are, how good you feel,
how strong you feel.
So you've got this.
Just a little vote ofconfidence for you.
Thank you so much for listeningtoday, and I would love for you
to share this episode withsomebody in your life who just

(09:17):
might need a little bit of areminder 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 youhelping me to expand the I'm
Hormonal community, and I knowyour friend or sister would
appreciate it as well.
All right, gang, thank you forlistening today.

(09:38):
I can't wait to see you againon the next one.
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As always, I need to give youmy reminder that the information
I share with you here is foreducational purposes only, and

(10:00):
it should not be used as areplacement for medical advice
or diagnosis.
Now, if you are, on the otherhand, in the market for some
one-on-one support, then I wouldlove for you to take me up on
my offer for a free strategycall.
You can find these links andmore in the show notes.