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By David Picella Platinum Quality Autho
"I know this sounds crazy but I know when my menstrual period is going to start
because when my girlfriend at the office starts her period mine will always
come the next day." Sound familiar? First of all, no, you are not crazy, and
without a doubt this is exactly what is happening. Second, with a little bit of
knowledge about menstrual cycles you can understand exactly how this works.
Just like every magic trick has a logical explanation, this common phenomenon
can also be understood.
Knowledge of the Menstrual Cycle
To begin with, menstrual cycles do not have to be 28 days to be normal. In
fact, in a series of classic studies by Vollman in 1977 on more than 31,000
menstrual cycles, fewer than 13% were exactly 28 days. Normal menstrual cycles
are thought to fall between 24 and 38 days with greater instability being noted
as a woman ages.
There are two phases of the menstrual cycle: pre-ovulation, and post-ovulation.
Starting with the first day of the menstrual period, everything that happens up
to ovulation (the release of the egg) is part of the pre-ovulation phase.
Therefore, everything that happens after ovulation up to the beginning of the
next menstrual period is part of the post-ovulation phase. The most important
thing to remember is this: whereas the number of days AFTER ovulation is
relatively constant (approximately 2 weeks), the number of days BEFORE
ovulation is highly variable.
What does this mean? This means that if the menstrual cycle was short, then the
pre-ovulation phase was short. For example, ovulation occurred 8 days after the
menstrual cycle started (pre-ovulation phase = 8), the next menstrual period
was 14 days later (post-ovulation phase = 14), and the total length of the
cycle was 22 days (8 + 14). Likewise, if a menstrual cycle became really long,
then it just took longer to ovulate. For example, pre-ovulation 26 +
post-ovulation 14 = a cycle length of 40 days.
The most amazing thing about all of this is that if a woman can learn when she
becomes fertile and when she ovulates (something that is easy to learn how to
observe) then she can PREDICT the exact day that the next menstrual period is
going to start two weeks in advance!
What Makes Cycles Vary?
The winner is STRESS! There are many things that can cause menstrual cycle
variation such as medication, hormones, weight loss, weight gain, etc., but by
far, the major influence is stress. The main effect of all of these things is
that it takes longer to reach ovulation. Stress delays ovulation! The creator
of the female body was a genius because if you think about it, the woman's body
will naturally delay ovulation if a she has way too much stress, becomes ill,
or chemically imbalanced-not a good idea to get pregnant under these
circumstances!
Putting it All Together
So what do women who menstruate at the same time every month have in common?
The stress pattern. In the above example, these two women both work in the same
environment. As such, they have common stressors such as project deadlines,
renewal of contracts, etc. The same story is frequently heard among women who
live in a dorm together in a university. Once again, the stress environment is
the common factor such as, quarterly exams, midterms, finals, etc. During times
of stress, ovulation is delayed. When the stressors disappear, ovulation occurs
and the menstrual periods begin approximately 2 weeks later.
When it comes to the menstrual cycle, there is no shortage of myths. There are
so many, in fact, that writing articles such as this one could easily become a
full time job!
David V. Picella, NP, is a PhD Student in the Department of Nursing at The
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. David is a co-founder of the
MyFertilityCycle gynecological charting system that can solve infertility and
gynecological problems and be used as a natural means of avoiding pregnancy. To
learn more about the language of a woman's body visit the number top rated
internet site about fertility and health.