The world looks a little different right now as we navigate this Coronavirus pandemic together, and I think it’s safe to say that most of us are experiencing much more stress than usual. We have quite a lot on our minds and are adjusting to new work and home life, all while trying to stay healthy. Stress can have a major impact on your whole body, including your cycle. It can affect your hormones, ovulation, and the overall health of your cycle. Most people are generally aware that stress can harm our bodies, but let’s explore it a little more.
*Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. As a FertilityCare Practitioner, I am an allied health professional. Reading the content on this blog does not form a practitioner/client relationship. The purpose of this blog post is to share general information and it is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider with information and any questions for your individual situation.*
Everyone experiences some level of stress in our daily lives, but our bodies may be interpreting stress differently than we think. Once your body experiences an acutely stressful situation, say Coronavirus level of stress, it can affect your cycle. And it can affect your cycle differently depending on where in your cycle you experience this stress and for how long. We are all different and we are all going to cope with this pandemic differently, so it’s reasonable that stress may show up on our charts differently as well.
Our bodies are extremely intelligent and resilient, wanting to protect life at all costs. We are prepared to handle a certain level of stress, and then our bodies reach a tipping point. If this point is reached early during a woman’s cycle, before ovulation, her body may put ovulation on hold until the stress is relieved. This is a protective mechanism at work to prioritize your life. You have signaled to your body that there is an emergency, so your body will put all of its efforts into surviving the situation and turn off all non-essential functions, fertility is one of them. In other words, your body goes into flight or fight mode. One way delayed ovulation may show up on your Creighton chart is what we call a double peak, when there appears to be more than one peak day on your chart. Remember, ovulation occurs with the second peak day after the stress is relieved.
Coronavirus is a legitimate concern for many people, understandably, we are going to notice this stress show up in our bodies in one way or another. This experience can be frustrating or downright confusing when trying to navigate your cycles, but your body is actually doing exactly what it is designed to do. Our bodies are pretty smart. The problem is that if we are overwhelmed with stress for an extended period or a large amount of stress all at once, our systems are getting bombarded with the stress hormone, cortisol. If this occurs, then stress can end up affecting other aspects of your cycle, like your hormones. If this stressor starts affecting your daily life (which Coronavirus has in at least one way for most of us) and isn’t just the occasional frustration, the amount of stress will reach a tipping point.
As I mentioned, our bodies are used to handling a certain level of stress and producing a certain amount of the stress hormone, cortisol. However, if you become overly stressed, then you can experience what is sometimes called cortisol steal (or pregnenolone steal), where your body will steal from the precursors that produce progesterone (the primary hormone for the second half of your cycle), to produce more cortisol. Remember, in this situation, your body is getting the “flight or fight” signal to deal with whatever is causing the stress, and that takes all precedence over your fertility. This can result in unbalanced hormones during your post-peak phase and you may either notice symptoms of hormonal imbalance or see unusual biomarkers show up on your chart.
This is not an exhaustive list of how stress can affect your cycles, but it provides a couple of examples to illustrate the point. In review, significant stress can delay ovulation and affect hormone production, resulting in changes to your cycle and the symptoms you experience. Take some time to reflect on if you have been experiencing significant stress and if you have noticed anything unusual in your observations. A “yes” to either of those questions can indicate you may experience a stress cycle.
Now is the time to pull out all our stress management resources and use them. It’s definitely a work in progress, but here are some things that I am trying to incorporate into my day to manage my stress during the Coronavirus pandemic.
- Drinking plenty of water
- Drinking herbal tea and kombucha instead of too much coffee
- Getting 8 hours of sleep each night
- Making a new daily routine
- Diffusing calming, grounding, and immune-boosting essential oils
- Taking an Epsom salt bath
- Dry brushing with a calming essential oil, like lavender
- Taking extra Vitamin C and D to support my immune system
- Taking extra Magnesium – it gets depleted during stress
- Taking a wholefoods multivitamin
- Eating nutritious food
- Listening to music – upbeat, fun, or calming
- Getting outside and going for a walk daily
- Focusing on a new project, like gardening
- Less scrolling and reading news
- More reading for pleasure
- Video chatting with friends and family
- Adding more prayer and meditation to my day
Sometimes just being aware that stress can (and perhaps will in this case) affect our cycles is enough to put your mind at ease, but I hope this post also provides you with some ideas for how you can reduce your stress. We are in this together and we will get through it! If you need help navigating your cycles during this stressful time, I am glad to help you. Read this post for more tips on supporting a healthy cycle.
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