---
title: How do hormone changes during your menstrual cycle affect symptoms?
description: Sleep and headache symptoms tend to get worse around your period when hormones change most. When hormones fluctuate more throughout your cycle, mood problems
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menstrual-cycle-hormone-changes-associated-with-reproductive-aging-and-how-they-2018/
---

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- How do hormone changes during your menstrual cycle affect symptoms?

Cohort study, 2018

# How do hormone changes during your menstrual cycle affect symptoms?

Sleep and headache symptoms tend to get worse around your period when hormones change most. When hormones fluctuate more throughout your cycle, mood problems and hot flashes worsen.

 Early or limited evidence

Review of research on menstrual cycle hormone changes in women of reproductive age

## What they did

This article reviews research on how hormone changes as women age affect symptoms throughout the menstrual cycle. It examines how symptoms vary during different cycle phases and how hormone variability relates to symptom severity.

## What they found

Sleep and headache symptoms tend to worsen during the perimenstrual phase, the days right before and after the period. When hormones vary more throughout the cycle, ongoing symptoms like hot flashes and mood changes become more severe.

## What it means for you

Your symptoms tend to cluster around your period because of hormone changes at that time. The more variable your hormones are throughout the month, the worse your symptoms may be. The main limitation is that this is a review of other studies rather than new research data.

Perimenstrual

phase with worst symptoms

Hormone changes

linked to symptoms

Reproductive age

affects hormone shifts

## About the study

Original title Menstrual Cycle Hormone Changes Associated with Reproductive Aging and How They May Relate to Symptoms Authors Allshouse A, Pavlovic J, Santoro N Journal Obstetrics and gynecology clinics of North America Year 2018 Study design Cohort study Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.ogc.2018.07.004](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ogc.2018.07.004)

## Topics

[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Sleep and insomnia](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-sleep/)[Perimenopause and menopause](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-perimenopause/)[Work and productivity](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-work/)

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