More than 90% of women around the world experience certain symptoms just before their period arrival and this pattern goes on till the menopausal stage. The signs are normal and it doesnât affect your health permanently. However, in certain cases, the symptoms get too severe to deal easily which needs a consultation with the doctor to understand why it is happening and how to relieve it permanently.
The period symptoms generally vary from person to person. That means the signs that one person is facing will not affect the other one and they might face some other period arrival symptoms. Also, intensity wise this symptoms of one person differ from the other one. However, the best part of those possible signs before your period is coming that you can stay ready with your precaution measures to avoid those shaming situations.
On an average two weeks before your actual period date, you may start noticing your symptoms which indicates that the period is on its way. These signs may sometimes last in the initial first or second day of your period date and will automatically disappear completely once the period is finished or once the bleeding starts.
These signs are also known as Premenstrual Syndrome or PMS. For some people developing the period symptoms, is not an issue and their life moves normally without getting affected by it anyway. However, this is not the case with every other lady or woman.
There are cases where these symptoms are too intense and bothering that it affects the overall lifestyle of the affected person leading to disturbance in conducting their day to day life responsibilities like office work, absenting in school, withdrawal from a social gathering, the necessity of bed rest, etc.
If these issues exist persistently affecting the major areas of life then medical attention is must be taken to relieve those concerns to reduce the interference of these symptoms in performing your regular life responsibilities.
In this context, it is also necessary to add that there are some blessed women who donât face or notice any kind of discomfort before or during their period time. However, these cases are very few. Some common premenstrual signs and symptoms that give you a signal to get set ready for your period days are mentioned below.
9 Possible Period Signs
Abdominal Cramp
Abdominal cramp is one of the most common premenstrual symptoms that every woman faces at some or other point in time of their reproductive life. The intensity of pain can be minor, dull or severe as well that varies from person to another.
However, in most cases, the pain remains in a bearable condition and doesnât affect the normal lifestyle of the affected person. As per the medical science generally, hormonal changes in the body during the period cycle is considered responsible for all the possible signs before your period is coming.
So the abdominal cramp is also considered as a result of hormonal level changes in the body. The cramp basically starts 1 or 2 weeks before the period arrival date and ends on the day when bleeding starts. The cramp can be more intense in the beginning two days of the period duration out of five days and disappears automatically after the1st or 2nd day of the period.
The period cramp is usually felt in the lower abdominal area and can also radiate to the upper thighs and lower back portion of the body. Usually, these pains are bearable and donât interfere much with regular life activities.
However, if the pain gets intense leading to affecting the normal lifestyle then over the counter medication can be taken to get relief from it. Period symptoms including cramp is a normal phenomenon and if any medication is required to be taken for relieving these discomforts then it is advised to have a consultation with a doctor and only prescribed medication should be consumed.
Also, there are some exercises that help to ease this sort of abdominal cramp temporarily and in a natural and safer way. So this easing measure can be tried to relieve from these discomforts.
Fatigue
Fatigue is another common symptom of the period that lasts for several days or till the bleeding is started. Just before your period date, there are many hormonal level changes that occur in your body like your body shifts its direction from making it prepare for pregnancy to get it ready to menstruate.
As a result of this hormonal shift inside the body, fatigue occur as an outcome of those internal level changes. Also, mood swing which is another premenstrual sign can also cause you to develop chronic fatigue issue consistently.
As a result of this issue often women face difficulty in sleeping comfortably until their period flow starts. Lack of necessary amount of sleep is another reason that can keep you tired during the day time. It can be said that both premenstrual symptoms and chronic fatigue syndrome share many common symptoms.
Difficulty in Sleeping
Other premenstrual symptoms or discomforts such as abdominal cramp, headache, stress, and mood swing directly affects your sleeping quality and pattern. This is quite obvious as well because with this much physical discomfort and mental level restlessness your body cannot let you sleep peacefully.
This is the reason it is seen that just before few days of period arrival women faces excessive difficulty in falling and staying asleep. This again creates body ache issue in the lack of the necessary amount of rest.
One another reason behind getting difficulty in falling and staying asleep just before the period days is that the body temperature of the affected person rise due to internal changes that are occurring in the body.
As per the doctors you body temperature rises by half a degree after the ovulation and stay in the same position until your menstruation start or can even last during 1st or 2nd day of your period cycle.
With an increased body temperature it is quite obvious to feel discomfort leading to issue in falling asleep or staying asleep for a longer duration.
Bowel Problems
Different bowel problems or concerns women generally face right before their period days starts and once the bleeding started it automatically disappears on its own without any intervention of medication.
Some common bowel issues that develop as a period-symptoms include bloating, gas, constipation, and diarrhea. These signs vary from one woman to another. For example, some women started to constipate one week before their period arrival day whereas some women develop diarrhea issue before their period day which continues until your bleeding start.
Have you ever noticed excessive load over your abdominal area just before your period days? That is nothing but bloating that occurs due to extra water retention around the abdominal area that causes tightness and heaviness in your tummy.
Also bloating is one of the reasons that cause you gas, a bowel issue just before the period arrival days. Underlying hormonal changes in the body also cause changes in your bowel habits right before your period.
However, with some healthy diet intakes, these premenstrual symptoms can be relieved to a great extent. In order to reduce or prevent bowel issues before period, you can eat some healthy foods which contain fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, low salt, low sugar and lesser consumption of caffeine can help. Some exercises can also help you in this regard.
Acne Issue
You are breaking out without being in your teenage stage of life then most probably it is your premenstrual symptoms. Especially if this trend gets consistent month by month, just before a few days of period arrival and reduction in acne size and appearance happens once youâre bleeding stops.
Women who face breakout issue as a premenstrual sign also develop acne in their matured or adult stages of life and this pattern remains as it is till their menopausal stage of life. Internal level hormonal changes in the body are a common reason behind your breaking out issue just before the period.
The rise in hormonal level causes excessive oil production from the sebum glands of your skin resulting in pimples develops due to pore-clogging by the excessive oil secretion. Pimples related to menstruation can appear at any part of your body but mostly it is seen on your face like on cheeks, jawline, and forehead, etc.
These breakouts are the result of hormonal changes associated with the reproductive cycle in women. It mostly starts one week before the period arrival date. Acne related breakout lasts till the day you bleed or sometimes a few days more than your last day of menstruation. Once the reproductive hormones in the body return to its normal balancing these signs disappear automatically.
Breast Tenderness
Hormonal level changes in the body during the menstrual cycle causes tenderness in your breasts. The rise of estrogen hormone appears during the first half of the menstrual cycle which starts from the day one when you start bleeding. As a result of it, growth in your breastâs milk ducts happen.
Again rise in the progesterone hormone happens during the middle of your menstruation cycle nearby the ovulation period. Resulting in enlargement and swelling happens in the mammary glands of your breasts.
All these changes create swelling, ache, and tenderness in your breasts both before and during the period cycle that consists of 5 days generally. The breast-related premenstrual symptoms vary from person to person. In some women, it doesnât cause any changes or affects very slightly whereas some women face much amount of discomforts like heaviness, or lumpy feeling in breast leading to excessive discomfort.
Though doctors are not very sure about the role of hormones causing breast discomforts before and during the period cycle however most often it is linked with the rise in breastfeeding hormone that is prolactin.
Headache and Migraine
Headache and migraine are other common symptoms that most of the women face just before their period cycle arrival time. This issue may persist for 2 to 3 days or even for a week that vary from one person to another.
Like all other premenstrual symptoms again headache and migraines issue is also liked with the internal level hormonal changes in the body that causes aches in different areas of the body.
However, migraine and headache issue before the period is not common to all reproductive women. As per the health specialist the rise in estrogen level in body influence the serotonin a receptor in the brain that is the leading cause of headache and migraine health issue.
Hence the interplay between the estrogen and serotonin hormones leads to rising in headache and migraine symptoms just before the period arrival day. The migraine issue may occur before, during or sometimes may continue for a few days even after the end of the menstruation days.
As per the report of NeurTrusted SourceoTrusted SourcelogyTrusted, in more than 50% women who are prone to these period signs, migraine is 1.7 times more likely to occur 1 or 2 days before the period date and 2.5 times this happens during the initial three days of menstruation.
Lower Back Pain
Some women notice lower back pain just before and during their period cycle of five days. The pain can be mild to intense that vary from person to person. Also, the pain intensity in a certain month remains high and in certain months there is little or no lower back pain at all.
However, this is also among one of the most common premenstrual symptoms that women face during the reproductive phase of their life. This pain usually occurs due to internal contractions in uterine and abdomen area that gets triggered by the secretion of prostaglandins leading to contractions in the lower back muscles.
Feelings like pulling and ache, occur in the lower back and back portion of the affected women. Usually, the pain disappears within the first or second day of period cycle however in certain cases it may persist throughout the bleeding cycle of a particular month.
Mood Swing
The symptoms of PMS are not limited to the physical level, it also affects the mental health of the women who are in the reproductive stage of their life. Frequent mood swing issue is common which develops 1 or 2 weeks before the period starting date.
Mood fluctuation is also one of the common premenstrual symptoms which include depression, anxiety, irritation, and mood swings, etc that may occur before or during the period cycle.
However not all reproductive women are supposed to develop mood swing issue but it may occur at some or other point in time of the menstruation phase of their life. Again internal hormonal changes in the body are considered as triggering factor for mood swings issue.
Apart from this lack of necessary amount of sleep, fatigue, cramp and other such premenstrual symptoms are considered responsible for causing depression, irritability, and other emotional symptoms right before the period arrival date.
How to Stay Ready for Your Period
Once you are sure about your period symptoms your next step should be to stay ready with some precaution tricks to deal with those days of a month. The following tips will make your period days easier and safe.
Keep On Tracking Your Period
In order to be very much sure about you accurate period stating day, you should always maintain a track record of your period cycle. This will help you to maintain and prepare your future schedule without any difficulty as you will be very much sure that the next period will occur more or less one or two days before your estimated date.
For an easier deal, you can mark it in a calendar month by month. This will let you know about your period pattern also will let you know immediately if any fluctuation or new pattern develop in your cycle to understand your inner health and to take necessary measures if you notice unusual changes in your period date.
Keep Period Emergency Kit with You
Source : Amazon.comOnce you are aware of your period symptoms you should always carry the period emergency kit with you in your purse as a precaution measure to save you from those embarrassing situation that develops when period flow begins at an unusual place and time. You can carry with you period pads, tampons and cup whatever seems feasible or comfortable for you.
Wear the Period Proof Underwear
As soon as you start noticing your period symptoms the most important precaution or preparation measure that you should follow is by wearing the period-proof underwear every time unless you period not finished.
These undergarments are specially designed keeping in mind the necessity of those days and to ensure full comfort and precaution for the ladies.
We hope the above mentioned possible signs before your period is coming will make your life much easier with our precautionary tips that will prevent the entire embarrassing situations by keeping your clothes and bedsheets unstained.
[expand title=”View Article Sources“]
- https://www.webmd.com/women/pms/signs-your-period-is-coming
- https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/period-signs#mood-swings
- https://www.knixteen.com/blogs/the-rag/how-to-know-when-your-period-is-coming
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