MeetEstrogen, a hormone that regulates the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and secondary sex characteristics such as breasts and wide hips.
Estrogen is made when the hypothalamus inside the brain releases Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone, which prompts the pituitary gland to squirt out Luteinizing Hormone and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone into the bloodstream, where they travel the the ovary, to, well… stimulate some follicles in the gonads! Egg follicles inside the ovary make estrogen, which also goes into your bloodstream. During the menstrual cycle, estrogen triggers ovulation and helps build up the uterine walls.
Endometriosis—the struggle is real. Killer cramps are NOT normal. Periods that last longer than 7 days are NOT normal. Heavy bleeding that soaks through a tampon every 2 hours is NOT normal; pain during sex is NOT normal. Bouts of diarrhea and vomiting that accompany every menstrual cycle are NOT normal. No, no, and no! For many people, this reality is just endometriosis at work.
Sad truth: Many of us are taught to downplay these symptoms. Our pain is diminished by parents, siblings, friends and even health care professionals who convince us that everyone goes through this.
Maybe that is why, according to the Endometriosis Foundation of America, it takes 10 years on average to receive an accurate endometriosis diagnosis. That’s a decade, people! That’s 130 periods of agony, 912 days of someone asking you to take Advil and suck it up. That…is not okay.
Endometriosis is pervasive. It affects 1 in 20 Americans of reproductive age and an estimated 176 million people worldwide. It occurs when tissue similar to the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) is found outside the uterus on other parts of the body.
There are lots of symptoms that can vary among patients. Pelvic pain is most common, as well as pain that coincides with menstruation. Other symptoms include heavy cramps, long-lasting bleeding, nausea or vomiting, pain during sex and, unfortunately, infertility. Some people may even experience symptoms throughout their entire cycle—a real drag.
In addition to these physical symptoms, endometriosis takes a toll on someone’s personal and professional life. Chronic pain can severely affect quality of life day-to-day; medical care can be extremely costly. Furthermore, absenteeism can alter relationships in the workplace and at home.
Despite the intense discomfort, many people do not realize they have endometriosis until they try to get pregnant. And because the disease tends to get progressively worse over time, approximately 30-40% of people who have endometriosis experience fertility challenges.
There is no simple diagnostic test for endometriosis—no blood, urine, or saliva testing can confirm the condition. The only way to verify endometriosis is to undergo a diagnostic laparoscopy with pathology confirmation of biopsy specimens.
On the bright side, many endometriosis symptoms— including infertility—can be addressed after diagnosis. The gold standard for endometriosis treatment is laparoscopic excision surgery. This involves a careful removal of the entire endometrial lesion from wherever it grows.
The first step to getting there is recognizing that your pain is not normal and seeking timely intervention. The earlier endometriosis is detected and treated, the better the results. Tracking your symptoms will make you better informed for your next doctor’s visit, and set you on a path to better (and less painful!) menstrual health.
This is SO IMPORTANT. It took me 23 years of horrific periods and masking the condition with nearly every hormonal birth control under the sun, tens of doctors dismissing me and telling me to go away and take the pill, and my own mother on my second ever period (as I screamed and cried) telling me ‘it’s just like this for our family, it’ll go away when you have a baby’ (I was NINE years old), before I shouted NO MORE and finally got to see a gynecologist. One of my periods (off birth control) was so horrendous that I vomited bile in the street after being kicked off a bus for being ill (I think they thought I was either ON drugs, or withdrawing) - that was after being sent home from work for being 'clearly contagious’. Many a period have made me actually pass out, let alone the week leading up to them where my colon painfully freaks out. There are many more symptoms I experience but they are mostly covered in the original post. If any of this sounds familiar, demand to see a gynecologist. It is NOT okay to live like this, and regardless of how many other women you listen to talking about their painful periods, yours are far worse, please don’t try to downplay your own experience and think that what you go through is what they’re talking about; it’s not. Even if female GPs have told you some women are just 'unlucky’ or however else they like to brush it off, please don’t take that as an answer. You deserve that referral to a gynecologist to get checked out and get a proper line of care.
Menstrual cycle changes can be caused by many factors, like stress and changes in sleep, diet, environment and lifestyle, which are common during the COVID-19 pandemic. More research will be carried out to see if there is a link between COVID-19 vaccination and temporary menstrual changes.
However, experts agree you do not need to plan getting vaccinated around your menstrual cycle and the vaccine can be given safely while menstruating.
If you do experience a change in your menstrual cycle, this does NOT mean the vaccine has affected your fertility. It is safe—and recommended!—for people who want to become pregnant to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
While the ability to menstruate is highly regarded in Witchcraft, it doesn’t mean that the process can’t suck. Here are some witchy ways to ease your period pains (note: if you have a medical condition that affects your menstrual cycle and/or are on medication please remember to research the interaction information when it comes to ingesting herbs):
Teas can be lifesaving when it comes to cramps. Use one or a mixture of these herbs:
Nettle
Ginger
Frankincense
Oat Straw
Dandelion
Red Clover
Yarrow
Chamomile
Valerian
Dong Quai
Red Raspberry
Motherwort
Black Haw
Basil
Cinnamon
Fennel
Parsley
Blackstrap Molasses (Add one to two teaspoons of blackstrap molasses to a cup of warm milk. Drink it as soon as you start having cramps and continue as long as needed)
Here are some tea recipes designed to help get rid of cramps and other menstrual symptoms:
High Tide Tea
3 cups water 1 tablespoon dandelion root 1 tablespoon oatstraw 1 tablespoon chamomile 1 teaspoon raspberry leaf 1 teaspoon rose hips 1 teaspoon ginger root Put herbs and water into a stainless steel pot. With the lid on bring the herbs to a boil and then turn off the heat and let the herbs continue to steep for two hours. Strain and reheat the tea and drink two cups a day to support a healthy menstruation.
Menstrual Tea
¼ cup nettle leaf
¼ cup alfalfa leaf
½ cup lady’s mantle
½ cup red raspberry leaf
¾ cup lemon balm
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl or put them all in a large jar, cap and shake until they’re well mixed. Store in a jar in a cool, dark place and don’t forget a label!To use, brew 1 tablespoon in 1 cup of hot water for 5 minutes. Make one batch at a time or a large amount and drink hot or cold. It’s up to you.
External pain relievers can provide temporarily comfort when needed. Try:
Massaging warm/hot (not too hot!) Castor oil on the pelvic region
Heat therapy on the lower back and pelvic region
Acupuncture
Soft, slow massage around the pelvic region
Grounding
Focused breathing
Avoiding stagnant air
Avoiding strenuous physical activity
Letting yourself rest
Stretching slowly and gently
Bath Magick is extremely useful when dealing with period pain. Here are a few herbal bath recipes and ingredients to make bathtime soothing:
Here are some bath recipes designed to help get rid of cramps and other menstrual symptoms:
The Menstrual Bath 4 gallons water ½ cup lavender flowers ½ cup rose petals ½ cup chamomile ½ cup hops In a large pot bring herbs and water to a boil then turn off the heat and let stand for 15 minutes. Pour herbs and water directly into the bathwater. Relax and let all of your pain wash away
Moontime Footbath 6 cups water 2 tablespoons rosemary 2 tablespoons lavender 2 tablespoons mugwort Bring herbs and water to a boil. Pour the mixture into a foot basin and when cool enough, soak your feet in the tea for about 15 minutes. This foot bath is very helpful for calming any anxiety and tension during menstruation.
Food choice can also help you out. See if some of these cramp-fighting foods work for you:
Glow is 2! That’s right. We just had a big b-day. There was cake cake cake. And while riding the sugar high, we took a deep dive into our epic data set to see what we could find.
Turns out, we’ve collected a lot of interesting tidbits! We just had to spill. Et voilà—check out what we can show the world after two years of getting it on :)
Acne is the freaking worst. Clearly you wish you knew what was causing it, right? Well, look no further than your menstrual cycle — turns out the hormones that make you get your period are behind a bunch of other stuff, too.
We dug into our Eve data to see when in your cycle you can expect fabulous skin, and when you’ll want to hide your face. Then we blogged about it on Medium. Check out what we discovered here!
