I’d like to know a definite answer regarding the hormonal changes during the cycle in relation to the effects on the body- ovulation, skin condition changing, hair, moods, body weight, etc. For example, during the each cycle I notice a skin improvement, glowing, during a specific phase and a skin worsening phase, but I don’t know what hormones condition it, what happens afterwards in terms of changes, what is the usual pattern during the cycle. Thank you 🙂
In: Biology
It’s hard to talk about how hormones directly or indirectly lead to physical or mood changes, but I’ll try to provide some insight into how your hormones actually affect your cycle. Be warned though– endocrinology can seem VERY complicated, but try to bear with me here. It’s really not that hard, it’s just a lot of hormone names.
Females have two main phases in their menstrual cycle– the follicular phase, and the luteal phase. The follicular phase is when a new egg is developing in the ovaries. When the egg is fully developed, it will begin releasing the female sex hormone estradiol. In order for the egg to fully develop and for estradiol to be released, two different hormones are needed– follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). For example, if women are exposed to just FSH, the egg will develop poorly but not release estradiol. If women are exposed to just LH, the egg will not develop, and release reduced amounts of estradiol. Both are needed for successful egg development. To help you put this into perspective, the beginning of the follicular phase is also when women experience menstruation, or the discharging of blood and other materials from the uterus. The follicular phase takes about 14 days. After the follicular phase ends, the egg is released in ovulation on day 14, and the luteal phase begins.
In the luteal phase, the corpus luteum forms. I won’t go into much detail about the corpus luteum here, but just know that the corpus luteum is a mass of cells that releases a hormone called progesterone that is essential to successful pregnancy. In order for corpus luteum to successfully form, LH is needed, but not FSH. If LH is not present, for example, the corpus luteum will not form.
OK, so let’s put this all together the best we can.
Initially: The egg is developing in the follicular phase. Right now, your body has moderate to high levels of LH and FSH, since these hormones are vital for successful egg development.
Then: As the egg develops, it releases more and more estrogen into your body. When the egg is fully developed, it releases a big spike of estrogen. This massive spike of estrogen leads to your body releasing a spike of LH and FSH. This spike of LH and FSH triggers ovulation.
Finally: The corpus luteum forms, and it releases large amounts of progesterone for the duration of the luteal phase (about 14 days).
Does that make some sense? I know I explained this really, really fast, and if I was confusing at any point, please let me know!
https://youtu.be/WOi2Bwvp6hw try watching this, it’s very short (2 minutes) but very informative… also funny and very relatable!
Your skin and hair get nicer and your sex drive increases (also men find you more desirable) during ovulation bc you’re “in heat.” Once you ovulate, your body starts pumping out progesterone like it’s, its sole job. Progesterone is known as the “pregnancy hormone” the name actually even basically says it Pro-Gestation. While that’s going down, your body changes in preparation for pregnancy and throws your body all out of whack. Your skin gets oily, you have mood swings, you bloat, it goes for about two weeks (known as the two week wait for women trying to conceive, and they use that time to symptom check bc everything that PMS does to your body and mind the first few weeks of pregnancy do, too). Once that time frame passes and there’s no baby, your body slams on the breaks on your progesterone and that basically tells your uterus that there’s no baby, so open the flood gates and flush it out in preparation for the next cycle. Meanwhile you’re crying over romcoms and downing ice cream while everything levels out hormonally.
Yay for womanhood!!
If this is a shit ELI5 let me know and I’ll delete it
does [this](https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000Be5oU3CErvg/s/600/600/86396DS.jpg) help? some people say they can feel themselves ovulate but I’m pretty sure that’s bullshit. The endometrium thickness on top is where you can see the actual shedding. that chunky red stuff on the ends is when you’re actually bleeding.
There are three major hormones at play: testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone. What these hormones do is pretty broad and still mysterious. During your period they’re all low. We think this is why you might feel tired and grumpy. When you’re ovulating you get a huge estrogen spike, a medium progesterone spike, and a little testosterone spike. Estrogen seems to plump your lips and breast and send extra blood flow, and works with testosterone to make you want to have sex. The extra boost of these hormones seems to put you in a good mood. After you ovulate, all the hormones crash again. Then, your progesterone has a big spike, and your estrogen a smaller spike, so progesterone is on top. We think the way progesterone and estrogen work together may contribute to making you anxious and depressed, resulting in PMS. Unfortunately, we don’t really know that much about what all these hormones do, but that’s a simple version.
ETA- if you look at a simple hormonal chart online and track your cycle, it will help you understand where your own symptoms align with different hormonal changes. For example, I have anxiety on the same exact day of my cycle every months. The culprit: progesterone.
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