Period myths: we reveal all

Still too often repeated, this claim is of course completely false! The menstrual cycle is a cascade of events and hormonal secretions that are essential from every point of view.

On the fertility side, it is oestrogens that enable ovarian follicles to reach ovulation — an essential step when trying to conceive. Without ovulation (and therefore oestrogens), there is no progesterone secretion, the hormone that is crucial for the implantation of a fertilised egg.

However, it is worth remembering that the hormones secreted during the cycle are not only useful when trying to conceive — they also act on: 

However, the same does not apply to bleeding between pill packets. These are known as "withdrawal bleeds" as they are caused by the cessation of the synthetic hormones that suppress hormonal secretions. This type of bleeding has no proven medical purpose.

This misconception is surprisingly persistent, and with good reason — menstrual pain is unfortunately all too common. But common does not mean normal! It is therefore important to shift our perspective on this pain, which is signalling an imbalance. Periods are not supposed to hurt to the point of preventing you from carrying out everyday activities. That said, it is normal to notice some sensitivity in the lower abdomen — a sign of the work taking place. This sensation should remain moderate and be limited to the first days of your period. Chronic or severe pain should prompt you to see a doctor, who will be able to provide a proper diagnosis.

Menstrual pain is often linked to a state of deep inflammation as well as a potential imbalance between oestrogens and progesterone. In both cases, adopting an appropriate lifestyle can be a great help in easing your pain and experiencing your periods in a more balanced way.

Of course, the fluid that flows during your period owes its red colour to the blood it contains, but that is far from being its only component. It contains lymph, antibodies, nourishing cells, stem cells, and also many nutrients such as vitamins, trace elements and minerals. This flow is an excellent source of nutrients, which explains why certain traditional cultures use it as fertiliser for plants [1].

Periods are the result of a succession of stages during the menstrual cycle, such as ovulation. When you take the pill, your body receives synthetic hormones that prevent it from producing its own at the level of the ovaries. You could describe it as a kind of standby mode, as there is little or no ovarian activity, no ovulation, and therefore no periods as such.

The bleeding between pill packets is caused solely by the withdrawal of these synthetic hormones. This bleeding occurs every 28 days to mimic the regularity of your cycles. However, this duration is linked only to the number of pills in your packet and not to the sequence of events of a real menstrual cycle, which itself lasts approximately one month. For this to be called a period, the stages of the cycle described above would need to have taken place — which is not the case when taking hormonal contraception. This bleeding serves more to reassure the woman than to support her health.

To summarise, when you take the pill, you are not addressing any potential hormonal imbalances — you are stopping (or significantly reducing) your ovarian activity and triggering false periods. This can be a problem, as it does not resolve the reason for your irregular cycles and delays any potential treatment.

Moreover, from a hormonal perspective, being on the pill and being pregnant are not the same thing. The argument used to reassure women about the absence of a menstrual cycle whilst taking the pill is simply not true. The synthetic hormones in the pill bear no relation to the "real" hormones produced during pregnancy — and the side effects are not the same either.

Il est fréquent que les règles abondantes voire hémorragiques provoquent une anémie ferriprive, c'est-à-dire une anémie liée à une carence en fer. L’importante perte de sang fait diminuer le taux de globules rouges et l’on conseille alors souvent aux femmes de manger de la viande rouge ou du foie pour remonter le taux de fer. Bonne nouvelle si vous avez horreur de ça, vous pouvez trouver des sources de fer ailleurs.

Le fer héminique, celui que l’on trouve dans les produits animaux, est souvent bien plus assimilable que celui que l’on trouve dans les végétaux. Si votre régime alimentaire le permet, vous pouvez parfaitement vous diriger vers le poisson, les fruits de mer ou encore la viande blanche.[2] Selon le degré de carence, un médecin peut vous proposer de prendre un complément fer.

Un complément alimentaire femme, à base de fer, peut être utile dans certains cas.

There are many reasons for a long cycle and PCOS is not the only one. Most of the time, they are linked to difficulties with ovulation, which makes the pre-ovulatory phase long, sometimes very long. A growing number of doctors now base their PCOS diagnosis on the criteria set out by the Androgen Excess and PCOS Society, which states that to be diagnosed with PCOS, a woman must meet the following criteria:

- an ovarian dysfunction with long cycles for example and/or polycystic ovaries (the two often go hand in hand)

- an excess of male hormones identified either by a blood test or physically through hirsutism for example, as well as the presence 

of long cycles or polycystic ovaries.

- that other causes of androgen excess are ruled out: conditions affecting the pineal gland or adrenal glands, medications, elevated prolactin... [3]

Having long cycles alone can result from recently stopping the pill, stress, lack of sleep, jet lag, undereating and many other factors. Note that in each case, the ovaries may have a multi-follicular appearance due to multiple ovulation attempts.

On a tous en tête qu’un cycle doit durer 28 jours. Il s’agit en réalité d’une moyenne et on considère qu’un cycle “normal” dure entre 21 et 35 jours. Lorsqu’ils durent moins longtemps, on parle de cycles courts liés à une courte phase post-ovulatoire et lorsque leur durée augmente, on parle de cycles longs liés à plusieurs tentatives d’ovulation qui allongent la phase préovulatoire [4].

Chaque femme est différente et il en va de même pour ses cycles. S’il est vrai que nous ovulons en général une quinzaine de jours avant nos règles, cela ne veut pas toujours dire que l’on ovule le 14ème jour. Ainsi en fonction de la durée du cycle, le jour de l’ovulation peut varier. En cas de cycle particulièrement long, la phase préovulatoire, aussi appelée folliculaire, peut durer plusieurs semaines voire plusieurs mois.

Pour en savoir plus, allez voir notre article sur comment calculer son ovulation. 

S’il est vrai que chaque mois environ, une nouvelle possibilité de grossesse a lieu, ce n’est pas valable pour la totalité du cycle. La fenêtre fertile d’une femme dure en réalité moins d’un quart du cycle, soit environ entre 5 et 6 jours. Pendant cette période, un ovule est produit, la sécrétion de glaire cervicale se transforme et le col de l’utérus s’ouvre. La méthode de symptothermie prend en compte ces trois indicateurs pour établir la période de fécondité, afin d’éviter ou au contraire de maximiser les chances de grossesse [5]. Même le meilleur complément fertilité femme n'agit pas sur ce point. 

Ovulation is THE key moment of the cycle. Depending on the woman, it can be more or less difficult to trigger, as it is sensitive to many factors. Diet, stress, lack of sleep, and excessive exercise are all factors that can put the body under stress and interfere with hormonal secretions.

Depending on the context, some cycles are anovulatory — meaning there is no ovulation, and therefore no luteal phase and no progesterone.
 

However, bleeding can occur that is not considered a period, since a period is the result of a succession of steps during the menstrual cycle — including ovulation and the secretion of progesterone.
 

In an anovulatory cycle, only oestrogens are present, and bleeding can be very heavy or last more than a week, when a period is normally expected to last between 2 and 5 days.