The "typical" cycle is 28 days, hence reference to a lunar cycle. On day 1, the uterus sheds its lining which was there and prepared to become pregnant. The shedding is the "period" and usually lasts about five days. The uterus then begins to develop a new, nutrient rich lining to feed the fertilized egg. About fourteen days after the first day of bleeding, an egg is released from one of the ovaries and travels daow the fallopian tubes to the uterus. Fertilization would take place in the tube and a fertilized egg would move into the uterus and implant in the rich lining. Voila, pregnancy!

If fertilization does not take place, the egg drops on through the cervical os and out the vagina. In rare instances the woman can actually see the egg in her pants. The chance of pregnancy is now over and the hormones in her system change. They hit a low point (physically, psychologically, emotionally) a few days before her next period. Many of us (me) feel lousy for these few days. And the the flow starts and the cycle begins all over again.

All of this is orchestrated by the mixture of estrogen and progestin in the bloodstream. This all seems too perfect and, inf act, younger women, especially, tend to be highly irregular in both menstruating and ovulating. Pregnancy is possible any day of the cycle although more likely in mid-cycle. While the typical cycle is 28 days, they can vary from 23-35 days. In young teens, little periods appear and disappear and are often referred to as spotting. The variation in hormones in puberty confuse the body and the period appears to start and stop randomly.

[QUOTE=Brandye;192748] They hit a low point (physically, psychologically, emotionally) a few days before her next period. Many of us (me) feel lousy for these few days. And the the flow starts and the cycle begins all over again.
[/QUOTE]

:confused: Hmm I didn't know that! I guess that explains why my headaches get worse, and I'm more tired/bitchy before my period than during. :p

[quote=curious_woman;192755]:confused: Hmm I didn't know that! I guess that explains why my headaches get worse, and I'm more tired/bitchy before my period than during. :p[/quote]

Many also notice they bloat, pants are too tight, and are generally irritable!

Good points, sera. I often wear an "up-sized" bra for a couple days. And my nurse often notices my period is coming on before I do! She can be a bit bitchy then, too, and we have worked together for ten years.

Your fortunate...your bra size goes up. My pants used to, LOL! Worse part about working with other women regularly is cycles become in-tune to each other so everyone is nasty at the same time!

I hate it when your pants feel too small. I find around the bloating stage of my period I just feel like crap. As a tip of how to guess when shes getting her period my boyfriend tells me that I tend to complain alot, I second guess most things that I do, I get more irritated such as every little thing bugs me (hes late picking me up, plans suddenly get change etc.) Also I find personally I am more inclined to eat unhealth foods such as fast foods (which I usual hate), chips, anything high in fat lol :P.

My headaches usually get worse and if i eat too much chocolate or caffine they get to the point of hardcore migranes.

Just watch for her to get irritated and being more of a perfectionist. I notice with my sister mother and female friends that perfectionism normally happens. Their hair and makeup needs to be perfect or they will have a mental break down haha. :D ...The joys of being a woman!!

XK:

FYI; If you thwart of the junk food needs and try to maintain a a healthy diet and exercise; it seriously helps.

You say a period lasts for 5 days? is she really grumpy and lousy usually for that amount of time or it only the 1st day?

oh and guys, while we are doubled over in pain it does not help to point out that we are now fat! grrr.

You have heard all the usual: hot water bottle, acetaminophen, diuretics. For some women, nothing really does the job - until they have a baby. I am not recommending that, simply stating a fact. Some women are put on birth control pills as hormone therapy and this is now the treatment of first choice with dysmenorrhea. Talk to your doctor about this.

I heard that if you know when you are going to start, you can take some ibuprofen a few days before and your cramps won't be as bad! This works for me when I remember to take it.

Brandye,

The first few days of my period, I have excruciating cramps. What can I do to make the cramps less excruciating?

For that i think you should take medical help.

Definitely, RR!
Therefore a woman should be vigilant and take her system seriously!
Desire? No, I just got meaner than usual right before my itsy-bitsy barely noticable period when I used to have one but I was on those heavy-duty BCPs they sold then.

Yes but all he said was right before - now what precisely does right before mean - 2 days? 2 hours? 15 minutes? It can mean whatever hence my point remains valid because SOME women ovulate just before just as some women can still get pregnant if a guy looks at her cross-eyed. Between the variation between women and the inprecise timeline - it just could be ovulation.

EEK, I definitely agree that there's a lot of variation between women. And even in an individual woman it may differ each cycle. This is why I'd never recommend bc-methods such as the calender-method. Only strictly observing fertility symptoms can give you insight in such timelines.

But: if ovulation is really occurring 1-2 days prior to menstruation, that would be very very short... By my knowledge -which admittedly is without certificate at the moment :)- one of the things it could indicate would be that the yellow gland (corpus luteum) that is in the ovaries after ovulation, is disappearing far too quickly or produces far too little progesterone. That's one of the conditions that causes decreased fertility.

A more likely possibility which leads to pregnancy would be sex before menstruation and the woman is ovulating early in the next cycle. Ovulation shortly after menstruation can even be regular, especially in women with short cycles. Spermcells are able to live inside a woman for 3-5 days, some even 7 days. They're waiting for ovulation to occur.

The female fertility cycle may seem the mysterious cause of unwanted pregnancy, but don't forget about the male fertility as partner in crime. It's the man's little buggers that are capable of hiding, living for so long and even crawl their ways up from the entrance of the vagina all the way inside to the jackpot. Not to mention they come in millions, even when he hasn't come! Mother Nature was no fool when she designed this system ;)

i saw a special i think called 'the anatomy of sex' and one part said when a woman is at peak ovulation one of the things that happens is her voice becomes higher. they did a hearing test with men and they all found the women with higher tone voices to be more sexually desirable.

Uhm, bookworm was talking about her nearing menstruation, not ovulation, right?

In a natural cycle; menstruation occurs 14-16 days after ovulation. Given an ovulated eggcell only is to be fertilized somewhere between 12-24 hours, that would make her in a less or even least fertile state of the cycle, when she's "nearing her period". Unless "near" is two weeks before her period off course :) See Brandye's explanation on page 1 of the current thread and an explanation on the natural cycle here: http://www.sexinfo101.com/forum/birth-control-stds-sexual-disorders/2886...

Personally, my sexual desires certainly peak around my ovulation, but I do experience more desire the days before menstruation as well. Two possible causes, I can think of:
1) mental; after I've used my NFP-calculations and know unprotected sex is possible, it gets me frisky. And especially when we don't act upon that immediately, the desire builds. Let's face it: sex starts in the mind! :)
2) hormonal; the last few days of a cycle, there could already be a bit of extra oestrogen kicking in, that will rise and peak during the first stage of the next cycle.

I do agree with how men read behavioral and chemical cues instinctively. My man picks up on behavioral cues of my heightened sexuality immediately, no matter what causes me to feel this. I'm guessing men are programmed to recognize opportunity :rolleyes: When the chemicals are also running a show, he knows even without me telling him that ovulation and thus dangerous highly fertile times are there ;)

And yes; it's funny to see how your body changes around ovulation. I've read your body even redistributes the fluids under your skin, which make you look more attractive. Some women even notice this by changing fittings of their bra's. And I can personally tell it changes the way you smell; overall it's more sweet.

Research into the topic of women's "hidden ovulation" indicates that men DO know when she's fertile vs when she isn't on an instinctual level. Her 'hidden ovulation' isn't so hidden after all. So, YES it is perfectly normal to be extra desirous when she's nearing her period. You're simply responding to the chemical and behavoral cues she's putting out.

It seems to be for you. There are men who will have nothing to do with sex during her period; those who look forward to sex then; and, those who are oblivious to the cycle. Better talk it out with her before you two have a misunderstanding.

I notice that when my gf nears her period i get extra horny. Is that normal?

If we each had perfect cycles, ovulation would not occur just a few days before our periods. The fact is that any woman who has an irregular period, has irregular ovulation. Other activities can cause variability in our hormones and that can trigger ovulation and some women pass several eggs per month making them constantly fertile.

As for desire, I would be rather morose and edgy for two days or so but that cleared up with the beginning of the flow - both menstrual and urine. And then the libido came roaring back by the second day of the actual period.

[QUOTE=EvilEvilKitten;270893]Research into the topic of women's "hidden ovulation" indicates that men DO know when she's fertile vs when she isn't on an instinctual level. Her 'hidden ovulation' isn't so hidden after all. So, YES it is perfectly normal to be extra desirous when she's nearing her period. You're simply responding to the chemical and behavoral cues she's putting out.[/QUOTE]

I saw part of something on tv that described how our sense of smell subconciously detects, for men, a womans fertility depending how far she is on the whole wheel of misfortion, and women can tell if a man is geneticly fit through smell. these smells change depending on hormones (in women) and in men its through sweat, they did all sorts of tests, including women sniffing sweaty socks and deciding if they liked the smell or not (each girl had a relative male in one of the jars) they surprisingly found their relative one the least attractive of all (the majority at least) wish i could find it again, was most interesting.

A Christmas idea! I shall send my sister-in-law, always difficult to buy for, a jar with one of my brother's handball gloves! See where that goes.

i did forget to mentiont hey were blindfolded... it was an interesting show, ill have to find it