Menstruation Symptoms

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Menstruation will start at the onset of puberty and end at the beginning of menopause.

Physical experience

In many women, various intense sensations brought about by the involved hormones and by cramping of the uterus can precede or accompany menstruation.

Stronger sensations may include significant menstrual pain (dysmenorrhea), abdominal pain, migraine headaches, depression, emotional sensitivity, feeling bloated, changes in sex drive and nausea.

Dysmenorrhea, or severe uterine pain, is particularly common for adolescents and young women (one study found that 67.2% of girls aged 13-19 suffer from it).

Breast swelling and discomfort caused by premenstrual water retention or hormone women.

Binge eating occurs in a minority of menstruating women. This may be due to fluctuation in beta-endorphin levels. More severe symptoms may be classified as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). The sensations experienced vary from woman to woman and from cycle to cycle.

Emotional reactions

Some women experience emotional disturbances associated with menstruation. These range from the irritability popularly associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), to tiredness, or "weepiness" (i.e. tears of emotional closeness). A similar range of emotional effects and mood swings is associated with pregnancy.

The prevalence of PMS is estimated to be between 3% and 30%. Rarely, in individuals susceptible to psychotic episodes, menstruation may be a trigger (menstrual psychosis).

Flow

The normal menstrual flow follows a "crescendo-decrescendo" pattern; that is, it starts at a moderate level, increases somewhat, and then slowly tapers.

Sudden heavy flows or amounts in excess of 80 mL (''hypermenorrhea'' or ''menorrhagia'') may stem from hormonal disturbance, uterine abnormalities, including uterine leiomyoma or cancer, and other causes. Doctors call the opposite phenomenon, of bleeding very little, ''hypomenorrhea''.

Duration

The typical woman bleeds for two to seven days at the beginning of each menstrual cycle. Prolonged bleeding (''metrorrhagia'', also ''meno-metrorrhagia'') no longer shows a clear interval pattern. Dysfunctional uterine bleeding is hormonally caused bleeding abnormalities.

Dysfunctional uterine bleeding typically occurs in premenopausal women who do not ovulate normally (i.e. are anovulatory). All these bleeding abnormalities need medical attention; they may indicate hormone imbalances, uterine fibroids, or other problems. As pregnant patients may bleed, a pregnancy test forms part of the evaluation of abnormal bleeding.