Are you one of the many who notice changes in your IBS symptoms during your menstrual cycle? You’re not alone! IBS affects around 1 in 5 adults, affecting women more than men. Research suggests that hormonal fluctuations, particularly oestrogen and progesterone, play a significant role in influencing the gastrointestinal (GI) system, potentially exacerbating IBS symptoms for some. For others, IBS can be triggered by their period. Not fun.
The lowdown on the menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is a complex process that involves fluctuations in hormone levels, two of which are oestrogen and progesterone. These hormones play key roles in regulating various bodily functions, including gut motility, sensitivity, and inflammation.
During the first half of your menstrual cycle (follicular phase), oestrogen levels rise. Oestrogen affects gut motility, sensitivity, and inflammation, potentially leading to increased IBS symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel habits.
In the second half of your menstrual cycle (luteal phase), progesterone levels increase, dropping just before menstruation starts. Progesterone can have a relaxing effect on smooth muscle tissue, including the muscles in your GI tract. While this may help alleviate symptoms like cramping, it can also contribute to slower gut motility and constipation in some individuals with IBS, worsening period symtpoms.
Obviously, these hormonal changes can have a significant impact on gastrointestinal function and may contribute to the onset or worsening of IBS flare-ups.
IBS symptoms and periods
Oestrogen and progesterone receptors are present throughout the gastrointestinal tract and these hormones play an important role in regulating gut function. Oestrogen has a pro-motility effects on the gut (making things move faster), while progesterone tends to have the opposite effect, slowing gut transit time and increasing water absorption in the colon (pre-period constipation and bloating anyone?). Fluctuations in hormone levels can also influence gut sensitivity, with some women experiencing increased visceral hypersensitivity during certain phases of the menstrual cycle.
These are all reasons that explain why IBS symptoms can vary throughout the menstrual cycle, and is why many women notice changes in symptom severity and frequency at different stages of their cycle.
During the follicular phase (the first half of the menstrual cycle), when oestrogen levels are rising, some women may experience an improvement in symptoms and feel at their best, while others may notice an increase in bloating or abdominal discomfort. Ovulation (midway through the cycle), is another period when hormonal fluctuations may trigger IBS symptoms, such as diarrhoea and cramping.
In the luteal phase (the second half of the cycle), when progesterone levels are high, many women report an exacerbation of symptoms, including bloating, constipation, and abdominal pain. Finally, menstruation itself can be a challenging time for women with IBS, with symptoms often peaking just before or during the onset of menstrual bleeding.
➡ Understanding uncommon IBS symptoms
Managing IBS symptoms and your period
First things first, if anything changes suddenly, you notice something new that is not normal for you, always always always check it out with your GP or anyone in your health team. If there’s nothing of concern once you’ve done that, here are some tips to manage the fun ride that is periods & IBS.
Understanding the hormone-gut connection and better understanding your body is really helpful for managing your IBS symptoms. Tracking your menstrual cycle and learning to recognise patterns in your symptoms can be a good place to start in better understanding your body. You don’t need to complicate it; start by adding your GI symptoms to your existing period tracker app, or keep a very basic journal to track what happens and when. Over time, and with a bit of practice, you will start seeing patterns emerge, giving you that extra bit of understanding and help you know what to expect instead of being (unpleasantly) surprised every month. Helping you know when you really shouldn’t skip your 10 minutes of yoga, your meditation, or whatever else you do that makes you feel good and helps you find some space to breathe.
Lifestyle changes to manage IBS symptoms during periods
Other lifestyle modifications, like incorporating stress management techniques, exercising regularly, and dietary changes, can all help stabilise hormone levels and reduce symptom severity, and help to manage IBS symptoms throughout the menstrual cycle. These can include deep breathing exercises, learning to relax the muscles in your body, and things like yoga or pilates, that combine breathing to movement to create a mindfulness practice that promotes relaxation and reduces stress. Exercise is incredible to help with IBS, as well as menstrual pain. Activities like walking, jogging, cycling, or swimming are all formidable to help improve digestion, reduce stress, and promote overall health, and strength training (lifting weights or using resistance bands) can help improve muscle tone and support healthy digestion.
What can CBT and hypnotherapy do for me?
Hypnotherapy and CBT can also be helpful to help manage your IBS symptoms, wherever you’re at in your cycle, and help you manage the stress and anxiety that often accompany, and spur on, these symptoms.
By helping you manage stress and reduce the impact that stress has on your symptoms, hypnotherapy can help calm the nervous system down and reduce the release of stress hormones like cortisol. It can also help directly with specific symptoms of IBS, such as abdominal pain, bloating, and urgency. And by giving you tools for self-soothing and relaxation, and coping techniques for managing your symptoms during your cycle, it is an empowering thing to do for yourself, putting you back in the drivers seat when it comes to your gut and your menstrual symptoms.
CBT, in combination with hypnotherapy is an incredible powerful tool to learn to identify, challenge and change negative thought patterns and behaviours that may be contributing to your symptoms. CBT can also help you develop effective stress management techniques, such as relaxation techniques and problem-solving skills, teaching you healthier ways of coping, helping to reduce the frequency and severity of IBS symptoms. Finally, by developing a better understanding of the mind-body connection and how your thoughts and emotions influence your physical symptoms, and vice-versa, by learning to recognise and address triggers for your symptoms, you can be empowered with ways to manage symptoms proactively. Rule your symptoms. Don’t be ruled by them.
➡ More about hypnotherapy for IBS
Wherever you are in your journey, you can get in touch for a free, no-obligations chat so we can start unpacking all that and we can explore if gut-directed hypnotherapy and CBT might be right for you.
