The reason behind irregular cycles with Dori Floyd
A 2017 study showed that 14% to 25% of women have irregular menstrual cycles, meaning the cycles are shorter or longer, or heavier or lighter than the typical cycle.
Dori Floyd of Heart of Health, has worked in the health and wellness field for more than 10 years. After graduating with a Bachelor's of Science in Exercise and Sports Science, she's worked as a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and wellness educator.
"Recently I have found my passion is helping women with their reproductive health. After experiencing symptoms related to estrogen dominance, suboptimal thyroid, and gut dysbiosis, I decided that enough was enough and started doing a lot of research on how to heal my body."
Through her own personal discoveries and research, she learned that the birth control she had been on for 12 years was no longer serving her. With that came the question of how she would manage her own fertility to prevent (and achieve) pregnancy naturally.
"So I did even more research and self-taught the Taking Charge of Your Fertility method by Toni Weschler, that combines cervical mucus and basal body temperature to open and close the fertile window and ultimately confirm ovulation."
With self-teaching and reading, a whole new world of body literacy opened up to her which got her wheels turning on so many issues within the health care system that women have to deal with, specifically medical gaslighting.
She decided to expand her knowledge base and obtain my Integrative Health Practitioner certifications (IHP) and Fertility Education and Medical Management certification (FEMM) with the goal to help women by teaching a scientifically-backed fertility awareness method, expand their knowledge of body literacy, and use integrative health practices to optimize their menstrual cycle and fertility health.
Here we address irregular cycles, the reasons behind them, and ways to achieve a more regular cycle.
Q. What are signs of cycle irregularities?
A. When spotting cycle irregularities, we first need to establish what a normal cycle and biomarkers should look like. Cycles should be about 24-36 days on a regular basis.
When it comes to menstrual bleeding, we want to see bright red blood, between 40-80ml of bleeding across all days, and see about 3-7 days of bleeding with at least one day of heavy or medium flow.
We also look for variations in length of the time before and after the ovulatory window as well to determine cycle irregularities. Other signs to look for are bleeding outside of your period, heavy/painful periods, symptoms like PMS, PMDD, mood swings, food cravings, breast tenderness, headaches/migraines, and infertility.
Q. What are some of the causes of irregularities?
A. While other hormones are important too, like luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone, we look at the effects of estrogen and progesterone on the menstrual cycle. Estrogen and progesterone can get imbalanced due to things like stress, exposure to environmental toxins, over-eating, under-eating, over-exercising, gut dysbiosis, inflammation, heavy metal toxicity, to name a few things.
We often see cycle irregularities in connection to underlying conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, adenomyosis, hyperthyroidism, uterine fibroids, and polyps.
Q. What are some things women can do to have a more regular cycle?
A. Get really good at the basics. The foundational habits. Eat enough (specifically protein), always eat breakfast, eat nutrient dense foods, avoid preservatives and processed foods, avoid alcohol, limit caffeine, drink plenty of water, replenish electrolytes, exercise adequately (I prefer weight lifting and walking 10k steps a day), support detox pathways through use of saunas, lymphatic drainage, castor oil packs, and epsom salt baths, use stress reducing activities like meditation or prayer and diaphragmatic breathing, address trauma and anxiety with a licensed professional, and hire an integrative fertility coach.