The QueenHow does my high blood pressure impact my menstrual cycle?
To answer that question, I thought it would be fun to use the data I had so far to create a chart showing my blood pressure readings during the various phases of my menstrual cycle.
There’s a great – very detailed – explanation of what happens during the phases of your cycle and a really pretty graphic at HelloClue.com. I encourage you to read it over and familiarize yourself with the data.
Clue – in addition to being my favorite childhood board game – is also an app you can use to track your cycle. While I do not personally use this app, I do track my cycle in an app called Life. (Not sponsored.) There’s several out there. I recommend everyone use at least one, if for no other reason than for when your doctor asks you what day of your cycle you are on.
Your doctor isn’t asking you this question? They should be. As the article above states:
“Understanding the menstrual cycle is important because it can impact the body from head to toe. Some people notice changes in their hair, skin, poop, chronic disease symptoms, mental health, migraine headaches, or the way they experience sex at different points in the menstrual cycle.”
For the purposes of simplicity, we will be looking at:
- The Period – Uterine lining sheds. You know the drill. Estrogen and progesterone levels are low. Usually Days 1-4 for me.
- The Proliferative Phase: After the period, the uterine lining builds back up again. Estrogen rises as an egg prepares to be released. This is day 5-13 for me.
- Ovulation: Day 14. The egg is released from the ovary. Estrogen peaks just before Day 14, and then drops shortly after.
- The Secretory Phase: This is the time when the body prepares for a pregnancy or, in the absence of pregnancy, the start of menstruation. Progesterone is produced, peaks, then drops. For me, this is Day 15-26.
Side Note: One of the reasons I didn’t like taking the medication for my high blood pressure was because it shortened my cycle from 26 days to 23 days, on average (in some cases, it shortened to 20 or 22 days). That might not seem like a lot, but some studies have linked the number of ovulations a woman has during her lifetime to an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Taking away three to five days off my cycle each time could add up to a lot more bleeding in the long term.
It’s like when my husband complains that I don’t wrap the vacuum cleaner cord around the plastic nubs properly, and part of that complaint is that wrapping the cord properly consumes only five minutes or less of my time. And I counter that five minutes of time every time I vacuum added up over the course of a lifetime leads to an astonishing amount of time I’ve wasted wrapping a freaking cord.
Where were we?
Oh yes, data.
This data has been accumulated over the course of the past several years. According to my average readings on these particular days of my cycle, my blood pressure is highest on Day 14, during the Ovulation phase. However, since Day 14 is so specific, I only have TWO data points for that phase. The Period phase (Days 1-4) has seven data points to average. The other two phases – which span much longer time frames – are represented with 13 data points each. So those averages are obviously a better picture of what is happening.
Most of these data points are fairly close together.
While more data is needed to determine what is actually happening in my body on Day 14, I think we can reasonably say that my blood pressure is generally the lowest on Days 1-4. During my Period phase. My Diastolic pressure (the amount of pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats) came down most noticeably, by 3 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg) during this time frame. Meanwhile, my Systolic pressure (the amount of pressure in the arteries during the contraction of your heart muscle) came down by 1 mm Hg. And my heart rate (the number of times the heart beats per minute while at rest) came down by 1 beat per minute (bpm).
I find this interesting because this is the time of my cycle when I feel the worst. However, I do have a good self care routine during this time frame, so I spend these days generally taking it easy, eating sugar free chocolate, watching Felicity on Hulu. Holding a hot pad to my cramps. My husband and kids bring me coffee and check to see that I’m okay. So maybe this is what is pulling my pressure down?
Conclusion
I think we need more data. There’s no discernible difference, except for the Day 14 data, which is not as reliable as the others. So let’s revisit this in a few months, shall we?