Damn hormones, they fuck up everything! Turns out that you’re probably not sleeping well right before and just at the beginning of your period because both your estrogen and progesterone levels are low during that time.
The National Sleep Foundation says that a little less than a third of women have sleep disturbances because of their menstrual cycle for various reasons — headaches, depression, cramps — but feeling sleepier is reported about a week before periods, when progesterone is high, which means that it’s probable that in addition to physical and emotional reasons for sleep loss, your hormones are affecting your sleep as well.
The great thing about it (if we’re going to go ahead and reach for a silver lining) is that you can generally map out when your period is going to happen and take some preemptive measures to ensure better sleep — stock up on supplements, prepare yourself mentally so you don’t get anxious about it, cue up your favorite whale-sounds track, whatever works for you.
[National Sleep Foundation] [h/t Huffington Post]
Original by Rebecca Vipond Brink