Ladies, does caffeine make your periods worse?

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  • raven3lise
    raven3lise Posts: 107 Member
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    its_whisper wrote: »
    Ladies, have you noticed during your period that coffee or consumption of caffeine, makes you have anxiety? or if you have depression it makes it worse?



    For me, it's the exact opposite. I need the caffeine during my time because the fatigue is unreal.

    If you're getting new pains, you may have developed mild benign cysts on your ovaries which cause pain when they dislodge during your period. It's not as scary as it sounds; it's actually very common. At your next gyno appointment, have them check for indications of PCOS coming in. If you're "starting to show symptoms" like me, the pain seems to subside when you eat more meat-protein on your period.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    nope, exact opposite... it's why some PMS medicine even includes it:

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,121 Member
    edited August 2017
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    No anxiety ... possibly more crampy.

    An extra calcium tablet seems to help.
  • czmiles926
    czmiles926 Posts: 130 Member
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    Kind of unrelated but caffeine makes me really sleepy and spaced out for some reason, which I swear is the opposite to what it's meant to do.
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
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    its_whisper wrote: »
    gamerbabe14 wrote: »
    Nope. They've always sucked. Actually worse now that I've lost weight....

    That's interesting you say that. I lost 100 pounds and since my periods have been lighter. This past year though they have become painful which is new for me. When i was obese my periods were super heavy

    I dunno, I don't have 100lbs to lose but 40lbs down right now, about 40% to goal, and I want to rip my ovaries to pieces.
  • bonnielee708
    bonnielee708 Posts: 65 Member
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    Thanks @its_whisper for the link. I drilled down a bit on the website story, the comments that followed, and did a quick PubMed search for more recent studies, including one from 2016 that found no correlation between PMS symptoms and caffeine intake (http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2016/07/05/ajcn.115.127027.short). The link you sent me to belongs to a company that promotes herbal supplements for health. I have not drilled down on the company or their other products because I am one another deadline and have other stories to chase this week, but I am curious to learn more.

    I am currently trying to unpack the relationship between hormonal fluctuations and mood after my doctor recommended anti-depressants instead of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat my peri-menopausal symptoms. I am edgy and not sleeping, but periods are still normal, but the suggestion surprised me because I have no reason healthwise not to use HRT. That said, if diet can help more than HRT, I am game to try since caffeine complicates the sleep and my lack of sleep has made me more anxious. I'd like to understand how much of it is hormone flux and how much may be diet.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
    edited August 2017
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    I have lifelong generalized anxiety disorder and mild, episodic depression. I drink about 12 oz coffee daily and if I drink more than that I tend to get jittery and experience more anxiety than usual. I'm naturally very hyper and people would describe me as "a squirrel climbing the walls" if I had the 1/2 pot of coffee my boss drinks during the day.

    However, I don't notice it impacting my periods much at all. I recently watched a vlogger discussing the importance of cutting out all caffeine while menstruating and I found that a new-to-me idea. I tried it last month and noticed absolutely no difference in my physical or emotional symptoms of menstruation. So this month it's back to my usual large cup of coffee with breakfast and no other caffeine to speak of (the odd cup of hot tea). My periods tend to be moderate and my cramping can be pretty severe for 1-2 days, but I don't notice any spikes in my level of anxiety.

    A little off-topic but my weight loss of around 130 lb seemingly caused my periods to be closer together by 4-6 days. I was always like clockwork and still am, they are just closer together now. I track them on a paper calendar and it was a very marked change right around the 90 lb lost mark that has sustained for 3+ years now. Aside from that, I have noticed no changes.
  • its_whisper
    its_whisper Posts: 112 Member
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    czmiles926 wrote: »
    Kind of unrelated but caffeine makes me really sleepy and spaced out for some reason, which I swear is the opposite to what it's meant to do.

    99% of the time caffeine doesn't do anything to me whatsoever lol. I just can't go more than a day without it or I'm a zombie
  • its_whisper
    its_whisper Posts: 112 Member
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    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    I have lifelong generalized anxiety disorder and mild, episodic depression. I drink about 12 oz coffee daily and if I drink more than that I tend to get jittery and experience more anxiety than usual. I'm naturally very hyper and people would describe me as "a squirrel climbing the walls" if I had the 1/2 pot of coffee my boss drinks during the day.

    However, I don't notice it impacting my periods much at all. I recently watched a vlogger discussing the importance of cutting out all caffeine while menstruating and I found that a new-to-me idea. I tried it last month and noticed absolutely no difference in my physical or emotional symptoms of menstruation. So this month it's back to my usual large cup of coffee with breakfast and no other caffeine to speak of (the odd cup of hot tea). My periods tend to be moderate and my cramping can be pretty severe for 1-2 days, but I don't notice any spikes in my level of anxiety.

    A little off-topic but my weight loss of around 130 lb seemingly caused my periods to be closer together by 4-6 days. I was always like clockwork and still am, they are just closer together now. I track them on a paper calendar and it was a very marked change right around the 90 lb lost mark that has sustained for 3+ years now. Aside from that, I have noticed no changes.

    I am on day 2 of my period and I have drank coffee both days and I'm fine. I assume last month my anxiety was just worse than usual. Perhaps hormones? I assume they differ every month for every woman. My cramps are horrible but good ol midol is there for me. I don't think caffeine has anything to do with cramps?

    Yes I know what you mean! my weight loss caused mine to become closer together too! my periods have always been on time except for a few rare occasions, but back during my heavy years they would last longer than 5 days and be super heavy and disgusting. Now with the weight loss they are not as severe, although they still aren't fun lol. I track mine on a app called "my calendar" on android :) I tried the paper way and didn't keep up with it.
  • KristyDonovan
    KristyDonovan Posts: 67 Member
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    Drink decaf coffee for pjs but add in a good matcha green tea for caffeine. Much more mellow

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