How to track your menstrual cycle

Tracking your menstrual cycle is a game-changer. Our cycles hold so much information about how our bodies are functioning, and how we might function in the future. We’d miss all these clues and hints if we didn't track our cycles. In its most basic form, tracking involves making a note of specific dates and events, such as:

-The days we have our period; and

-Our behaviours, thoughts, and feelings

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Some people add extra information, such as:

-The nature of vaginal discharge

-Body temperature (if you use this as a method of contraception or want to know ovulation date)

Not only does tracking provide valuable insights into what our bodies are doing, but it also helps us predict what phase of our cycle we’re in, when we’re likely to get our next period, and how we might feel, think, and act at specific times of the month. 

In this article, we'll explore how to effectively track your menstrual cycle, including how to work out your cycle length and identify and score PMS and PMDD symptom nature, severity, and timing.

• The menstrual cycle refers to the series of changes a woman's body goes through in preparation for the possibility of pregnancy. On average, a menstrual cycle lasts about 28 days, although it can vary widely among individuals, ranging from 21 to 35 days.
• There are two subcycles within the menstrual cycle. One manages the uterus lining (the uterine cycle) and one manages the preparation and release of an egg from the ovaries (the ovarian cycle).
• The uterine cycle is made up of menstruation, the proliferative phase, and the secretory phase. (You don’t need to worry about remembering the names, but we’ve included them for information!)
• A new cycle begins on the first day of a period. 
• You can think of the ovarian cycle being split into two halves (the follicular phase and the luteal phase), which are separated by ovulation. The follicular phase begins on the first day of your period and ends when you ovulate. The luteal phase starts after you ovulate and ends when you start your next period.

The first day of your period is the first day of a new cycle. You don’t need to wait until you get your period to start tracking your cycle. We suggest starting as soon as you can (today!). 

Grab yourself a pen and paper (ideally something you won’t lose), start a new note on your phone, or download one of the dedicated period tracking apps. If you use a planning or personal diary, you could also separate out a section of this and deicidate it to menstrual cycle notes.

As you get more comfortable with the process, you can add more details, but start with the following:

1. Write down the date, and how you feel. We suggest including the following categories:some text
   1. Mood
   2. Energy levels
   3. How you slept the night before
   4. Skin quality 
   5. Any life events that may alter the way you feel (promotions, relationship changes, family dynamics, etc)
2. Create a severity scale, we recommend 1-5 (1 being low/bad, 5 being great/high) and score each of the above categories. You don’t have to use a severity scale, and you can instead just write down how you’re feeling, but the scale does serve a good purpose when trying to remember/compare how significant those feelings were that day.  
3. Do this every day. 
4. If you know which specific PMS or PMDD symptoms you experience, write them down on the days you feel them. For example, bloating, irritability, lack of confidence, breast tenderness, mood swings, changes in libido, etc.
5. When you get your period, note this down too. Note down every day you have it (so that you can work out how many days you usually bleed for). Periods typically last between three and seven days. 

Once you’ve tracked two or more cycles, you can work out the following:

• How many days your cycle lasts for
• Starting from period day 1, count how many days it was until day 1 of your next period - this is your cycle length
• How many days your period lasts for
  • Count the number of days you bled for
• Any pattern in PMS or PMDD symptoms, for example, do you get mood-based symptoms just after ovulation, and physical symptoms right before your period? Do you always get irritable, and only feel down and depressed every other cycle?
  • Look at how often, and during which part of your cycle, you get specific symptoms and write down some general patterns

What does all of this mean? Well, if you know symptoms such as low mood, social withdrawal, and low self-esteem are typical for you around day 25 of your cycle, you can avoid planning any big social activities on those days. If you know bloating is a big issue for you around day 31 of your cycle, you’ll know to choose those baggy jeans for Sunday lunch, rather than the ones with a super tight waistband. What's more, if your concentration is rubbish around day 19 of your cycle, and your yearly review at work is planned for that day, you can plan in advance and ask your employer if you can shift it one or two weeks earlier. 

• Menstrual tracking apps: several different smartphone apps allow you to track your menstrual cycle. These apps often provide features such as period predictions, symptom tracking, and fertility tracking and analyse your data inputs for you.
• Menstrual cycle calendar: keeping a physical calendar dedicated to tracking your menstrual cycle can also be effective. Mark the start and end dates of your period and any notable symptoms or changes you observe.
• Basal body temperature (BBT) charting: tracking your basal body temperature can help pinpoint ovulation. Your BBT typically rises slightly after ovulation, indicating the start of the luteal phase. Specialised thermometers and charts can assist in this method.