LADIES only question - Manipulate your cycle?

[FloridaLovesChicago]

I wasn't real sure where to post this and I didn't find a thread on it so...

First off - there should be no lecturing in the post lol I know I should not try to stop/start/reverse/pause/whatever a natural thing but...I'm 31 and I'll do what I want

I'm sure a lot of us have had the problem of being on our period during a visit - which isn't completely horrible (in my opinion) but it's not exactly ideal either. My cycle is really weird and always has been so it's hard to pin point when exactly I'll start but I can usually determine "i'll start tomorrow" by the way I'm feeling. Other than that, my cycle fluctuates between 21-28 days and it'll come a week early for 3 months then be back on time for a few. This is a huge pain in trying to schedule visits and the last time, I took to friends and the internet to see if there was something I could do. On our first visit I was on my period and I would be damned if it was happening again lol but I could feel it coming and I knew it was going to fall right on time with my visit. I'm not on birth control of any kind nor do I want to be so I needed something other than those suggestions to alter what was inevitably going to happen.

I'm actually very happy to report that what I ended up trying DID work for me. I dont know how it worked, but I know for sure that it did.
I read in a few places that drinking lemon juice would stall/delay your period - and it definitely did! My period "technially" should have started on Nov 22nd (which was when my flight there was) I knew I would start that day especially the night before because I had terrible cramps and my lower back always hurts the day before. I drank a teaspoon of lemon juice and my cramps completely disappeared. The next morning I had another teaspoon, still no cramps...and headed off to Chicago. I stayed in Chicago for 5 days - drinking a teaspoon to two teaspoons of lemon juice a day and I didn't start. I finally started on the day I was leaving...I didn't have any lemon juice that day and I took a hot bath. Everything went along as normal - I had a 3 day period, and I feel perfectly fine.

Has anyone ever done anything like this? Or done this? Did it work? Do you know of anything else that works?
I know some of you may find this strange but please tell me I'm not the only person who has done something like this! lol

[snow_girl]

Sounds like pseudoscience to me.

[differentcountries]

I take lemon juice every single day... I doubt it has any effect other than kickstart your stomack.

With such irregular periods I would consult a doctor about it, usually there is a reason why the cycles don't stabilize, related to your health.

[Dziubka]

I take lemon juice every single day... I doubt it has any effect other than kickstart your stomack.

With such irregular periods I would consult a doctor about it, usually there is a reason why the cycles don't stabilize, related to your health.

I agree that I doubt lemon juice has an effect on periods, but:

You do realise women are not robots, right? It's perfectly normal to not have exact 28-day-cycles. 21-28 days isn't even very irregular. I don't know why you would even consider seeing a doctor for that.
It's kind of like going to a doctor because one day you feel good after 7 hours of sleep and the next day you need 9 to feel well rested.

[80anthea]

I manipulate mine but with the pill. Whenever I am due to see my SO I just take two packets back to back so no bleeding until I'm home.

[differentcountries]

It's perfectly normal to not have exact 28-day-cycles. 21-28 days isn't even very irregular. I don't know why you would even consider seeing a doctor for that.
It's kind of like going to a doctor because one day you feel good after 7 hours of sleep and the next day you need 9 to feel well rested.

No, it is not like that. Short cycles is one thing, but at 31 most women have pretty regular periods. My ex girlfriend used to have irregular periods and she was checked for endomitrose, I don't think they ever concluded in the matter but they found some symptoms. I have friends with irregular periods who found out they had various deficiencies related to that, like ovary syndroms or general health issues like vitamin deficiencies.

[Dziubka]

No, it is not like that. Short cycles is one thing, but at 31 most women have pretty regular periods. My ex girlfriend used to have irregular periods and she was checked for endomitrose, I don't think they ever concluded in the matter but they found some symptoms. I have friends with irregular periods who found out they had various deficiencies related to that, like ovary syndroms or general health issues like vitamin deficiencies.

I don't really feel like arguing with you.
I didn't say irregular periods cannot be signs of something being wrong. I said that 21 - 28 days does not constitute irregular periods. Not at 31 not at any age.


And regarding the original topic:
Considering how periods work and that it's the time between the end of your period and your ovulation that can change, while the time between ovulation and the start of your period usually (!) remains the same (+/- 1 day in most cases), you'd have to do something to influence your ovulation. There are some teas or herbs that supposedly delay ovulation (chaste tree for instance), but I wouldn't count on them.

[aniay]

I used to have regular periods 28 +/- 2 days and then PCOS happaned. 8 days difference (from what I know) is not a difference big enough to be worried about though consulting doctor 'just in case' is advisable because while it can be perfectly normal it might be a strat to something else.

Periods and when we get them are pretty strongly connected to our stress levels. I don't think lemon juice can stop period but I do think that you stressing about not having a period might have paused it. (Stress can pause period even for week or even two, at least that's my experience).

Regulating periods by BC is not for everyone, you should always consult your GYN and have blood tests before starting it. For most of girls though it works perfectly well. (I am an example where BC just fucked up my body BIG TIME).

I don't know about any other 'period regulating tricks' but I think that even in LDR sometimes you just arive and keep dying for the next few days. That's how life is. Or, maybe try having sex while on period, it's said to have a wonderful way of relieving cramping and aching.

[Miasmata]

Personally, I can vouch for sex on the period. It's definitey not for everyone, and I can't fault anyone for being put off by it, but I'd say it's definitely worth a shot if neither partner is too squeamish about a bit of blood. Put a towel on the bed and shower before and afterwards, and in my experience, it feels much less icky than I expected. When your partner is careful and gentle with you, it really is very relaxing.

As for the thread topic, I'm pretty sure that the lemon juice thing is just a myth, sorry. Many things can influence your cycle, but simple diet changes are not among them - It's much more likely that you stressing out over it changed your period. Hormones are basically little signals your body uses to regulate itself, and they are heavily influenced by the brain, so any stress you experience can mess with them, particularly the female hormones. Other potential causes for cycle changes are weight loss and prolonged illnesses. It makes sense, really - Your body wants to ensure a potential baby's safety, so when things aren't 100% up to snuff, your cycle adjusts.

If you want to pretty reliably change your period, there's really no way around the birth control pill. Since you can choose when to take it, you can for example skip a period by taking two packages directly after each other. However, different pills work differently for people - Again, hormones are very fickle little things. Ask a doctor directly about a pill that you can safely use to adjust your cycle. From my past experiences with the pill, it works quite well, but even then you can't prevent your body from just doing what it wants to sometimes.

Sorry I can't give any better advice, the period just isn't something you can fully get under control. If you want to try adjusting it with the pill, speak to a doc.

[FloridaLovesChicago]

All I know is that it did work for me - it may have been psychosis lol but it did work in my situation ...it held my period off until 34 days, which has never happened in my case. However it happened - I'm glad it did lol

Second -
Obviously I have regular trips to the doc. I am 31 after all, and I have had a child so I'm well aware the problems that I could have. However, I trust my OB (who I actually saw on Monday for a routine pap smear) who says I'm all well and dandy down there, and like I said...my periods have always been wonky. But in all actuality 21-28 days isn't that strange after all. I used to be concerned that my periods would only last ONE day sometimes but I discussed that with my doctor when it happened and like DZ said - women are not robots...we are all different and just because my period is weird (to me), does not mean I'm suffering from an illness. We've even tested for hormone issues, thyroid problems, etc and there aren't any problems.

[Unicorn26]

I've just had a hysterectomy so this is no longer an issue for me but I would say that any irregular bleeding needs to be investigated. Don't be fobbed off by your Dr, they quite often don't take women's problems seriously and believe me I know how bad it can be. I had pcos, fibroids, endometriosis and long heavy periods that lasted 3 weeks and were causing me to anaemic. I'm glad it's all gone now, no more periods either so I don't have to stress! I don't mind sex during my period but it was a big no no for my SO so I'm glad it won't get in the way when we finally do meet.

[AnnMarie Green]

Well, I guess my hubby and I are in the "We don't care" category for the sex on the period thing. In fact, the week he came down to marry me, I was on mine, and guess what?? Yesssss we went right on n did our thing as usual!! Idk..I think when you do this LDR thing long enough, you begin to get over the niceties... Blessings!!

[snow]

This sounds more like correlations than causation, but why not make it an experiment? You should do this for a couple months and see if that works for you everytime!

[FloridaLovesChicago]

Well, I guess my hubby and I are in the "We don't care" category for the sex on the period thing. In fact, the week he came down to marry me, I was on mine, and guess what?? Yesssss we went right on n did our thing as usual!! Idk..I think when you do this LDR thing long enough, you begin to get over the niceties... Blessings!!

Oh we don't care, either...we still have our fun even if I'm on it but there are things I like to have done that he prefers not to do while I'm on my period lol It was more for pleasure lol

[FloridaLovesChicago]

This sounds more like correlations than causation, but why not make it an experiment? You should do this for a couple months and see if that works for you everytime!

I was actually thinking I may try it this month just to see what happened. Like I said, it could be in my head but if drinking lemon juice is what it takes for my head to take over the reproductive system, then so be it