3 Reasons Why Gut Issues Get Worse Before Your Period & How to Stop Them

This one’s for my babes who feel personally VICTIMIZED by some of their favorite foods in the second half of their cycle.

Tell me if this sounds familiar…

you tolerate dairy, gluten, and some other foods well in the first half of your cycle, and then the 10 days leading up to it, suddenly everything is making you cramp, feel gassy, constipated or giving you diarrhea. 

And these symptoms are annoying, leave you feeling confused about your body and wondering if you should just cut out dairy, gluten and basically everything that tastes yummy, for good.

In this blog, we’ll explore WHY your gut is more reactive leading up to your period and how you can start getting relief today.

You can also snag my FREE Period Fix Blueprint that gives you 5 sustainable steps that I implement with ALL my period pain / estrogen dominant clients to help them improve their cycles + digestion.

Menstrual Cycle Phases

So before we dive deeper, let’s go over a BRIEF overview of the different cycle phases:

• Menstrual- Your hormones (estrogen + progesterone) are at their lowest. Your uterine lining is shedding = your actual period.
• Follicular- Estrogen starts rising, prepping your body to ovulate. FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) is waking up your ovaries.
• Ovulation- Estrogen peaks and LH (luteinizing hormone) triggers ovulation—your body releases an egg.
• Luteal- Progesterone rises (if you ovulated). Estrogen dips (unless you have estrogen dominance then there will be an increase for a bit). If there’s no pregnancy, both will fall before your period.

Why Gut Issues Spike Before & Even On Your Period

Because of the changes in our hormone levels throughout the month, we can also notice changes in our digestion, consistency, + even motility (aka transit time). So let’s break it down.

1)) Estrogen Dominance: Estrogen dominance doesn’t always mean high estrogen. You can have estrogen dominance with:

- high estrogen + low progesterone
- normal estrogen + low progesterone
- high estrogen + normal progesterone

But either way, this imbalance can drive a lot of GI symptoms like reflux + nausea. We have many histamine receptors in our GI tract and histamine plays a role in so many things, including stomach acid.

Progesterone helps to stabilize mast cells (the cells that release histamine) which can slow release of histamine. And estrogen + histamine have an affinity for one another. Higher estrogen stimulates more histamine release, and high histamine levels promote more estrogen release. Low progesterone can make it harder to reduce histamine. This can be a pretty vicious cycle, so that’s exactly why I created my Healing Histamine Masterclass.

Some causes of estrogen dominance include stress, poor gut health, poor liver detox, nutrient depleted diet, etc.

Your gut microbiome is very important for estrogen metabolism. If there is a bunch of dysbiosis or unwanted bacteria, this can affect how your body eliminates it + can increase levels of estrogen. Poor absorption of amino acids needed to support detoxification are also a factor.

Endometriosis is more often than not tied to estrogen dominance. Endo lesions also make/ secrete their own estrogen so this can also be why you’re noticing more GI issues in this part of your cycle. I see this a lot in my practice working with women that have endo: They tolerate dairy + some other histamine rich foods okay, then not long after ovulation, their bodies straight up reject these foods. 

Higher estrogen can make bile more sludgey in the gallbladder + overall slow it, which can also have an impact on absorption, detoxification + overall digestion.

It’s not the food, babe, it’s your hormones.

2)) Slower Gut Motility from Hormone Shifts in the Luteal Phase:

While we need progesterone for everything from helping to improve period pain, anxiety, sleep, PMS, supporting bone health and more… it does come with side effects. 

The rise of progesterone in the luteal phase can SLOW muscle contractions in the digestive tract + therefore slow gut motility which can lead to constipation, bloating, gas, reflux, etc . Estrogen dips can do this as well. Regular bowel movements are also essential for eliminating excess estrogen from the body.

3)) Inflammation + Prostaglandins:

Leading up to our period and even on it, we can have higher levels of prostaglandins + inflammation which increase contractions in the uterus + gut. This can lead to looser stools aka the “period poops” all women talk about. In women who have higher inflammation, chronic gut issues like IBS, Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis or inflammatory conditions will likely notice more digestive symptoms this time of month. Read a PubMed article on this here.

How Your Gut + Hormone Issues Can Become a Vicious Cycle:

The Gut/Hormone Connection is real.. And it goes both ways. Your gut issues can cause/worsen your hormone issues, your hormone issues can cause/worsen your gut issues. This is exactly why healing requires a FULL BODY approach + not bandaids.

Then we have things like stress + nervous system dysregulation, blood sugar balance, sleep, nutrient deficiencies, pelvic floor dysfunction, excessive training, etc that can worsen this cycle. This can be where it helps working with someone 1:1 because they can help you determine where you need to focus so you can finally heal + not waste time! Time is SO SO precious.

Tips to Improve Hormone Balance + Your Gut Symptoms:

First, I break down these + a few more habits in more detail inside my Free Period Fix Blueprint. This is for you if you have painful or heavy periods, missing or irregular cycles, endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS, etc.

Here are 2 main habits I’d start with:

1. Balance Your Blood Sugar: Eat at least 3- blood sugar stabilizing meals throughout the day (Containing protein, healthy fats, fiber/color). And aim for a total of 100g of protein minimum and 25-30g of fiber a day.
   
   
2. Hydrate with minerals: Water + minerals are essential for hydration, digestion, our nervous system + more! Magnesium or electrolyte powders like ReLyte (code RITA saves you 15%) by the same brand that makes Redmond’s Real Salt is my go to! You can snag some salt from this site as well + save!

Again, you can read MORE habits, dive deeper into them + WHY you’re having period pain inside my Period Fix Blueprint linked above.

And if you want to take things one step further, I also have a Bloat Remedy Protocol that dives into my Signature Bloat Protocol to help you beat gut symptoms for good, 3 full days of hormone/gut nourishing recipes, my top supplement recs, bloat tracker + food journal template + a few other bonuses!

When to Seek Deeper Support

If you are someone that has endometriosis, fibroids, PCOS, adenomyosis, autoimmunity, etc, you could benefit from digging deeper. Chronic conditions are complex and even more so require deeper/ full body support. Our gut microbiome, minerals, nervous system, hormone status, etc can be HUGE drivers for symptoms. 

And maybe you don’t have these conditions, but your cycles + gut health have a chokehold on your life + you have a hard time functioning in the second half of your cycle. 

This is exactly what I help my 1:1 clients with as a functional nutrition practitioner. I get you to a place where you no longer feel like a totally different human for half the month every month through wholistic health coaching + functional lab testing.

Conclusion

Your hormones do influence your gut symptoms and now it’s time to figure out what they’re trying to tell you.

You aren’t stuck and as someone who has lived these insane symptoms firsthand, you can make it to the other side! With the right support + plan, you can get to a place where your cycles don’t overthrow your entire life. 

Tap into my Period Fix Blueprint for exactly where to start… and if you crave deeper support + would like to learn more about my services, email me at [email protected].

If you’re not ready for all that but would love to stay connected, join my Radiate & Thrive Weekly Newsletter!