The symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) can differ from person to person, but some people of menstruating age report issues like dizziness, headaches, and nausea around their period. In some cases, these symptoms can actually be due to a change in blood pressure, leading many people to wonder: is there a link between the different stages of the menstrual cycle, and irregular rises or drops in blood pressure?
In this article, we’ll summarise helpful research into how periods can affect your blood pressure, and share some tips to manage your blood pressure, alongside your menstrual cycle.
The short answer is, yes. Researchers have found evidence that on average, blood pressure tended to be at its highest at the onset of a person’s period. Therefore, the day that their period begins, it is typically accompanied by elevated blood pressure.
The full menstrual cycle includes the weeks when a person is not on their period, and researchers also found that blood pressure was at its lowest between days 17 and 26 of the person’s cycle. The menstrual cycle begins on the first day of the woman’s period (which typically last between 5 and 7 days). Therefore, towards the end of the menstrual cycle, and normally a few days before the person’s period begins again, a drop in blood pressure was observed.
These changes were found in both people with standard and non-standard blood pressure rates prior to the onset of their period. Although these blood pressure changes tend not to affect every person in the same way (with many participants in these studies not feeling any significant effects from their changing blood pressure), some people are more sensitive to these rises and drops.
Although in most cases, blood pressure fluctuations are fairly normal and can be influenced by a number of other lifestyle factors such as stress, sleep patterns and activity levels, they can also have unwanted side effects. If you experience dizziness and nausea around your period, we’d recommend seeking advice from your GP to see if this could be due to blood pressure changes, or if there may be another reason for your symptoms.
Most researchers are in agreement that there is enough evidence to confirm a link between changes in blood pressure, and different stage of the menstrual cycle. We have gathered some of the best-known studies into periods and blood pressure, and will summarise their findings below.
This 1985 study by Greenberg et al. is one of the earliest research experiments done into the relationship between blood pressure and the menstrual cycle. The research team performed a retrospective analysis of data gathered from 207 women of menstruating age, who were not pregnant at the time of the study. The key findings were as follows:
Researchers came to the conclusion that endogenous progestogen might have a hypertensive effect (e.g. causes a rise in blood pressure). However, on a second repetition of this study, researchers were unable to replicate the results, which may impact the reliability of the Greenberg et al. study.
A later study, performed by Dunne et al., further investigated the links between blood pressure levels and the menstrual cycle which were posited in the Greenberg et a. Study. The 1991 Dunne study into blood pressure during the normal menstrual cycle was conducted on a sample of 30 normotensive women (women with a history of standard blood pressure levels), and 10 women with mild hypertension, or high blood pressure.
The findings were as follows:
Therefore, the Dunne study found almost the opposite to be true of the earlier 1985 study, where blood pressure was shown to be at its highest at the onset of the woman’s period (day 1 of her cycle) and reach its lowest point between days 17 and 26 of the cycle. Based of later research, most studies have supported the conclusions found in the 1991 study by Dunne et al.
Now that a link has been established in the medical community between blood pressure and the menstrual cycle, more recent studies have focussed on the impact of the menstrual cycle and hypertension. There has also been a suggestion that certain PMS symptoms could predict issues with hypertension in later life.
In a study by Bertone-Johnson in 2015, it was discovered that people who experience moderate to severe PMS symptoms are 40 percent more likely to develop high blood pressure. They were also at a higher risk of hypertension than those with fewer or no PMS symptoms. This is when taking into account other, outside factors that are commonly linked to developing hypertension, such as obesity, overuse of alcohol or tobacco, lack of exercise, or the use of birth control pills or hormone therapy. It also made sure to cover factors like genetic predisposition to hypertension, so no one slipped through who might have had it simply because they were more likely to get it.
The study also found that this link between high blood pressure and periods is especially strong in people under the age of 40. For people in this age group, the odds of developing high blood pressure are actually three times as high for those who aren’t. Unfortunately, subsequent studies haven’t yet identified why this happens, so the best recommendation experts can give is to talk to your doctor and get your blood pressure checked if you have more serious PMS symptoms.
There is actually something good that can be taken from this study; there is a way around the possibility of hypertension. People who had a significant intake of B complex vitamins (such as those found in dark green vegetables) didn’t experience this increased risk of high blood pressure. The only thing is, the vitamins aren’t stored by the body, so it’s important to ensure that you’re getting them regularly through either supplements or (more naturally) through your diet.
Here are some things you can do in your daily life to make sure your diet and your habits are less likely to be a factor in developing high blood pressure. These include:
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