Bloating and Your Period

Your excess progesterone could be to blame! 

Extra progesterone in your body, or rather slow clearance of the progesterone in your body, can spill over into your aldosterone pathway. When this happens it can result in a increase in sodium rentention. Where sodium goes, water goes and thus results in that bloated and swollen feeling you may feel leading up to your menses. This is especially common with women taking a progestin based birth control.

🌱So what can you do about this?
1) Be mindful of your salt intake in the second half of your cycle. Stay away from simple carbs and replace with more fruits and veggies. 
2)Adjust your work out to support your hormonal cycle. This can also benefit weight loss and anxiety. 
3) Look into your cortisol and DHEA levels. As well as rule out any kind of thyroid issues that could be contributing. 
4) If you’re taking a hormonal birth control with a synthetic progesterone called progestin consider changing or supporting how your body is dealing with the side effects of the birth control
5) Use diuretic herbs and clinical nutrition to help clear excess fluid for symptom management. One of my favorites for this is dandelion. Coffee can also be a trigger for some for multiple reasons, while beneficial to others. If coffee is a trigger I suggest switching to a product called #dandyblend the second half of your cycle. This is an dandelion based coffee replacement. 
6) Work with a practitioner to balance your progesterone and estrogen ratio throughout your entire cycle. 🌱A few other symptoms of progesterone excess:
-longer cycles
-low mood
-dizziness and brain fog
-low libido
-irregular cycles

💉When to test your progesterone in your cycle: around day 19-21 of a 28 day cycle. (This would change if you have shorter or longer cycles). While serum testing is what is normally done, there are some instances when I prefer urine testing of a women’s hormones.