The blog
Notes on your cycle, period pain, and your options.
Guides11 October 2026Flooding During Period: What It Means and What to Do
You wake up soaked, your pad overflows in minutes, or you have a sudden gush that surprises you. This guide explains what 'flooding' means, why it happens from clots to perimenopause and fibroids, how to manage it with products and layering, and exactly when to seek care.
Guides10 October 2026Period Lasting Longer Than 7 Days: Causes and What to Do
You’ve bled more than a week, or your period keeps coming back, or a new birth control changed your flow. This guide explains what counts as prolonged bleeding, the likely causes by age and birth control, what to log before a visit, and the common tests and treatments your provider may suggest.
Guides9 October 2026Bleeding on the Mini Pill: Why Spotting Happens and What Helps
Starting the progestin-only pill, switching pills, or tired of unpredictable spotting? This guide explains why the mini pill makes bleeding change, the common patterns (frequent spotting, prolonged bleeding, regular or no period), how long it usually takes to settle, what actually helps, and which bleeding needs a check.
Guides8 October 2026Nexplanon Removal: What to Expect During and After Care
You have an implant to remove, you felt a lump in your arm, or your bleeding changed and you want it out. This guide explains the removal visit, local healing, common hormone-related symptoms after Nexplanon removal, how soon periods and pregnancy usually return, and when to get help.
Guides7 October 2026Slynd Side Effects: What to Expect, Bleeding and Mood
Starting Slynd and noticing spotting, missed periods, breast tenderness, or mood shifts? This guide explains how common each side effect is, typical timelines, missed‑pill rules, who should avoid Slynd, and when to see care.
Guides6 October 2026Low Ferritin From Heavy Periods: Causes, Tests, and Fixes
Heavy or long periods, months of soaking pads or tampons, or symptoms like hair shedding and crushing tiredness. This guide explains why heavy periods drain ferritin first, what a ferritin test shows, when clinicians treat ferritin under ~30 ng/mL, and practical plans to restore iron through pills, IV iron, and treating bleeding.
Guides5 October 2026Period Blood Clots: When They Are Normal and When to Check
Seeing a few small clots some days of your flow, or unexpectedly large clots and flooding. This guide explains what period blood clots are, why they form, which sizes and patterns suggest heavy bleeding, common causes like fibroids or bleeding disorders, and what tests and treatments a provider will consider.
Guides4 October 2026How to Track Your Period: A Practical Step‑By‑Step Guide
You just started bleeding and want better data, your cycles are irregular, or you need clear notes for a doctor. This guide shows exactly what to track, how to calculate averages and variability, privacy questions to ask apps, and how to create a usable report for appointments.
Guides3 October 2026Ovulation Pain (Mittelschmerz): Why It Happens and What to Expect
You feel a sudden one-sided twinge midcycle, curious if it is ovulation pain, or tracking fertility and want to know the signs. This guide explains mittelschmerz, timing, usual duration, and how to tell it apart from other one-sided pelvic pain.
Guides2 October 2026Vaginal Discharge Before Period: What Normal Looks Like
You notice more white or creamy discharge in the days before your period, or you’re worried about discharge and early pregnancy, infection, or changes from birth control. This guide explains what normal pre-period discharge looks like, how cervical mucus changes through the cycle, what different colors mean, and when to seek care.
Guides1 October 2026Period Sex: Risks, Benefits, Mess Tips, and Menstrual Cup Safety
Wondering whether sex during bleeding is safe, messy, or helpful? This guide sorts out pregnancy risk, STI concerns, how sex can affect cramps, menstrual cup safety, plus clear practical tips for comfort and cleanup.
Guides30 September 2026Bleeding After Sex: Common Causes, Tests, and When to Worry
Spotting or heavier bleeding after sex, whether you are on birth control, just started a new method, or not on your period. This guide explains the common causes, what your provider will check, treatment options, and when bleeding after sex needs same-day care.
Guides29 September 2026Emergency Contraception: Which Option Works Best and When
You missed a condom, had contraceptive user error, or were forced into sex and need backup. This guide ranks the three emergency contraception options by effectiveness, gives exact time windows, explains why weight matters for some pills, tells you what bleeding afterward means, and shows where to get each method fast.
Guides28 September 2026Nexplanon Bleeding Patterns: What to Expect and When to Act
Dealing with irregular spotting, weeks of unexpected bleeding, or no periods after getting Nexplanon? This guide explains the common bleeding patterns, what the first three months usually mean, which treatments help, and when removal or a different method makes sense.
Guides27 September 2026IUD Strings: How to Check and What If You Can’t Feel Them
You just had an IUD placed, you’ve noticed a change, or your partner felt something during sex. This guide explains what IUD strings do, how and when to check them, what missing or long strings mean, and practical next steps so you know when to worry and what to ask at your appointment.
Guides26 September 2026Copper IUD Heavy Periods: Why Bleeding and Cramps Often Get Worse
New copper IUD and suddenly heavier, longer or more painful periods, worried about anemia, or thinking of switching to a hormonal option? This guide explains why bleeding and cramps often increase with a copper IUD, how long changes typically last, evidence-backed ways to reduce symptoms, and when bleeding is a reason to change methods.
Guides25 September 2026Does Birth Control Make You Gain Weight: What the Evidence Says
Worried about gaining weight after starting a new method, noticing bloating on the pill, or thinking the implant caused pounds to pile on? This guide reviews each method, explains why water retention gets mistaken for fat, and gives evidence-based steps you can take and when to see care.
Guides24 September 2026Birth Control and Mood: What Large Studies Actually Show
Starting or switching hormonal birth control and noticed sadness, anxiety, or mood swings? This guide explains what large studies show, which methods carry more risk, who’s most vulnerable, and clear steps to take if your mood changed after starting contraception.
Guides23 September 2026Missed Pill What to Do: Exact Rules for One Missed or More
Missed one pill, a couple of pills, or the mini‑pill window slipped? This guide sorts the exact rules for combined versus progestin‑only pills, when to use backup condoms, and when emergency contraception is the right call.
Guides22 September 2026Skip Your Period on the Pill: How to Safely Skip the Placebo Week
Want to skip the pill placebo week for a vacation, heavy-sports event, or simply to avoid bleeding? This guide explains exactly how to skip your period on the pill safely, what breakthrough bleeding is likely, and which pill schedules or methods make skipping easiest.
Guides21 September 2026Birth Control for Cramps: Which Methods Ease Period Pain?
You get crippling cramps every period, you want to avoid long NSAID use, or you need contraception and pain relief in one method. This guide explains how birth control for cramps works, which hormonal options cut pain most, how quickly they act, and the real side effects to expect so you can pick what fits your life.
Guides20 September 2026Birth Control for Heavy Periods: What Cuts Bleeding Most
Your flow is soaking through pads, you have low iron or missed work for your period, or you want to stop bleeding without surgery. This guide compares which birth control cuts bleeding most, how much to expect, how long benefits take, and the non-hormonal option so you can pick the best route.
Guides19 September 2026Perimenopause Periods: How Your Cycle Changes Before Menopause
Shorter cycles, heavier bleeding, missed periods, or new PMS in your 40s or 50s? This guide explains how perimenopause periods change, why hormones shift, which patterns are normal, and which bleeding signs need a checkup.
Guides18 September 2026First Period After Birth: Timing, Flow, and Contraception
Just had a baby and wondering whether that bleeding is lochia or your first period, whether breastfeeding will delay it, or when to start contraception. This guide explains what to expect for the first few postpartum cycles, how flow and symptoms change, and practical timing for birth control and tests.
Guides17 September 2026Period After Miscarriage: When Your Cycle Returns and What to Expect
You just had a miscarriage, you’re waiting for bleeding to stop, or you want to know when fertility returns. This guide explains typical timelines for the first period after miscarriage, why flow or cramps may be heavier or lighter, when ovulation restarts, and which bleeding patterns need urgent care.
Guides16 September 2026Iron Deficiency From Heavy Periods: Tests, Symptoms, and Treatment
Heavy, soaking periods, fatigue you shrug off, or a low iron test with no obvious cause? This clear guide explains why menstrual blood loss is the top reason for iron deficiency, which blood tests matter, what to expect from treatment, and safe steps to rebuild iron.
Guides15 September 2026Thyroid and Periods: How Low or High Thyroid Changes Your Cycle
Irregular cycle length, suddenly heavy bleeding, missed periods, or new fatigue and hair changes. This guide explains how low or high thyroid function affects flow and timing, what other symptoms travel with it, how doctors use a TSH blood test, and practical next steps for testing and treatment.
Guides14 September 2026Adenomyosis Explained: Why Your Period Is Heavy and Painful
You have heavy, soaking periods, worsening cramps, or a uterus that feels larger than before. This guide explains adenomyosis, how doctors diagnose it on scans, and the realistic treatments that ease bleeding and pain, from medication to the hormonal IUD and surgery.
Guides13 September 2026Fibroids Heavy Periods: Why Your Flow Is So Heavy and How to Treat It
Heavy or long periods, big clots, or spotting between cycles and wondering if fibroids are to blame? This guide explains how fibroids make bleeding worse, who gets them, how ultrasound finds them, and realistic treatment options from tranexamic acid and the hormonal IUD to procedures.
Guides12 September 2026PCOS Periods: Why Cycles Become Irregular, Heavy, or Absent
Missing periods, very long cycles, or heavy unpredictable bleeding and wondering if PCOS could be the cause? This guide explains how PCOS affects your cycle, the three diagnostic criteria doctors use, what tests to expect, and safe, realistic treatment and birth control options to regulate bleeding.
Guides11 September 2026Endometriosis Symptoms: How to Tell Them From Bad Periods
You have very painful periods, pelvic pain outside your bleed, pain with sex, or long heavy bleeding. This guide explains which symptom patterns point to endometriosis, why diagnosis can take years, and the realistic treatment ladder from hormones to surgery so you know what to ask for.
Guides10 September 2026How to Stop Period Pain at School or Work: Practical Strategies
Cramping that starts mid-day, a sudden intense wave in class, or needing a discreet plan for a meeting or exam. This guide sorts out what to keep in your bag, when to take medication, discreet heat and clothing tricks, what to say to a teacher or manager, and when pain needs a medical check.
Guides9 September 2026Ibuprofen for Period Cramps: How It Works and How to Use It
Short, bad cramps that start when your period begins, long dull ache that won’t quit, or pain that needs something stronger: this guide explains how ibuprofen for period cramps works, when to take it, how much is safe, when other drugs or birth control make sense, and when to see a clinician.
Guides8 September 2026Heating Pad for Cramps: How Heat Eases Period Pain Safely
Getting bad uterine cramps before or during your period, wondering if a heat patch will help, or trying to avoid pain meds? This guide explains why heat works on uterine muscle, compares heat to ibuprofen in trials, shows safe pad and patch use, and lays out sensible combinations and timing.
Guides7 September 2026Foods That Help Period Cramps: What Actually Eases Pain
You have sharp cramps that start before or during your period, or you want to try food and supplements before stronger drugs. This guide explains which foods and nutrients really ease menstrual cramps, realistic effect sizes and doses, what to avoid, and when to combine diet with medical options.
Guides6 September 2026Exercise on Your Period: How to Train, Rest, and Feel Better
On heavy days, when cramps flare, or if you just don’t feel like moving. This guide sorts out what the evidence says about exercising on your period, how workouts can ease cramps, how to handle heavy-day logistics, and when you should rest or seek care.
Features5 September 2026Startup Feature: Blean Is Solving the Menstrual Cup’s Public Bathroom Problem
Meet Blean, the Raleigh startup building a portable device for cleaning menstrual cups and discs away from home, and Paula León, the medical device designer who founded it.
Guides5 September 2026Toxic Shock Syndrome: What It Is, Symptoms, and Tampon Safety
Using tampons or a menstrual cup, worried about fever or unusual symptoms, or want to know how long to leave a tampon in: this guide explains what toxic shock syndrome is, how rare it is, the symptoms that need emergency care, and the simple habits that make the risk extremely small.
Guides4 September 2026Does Period Underwear Work: How It Really Holds Up
You’re considering reusable underwear, already trying them and wondering about leaks, or shopping for a teen or swimmer. This guide explains how period underwear works, how much different styles hold, who they suit and exactly how to wash and care for them.
Guides3 September 2026How to Use a Menstrual Cup: A Practical First‑Timer Guide
New to cups, figuring out sizes, or tired of leaks and removal panic? This guide walks first-timers through choosing the right size, folding and insertion, seal checks, leak fixes, safe removal, and cleaning routines so you can try a menstrual cup with confidence.
Guides2 September 2026Period Blood Color: What Each Shade Means and When to Worry
Seeing brown, black, bright red, pink or orange on your period and wondering what it means? This guide explains the usual causes for each shade across your cycle, when a color change is harmless, and the two colors that should prompt a medical check.
Guides1 September 2026Irregular Periods in Teens: What Counts as Normal
Just started your period, worrying about skipped cycles, or a teen with heavy, painful periods. This guide explains why teen cycles are often irregular for 2–3 years, what counts as typical, and which patterns, very heavy flow, no bleeding for 90 days, or severe pain, need medical attention and testing.
Guides31 August 2026First Period Guide for Parents: Signs, Supplies, Talk Tips
You suspect a first period is coming, your tween has questions, or it just arrived unexpectedly. This guide explains the signs it’s near, what to stock at home, how cycles look in year one, and practical scripts and tips for talking to your child without embarrassment.
Guides30 August 2026Can’t Sleep Before Period: Why It Happens and What Helps
Waking at 3 a.m. night sweats, trouble falling asleep in the days before your period, or sleep that’s fine until the week before. This guide explains the hormonal and temperature changes behind preperiod insomnia, which fixes have good evidence, how to test approaches, and the exact sleep patterns to report to a provider.
Guides29 August 2026Period Bloating: Why It Happens and What Actually Helps
You feel puffy or swollen in the days before your period, your jeans fit tighter, or you get painful gassy bloating during bleeding. This guide explains why bloating peaks in the luteal phase, which changes actually reduce it, which popular fixes do nothing, and when bloating could mean something else.
Guides28 August 2026PMS vs PMDD: How to Tell Which One You Have
You feel mood swings, physical bloating, or irritability before your period and wonder if it is just PMS or something more serious. This guide explains the symptom patterns clinicians use to diagnose PMDD, what the evidence says about SSRIs, hormonal options, and lifestyle steps that actually help.
Guides27 August 2026Period Headaches: Why They Happen and What Actually Helps
If your headaches come right before, during, or after your period, or your migraines seem tied to your cycle, this guide explains why that happens. Learn how menstrual migraine is diagnosed, which over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription treatments work, and how migraine with aura affects birth control choices.
Guides26 August 2026Period Poop Explained: Why Digestion Changes Around Your Period
Period poop, loose stools, cramping diarrhea, or constipation before bleeding starts. This guide explains the hormonal reasons, what is normal, practical fixes, and when bowel symptoms point to endometriosis or IBS.
Guides25 August 2026Why You Get a Period Every Two Weeks: Causes and What to Do
Bleeding twice a month, spotting between cycles, or a short 14-day cycle. This guide explains the common causes of a period every two weeks, what to track for your appointment, and the tests and treatments your clinician may use to find the cause.
Guides24 August 2026How Much Blood Do You Lose on Your Period: Real Numbers and Signs
Wondering if your period flow is normal, very heavy, or causing anemia? This guide translates the typical 30 to 40 ml average and the 80 ml heavy-flow cutoff into pads, tampons and menstrual cups, explains clot size, and tells you what symptoms mean you need tests or treatment.
Guides23 August 2026Sustainable Period Products: How to Cut Waste Without Giving Up Comfort
Trying to reduce period waste while juggling heavy flow, school, travel, or sensitive skin? This guide explains how much disposable waste matters, what labels like biodegradable and organic actually mean, and which sustainable period products fit different lives, costs and hygiene needs.
Guides22 August 2026Cramps but No Period: Why Pelvic Pain Happens Without Bleeding
Trying to figure out pelvic cramps with no bleeding, a late period, or pain after your bleed? This guide explains the common causes, ovulation, pregnancy, new birth control, endometriosis, bladder and bowel issues, how to tell them apart, what to try for relief, and when to get checked.
Relief & Options21 August 2026When Cramps Are Disrupting Your Life: Relief, Logging, and Seeking Care
If period pain is making you miss school, work, or sleep, that is not something you have to accept. Here is what actually helps in the meantime, what to log so the appointment goes differently, and how to ask to be taken seriously when you have been waved off before.
Guides21 August 2026Late Period, Negative Test: What Else Could Be Going On
A negative test on the day your period was due is usually right, and a late period usually means you ovulated late. Here are the eleven things that most often delay one, how to tell a real negative from a too-early one, and the point at which waiting stops being the right move.
Guides19 August 2026Spotting Between Periods: Causes and When to Worry
Brown discharge two weeks after your period, pink on the liner, blood after sex. Spotting between periods is light bleeding outside your period, and most of the time it comes down to new birth control, a missed pill, ovulation, or something irritating your cervix. Here is how to tell which one is yours.
Relief & Options16 August 2026After IUD Removal: What to Expect, the Mirena Crash, and What to Try Next
Had your IUD removed because of side effects? Here is what removal actually feels like, when your period comes back, what the Mirena crash is and is not, and how to choose your next method.
Guides15 August 2026Your Period Pain Suddenly Got Worse: What Could Have Changed?
If your cramps used to be manageable and suddenly are not, there is almost always a reason. The quickest way to find yours is to start with when the pain changed — this cycle, the last few months, or slowly over years — because each of those points at a different set of causes.
Relief & Options13 August 2026Tranexamic Acid for Heavy Periods: The Non-Hormonal Option Nobody Told You About
Tranexamic acid cuts heavy period bleeding by roughly half, contains no hormones, and you only take it on the days you bleed. Here is how it works, who it suits, what it costs, and exactly what to ask your provider for.
Guides5 August 2026Meet the Hormones Running Your Period (A Cast of Characters)
Five hormones run your whole cycle, and once you know who each one is, what they are made of, and how they signal each other, the month stops feeling random. Here they are as a cast of characters, from Periodwise.
Guides3 August 2026Tampon Absorbency: Sizing, Timing, and Toxic Shock
Light, regular, super, super plus, ultra. Those words are legally defined in grams, and picking the wrong one is the single biggest thing you control when it comes to tampon safety. Here is how to size yours, how long you can actually leave it in, and what the toxic shock numbers really look like, from Periodwise.
Guides1 August 2026Woke Up With Bad Period Cramps? What to Do in the First Hour
Not a list of remedies you have already tried. The details that change how fast relief actually arrives, the small things making it worse that you have never been told about, and how to get through the rest of the day, from Periodwise.
Guides23 July 2026IUD Insertion: What to Expect, and How to Handle the Cramps After
What actually happens during an IUD insertion, how much it hurts and why, what to ask for so it hurts less, and how to feel human again in the days after, including a plain-language guide to which painkiller to reach for, from Periodwise.
Guides21 July 2026The Best Period Products for Swimming
The period products that actually work underwater, which one suits your flow, how to use each one without stress, and how to stay comfortable and leak-free from the changing room to the deep end, from Periodwise.
Guides18 July 2026The Best Period Products for Heavy Flow and Overnight Leaks
The period products that actually hold up on your heaviest days and through the night, why layering two beats buying one "ultra" product, and the signs your flow is worth a chat with a doctor, from Periodwise.
Cycle Basics15 July 2026Luteal Phase Explained: Why You Feel Different Before Your Period
The luteal phase is the stretch between ovulation and your period, when progesterone rises then drops. Here is why it changes your mood, energy, and body, and what actually helps, from Periodwise.
Guides12 July 2026Period Fatigue: Why You’re Exhausted and What Actually Helps
Period fatigue is not one thing. Here is how to tell the normal hormonal dip from low iron, your thyroid, blood sugar, or PMDD, so you can find the fix that is actually yours, from Periodwise.
Guides10 July 2026Period Acne: A Simple Routine for the Week Before
Premenstrual acne flares in the week before your period. Here is why it happens and a simple skincare routine to get ahead of it, from Periodwise.
Guides10 July 2026Going Off Birth Control: What Your First Few Cycles Might Actually Do
Coming off hormonal birth control? Here is what your first few cycles can really look like, when fertility returns, and what is worth a call to your provider, from Periodwise.
Guides8 July 2026Period Products for Sensitive and Eczema-Prone Skin
Periods can flare sensitive and eczema-prone skin. Here is what to reach for, what to avoid, and why, from Periodwise.
Guides6 July 2026First-Period Gifts a 12-Year-Old Won’t Be Mortified By
First-period gifts she will actually use, with none of the pastel ceremony most of these kits are selling. A practical, discreet starter list from Periodwise.
- Cycle Basics3 July 2026
Welcome to the Periodwise Blog
Why Periodwise exists: plain-language period health answers reviewed by OB-GYNs — free, judgment-free, and not trying to sell you anything.