HEALTH & BEAUTY
Can Traveling Disrupt Your Period?
By MARY WOJCICKI
Typically, people monitor their menstrual cycle to make sure it’s on time, and some reasons for a later period, like stress, weight loss, weight gain, or more serious conditioners such as thyroid disorders and polycystic ovary syndrome. There are also other lifestyle factors that can throw your body out of whack, such as traveling.
Traveling can really affect your period, so if you are feeling stressed, whether it’s good or bad stress, your period will likely be late. Reproductive endocrinologist Joshua U. Klein says changes to sleep schedules, often due to flight times and jet lag, can affect hormone levels, thus affecting your period.
If you take birth control, to avoid affecting your period, you should continue to take your pill based on the time that you would take it in your usual time zone. OB-GYN Christine Greves, MD, warns that hormonal birth control containing estrogen can increase your risk of blood clots, so wearing compression stockings may be beneficial while traveling.