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Sex and Your Menstrual Cycle: Are They Connected?

Updated 23 November 2022 |

Published 01 October 2018

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Reviewed by Dr. Anna Klepchukova, Intensive care medicine specialist, chief medical officer, Flo Health Inc., UK

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How does becoming sexually active affect your monthly cycle? Today, Flo answers this and many more fascinating questions about sex and your menstrual cycle.

Menstrual cycle and libido

Medical experts associate changes in sex drive with changes in the ratio of estrogen and progesterone, hormones that are produced by the ovaries. These shifts occur at different phases of your monthly cycle. During your period and for a few days after, the concentration of both hormones is low, resulting in less sexual desire.

By the time ovulation rolls around, estrogen peaks, naturally increasing libido. Once the process of ovulation wraps up, there’s a boost in progesterone production, and you might notice a dip in your sex drive.

Did you know that your sex drive depends on the cycle phase you’re in?

Flo can show you daily insights, including when your sex drive peaks

Learn more with Flo

Relationship between sex and menstrual cycle duration

The exact length of a menstrual cycle differs a lot from person to person. But how does the frequency of sexual intercourse affect it?

In an attempt to answer this question, researchers conducted a number of studies in the United States in the 1970s. They involved people who engaged in varying levels of sexual activity, didn’t use hormonal contraceptives or intrauterine devices, and started their period at least seven years before the study.

For the participants who had regular intercourse, their menstrual cycles ranged from 26 to 33 days long (with 29.5 days being the average). This length of time is considered conducive to conception since such cycles are usually ovulatory, meaning that ovulation has likely taken place.

For participants who had intercourse on an inconsistent basis, their cycles had a broader spectrum of lengths. They had either very short or very long cycles, usually anovulatory (meaning that ovulation has not taken place), compared to the other group.

Can sex and your menstrual cycle regulate each other?

After becoming sexually active, some people notice a change in their monthly cycle. Indeed, intercourse can trigger certain changes in the female body. Orgasms release large amounts of oxytocin. And even though you don’t need to orgasm to become pregnant, it produces hormonal fluctuations and reduces stress.

Routine sexual activity also tends to change certain hormone-based characteristics of your menstrual cycle. Your periods may become increasingly predictable, and symptoms of premenstrual syndrome may be less noticeable.

Know your symptom patterns

Log your symptoms and see how specific symptoms are connected to different cycle phases.

Learn more with Flo

References

Huynh, Hieu Kim, et al. “Female Orgasm but Not Male Ejaculation Activates the Pituitary. A PET-Neuro-Imaging Study.” NeuroImage, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Aug. 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23523775.

Caruso, Salvatore, et al. “Do Hormones Influence Women’s Sex? Sexual Activity over the Menstrual Cycle.” The Journal of Sexual Medicine, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Jan. 2014, www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(15)30527-0/pdf.

Lorenz, Tierney K., et al. “Partnered Sexual Activity Moderates Menstrual Cycle–Related Changes in Inflammation Markers in Healthy Women: an Exploratory Observational Study.” Fertility and Sterility, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Mar. 2017, www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(16)63008-X/fulltext.

Lorenz, Tierney K, et al. “Interaction of Menstrual Cycle Phase and Sexual Activity Predicts Mucosal and Systemic Humoral Immunity in Healthy Women.” Physiology & Behavior, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Dec. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4633338/.

History of updates

Current version (23 November 2022)

Reviewed by Dr. Anna Klepchukova, Intensive care medicine specialist, chief medical officer, Flo Health Inc., UK

01 October 2018

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