Key takeaways
- Smoking disrupts menstrual cycle, affecting flow and pain.
- Quitting smoking positively impacts menstrual health.
- Smoking intensifies PMS, causing heavier bleeds and pain.
- Nicotine hinders hunger cues, leading to weight loss.
- Quitting smoking helps repair body systems, restoring health.
Smoking wreaks havoc on practically every system in the body, and the menstrual cycle is no exception. Smoking can impact your menstrual cycle in several ways, from causing heavier bleeds and more painful symptoms to disrupting your cycle or eliminating your periods altogether.
Quitting smoking can also change your periods — but for the better. When you quit smoking, many of your bodily processes, including your menstrual cycle, begin to function healthily and normally again.
Interestingly, the specific point at which you quit during your cycle might just be the key to sustained abstinence from smoking.
In this guide, we look at how smoking and quitting smoking can affect your period. We also explain how the different phases of your menstrual cycle can affect your ability to quit successfully.
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Does Smoking Make Your Period Heavier or More Painful?
Smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products can make your period heavier and more painful.
According to a study by Reuters, women who smoked or had a history of smoking experienced more heavy and painful periods than those who didn’t.
Compared to non-smokers, smokers were more likely to suffer from severe menstrual pain, the intensity of which increased as the number of cigarettes smoked per day increased.
The researchers posited that this intensified pain might be because smoking causes the blood vessels to restrict and lowers the amount of oxygen in the uterus.
Women who started smoking at a younger age fared worse when it came to pain and how much they bled. Women who began smoking before the age of 15 were 50% more likely to experience chronic period pain and heavy bleeding.
A 2020 analysis of 13 different studies involving more than 25,000 participants also confirmed that smoking could exacerbate period pain and symptoms.
The study reported that nicotine made women 1.5x more likely to experience worse premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms in the days before their period, including sleep interruptions, cramps, depression, and irritability.
It also found that for women who suffered from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), smoking made symptoms even more intense with, PMDD sufferers 3x more likely to have worse symptoms.
Can Smoking Cause Irregular Periods?
Smoking can cause irregular periods, as cigarette consumption can cause shorter cycles.
Research has shown that heavy smoking — that is, smoking more than 20 cigarettes per day — was associated with a 4x increased risk of a shorter cycle that lasted less than 25 days compared to not smoking.
Can Smoking Stop Your Period?
There is no conclusive research to suggest that smoking itself can stop your period, but smoking can cause weight loss, which in turn can stop your period.
Smoking promotes weight loss in a few ways.
Firstly, the nicotine content in cigarettes speeds up your metabolism. Nicotine causes the heart to beat faster, and this increased metabolic rate prompts the body to burn calories quicker.
Secondly, smoking reduces caloric intake because of its impact on the hormone called ghrelin, which is the hormone responsible for our body’s hunger cues. This causes your body to send you fewer hunger cues, which means you consume fewer calories, and therefore lose weight.
Finally, nicotine binds to the α3β4 receptor in the body, which is the receptor that promotes satiety (the feeling of fullness). This binding causes you to feel fuller quicker, and therefore consume fewer calories.
Of course, it’s important to note that this weight loss is not regarded as healthy weight loss. Weight loss caused by smoking is a sign that your body is not functioning properly.
We need at least 22% body fat to menstruate regularly. Being underweight can alter your menstrual cycle because of the interaction between your ovaries and the brain.
Research shows that significant weight loss or being underweight interferes with the body’s hormone levels, leading to missed periods.
Changes in our hormone levels cause ovulation and menstrual bleeding. Anything that interferes with these hormones can stop the body from ovulating, and when you don’t ovulate, you don’t get a proper period.
Therefore, if smoking causes you to lose significant amounts of weight, or tips your weight below a healthy body fat percentage, it can also cause your periods to stop.
Can Quitting Smoking Affect Your Period?
We know how smoking can affect your period, but how can quitting impact your menstrual cycle?
Once you quit smoking, your body begins to heal itself.
While some of the impacts of smoking cannot be reversed, many of your organs will begin to repair the damage caused by smoking. Your bodily systems will also begin functioning again.
This includes your menstrual cycle.
Can Quitting Smoking Delay Your Period?
Smoking can delay your period, but can quitting smoking make your period late?
There is no evidence to support that quitting smoking can cause a delayed period.
The good news is that if you have lost significant amounts of weight while smoking when you quit, your metabolism returns to normal and your hunger hormones and receptors are no longer interfered with by nicotine.
These changes often lead to weight gain, which can help to bring your period back. The average amount of weight gained after quitting is 5kg over a 5-year period, though most of the weight gain occurs in the first few months after quitting, then stabilises.
It’s important to remember that this weight gain is actually a good thing; it’s a sign that your body is functioning properly again.
After all, regular periods between puberty and menopause signal that your body is working normally. The return of your period is in itself evidence that your body is returning to health and recovering from the effects of smoking.
If you do experience late periods after quitting smoking, discuss this with your GP. They will be able to assess whether this may be a temporary side effect of quitting, or whether something else is going on.
Heavy Period After Quitting Smoking
Quitting smoking shouldn’t cause a heavy period.
In fact, experts agree that quitting smoking can alleviate period pain. When you quit smoking, your hormones are no longer impacted by nicotine.
Additionally, your blood vessels are no longer restricted, and the blood and oxygen flow to the uterus improves.
If you are experiencing heavier bleeds after quitting, check in with your GP.
When Should I Quit Smoking in My Cycle?
Interestingly, the phase of your menstrual cycle in which you quit smoking can impact your success in curbing the habit.
Research has proven that your menstrual cycle can affect your nicotine cravings, and you can take advantage of this to increase your chances of quitting successfully.
Studies suggest that women who quit in the first half of their menstrual cycle (the time between the start of their period and ovulation) are more likely to engage in addictive behaviours, such as smoking.
It is believed that the hormone estradiol (a type of estrogen), which promotes addictive behaviours, is higher in the first half of the cycle.
Conversely, in the second half of the menstrual cycle, the progesterone hormone is higher, which is thought to protect against relapse.
Another study followed 34 smokers; 19 women and 15 men. Researchers used functional MRI (fMRI) brain scans to deduce whether any changes in the brain that are associated with nicotine withdrawal fluctuated in response to hormone level changes.
The scan observed certain parts of the brain that help to control addictive behaviour. The results found that the brain structures responsible for nicotine cravings were in fact more active in menstruating women.
Researchers found that during the first half of the menstrual cycle — known as the follicular phase — there was less activity in the rewards centre and brain regions that promote good decision making.
The same brain regions were found to be more active during the second half of the menstrual cycle, during ovulation. At this point, the brain was more likely to support control over smoking-related urges and behaviour. ovulation can actually decrease the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.
Physical nicotine withdrawal symptoms typically last for a week, so it is recommended that women quit two weeks before their next expected period to take advantage of these hormonal changes.
Quitting Smoking and Periods: Getting Things Back on Track
Smoking can negatively affect your menstrual cycle in several ways. It may intensify symptoms of PMS and PMDD, as well as cause irregular periods.
Conversely, smoking may cause you to lose significant amounts of weight which can eliminate your periods altogether.
Quitting smoking, on the other hand, can positively affect your period. When you quit, your body begins to repair itself, and your bodily systems begin to function normally again.
Post-quitting weight gain may help to bring back your period, and the improved flow of blood and oxygen to the uterus may reduce pain.
Struggling to quit while pregnant or in the lead-up to pregnancy?
Let’s break down the effects of smoking while pregnant, the misconceptions around the justification of the action, and most importantly, how to quit smoking when pregnant. Of course, the ideal scenario is always to quit smoking before becoming pregnant.
How Smoking Affects Pregnancy
There are many risks to smoking, and these risks are transferred to the baby if the habit persists.
Smoking affects pregnancy in the following ways;
Increased risk of abnormal bleeding during labour
Placental Abruption: When the placenta prematurely detaches from the uterus either partly or entirely. This can limit oxygen supply to the child and increase the chances of severe bleeding during pregnancy. If Placental Abruption is untreated, critical circumstances can lead to fatality for either the child or both the mother and child.
Placenta Previa: When the placenta attaches itself to the cervix, which can cause critical bleeding during labour.
Placenta Accreta: When the placenta (or a portion of it) becomes embedded in and joined to the uterine wall, it is known as placenta accreta. Placenta accreta can lead to excessive blood loss during delivery and third-trimester bleeding.
Increased risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI)
SUDI is the sudden and unexplained death of an infant under one year old. While guidance from the Department of Health states that instances of SUDI are rare and the risk of a baby dying from it is very low, they also note that, if a mother smokes during pregnancy, the baby is much more likely to die from SUDI than if you don’t.
Premature labour
The result of a baby not reaching full term (39-40 weeks). Babies born before 34 weeks can experience challenges and, in some cases, death due to undeveloped bodily functions.
Low birth weight
Whether the baby reaches full term or not, smoking during pregnancy can result in a low birth weight which can have serious health issues.
Congenital disorders such as cleft lip and cleft pallet
During the 4th to the 9th week of pregnancy, the lip and pallet start to form. A cleft lip and pallet occurs when the tissue has not fully connected, leaving a gap. These congenital disorders can be corrected, but the baby may struggle to feed and could experience feeding difficulties if left unresolved.
Damaged lungs and stunted brain activity
Smoking while pregnant stunts a baby’s growth, including the development of the lungs and brain; this could have lasting repercussions that continue throughout the child’s lifetime.
Misconceptions Around Smoking While Pregnant
No. 1 – ‘Quitting smoking during pregnancy will cause even more stress for the baby’.
- The damages of smoking far outweigh the repercussions of stress. The highest state of stress is in between cigarettes when cravings are at their highest. It’s important to remember that these cravings dissipate, and the stress starts to decrease the longer you stick with quitting.
No. 2 – ‘The baby is protected in your belly, and it’s not breathing air anyway’.
- Mother and child share the same bloodstream. A baby takes on around 4 thousand chemicals every time a mother has a cigarette while pregnant. It is the equivalent of a child trapped in a room full of second-hand smoke for 15 minutes.
No. 3 – ‘ Smoking makes for a smaller baby, and smaller babies are easier to birth’.
- While this statement may make some intuitive sense, the size of the baby isn’t the only factor that determines the ease (or difficulty) of the birth. A number of complications may coincide with a smaller baby, such as development issues, heart and lung conditions, and higher vulnerability to infection. These effects may just outweigh the potential benefits of birthing a smaller baby.
No. 4 – ‘Quitting smoking will make me gain weight’
- This may be true as seeking comfort from food can be an instinctive response to managing nicotine cravings. But the truth is, there are many ways to control weight or keep weight gain at a minimum, and almost all methods are healthier than smoking. Light exercise and adopting a healthy diet not only help control weight but are beneficial for the unborn baby.
No.5 – ‘My mother smoked as a child and turned out alright’.
- The effects of maternal smoking may impact the child in many different ways, and it’s true that some children show no physical or mental symptoms. But leaving a child’s life to the luck of circumstance may not work in everyone’s favour. According to the National Library of Medicine, a study conducted in 1997 clearly outlined that the rate of infant mortality was 40 % higher in women that smoked during pregnancy.
No. 6 – ‘I’ve been smoking for half of my pregnancy what’s the point of giving up now?’
- It’s never too late to give up smoking. Even if you’re in your third trimester or just days out from your proposed due date, every second counts.
No. 7 – ‘I’ll just cut down instead of giving up.’
- While cutting back will decrease the exposure to your baby and is a good first step if you’re struggling to quit completely, as mentioned above, just one cigarette is exposing your baby to around 4 thousand chemicals via the bloodstream. And to give your little one the best chance, quitting altogether is the best option.
If one of the scenarios above is similar to your current situation, read further to find out how you can quit smoking when pregnant.
It has been proven that quitting during the second half of your cycle when you are ovulating can actually help to prevent relapse, as the hormone that promotes addictive behaviours is lower than during the first half of your cycle.
If you’re planning to quit, time your quit date two weeks before your next expected period to make the most of these hormonal changes.
If you are struggling to quit or have experienced changes in your menstrual cycle while smoking or quitting, get in touch with a GP to discuss your symptoms. They will be able to determine why these changes are occurring and suggest treatment options.