How I Track My Menstrual Cycle
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I started tracking my menstrual cycles more than five years ago purely out of curiosity. But what started out as an extension of my love for self-inquiry and research, morphed into one of my favorite tools to gauge my health while better understanding my energy, mood, and hormone fluctuations.
I’ve learned a lot by charting more than 75 of my own cycles as well as helping some of my clients chart their cycles, reading all the books, and taking a couple of trainings. I hope what I’ve learned along the way helps you as you navigate cycle charting.
Make sure to watch the two videos below. The first is all about my experience cycle tracking and the other is an interview I did with Caitlin Johnson, RD all about cycle tracking for people with PCOS.
Menstrual Cycle Basics
Before I share the ins and outs of how I track my cycles, I thought it would be a good idea to cover the bare bone basics of the menstrual cycle. A decent understanding of the four different phases of the menstrual cycle is crucial for properly understanding your unique cycle. What I’ll describe below is the textbook explanation of what happens. But you and I are living breathing beings not words and diagrams on a page. Sometimes things don’t go as “perfectly” as what you’ll read below.
The Four Phases of the Menstrual Cycle
Phase 1: Menstruation (3-7 days long)
The first day of your period marks the first day of this phase and Day 1 of your cycle. This is when your uterine lining sheds as a result of low levels of progesterone at the end of the previous cycle.
Phase 2: Follicular Phase (7-11 days long)
The follicular phase starts the day after the last day of your period and lasts until ovulation. During this phase, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) begins to rise, causing follicles in your ovaries to begin to mature. As they develop, estrogen rises and builds your uterine lining while also causing your cervix to produce fertile mucus. Then, one follicle becomes the dominant follicle, luteinizing hormone (LH) surges, and your next phase occurs.
Phase 3: Ovulation (1 day)
Ovulation, aka the main event, is when that dominant follicle bursts open releasing a mature egg. It’s this mature egg that will either get fertilized and possibly implant into that cushy lining you were building in Phase 2, the follicular phase. One other notable thing, the follicle that the egg burst forth from? It transforms into the corpus luteum, a temporary structure that produces progesterone.
Phase 4: Luteal Phase (10-16 days long)
This final phase of the menstrual cycle is when your temperature spikes thanks to progesterone. Besides increasing your basal metabolic rate, it prepares the uterine lining for implantation and dries up your cervical mucus. If you don’t get pregnant, the decrease in progesterone at the end of your luteal phase will trigger the shedding of your uterine lining and the cycle begins again. If you do get pregnant, the corpus luteum will continue to produce progesterone until the placenta takes over.
A normal menstrual cycle can be anywhere from 24 to 35 days long.
Ok, now let’s get into how I track my cycle.
What is cycle tracking?
Cycle tracking is exactly what it sounds like. It’s documenting the data about your menstrual cycle either in an app or with good old fashioned paper and pen or pencil. I use either one depending on my mood.
There are different cycle tracking methods that require different data. Some methods use some only track your period, others your basal body temperature (BBT) and period, others use cervical mucus (CM) and period, some use both BBT and CM along with your period, and others use BBT, CM, cervical position, and your period.
I use CM and BBT depending on how granular I want to be that month. When I first started tracking, I used both consistently. With time and getting to know my cycle more, I feel comfortable mostly relying on my CM.
In addition to CM and BBT, I also track my periods. Kind of a no brainer!
That’s really all you need to track. Everything else is optional. I will occasionally use an ovulation predictor kit (OPK) and Proov’s progesterone testing kit. I use these two more so out of curiosity than anything else. They also provide a little assurance that I’m properly interpreting the clues and cues from my body. I also chart my mood, energy, PMS symptoms, stress, sleep, and libido. It’s interesting to see how they’re all interconnected.
What I use to Track My Cycle
Paper Chart and Writing Utensil (DIY Bullet Journal chart)
Toilet Paper
Optional:
I gave a very expensive device a try in the past. It was gifted to me by the manufacturer in exchange for a review. Truthfully, I wasn’t impressed. And I let them know. They asked that I not share my opinion (which is why I haven’t named them here.) I finally recycled it last month after it collected dust in my bathroom for over a year. The point being, you really don’t need much to track your cycles.
The Exact (inexact) Steps I Take to Track My Cycle
Let’s start at day 1. I either mark the first day of my period in my bullet journal or in Kindara. I’ll continue to mark each day of bleeding.
Once my period is over, I begin paying close attention to vaginal sensations of wetness vs dryness and what I notice on my toilet paper after wiping post bathroom visit. I usually don’t mark it down if it’s dry, I only write down if I feel a lubricative sensation or notice some slipperiness on the toilet paper. Once I feel that, I know I’m in my fertile window and my body is preparing to ovulate. Notice I said preparing to. This is not proof I have or even will ovulate. If I’m using OPKs that month, I’ll begin testing at this point.
I continue to track my cervical mucus and vaginal sensation until both run dry.
If it’s a month that I’m tracking my BBT, I will track my temperature first thing in the morning every day (if I’m honest, most days. Somedays I forget and spring out of bed before I take it.) Some months I’ll stop taking my temperature after I get three consecutive high temperatures in the latter half of my cycle. This lets me know I have likely ovulated.
Other months I’ll keep taking my temperature. Again, when I was brand spanking new to cycle tracking, I tracked far more consistently. Now, I depend on my changing mood, energy, CM, and libido as tools to help me track when I’m not using my temperature. But I’m by no means suggesting that you should follow my example.
If it’s a month where I want to know how my progesterone is doing, I’ll use the Proov test on days 7, 8, 9, and 10 after my temp shift/ suspected ovulation.
Mistakes I’ve Made and Seen Others Make When Cycle Tracking
1. Confusing the Fertility Awareness Method with the Rhythm Method
These are two very different things. The rhythm method assumes all menstruating people will ovulate on day 14 of their cycle. And that’s just not true. I’ve seen too many women try to get pregnant by having sex on Day 14 because they assume that’s when they ovulate. But we’ve already talked about this: you’re a living breathing human, not an example from a textbook.
You can ovulate on different days of your cycle every month. And very few women ovulate on day 14. There’s no getting around it, if you want to know when you ovulate, you have to pay attention to your body. Not someone else’s, not the “norms”, your body.
2. Trusting an app to predict when they’re ovulating
Apps are based on algorithms, which do not account for normal human variation. Even if it’s predicting based on your previous cycles, each cycle can be different. The best way to know if your body is preparing to ovulate is to pay attention to your body, not a prediction in an app.
That being said, I still love using apps to track everything. Especially Kindara. It’s convenient, easy to use, and you can even share the charts with your provider or the lovely Kindara community for feedback. Oh! And Kindara allows you to turn off predictions if you find them distracting.
3. Thinking OPKs or even the presence of fertile CM means you are ovulating
Both of these only predict ovulation, they do not confirm it. They simply tell you your body is gearing up for ovulation. Ovulation may or may not occur AFTER a positive OPK or fertile CM becomes present.
Three temperatures that are higher than the last six temperatures during the follicular phase of your cycle coupled with a change from fertile CM to dry days, testing your progesterone, or getting an ultrasound are the only ways to confirm ovulation.
And it’s also important to remember that for many people with PCOS, a positive OPK can mean almost nothing. That’s because LH is often high in people with PCOS throughout their cycle not just right before they ovulate.
4. Only using cycle tracking to tell them about their menstrual health
Cycle tracking tells us so much more than menstrual cycle-related info. It can also help you identify thyroid concerns, issues with our HPA axis, and more. If you notice any irregularities, bring your chart to a knowledgeable health care provider. They can help you get the necessary lab tests to dig deeper.
My Favorite Cycle Tracking Resources
If you want to learn more about Fertility Awareness Methods and cycle tracking, make sure to check out the resources below
Books
Taking Charge of Your Fertility
Websites
Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Science
Blog Post/ Web Article
The Beginner’s Guide to the Fertility Awareness Method
I hope this gives you an idea about the wonderful world fertility tracking can open up to you.