A Full Breakdown of the Four Menstrual Cycle Phases—and What to Expect During Each One

Let’s take a mental trip back to seventh-grade health class. When you got to the unit on , you probably learned that people with uteruses typically get their periods once a month or so—but I’m willing to bet you didn’t learn much beyond that. And unless you’ve found yourself down a about cycle syncing (we don’t even have time to get into what is), you might not even know that there are specific menstrual cycle phases that the body goes through over the course of a month.

Luckily, I’m here to fill you in. And I promise I’ll make it way more interesting than your middle school health teacher did. I talked to two ob-gyns and two mental health experts to find out what happens to menstruating people’s bodies and minds during each of the menstrual cycle phases.



Here, I’ve broken down everything you need to know about the phases plus what you can do to deal with symptoms and take care of yourself throughout your cycle. But first, let’s establish some baseline knowledge about the menstrual cycle..

. Short answer: It varies. A typical cycle can last , says ob-gyn .

If your period comes a few days earlier or later than your typical time, there’s no reason to be worried. But if your cycle length flip-flops around frequently, it’s a good idea to talk to your gynecologist and rule out any issues, she says. The same thing goes for if you go three months without a period or you’re bleeding for more than seven days, adds ob-gyn .

Regardless of how long a person’s menstrual cycle is, it always has four stages. First, there’s the menstrual phase and the follicular phase (these two actually overlap), then the ovulatory phase, and finally the luteal phase. Everyone experiences these phases in their own way and with their own unique set of symptoms.

We’ll dive into all that in detail in a sec. Can your menstrual cycle impact your mental health? You bet! There are a variety of mental health symptoms that can vary by menstrual phase and by person. Clinical psychologist director of the UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders, recommends tracking your mood across multiple menstrual cycles to see whether there are any patterns, and then planning out self-care activities based on when you tend to need them most.

And if you really start to struggle, talk to a doctor. Do you have a menstrual cycle if you take birth control? If you’re on hormonal birth control, your body doesn’t go through these phases, says Dr. Haque.

You may still bleed about once a month, but your birth control prevents the actual menstrual cycle from taking place. Okay, now let’s look at the phases and exactly what happens during each one. What it is: It’s pretty easy to keep track of the start of a new menstrual cycle because it’s always the first day of your period.

When you start bleeding, that signals the beginning of the first phase of your cycle: the menstrual phase. This phase lasts until your period ends—and the , says Dr. Haque.

During it, the lining of your uterus sheds because the egg from your previous cycle wasn’t fertilized. That’s what causes bleeding during your period. As this process happens, reproductive hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone (in some cases) are at their lowest.

What to expect: Thanks to hormonal fluctuations, you’re likely to experience mood changes, as well as changes to your sleep, metabolism, and skin during this phase, explains Dr. Hahn. When the lining of your uterus sheds, the body releases prostaglandins, hormone-like substances that can cause cramps, lower back pain, and diarrhea.

Sometimes the blood loss can also make you feel fatigued, says Dr. Haque. If you feel like your period usually saps your energy, this is the time of the month when you should make an effort to get more rest.

Dr. Haque suggests shifting your schedule to try to get an extra hour of sleep or building in an afternoon nap. For those who deal with uncomfy cramps, she notes that regular exercise or using a can help by increasing blood and oxygen flow to the uterus.

Some people experience premenstrual syndrome (PMS)—which can involve mood swings, sadness, anxiety, or irritability—in the lead-up to their period. In some cases, menstruators say these symptoms ease up once bleeding starts. But for others, mood fluctuations can continue into the menstrual phase, explains therapist founder of Therapy for Women Center.

What it is: Remember how I mentioned that the menstrual phase and the follicular phase overlap? The follicular phase actually starts on the first day of your period (a little confusing, I know), but it lasts longer than the menstrual phase. The follicular phase begins with your period and ends when you begin ovulating. It’s long, says Dr.

Haque. During this phase, the lining of your uterus thickens, and follicles—aka fluid-filled sacs that contain immature eggs—begin to grow and develop. At the end of the follicular phase, one of these follicles will produce a mature egg, which starts the ovulation process.

What to expect: Once your period ends (about halfway through the follicular phase), your reproductive hormones return to more of a baseline and don’t fluctuate as much. That said, the hormone estrogen does start to rise during the second half of the follicular phase, peaking right before ovulation, explains Dr. Hahn.

As estrogen rises after menstruation, some people feel more energized, motivated, and positive. That’s because the increase in estrogen boosts the production of serotonin, a feel-good hormone, says White. “The absence of PMS symptoms also contributes to this general sense of well-being, as physical discomfort isn’t draining your energy,” she adds.

But it’s important to remember this isn’t necessarily the case for everyone. Hormones affect people differently, so while some people might feel better during this phase, others could experience sadness or a drop in motivation. What it is: Once a mature egg is released from your ovary into the fallopian tube, the ovulatory phase begins.

This is typically the shortest phase of the menstrual cycle. It and happens roughly halfway through your cycle. As the egg moves into the fallopian tube, this is the point in your cycle where you can get pregnant, explains Dr.

Haque. While this is happening, your estrogen and testosterone levels peak, which can increase your sex drive. If you are not on birth control and don’t want to get pregnant, be extra intentional about using condoms or another form of contraception during this time, adds Dr.

Hahn. What to expect: You might experience some dull pelvic cramping or a sharp pain on the side of your lower abdomen where your ovary is releasing an egg, Dr. Hahn says.

You can treat these cramps the same way you would period cramps—by taking an over-the-counter pain reliever or using some type of warm compress. You might also experience some mid-cycle bleeding during this time once your estrogen levels drop, Dr. Haque explains.

Aside from feeling hornier, you likely won’t experience any major mental or emotional shifts during the ovulatory phase. “Some people report feeling more social and creative during ovulation, though research in this area is very much still developing,” says White. What it is: After ovulation ends, we enter the luteal phase.

This phase . During this time, the egg continues traveling through the fallopian tube to the uterus. If it’s fertilized, it can attach to the uterine lining and pregnancy begins, says Dr.

Haque. If not, the egg gets reabsorbed into the body and the menstrual cycle starts all over again. The luteal phase is mainly marked by an increase in progesterone, a reproductive hormone that preps the uterine lining for pregnancy.

If there’s no fertilized egg, progesterone levels then drop toward the end of the phase and signal the body to start shedding the uterine lining. What to expect: The high progesterone that’s produced during this phase can cause typical physical PMS symptoms, like water retention, breast tenderness, cravings, and breakouts. Some people also get cramps or pelvic pain toward the end of the luteal phase as the body prepares for menstruation, adds Dr.

Hahn, and you can deal with those using the same strategies mentioned in the menstrual and ovulatory phases. The luteal phase is also when mood swings and irritability are most likely to occur, thanks to fluctuations in the hormones estradiol and progesterone, says Dr. Haque.

“These hormonal shifts directly affect neurotransmitters like serotonin, potentially leaving you feeling less emotionally resilient. As a result, sometimes people find their usual coping skills aren’t as effective during this phase,” White says. She suggests going easy on yourself and practicing self-compassion when you notice these effects, and figuring out coping strategies that help you feel better when dealing with certain emotions—regardless of which phase you’re in.

Beyond just making you feel a little moody or irritable, the luteal phase can also worsen other mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression, says Schiller. There’s actually a clinical term for this phenomenon: premenstrual exacerbation (PME). If you think you might be experiencing this, it’s worth addressing with a therapist or psychiatrist to come up with a treatment plan.

Similarly, if you’re dealing with debilitating mood symptoms during the luteal phase like severe depression, suicidal thoughts, or intense anxiety, it’s important to seek help from a mental health professional or your GP, says Dr. Hahn. You could be experiencing (PMDD), a severe form of PMS.

Kara Cuzzone is a New York City-based writer, editor, and artist. She has over seven years of experience covering health, wellness, and shopping-related topics for sites including Forbes, Cosmopolitan, Byrdie, Wondermind, and PureWow..