Periods and Leaking
The recent rainy weather here in Fort Collins (I’m not complaining – my tulips are out in full force) and the onset of my period make it difficult to not want to stay in bed and watch movies all day! That got me thinking about something mentioned to me earlier in the week by a friend… Have you ever noticed that you feel more intense urgency and possibly even more leaking when you are on your period? Well, you are not alone! This is one of the most common symptoms women tell me about in the clinic – they are managing their symptoms well, not leaking with exercise and not peeing every 30 minutes, and then their period comes around and it feels like they have to pee more urgently and more frequently. This is called cyclical incontinence and unfortunately, we do not have much research on the topic (surprise, surprise). We do have two, not-so-recent, studies that have tried to explain this common phenomenon.
- 24% of females in the study found that their incontinence was worse right before their period,
- 36% experienced worse incontinence during their period,
- 15% found that their incontinence was worse in the middle of the month and
- 7% reported increased incontinence immediately after having their period.

- The follicular stage – before the egg is released, estrogen and progesterone levels are low
- The ovulatory stage – an egg is released, estrogen levels drop, and progesterone levels rise
- The luteal stage – after the egg is released, estrogen and progesterone levels are high

- Hextall A, Bidmead J, Cardozo L, Hooper R. The impact of the menstrual cycle on urinary symptoms and the results of urodynamic investigation. BJOG. 2001 Nov;108(11):1193-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2003.00280.x. PMID: 11762662.
- Sorensen S et al. Urodynamic investigation in healthy fertile females during the menstrual cycle. Europe PMC. 1998 Jan, 114:28-34. PMID: 3201165
- https://aeroflowurology.com/blog/bladder-control-and-period#:~:text=Takeaway%3A%20The%20low%20estrogen%20levels,to%20weaken%2C%20leading%20to%20incontinence.
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