Why are women horny during their period?

Back in the day, I wrote a post about taboos so all of you who are gasping just at looking at the title should consider reading that text first. You can find it here: A TABOO topic, shhh... Anyway, do not worry about why this one does not have an NSFW tag, it doesn't need one. These days, people know more about celebrities, politics and what is happening on Mars than they do about their own bodies. This post is here to fix that and provide valuable information about this topic from a biological and psychological standpoint. Trust me, you will learn a thing or two so stick around until the end. I promise you will not regret it.

To some women, talking about sex and libido during period is horrifying and seems either like a really bad joke or a provocation. How could we have sex if the inside of our pants looks like a crime scene, cramps are so intense it feels like a sumo wrestler is sitting on our bodies and our emotions are skyrocketing out of control? Want to set the world on fire and watch it burn down while you eat chocolate? Yup, I've been there but here's a little secret, an orgasm will fix all of that. ALL of that.

Before we get to why a lot of women (NOT ALL) are horny during their period, we first need to have a little review of the entire hormonal cycle to see what a "normal time" to be horny is and why. Women have a 28-day cycle, that is what most of us have learned in school, right? Wrong. According to MSD Manuals and the majority of gynecologists, only 10 to 15% of ladies have 28-day cycles because they usually range from 25 to 36 days. Women are not robots and their bodies (along with their hormone levels) are different. Do not expect all women to act, think, speak, ovulate, menstruate or have sex in the same way.

Cycle can be seen from the perspective of the ovaries and the uterus and they are both are in 3 stages, pre-ovulation, ovulation, and post-ovulation. The cycle starts with the first day of the period. From the standpoint of the uterus, we have 2 phases in the first stage: menstruation (bleeding starts to bleeding ends) and the proliferative phase (bleeding ends to ovulation starts). From the standpoint of ovaries, the first stage is called Follicular (bleeding starts to ovulation begins) and it is the time the pituitary gland produces follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) which tells the ovaries to prepare an egg for ovulation. When it comes to hormones, this first stage of the cycle is accompanied by low levels of estrogen at the beginning and reaching their peak before ovulation while progesterone levels remain stagnant and begin to rise just before ovulation.

The second stage of the cycle is ovulation. It is the time when high estrogen levels signal the brain to increase in luteinizing hormone (LH) and the egg gets released from the ovary into the fallopian tube. The estrogen levels continue to increase and the progesterone levels start to increase during ovulation while they decrease after it.

The last stage in the cycle is called luteal and it is the time when the sack which once contained the egg now produces estrogen and progesterone. It starts with the end of ovulation and ends with the beginning of the next period. This is when that good old PMS happens. The follicle that contained the egg transforms into corpus luteum and the rise and drop of hormones causes mood changes, acne, bloating and many other.

There have been many studies which confirmed how (even if we do not like to call it that) women do tend to be "in heat" like most animals during the middle of their cycle when they are ovulating. This is nothing to be ashamed of and is evolutionary-based. Since that is the best time to make babies and sex is the way to do that, it is natural that our biology made sure ladies would be more inclined to say yes during that time.

The evidence suggests how women have from slight to moderate (some have high) libido increase around ovulation. The University of Virginia, University of Rhode Island, Dutch researchers, Arizona State University, researchers from Canada, Sweden, Finland, and Spain all confirmed it. Increased sex drive during ovulation has a hormonal basis. Estrogen is very high and testosterone rises a bit which makes a fun mix. If you are not trying to get pregnant, remember to check your calendar if you start feeling extra sexy and make sure you use protection. Ovulation is the time when some of us would hump a tree if we could but it is also the time when getting pregnant is pretty easy if you are healthy so do not let your hormones clear your good judgment and stay protected.

After reading all of the above, one would think that women who are horny during their periods are crazy or how there is something wrong with them. Well, I refuse to think that anything is wrong with me and I admit to craziness only during PMS time. Truth be told, I get ridiculously horny during my period and I have yet to chose between 3 possible reasons why. Since period is the time when my fertility and sex hormone levels are at their lowest, I should not be feeling this way and my libido should be sound asleep, right? Wrong.

When it comes to science, we can not pinpoint the exact reason why this happens to many women but there 3 possible explanations which I will name psychological, physical, and hormonal or PPH for short. If I can have PMS than I can have my PPH too. I deserve it, lol. First, we have the psychological side where we are taught that there is no possibility of pregnancy during period (which is false) so we get more uninhibited. Also, consider that orgasms are natural ways of dealing with stress and pain since there are all kinds of happy molecules produced during that time. Next time your body starts aching with cramps, try orgasm instead of a pain pill and see if it helps. Spoiler alert: it will.

The physical explanation is quite nice too. During the period, the uterus is expanding with blood and pressing upon nerve endings in the pelvic basin. When those nerve endings around the vulva get stimulated, the brain can interpret that as something actually touching us. Pretty cool, thanks brain! The last explanation deals with hormones. Progesterone is not a sexy-feeling hormone so there is a possibility to feel turned on in its absence and it is at its lowest during period. There is also a slight testosterone rise during period which kicks thing up a notch too. Yes, women have testosterone hormone too, didn't you know? We have it at much lower levels than men, of course, but it is there and its slight rise during menstruation can be one of the causes for a libido rise.

Before I get into another taboo thing lets get one thing clear first: you are normal either way. If you are feeling unattractive and have a low libido during your period, you are normal and it is fine, it will pass. If you are feeling horny during your period, you are normal too. Do not expect your body to be anything other than it is and in that way that it is, love it and be happy with it. When all else fails, masturbation will do wonders for you so do not feel pressured to have sex just because you feel horny. It can be tricky and hard to understand how you can feel both attracted to sex and repulsed by it at the same time. It happens and again, masturbation will do wonders.

If you choose to help yourself during your period, there is either an option of having sex with another human or masturbating. In both cases, it can be a mess but it will bring a smile to your face and a huge pain relief. Wanting an orgasm during menstruation may seem odd from a reproductive standpoint but you will not go wrong if you listen to your body and give it what it craves never the less. Sex is more than just making babies and has great physical and psychological benefits. Even oral sex is possible if you use tampons and do not forget that your nipples are sensitive and will cause an oxytocin rise as I have written about in my last post. Talk to your partner and ask for help but be understandable if you hear a "no" answer and help yourself instead. Have fun and love your body, learn about it and play with it. From my personal experience, a good orgasm is always better than a pill but you need to try it for yourself and see if it works for you too. Good luck!