How to trigger periods ? Myths and explanations

Are you worried about your periods being late? Are you planning a vacation and want to have your periods as soon as possible? There are many reasons why women want to trigger their periods . In this article, we explain how to trigger periods naturally and with different methods.

Is it possible to trigger periods ?

Let's start with the basics: can periods be triggered whenever we want? Answering this question isn't quite so simple... We know just how much the mind plays a crucial role in our bodies, and particularly in our menstrual cycle. A absence of periods can quickly become a source of anxiety, especially if you're afraid of getting pregnant.
For example, you've probably already noticed that when you're stressed, your periods take longer to arrive. This is perfectly normal: our emotions and moods have an impact on our metabolism and hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone. It is therefore possible to "trigger" periods, if you act on external factors.
In fact, to make periods happen, you need to stop thinking about it, and not obsess about it. The more you think about when they're coming, the slower they'll arrive. Worrying about the arrival of your periods risks delaying them even longer.
Let's face it: that's easier said than done!
Perhaps some in-depth work on your stress and anxiety (if you're prone to this) would be in order.
If you relax and stop obsessing about them, your periods will eventually come along.

Why doesn't my periods go off?

As you can imagine, a whole host of factors can influence your menstrual cycle. We're going to focus on two types of cause: taking hormonal contraception and physiological or environmental factors.

Use of hormonal contraception

Many women are on hormonal contraception. When you take hormones, your menstrual cycle is affected.
Generally speaking, when you take hormonal contraception, your periods become much more regular, often even to the hour. So it's logical to worry when they take longer to arrive. But even when you're on hormones: the body isn't actually a clock. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, your periods arrives late, the flow is altered or it's simply different from usual. There's no need to worry. However, if the delay is too long and you have any doubts about a potential pregnancy, you can take a pregnancy test.

Physiological or environmental factors

Other factors, such as physiological and environmental factors, can have an impact on your cycle. As we've said over and over again, stress plays a considerable role in your cycle, and in many aspects of your life in general. The stress hormone cortisol has a direct effect on periods : duration, frequency and pain.
So, to make the best of this period, it's essential to manage your stress. Here are a few factors that can help you improve your quality of life, and consequently lower your stress levels.

Sleep

One of the first factors is sleep. A good night's sleep gives you peace of mind.

Moreover, when you sleep, the body evacuates the stress it has accumulated during the day. Toxins and other waste products are eliminated during the night. This is why a regular sleep rhythm is so important: a lack of sleep leads to exhaustion, irritability and stress. What's more, sleep also helps to regulate moods and keep morale more stable.
Similarly, stress can lead to sleep disorders (whatever they may be), such as nocturnal awakenings, insomnia or difficulty in falling asleep. It's a vicious circle.

Feeding

Another aspect that can influence your cycle and your periods is diet.
Diet plays a key role in many aspects of our lives. Certain foods should be avoided during periods, while others should be favored.
The same applies to sleep. It's very important to have a regular sleep rhythm, to get enough sleep.
Conversely, it's possible that during your periods (or during PMS), you sleep less well. Hormonal fluctuations also affect the quality of your sleep.

What can you do to trigger your periods naturally?

Even if there's no foolproof miracle solution for triggering periods, there are techniques and tricks that can help. The effectiveness of these techniques is unproven, and varies from woman to woman. But you can try them out with complete peace of mind: they present no health risk. Here are our tips, methods and natural remedies to help your period finally arrive.

Emmenagogic plants

Which plants are emmenagogues? 
These plants stimulate blood flow in the uterus. Supposedly, this can provoke the arrival of blood flow.
These plants include :
  • parsley, which you can drink as an infusion in the morning and/or evening, with a little honey
  • the famous sage, a well-known plant for everything to do with the menstrual cycle
  • Mint, mugwort, yarrow, angelica, shepherd's purse, raspberry... To name but a few.

If you don't like the taste of these plants as an infusion, you can consume them as essential oils or food supplements. For more information, contact your pharmacist or doctor.

A diet rich in vitamin C

As mentioned above, a balanced diet rich in vitamin C is essential for good hormonal balance. Vitamin C increases estrogen. Estrogens are the hormones that trigger uterine contractions and thus periods. Before your periods arrives, you can start taking them. Vitamin C is found in foods such as oranges, ginger, pineapple and parsley. You can also take vitamin C supplements. Remember to eat enough vegetables.
Diet plays a key role in regulating cycles, managing pain, pre-menstrual syndrome etc...

Drink infusions

Some plants can be consumed as a drink. This is particularly true of parsley and sage. Some spices, such as ginger, turmeric and cinnamon, can be drunk as an infusion, hot or cold, and help to promote the arrival of periods.

Changing your contraceptive method

Contraception has an impact on the menstrual cycle. So, if you'd like periods to be more regular, you can take the pill. Taking an oral contraceptive helps regulate the cycle, since periods on the pill are artificial periods called "withdrawal bleeding".

Take part in a non-intensive sporting activity

Sport during periods is a question that keeps coming up. Indeed, sport can help relieve painful periods , and speed up the arrival of periods by stimulating blood flow. However, it's important to remember that it can also have the opposite effect. Indeed, some top sportswomen have very irregular periods and a very low flow, as a result of practising sport too intensively. Sporting at too high an intensity can cause hormonal imbalance. Sometimes even amenorrhea.
So, if your periods takes longer to arrive than usual, and you've recently changed your sporting habits, your body may be reacting. Particularly if you've started doing a lot of sport, your cycles may become longer and your periods may take longer to arrive.
While high-intensity sport can have the opposite effect of triggering periods, on the other hand, certain gentler or moderate practices such as yoga can encourage their onset.

Opt for an active sex life

It's not really the act of intercourse that brings on your periods, but rather the organ itself. The contractions caused by the latter will trigger the periods and blood will be expelled thanks to the contractions.  

Take a hot bath with essential oils

Finally, as you know, your mood has a major influence on your menstrual cycle. So avoiding any form of stress or anxiety will help you to prevent your cycle from becoming unbalanced.
To relax, you can take a hot bath with essential oils. This will help you achieve a state of relaxation, and the heat can also help periods to arrive by stimulating blood flow. In any case, you should try to relax as much as possible, because focusing on the problem won't make your periods arrive any faster.
If your periods are taking too long to arrive, you should consult your GP or gynaecologist.

FAQ for triggering periods

How to trigger your periods in 1 night?

There's no magic formula for triggering periods overnight. However, a few techniques such as drinking herbal infusions, using emmenagogic plants or taking a contraceptive can help you get your periods.

What is the drug that triggers periods ?

The contraceptive pill can help regulate periods. To date, there are no other medications prescribed to trigger periods.

Can making love trigger periods ?

Yes, orgasm and its contractions can help get the blood flowing. What's more, there are no contraindications to making love during periods.