An attempt to explain the menstrual cycle to someone whose background is not in Biology but had a question about birth control:
The Hypothalamus in your brain
The Hypothalamus in your brain
sends signals to the Pituitary gland that sits above your eyes, pretty much
The Pituitary gland has 2 parts
1 part secretes the hormones our body uses
and the hormones have balancing effects in our reproductive system
some are high when others are low, then they switch when the timing is right
that's pretty much the idea
so
the part of the pituitary is called Anterior Pituitary
it secretes hormones: LH, FSH, and Inhibin
Hormone LH goes on to become Androgen, which is a precursor to Estrogen
so basically what happens when you have a period
the 1st day of your period is Day 0
FSH (the hormone) enters your ovaries
and it encourages the cells there to mature
for females
when we are embryos in the womb
our eggs aren't eggs yet
they are oocytes
and the oocytes become surrounded by a layer of cells
and they become known as primary follicles
and so the maturation of our eggs pause here, at primary follicles
when we are born
all of our eggs are stopped at the primary follicle stage
and they stay there
until we hit puberty
when we hit puberty and start having periods
each time we have a period
it's FSH encouraging our primary follicles to mature
they go from primary to secondary
and as they mature
they produce estrogen
the estrogen hormone has a negative feedback on LH from the Anterior Pituitary
meaning it hinders LH while FSH essentially produces more estrogen
but it does this for about 10 days
and a menstrual cycle is normally 28 days
so at halfway, it's 14 days
at 14 days
the primary follicles develop into secondary follicles
not just one of them, but a bunch of them
and then at 14 days
one of those secondary follicles will be the biggest
and so the one that is the most developed becomes the egg
and it pretty much shoots out of your ovary into the fallopian tube
that's why you get cramps
and so at 14 days, 1/2 way in your menstrual cycle
after the egg shoots off from your ovaries
the hormone levels in your ovaries start decreasing
the LH triggered ovulation (the egg being released)
and then once that happens
where the egg was sitting, it's now like empty cells missing the egg
and this is known as a Corpus Luteum
the Corpus Luteum actually starts producing its own hormones as well
it makes estrogen, inhibin, and then progresterone
so what happens is
The hormone Inhibin has a negative feedback (hindering) effect on FSH (the hormone that encouraged the follicles to mature into an egg)
and this happens because we don't need anymore eggs since one already left
and is waiting to be fertilized
the hormone Progresterone has a negative feedback effect on the growth hormone also released with FSH from Day 0
so then LH levels are also decreased
and decreased LH stimulates growth of the womb
it's to prepare for a baby
BUT
if not fertilization happens
then your body is like, okay, we don't need this stuff anymore
and so the Corpus Luteum degenerates and becomes kinda like leftover scar tissue
and so then the hormonal levels of progesterone decrease, meaning it doesn't inhibit growth hormone anymore
so that means Growth Hormone increases because nothing is hindering it anymore
and so it stimulates the follicles to grow again
meanwhile
no baby is being made
so the stuff prepared as food for the embryo
it sheds from our bodies
and that's why it's not just blood, but it's also blood and sugary stuff
bc it was going to be food for the embryo
and when no egg is fertilized, we don't need those hormones, and so the corpus luteum shrinks
and that bed off food sheds off from our endometrium
and we get our period
we're back to Day 0
where follicles start maturing again
so because everything is hormonally controlled
when you have unusual periods
they say to take birth control
because it's trying to encourage your body to be more regular to the 28 day cycle
and that's why you might have effects at first
but it's really going to take another cycle to help your body adjust
so as you're taking bc now
you are changing the hormone levels to try and control the cycle like this
so if you have the placebo pills left over even though you already started your period
you finish them because you're trying to tell your body what your period schedule needs to be
since it's irregular
does that make sense?
But at the same time
I would cross-check if you should continue placebo pills because you may only need to take 3 or 4 days of them
if your pack came with more
and then you can throw the rest of that pack away and start on a new pack
I'm not sure how yours is bc it's a different one and it's been a while since I've taken bc
my understanding of the placebo pills
is that you take them to give a break from the hormones since they have no hormones in them
so when you take a placebo, it's to give time for your period to start
so you prob only need to take 3 or 4 of them even if you already started your period
or you can take all of them, if your pack comes with more
it's pretty individual
but I think that's more a question for your doctor, who would know better
As a side note, understanding female reproduction and the menstrual cycle should really be something part of general sexual education when you're younger. It's complicated, so the younger we can be exposed to what really goes on in our bodies, the better decisions we can make because we have a better understanding about what everything means. My hope for the future is that teenagers can actually learn about what Male and Female Reproduction means because it was difficult for me to ingest the material later on since I never really had exposure to it before. If you find yourself confused about the details in Male and Female Reproduction, you are not alone! There are many of us!
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