Here are a few things you should look out for:

PCOS

One, lots of women have irregular periods for a ton of different reasons: stress, weight gain or loss, medications, sickness...so on.

BUT if your cycles are regularly irregular—we are talking 40+ days, every.single.time—then it might be a good idea to look into PCOS.

 What's that you ask? Polycystic ovary syndrome (commonly known as PCOS) is one of the most common hormone disorders, affecting an estimated 1 in every 8 women, which is why it's surprising how few women are taught about it. But Glow is all over PCOS.

The symptoms of PCOS actually vary dramatically by person. But some of the most common symptoms include oily skin and recurring acne, weight gain, excess facial and body hair growth, head hair loss or thinning, and of course those long or absent periods. (Also, some of the side effects are being (rightfully) sort of bummed and down in the dumps about dealing with acne, weight gain, hair loss and 40 day periods.)  

ENDOMETRIOSIS 

Everyone can agree cramps are the *worst* and that we’re sick of not having them taken seriously.  Telling someone with severe cramps to “take a midol and curl up in the corner for a while” is like seeing someone whose finger was just cut off by a snowblower and casually handing them a bandaid.  

You should know that cramps that are so bad that you have to call out sick or just deal with life are NOT normal. In fact, they're commonly a symptom of endometriosis — the growth of cells from the lining of the uterus *outside* of the uterus, which can cause severe cramps. Some studies estimate that 10 percent of all women have endometriosis, but most are never diagnosed. Don't be part of the suffering masses.

If your cramps regularly have you missing out on life, go speak to a doctor and seek treatment.

IRON-DEFICIENCY ANEMIA

Besides making life suck and never being able to re-sell your mattress on Craigslist (Hi, um, did you kill a guy on this mattress?), a heavy flow can also cause an iron deficiency. It happens when you lose so much blood during menstruation that your body's iron stores get pretty low. That in turn means that hemoglobin production tanks, and you can develop a condition called iron-deficiency anemia which then leads to fatigue, fogginess, and mood swings. (Being a woman FTW!)

If you suffer from a crime-scene level flow and you've noticed you're feeling foggy during your period, ask your obgyn to test your iron levels. If they're low, look into some iron supplements and take them while watching Iron Man and ironing your pants and ok, no, you don’t have to do all that stuff, we just thought you’d be so happy to get rid of those symptoms you might want to indulge in a “theme day!”  (Theme: IRON)