Ovulation can cause mood swings due to hormonal fluctuations, particularly an increase in estrogen levels. Some women experience positive mood swings, while others may feel irritable or anxious. Hormones such as FSH, LH, and progesterone also play a role in the process.
The connection between ovulation and mood swings typically involves hormones. As a woman approaches ovulation, she experiences a significant increase in the hormone estrogen and changes in the levels of other hormones, often leading to mood changes. Many women experience positive mood swings, including feeling more alive and vibrant around ovulation. Others may become irritable or feel anxious due to these hormonal changes. Still other women notice no change in their mood during ovulation.
A woman’s hormone levels don’t stay constant throughout her cycle, and as a result, she may have symptoms, including significant mood changes, that vary at different times in her cycle. Many people are well aware of the mood swings that can occur in the days or weeks leading up to the start of a woman’s menstrual cycle, and this is often referred to as premenstrual syndrome (PMS). A woman may, however, also notice changes in her mood when her body releases an egg from one of her ovaries in a process called ovulation, which is the connection between ovulation and mood swings.
Just as pre-period mood swings are caused by hormonal fluctuations, hormones are also at the root of the connection between ovulation and mood swings. In the run-up to ovulation, there are various hormones at work. Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), for example, stimulates the development of follicles that house a woman’s developing eggs, and luteinizing hormone (LH) stimulates a follicle to release a mature egg during ovulation. Progesterone is also at work during the period leading up to ovulation and serves to prepare the uterine lining for the eventual implantation of an egg. Estrogen, however, can be singled out as a driving force during ovulation, and it is this hormone that is often responsible for the relationship between ovulation and mood swings.
When estrogen levels reach a high enough point, this leads to a surge in LH, which in turn stimulates ovulation. Increased estrogen levels can make a woman feel vibrant, energized, and healthy. She may feel more capable during this time, as well as more desirable and sexual. The relationship between ovulation and mood swings isn’t always positive, however, some women feel irritable, anxious, or even depressed instead. This can occur as a woman’s natural response or as a result of a hormonal imbalance.
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