Women: does the Earth's shadow on the moon influence your menses?

[uppityperson]

I have heard from people that the "cycles of the moon" (how much of the moon is in the Earth's shadow) influences women's fertility cycles and menses. I have never noticed that the amount of shadow on the moon had anything in common with my menses. How about you?

[waiting for hope]

1. Never made a connection to the moon -

however, if I have worked for a few months where there are a few other woman working, I have found that cycles will sync .. that to me is weird.

[Orrex]

2. Did you and these other women work on the moon, by chance?

That would be weird.

[waiting for hope]

4. Yeah - really!

Would be a bit difficult to deal with too - that "no gravity" thing you know ...

:spray:

[uppityperson]

5. That happened to me also. Worked at a place with a few other women,

in a few months we got in sync with each other. I figured that we finally all just hit it right, but we stayed together for the next yr. Pheromones or something?

[waiting for hope]

7. I don't know the reason - but it's happened to

me a couple of times - and it just is weird. Could it be a throw back to evolution?

[anigbrowl]

10. It also happens in convents. Makes sense if you think about it...

If you'll pardon me being a pointy-headed scientist, I figure at the hormonal level level the body senses a majority of population other fertile (pre-menopausal) women via pheromones, and wants to be prepared for the possible opportunity to reproduce. If one woman gets pregnant first, there's a chance that the number of available men will drop, so it makes sense from a reproductive biology point of view to sync up menstrual cycles so as to compete on a level playing field.

The alternative is to have Alice in the next office start ovulating first and get her sexy on become Carol has become fertile, thus possibly depriving Carol of Bob's paternal involvement.

[waiting for hope]

38. Sounds like an evolution response -

Having all the woman getting their sexy on (while having PMS? :wow: ) at the same time I guess would cut down on preferential treatment.

[Scout]

54. it also happens in women's dormitories n/t

[rainbow4321]

36. Same thing happened to me and my 2 daughters...

I'd cringe when one or both of them started cuz it had developed into a pattern that mine would kick in within a day or two---to a point where mine would even be early at times.

[LeftyMom]

3. The main predictor of my period's appearance is how inconvenient my period would be at the time.

Phases of the moon have less than nothing to do with it.

[anigbrowl]

11. DUzy award nominee!

[amitten]

6. I've noticed my period waits for the full moon.

It will come slightly early or late in order to coincide. I've noticed it all my life.

[uppityperson]

8. I envy you since mine was on a 24 day cycle

[Triana]

9. never paid a damn bit of attention really. n/t

[SpookyCat]

12. No moon connection.

In fact, no nothin' now. Had a horrible time the whole time I'd been having them, and finally my Dr gave me this shot (I forget the name, starts with a "L", IIRC) Anywhoo, it stopped my hormones cold, basically put me into menopause.

I don't want to overstate this or anything, but this might be the greatest invention in the history of the known world, indeed the universe, of all time and forever. LOL!

Now I get a shot every 3 months til I actually menopause. My "baby inoculation" as my friend calls it.

:D

[uppityperson]

13. Not depo-provera?

no hot flashes? You are missing something if you don't have those

[SpookyCat]

15. When the Dr reminded me of the likelyhood of hot flashes, I thought, phttaahh!

I run hot naturally, so no big deal.

Then I was sitting on the sofa, and suddenly, my entire body caught fire and my flesh melted from my bones. Ok, maybe not *literally* but...LOL!

[uppityperson]

16. Been doing them for 9 yrs now. Worst was after a concussion, had them more often than

hourly. I got very tired very fast. Went on HRT for 2 months to give my body a chance to heal. Not a fun time

[SidDithers]

34. That would be Lupron...

my wife was on it for 6 months, after having orthroscopic surgery to clear endometrial tissue. We'd been trying to get pregnant for 2 years. Surgery and 6 months on Lupron, and we got pregnant right away!

Sid

[Hanse]

14. Well, I'm a man.

But I get my period three, maybe four times every month.

[uppityperson]

17. You know when women are most like men, hormonally?

when they are pmsing. You poor guys

[Quantess]

20. For you:

You take for granted that your reproductive system is the same every day. I am a woman and I have no concept of what it would be like to wake up and go about my day without thinking about my cycle at least once every day.

If you were a woman, your carelessness would get you pregnant right away.

[armyowalgreens]

24. Surprise erections...

are a pretty big problem. Especially for teens.

I know it's not as bad as periods, but it's still pretty bad.

It's not like males are living in paradise.


On Edit: Please, no one verbally abuse me.

[uppityperson]

26. Teenage erections go away faster than teenagers do though

comparing teenerboners with teenerpreggers

[Quantess]

27. You, in your ignorance, think I'm just bitching about menstrual periods.

As all women do, on occasion.

But, you apparently missed the part where I wished that men would imagine what it is like to have your body slightly different from day to day. Most crucially, to have certain days be more fertile than others. That means you have to worry after having sex that you might be pregnant. And there is always a two week wait until you even can confirm a suspicion that you may be pregnant.

But you will never have to worry your fool 19 year old head about it, so never mind.

[armyowalgreens]

28. Well hello...

It's always nice to have chats with old friends. I didn't realize who I was talking to. Otherwise I would have left you alone. I know you are easily pissed off.

On Edit: I actually cannot remember why you dislike me.

[Quantess]

31. Your post #24 replied to my post #20

I don't dislike anyone permanently.

[anigbrowl]

42. Aha ha

Most crucially, to have certain days be more fertile than others. That means you have to worry after having sex that you might be pregnant.

Men are fertile all the time (at least to the extent that they're capable of having sex). Which means they have to take that into account all the time. True, lots of men don't, for the responsible among us, we don't get any days off from fertility.

True, men don't fully understand how it is for women...and vice versa. A little politeness goes a long way.

[Hanse]

41. That's so sad.

:nopity:

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[uppityperson]

18. Aw crap, I MADE A MISTAKE in the poll. It is NOT the Earth's shadow on the moon except during

an eclipse. It is the dark side of the moon, the side away from the sun, that makes it look full, 3/4 crescent, 1/4 new.

I apologize, not sure if this invalidates my poll or not.

Not thinking straight tonight with a cat in my face and glass of wine at hand. Sorry.

[TheMadMonk]

21. Hmm maybe not the best subject if you have a face full of pussy. nt

[Bucky]

35. Wouldn't the moon's apogee/perigee in its orbit be a bigger deal than its shadowing?

I think Iran's election rigging is probably a bigger influence.

[Quantess]

19. A great percentage of women have cycles that are shorter or longer than 28 days

Average 26 to 34 days or so is normal average for each individual woman, and then from there, a day (or two or three) give or take, month to month.

Not at all like the rotation of the earth and the cycle of the moon.

[Why Syzygy]

22. You would have to exclude

any woman who uses oral contraceptives (or hormonal implants) to get a true representation of the influence.

[uppityperson]

23. Yes, should exclude women who are on hormones

Unless, of course, they started their 28 day pillcycle on the right day in which case they would be in sync with the dark side of the moon being visible. Huh, I wonder if this is why this theory is still going around?

It is rather like expecting newborns to eat only every hours because that is how they used to feed them in the hospital vs what they wanted or was good for them.

[Why Syzygy]

33. Do you have any idea

of the origins of this "theory"? I can provide some background if you would like.

[Quantess]

25. really? ideally a woman starts birth control pills when she gets her period.

If you want to be a purist, then only count the month she started the pills. From that point on, her cycle is dictated by the BC pills.

[Why Syzygy]

32. "her cycle is dictated by the BC pills"

Which is precisely my point.

[Warren DeMontague]

29. Edit. Delete.

Mistake re: Earth's shadow has already been noted.

Here's a primer on the phases of the moon, anyway.



http://astro.unl.edu/naap/lps/lunarPage2.html

[uppityperson]

43. Thank you for the pict, I was tired and posted inaccurately

It is what part of the moon we see, how much of the dark side, the side away from the sun, NOT the shadow of the earth.

[Warren DeMontague]

46. I remember I was in college the first time I actually grokked that whole thing.

(And yeah, I was probably high) ... Like, "Of course when the moon is full it rises around the same time the sun sets, and sets right around sunrise!"

It was a real "Aha!" moment. :hippie:

[uppityperson]

48. When the moon is full in the summer, it is very low, winter it is high

at least here in NW WA. Another one of those interesting discoveries.

I know what you mean about "aha" moment when moon/sun phase relationship hit.

[H2O Man]

37. It has to do

with gravity, not a shadow.

The moon's gravitational pull can be measured on a single cup of water. Consider the percentage of a human body that is water.

[Hanse]

40. Alright, I have a single cup of water.

Now what?

[H2O Man]

51. Look at it.

Deeply. Forget your worries.

[uppityperson]

44. Does the moon's gravitational effect vary that much every month?

I thought it gets closer and further annually, not monthly.

Unless you mean the sun and moon's combined gravitational pull, like influences the tides. In which case we would have 2 cycles a month, like tides.

[caraher]

50. The moon orbits Earth about once a month, not year

so its nearest (perigee) and farthest (apogee) points each come monthly.

You're right about the tidal effects, though in one case the sun and moon pull together and in the other case they pull in opposite directions.

With exactly what gravitational marker menstrual cycles "should" align to in theory is not obvious to me, and its clear from things like the synchronization that can occur among women living in close quarters that other factors are going to matter a lot more than the tug of the moon and sun.

[JVS]

39. Isn't there a cosmic connection that's beyond our understanding?

[LWolf]

45. Other:

I've never tried to match my cycle to the moon, so I don't know.

My cycle tends to adjust to women around me, somewhat. In the past, it was reliable until I changed job sites, and then it took a few months to adjust. Inevitably, I would be cycling with the other women.

Now that I spend most of my days teaching middle school, I don't count on anything being reliable. It could be all those middle school girls with hormone spikes, who haven't settled into a reliable cycle yet; or it could be the precursor to menopause, or both.

[DesertRat]

47. It's never affected my cycle but

I do notice that my students (ages 4 and 5) are wild during a full moon. But that's a different topic. :)

[pipi_k]

49. Back in the olden days when I used to have them...

my menses weren't influenced so much by the shadows on the moon as by whatever 28 day cycle they wanted to follow.

I was almost disgustingly regular (said tongue-in-cheek in sympathy for any women who never knew when their periods would start).

Regular as clockwork for years. Sort of weird, really.

[Mari333]

52. thank god for menopause

the last egg turned the light out and closed the door 10 yrs ago. tumbling tumbleweeds are all thats left in the Fallopian Tube Halls of Fame.

[Scout]

53. when i'm not on birth control pills and when i'm the only woman living

in the house, yes, my period followed the moon's cycle pretty closely.

[BlooInBloo]

55. Is that your way of saying "horny"?

:rofl:

[uppityperson]

56. Nope, bleeding like a stuck pig never got me horny

[BlooInBloo]

57. Fair enough. Heh.