Updated video on YouTube (6/10/22)
Here’s an interesting observation by more than a handful of my female patients: Their throats are sore for a few days just before their monthly periods. It doesn’t go on to a cold or other more severe symptoms. Just a transient sore throat. Then it goes away.
If you’ve been following my blogs, and articles, and especially if you read my book, Sleep, Interrupted, there’s a simple explanation. During your monthly cycles, progesterone level increase with ovulation but drops when there’s no egg fertilization. One relatively unknown property of progesterone is that it’s an upper airway muscle dilator. It literally tenses your tongue muscles. When in deep sleep, your muscles (as well as your tongue and other throat muscles) tend to relax to various degrees depending on your sleep stage. If you have less progesterone on board, then it’s more likely to fall back, obstructing your breathing, leading to a temporary vacuum effect in the throat, suctioning up small amounts of normal stomach juices. All this causes a temporary deep sleep deficiency. If you eat a late meal, more of these juices will come up. But once progesterone levels begin to increase again the tongue tenses, and sleep quality improves as well.
Sometimes, the inflammation in the throat increases to the point of significant deep sleep deprivation, leading to some of the more severe symptoms as pre-menstrual headaches, fatigue, irritability, and weight gain.
For you women out there, do you experience sore throats just before your periods? Please enter your responses in the comments box below.
For the past year I have experienced a sore throat at the very end of my period. I have headaches and body aches. If I don’t get enough sleep it turns unto a cold. Every time.
Im feeling that something stuck in my throat
Every month, A day or two before my period, I get intense lower back and hip pain, diarrhea, cramps, fatigue, over emotional, and swollen glands in my throat, mostly always on the right side that hurts when I swallow, feeling like a golf ball in my throat. Along with many other symptoms, I always wondered why my throat glands get so sore and painful every month at this time?
Yes I do iv Woken up this morning with the worst sore throat
Thinking iv got covid till I went in the bathroom and found out my period had arrived iv not had a period since December so I think that’s why it’s worse then it’s ever felt.
yes I have had a variety of co-existing symptoms at ovulation, and immediately after I have had physical breast tenderness, water retention in lower body (thighs and hips), severe Tonsillitis (which wakes me at night), cold like symptoms; hot sweats at night leaving to dehydration and headaches (a rancid body odour smell not like at other times of the month). The worst has been the mental problems, I see things very bleakly and used to get cycles of depression at one time diagnosed with personality disorder but that is not the case it is PMDD just happens in cycle. The worst point I felt suicidal in the trough after ovulation. It is entirely connected with hormonal fluctuations. I can only say it varies each month in terms of impact on mental health or physical symptoms.
I am 43 and showing signs of perimenopause. With this comes a sore throat and swollen glands jist before my period… similar feeling to tonsillitis. It feels like my tongue has swollen up and I literally can’t swallow even my own spit. Hisnis accompanied by cold shivers and body ache… in particular my legs and calves. Would be helpful to know what can alleviate and prevent this happening every month.
I experience throat sores before my monthly periods and after days they disappear
Sophie, please take a look at and updated video I did on this subject with suggestions, as well a resource link at the bottom of the post. Good luck!
Yes I do few days before and breathlessness
Every month before period a hade extremely painful on sorte throte,I’m 39 this summer 40…
every month i feel the same thing. i get sore throat, nausea, headaches. it all started after i stopped breastfeeding my second child. it started with headaches always before period. during the covid times it became a sore throat. first i was paranoid for couple of months thinking did i catch the covid. now it is impacting me every month in such level that i actually have to write myself sick for few days even. i feel week and i also have kind of allergic reactions as well so i recognize its not a common flu. depending what i eat, the sore throat might turn it to allergic sore throat (although most of the time i don’t have any allergies) and i can feel my throat itching affecting even my ears and nose.
i really don’t know what to do since i do sports (running, yoga, bouldering, rock climbing). i eat healthy. the only thing i might not be that good at but im trying daily is managing my stress levels but it’s not as easy with two small kids. but i do try my hard balancing it with active and healthy lifestyle. i just hope that maybe its also still the postpartum body trying to get back to normal (my youngest is almost 3) since these things actually take time.