Signs your period is coming: how soon symptoms start
The short answer
Most people notice signs 1 to 7 days before their period, and the signs usually ease within a day or two of bleeding starting. The most common ones are sore or swollen breasts, bloating, mild cramps, tiredness, mood changes and a change in discharge. Which ones you get, and how strongly, is personal, and it can change from month to month.
If you have never had a period yet, read signs your first period is coming instead; the signals are different.
How soon before your period do symptoms start?
Premenstrual symptoms happen in the second half of the cycle, after ovulation, when hormone levels fall. The NHS and ACOG describe them as starting up to two weeks before the period in some people, but for most they are noticeable in the last few days. They should fade once the period starts; symptoms that carry on through the whole cycle are probably something else.
Common signs your period is about to start
- Sore, heavy or swollen breasts. Often the earliest sign, from about a week before.
- Bloating and a feeling of being puffy; your weight can go up a little from water.
- Mild cramps low in the belly or back, from a day or two before, sometimes starting the morning the bleeding begins. If cramps start a week early and are strong, see period pain: what’s normal, and when it isn’t.
- Mood changes: irritability, low mood, anxiety or feeling tearful. Read more in PMS, PMDD and mood.
- Tiredness and poor sleep.
- Spots or oilier skin.
- Food cravings or more appetite.
- Headache.
- Discharge changes. Discharge is often thinner and clearer around ovulation, then thicker or drier before the period, sometimes with a day or two of light brown or pink spotting right before the flow.
- Looser stools or constipation.
You don’t need all of these. Many people have two or three that happen almost every cycle, which is the useful part: once you know your own set, they become a fairly reliable warning.
Am I starting my period, or is it something else?
- Early pregnancy can feel similar (sore breasts, tiredness, mild cramps). The difference is that period symptoms end when the period comes. If the period is late and symptoms continue, take a pregnancy test. Why is my period late? covers the other causes.
- Ovulation (around the middle of the cycle) can cause a one-sided twinge and clear, stretchy discharge, two weeks before the period rather than days before.
- Infections cause discharge that itches, smells or is green, grey or frothy. That isn’t a period sign; see a doctor or pharmacist.
How to know the date instead of guessing
Symptoms are clues; your own cycle history is the actual answer. Your next period is likely to start about one average cycle length after the first day of your last period. Log day 1 of each period for a few months and the pattern is usually clear. Our next period calculator works it out from your last period and cycle length; how often periods come explains why the date drifts across the calendar.
Logging symptoms alongside dates (sore breasts on day 24, cramps on day 27) shows you your personal countdown. Cycella is built for this kind of quick daily note and keeps everything on your phone with no account; it is free on Google Play for Android.
When to see a doctor
- Premenstrual symptoms that are severe enough to disrupt work, school or relationships every month (this can be PMDD, which is treatable).
- Bleeding between periods, or spotting that lasts more than a couple of days.
- Symptoms that don’t go away once the period starts.
- Pain that is getting worse over months.
Sources
Try the Next period calculator, or see Cycella in Nepal. Cycella is a free, private Android period tracker, now on Google Play.
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