On the Cycle Insights page, the app will flag if one of your cycles is atypical or if your cycles are considered irregular.
Why was my cycle flagged as atypical?
Your cycle will be flagged as atypical if it's a single event or cycle that falls outside the medical norms (according to ACOG’s medical norm).
You might see the Atypical symbol for:
- Cycle length: If one of your cycles is 20 days or shorter or 36 days or longer
- Period length: If one of your periods lasts for 8 days or more
- Anovulatory cycle: If ovulation doesn't occur during a cycle
- Shorter luteal phase: If your luteal phase lasts for 7 days or less
Menstrual cycles are not always regular, and small, infrequent irregularities are quite common. However, they are usually nothing to worry about.
Why was my cycle flagged as irregular?
Your cycle will be flagged as irregular if it’s consistently outside of the medical norms (according to ACOG’s medical norm).
You might see the Irregular symbol for:
- Cycle length: If your cycle tends to be 20 days or shorter or 36 days or longer
- Cycle length variation: If the length of your cycle tends to differ from your average by 8 days or more
- Period length: If your period tends to last for 8 days or more
- Shorter luteal phase: If your luteal phase tends to last for 7 days or less
When it becomes a pattern, it can be a good idea to contact your healthcare provider, if you haven't already. Remember that you can download your Cycle Report in the app to facilitate the conversation with your care team! You can access the PDF by scrolling all the way down on the Cycle Report view and clicking on “Preview Cycle Report PDF.”
What causes atypical cycles and cycle irregularities?
Atypical cycles and cycle irregularities can occur due to several factors related to health and lifestyle, such as:
- Illness/Medicine
- Stress or anxiety
- Travel
- Extensive use of alcohol, smoking, or drugs
- Changes to routines
- Increased activity or sports
- Accidents or shock
- Low or High BMI
- Severe diets or eating disorders
- Cycle conditions (such as PCOS, endometriosis, etc)
- Recent use of hormonal birth control (or emergency contraception) Note: if you informed the app that you recently quit hormonal birth control, the algorithm will not flag your first few cycles as atypical or irregular as this is expected.
You can continue to read about irregular cycles in the following blog post: Irregular periods: Causes and how to manage