A study published in 2010 showed a more consistent relationship between a woman's menstrual cycle and signs of asthma. This study performed methacholine challenges, a test for irritability of the airways associated with asthma, in premenopausal women. The results showed that in the days around the time of the first day of a woman's period (within 3 days before to 3 days after), the methacholine challenge was nearly two and a half times more likely to be positive than during the rest of the menstrual cycle. While a positive methacholine challenge does not necessarily diagnose asthma, it is associated with an increased irritability of the muscles in the lungs, and this may suggest a role of sex hormones in worsening asthma.
During a woman's menstrual cycle, the hormones progesterone and estradiol decrease rapidly shortly before the onset of bleeding. It is this drop in hormones that may be associated with worsening asthma, through various inflammatory processes required to start menstruation. It appears, in the above-mentioned study, that the use of birth control pills has a protective effect on the premenstrual worsening of asthma symptoms.
If your asthma gets worse around the time of your period, check with your doctor about your various treatment options to get your asthma under better control.
Source:
Dratva J, Schindler C, Curjuric I, et al. Perimenstrual Increase in Bronchial Hyperreactivity in Premenopausal Women: Results from the Population-Based SAPALDIA 2 Cohort. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010;125:823-9.
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