Cyclicity of breast tenderness and night-time vasomotor symptoms in mid-life  women: information collected using the Daily Perimenopause Diary

Georgina E. Hale; Christine L Hitchcock; Lucy A Williams; Y M Vigna; Jerilynn C Prior

doi:10.1080/cmt.6.2.128.139

Perimenopause and Menopause · Transition Physiology

Cyclicity of breast tenderness and night-time vasomotor symptoms in mid-life women: information collected using the Daily Perimenopause Diary

Hale GE, Hitchcock CL, Williams LA, Vigna YM, Prior JC

Published July 5, 2003 Climacteric : the Journal of the International Menopause Society, 6(2), 128-139

DOI 10.1080/cmt.6.2.128.139 PMID 12841883

Abstract

Objective

The purpose was to explore cyclicity of breast tenderness and vasomotor symptoms in menstruating mid-life women using the Daily Perimenopause Diary.

Methods

Untreated mid-life women from a convenience sample completed the Daily Perimenopause Diary for clinical (n = 14) or research (n = 10) assessments. Breast tenderness, sleep disturbance and day and night vasomotor intensity were rated on a 0-4 scale with vasomotor number as a count. Daily oral temperature data were analyzed using the Quantitative Basal Temperature algorithm to assess ovulation and estimate luteal phase length. Analysis of variance tested cyclicity using the mean of three 3-day windows (during flow, at mid-cycle and premenstrually).

Results

Ninety-eight complete flow-to-flow diaries (from 24 women, mean age 47 years, cycle length 27 +/- 6.4 (standard deviation) days) were available, with quantitative temperature data for 60 cycles in 16 women. Of assessed cycles, 90% were ovulatory; 25% had luteal phases < 10 days. Breast tenderness was maximal in the premenstrual window overall (p < 0.0001) and in the ovulatory subset. Night sweats were maximal premenstrually (p = 0.0035) except in anovulatory cycles. Daytime flushes were not cyclic (p = 0.1333) except in ovulatory cycles (p = 0.031).

Conclusion

Daily Perimenopause Diaries from mid-life women show premenstrual increases in breast tenderness and night sweats.

Topics

By this author

Luteal Phase · Luteal Phase Deficiency

The influence of the menstrual cycle on muscle injuries - a systematic review and meta-analysis

Guthardt Y et al., 2026 Sci Rep Free full text on PubMed Central

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Breast Health · Benign Breast Conditions

MON-154 Breast areolar diameter in healthy menstruating women—a single cycle cross-sectional study of associations with body size and ovulatory characteristics

Baaske AV et al., 2025 Journal of the Endocrine Society Free full text on PubMed Central

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Breast Health · Benign Breast Conditions

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Wood M et al., 2025 Journal of the Endocrine Society Free full text on PubMed Central

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Hormonal Agents · Progesterone and Progestins

"SUN-109 Feasibility of Cyclic Progesterone and Spironolactone for PCOS-specific Health-Related Quality of Life—a six-month, Phase II, single arm, single center, open-label study"

Nelson K et al., 2025 J Endocr Soc Free full text on PubMed Central

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Long Term Health · Cardiovascular Health

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Hitchcock CL et al., 2012 Menopause

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Breast Health · Benign Breast Conditions

Breast tenderness and swelling experiences related to menstrual cycles and ovulation in healthy premenopausal women: Secondary analysis of the 1-year "Prospective Ovulation Cohort"

Wood M et al., 2025 PLoS One Free full text on PubMed Central

Breast tenderness and swelling are associated with premenstrual symptoms but are not well described in healthy women. In this 1-year prospective observational study, we examined daily breast tenderness and swelling to determine whether differences existed between normally ovulatory and ovulatory disturbed (short luteal phase and anovulatory) cycles in a cohort of community dwelling, non-smoking, healthy premenopausal women. Enrolment required two consecutive normal-length and normally ovulatory cycles by Quantitative Basal Temperature© analysis. Women (n = 53) ages 20-41 recorded their daily breast experiences in the Menstrual Cycle Diary© across an average of 13.6 cycles. In all 720 cycles, the median breast tenderness was 1.4 (on a 0-4 scale, range 0.0-3.0), in cycles with a mean length of 28.1 days (95% CI 27.5-28.8). Comparison of breast tenderness and breast size (changes from usual) parameters between all normally ovulatory cycles and all ovulatory disturbed cycles in the whole cohort showed significantly higher levels in normally ovulatory (luteal length ≥10 days) in both Breast Tenderness Score [intensity X duration in days; 6.0 (range 1.0-14.0) vs. 3.0 (0.0-11.0) (P=.005)] and breast size [4.0 (2.0-4.0) vs. 4.0 (0.0-4.0) (P=.034]). However, within-woman in the forty-seven women with both normally ovulatory and ovulatory disturbed cycles, breast tenderness (intensity, duration, and Breast Tenderness Score), did not differ between normally ovulatory cycles and cycles with ovulatory disturbances. This study also demonstrated that in all ovulatory cycles, the timing of breast tenderness increased in parallel with breast swelling; the maximum for both was in the late luteal phase.

Measurement and Statistics · Instrument Development and Validation

Measurement properties of the calendar of premenstrual experience in patients with premenstrual syndrome

Feuerstein M et al., 2002 J Reprod Med

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Premenstrual Disorders · Cyclical Symptom Patterns

Ovulation disturbances and mood across the menstrual cycles of healthy women

Harvey AT et al., 2009 J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol

We examined the cyclicity of negative mood relative to ovulation and ovulation disturbances in Menstrual Cycle Diary(c) data collected daily during a 1-year study of ovulation, exercise, and bone change. A validated quantitative basal temperature-based methodology was used to determine the onset of the luteal phase. 'Feeling depressed', 'feeling anxious', and 'feeling angry/frustrated' were scored on a scale of 0 (absent) to 4 (very intense). Mood scores were examined over two 15-day intervals centered on either ovulation/midpoint, or on the onset of flow. Data were available from 765 cycles of 62 healthy and initially ovulatory women with a mean age of 33.9 +/- 5.4 years. Of 739 cycles that could be classified, 532 (72%) were normally ovulatory, 185 (25%) were ovulatory with a short (<10 day) luteal phase, and 22 (3%) were anovulatory. Minor cyclic mood changes were present in both ovulatory and anovulatory menstrual cycles. In anovulatory cycles, mood tended to be more variable but less negative, with a time course that differed from that in ovulatory cycles. Mood scores did not differ based on luteal phase length or with hormone levels. Patterns and mechanisms of mood change in very symptomatic women appear to be essentially amplifications of normal experiences.

Perimenopause and Menopause › Transition Physiology › Symptom Patterns · Menstrual Cycle › Cycle Across the Lifespan › Cycle and General Health · Reproductive Endocrinology › Luteal Phase › Luteal Phase Deficiency

Christine L Hitchcock, Jerilynn C Prior, Lucy A Williams

Chris Hitchcock, C Hitchcock, J Prior, L Williams

PMID 12841883 12841883 DOI 10.1080/cmt.6.2.128.139 10.1080/cmt.6.2.128.139 Hale et al. 2003, Hale 2003

Cite this article

Hale, G. E., Hitchcock, C. L., Williams, L. A., Vigna, Y. M., & Prior, J. C. (2003). Cyclicity of breast tenderness and night-time vasomotor symptoms in mid-life women: information collected using the Daily Perimenopause Diary. Climacteric : the Journal of the International Menopause Society, 6(2), 128-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/cmt.6.2.128.139