How does the HRV dip in the week before menstruation compare to HRV changes during serious COVID infection?

Wendie Trubow, MD, MBA, IFMCPPresident at Five Journeys, Functional Medicine & Wellness Provider, Best Selling Author, Passionate Champion for Health

Difference on Variability Between Men and Women

20 Mar 2025 · 0 min

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The week before menstruation causes a measurable dip in heart rate variability. In women with PMS symptoms, that dip is as pronounced as the one seen in people with severe COVID infection.

Questions this video answers

Speaker B states they are the same amount—the HRV dip in women with PMS symptoms is comparable in magnitude to the dip seen in people with a strong/serious COVID infection.

Is there a difference between men and women and tracking in terms of the efficacy for them?
It would be a big difference because. And then I'm talking about the menstrual cycle, because suddenly you get insight into the physiological strain of the menstrual cycle of the week before menstruation. It's not a mood or, you know, a feeling, it's a physiological load that you can see on your heart rate variability. And when I compare it to people having a strong or serious COVID infection, it's the same amount of the dip in heart rate variability in the COVID infection as in the week in women who have PMS symptoms.