This is apparently why your dreams are super weird when you have your period

If you’ve ever noticed that you dream a lot more or have weirder dreams when you’re on your period or just before your cycle starts, then you’re in good company. While it’s hard to define a dream being “weird” (because, like, aren’t they all?), women have been anecdotally aware of their ~weird period dreams~ for a long time. Now we have science to explain what’s going on here.

Basically, if you wake up during REM sleep, you’re more likely to remember your dreams regardless of where you are in your cycle. Since most people have more sleep disturbances right before and during menstruation, they are more likely to wake up during REM and remember whatever weird dreams they were having.

“Women report more sleep disturbances in the time just before and during their monthly menstrual periods. If you wake from REM sleep, you tend to remember your dreams more," Dr. Irshaad Ebrahim, from the London Sleep Center, told Broadly.

OB/GYN Dr. Christiane Northrup also explained to Broadly that the reason why women sleep so poorly before and during their cycle is because of the hormonal fluctuations happening in the body, which include increased body temperature as a result of dropping progesterone levels.

Northrup added that hormones affect what you dream about and mentioned that many of her clients report “period dreams” about “mud, bathrooms, and things being broken down.”

Basically — you are more likely to remember your dreams because of the crappy sleep you get while on your period, and your hormones can absolutely influence the things you dream about at night. Thanks, biology.