My girlfriend told me "everything you do irritates me" because she's on her period. Am I wrong for being hurt and mad?

Question

I'm F (21) and my partner is F (21). We're in a long-distance relationship.

For the past week, I've been struggling with my sleep schedule. I haven't been able to fall asleep until around 3 a.m. almost every night, so I've been waking up later than usual because I'm genuinely exhausted.

Today I woke up around 11:30 a.m., sent her a good morning message, and apologized for waking up so late. Instead of just telling me she missed me, she was annoyed with me and became really cold. I kept apologizing because I felt bad, but she stayed distant the whole day.

I couldn't stop crying ever since I woke up. Eventually, I asked her, "What did I do wrong? I'm really sorry. I'm having a hard time." I just couldn't handle us being like that.

She replied, "Nothing. I'm just on my period right now. Everything you do irritates me."

That honestly made me feel even worse. I understand that periods can make someone more emotional or irritable, and I'm not trying to dismiss that. But hearing the person I love tell me that everything I do irritates her really hurt. I never overslept because I wanted to ignore her or make her feel unimportant. I was just exhausted because I haven't been sleeping well.

What also makes this difficult for me is that if the roles were reversed, I honestly don't think I'd get mad at her for oversleeping or accidentally falling asleep while we were talking. I'd probably just assume she was tired.

I'm not asking whether periods can affect emotions because I know they can. I'm asking whether it's okay for me to still feel hurt by what she said, even if her period explains why she reacted that way.

Am I overreacting, or would you also be hurt if your partner said this to you?

Posted Jul 8, 2026, 9:41 AM UTC

1818
Loading comments…