News Health & Medicine Pain follows cycle By Christen Brownlee October 31, 2006 at 2:43 pm - More than 2 years ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to print (Opens in new window) Print From Atlanta, at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience The rise and fall of estrogen during a female’s menstrual cycle may change her perception of pain, according to an experiment on rats. Studies have shown that women tend to report more-intense and longer-lasting pain than men do, but the reason for this difference hasn’t been clear.