Period syncing: Apparently we DON’T match up with our mates

We firmly believed that if you spend a good amount of time with a girl (or group of girls), your periods all sync up.

It's happened in secondary school with your BFFs, in college with your housemates, and in the office with your colleagues… but apparently, it's all just lies.

And we're kinda bummed out about it.

A recent study has found that cycles don't actually link up, and it's actually more common for them to diverge over time.

Period-tracking and fertility app Clue recently teamed up with the University of Oxford for what is believed to be the largest study of its kind.

According to The Guardian, the research studied 1,500 women and then narrowed it down to 360 pairs of women who live together.

They tracked the women's periods over three months and found that 273 pairs had a big difference between their start and end dates.

Clue’s data scientist, Marija Vlajic, told The Guardian: “It’s very unlikely that cycle syncing is a real phenomenon. Menstrual syncing amongst the sample we had did not exist."

However, this study contradicts numerous others carried out in the past. In 1971, Harvard researched 135 female college students and found “a significant increase in synchronisation of onset dates" between women who lived in the same dorm.

And in 1999, another study surveyed women and found that 80 per cent of them have experienced synchronisation and believe that it does happen. 

While we're not scientists, we think a lot has to be said about this. There's something about syncing up with your girlfriends that makes you feel like you're not alone.

Yes, we all go through the dreaded experience every month, but it's still sh*tty all the same.

And having someone by your side to veg out with and understand your discomfort makes the aches and pains feel that little bit easier.

Oh, and while we have you; don't forget to have your say in the inaugural SHEmazing Awards this May! It's time to vote, and you can do it right here!