diff --git a/golang/scale.go b/golang/scale.go
index 2a4ee3b..cfe2d47 100644
--- a/golang/scale.go
+++ b/golang/scale.go
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ func handleRequest(_ context.Context, snsEvent events.SNSEvent) {
 
 	// Update the scale up alarm.
 	// Set the state of the scale up alarm to INSUFFICIENT_DATA.
-	_, err = updateAlarm(scaleUpAlarmName, evaluationPeriodScaleUp, datapointsRequiredScaleUp, upThreshold, cloudwatch.ComparisonOperatorGreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold, streamName, alarmActions, newShardCount, false, 0)
+	_, err = updateAlarm(scaleUpAlarmName, periodMins, evaluationPeriodScaleUp, datapointsRequiredScaleUp, upThreshold, cloudwatch.ComparisonOperatorGreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold, streamName, alarmActions, newShardCount, false, 0)
 	if err != nil {
 		logMessage := fmt.Sprintf("Kinesis stream (%s) has scaled and been tagged with the timestamp but couldn't update the scale-up alarm (%s). Log CloudWatch PutMetricAlarm API error.", streamName, scaleUpAlarmName)
 		logger.WithError(err).Error(logMessage)
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ func handleRequest(_ context.Context, snsEvent events.SNSEvent) {
 
 	// Update the scale down alarm.
 	// Set the state of the scale down alarm to INSUFFICIENT_DATA.
-	_, err = updateAlarm(scaleDownAlarmName, evaluationPeriodScaleDown, datapointsRequiredScaleDown, downThreshold, cloudwatch.ComparisonOperatorLessThanThreshold, streamName, alarmActions, newShardCount, true, scaleDownMinIterAgeMins)
+	_, err = updateAlarm(scaleDownAlarmName, periodMins, evaluationPeriodScaleDown, datapointsRequiredScaleDown, downThreshold, cloudwatch.ComparisonOperatorLessThanThreshold, streamName, alarmActions, newShardCount, true, scaleDownMinIterAgeMins)
 	if err != nil {
 		logMessage := fmt.Sprintf("Kinesis stream (%s) has scaled and been tagged with the timestamp but couldn't update the scale-down alarm (%s). Log CloudWatch PutMetricAlarm API error.", streamName, scaleDownAlarmName)
 		logger.WithError(err).Error(logMessage)
@@ -357,12 +357,11 @@ func handleRequest(_ context.Context, snsEvent events.SNSEvent) {
 // newShardCount: The new shard count of the Kinesis Data Stream
 // isScaledown: true if the alarm is for scale down, false if for scale up
 // scaleDownMinIterAgeMins: used for scaleDown only metrics
-func updateAlarm(alarmName string, evaluationPeriod int64, datapointsRequired int64, threshold float64, comparisonOperator string, streamName string, alarmActions []*string, newShardCount int64, isScaleDown bool, scaleDownMinIterAgeMins int64) (*cloudwatch.PutMetricAlarmOutput, error) {
+func updateAlarm(alarmName string, periodMins int64, evaluationPeriod int64, datapointsRequired int64, threshold float64, comparisonOperator string, streamName string, alarmActions []*string, newShardCount int64, isScaleDown bool, scaleDownMinIterAgeMins int64) (*cloudwatch.PutMetricAlarmOutput, error) {
 	var putMetricAlarmResponse *cloudwatch.PutMetricAlarmOutput
 	var err error
 	// Initialize the seed function to get a different random number every execution.
 	rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
-	var periodMins int64 = 5 // Data is evaluated every 5 minutes
 	var retryCount int64 = 0
 	var isDone bool