To think they could have developed a period sensor by now...

[CarpeJugulum]

So I'm awaiting the onslaught of my period. Usual cramps and pre-starting symptoms. As yet no period (which is also not surprising as I suspect I'm peri menopausal, which I have another thread about if anyone cares to help!).

However, I'm going out today which means packing extra "stuff" as a just in case.

AIBU in thinking that if men had had to deal with this, then we'd have had alerts by now - set with a countdown clock, discrete alarm and all sorts of high tech options?!

Disclaimer - I'm irrational!

[Hassled]

If men had to deal with this, there would be 2 paid sick leave days a month, every month, and free sanitary ware.

[Perfectlypurple]

I agree. I think I am peri menopausal too. I have had the usual symptoms for over a week, while I was abroad and still nothing. I am either very early or very late at the moment. I hate it.

[Chopstick17]

I agree. There must be a dip stick or something like the ovulation predictors. Can't see me 'splashing' out on them every month though!

[Atinybittiredandsad]

Sympathy over the peri menopausal stage. Floods and cramps. Ended up with coil. Vile.

And i think if men had periods the world would have ended already.

[IAmAPaleontologist]

Yup I sometimes spend a good week sure that my period is about to turn up. Then all signs go away and it catches me out a few days later. This is partly why I started using cloth pads so I can just have one on and not worry about the waste. Weirdly dh is my best period sensor, he says my smell changes and is is always right.

[bonzo77]

Mooncup. Put it in when you think period is coming. Check it twice a day till period arrived. Problem solved.

[blitheringbuzzards1234]

I'm through the menopause now - it's heaven, absolute heaven not to have periods anymore. No more cartloads of painkillers, STs, no more STs/tampons together in case of a leak, no more worries about the possible red patch on the back of the skirt, no more inspecting the bed sheets each morning for the previous nights 'accident'.
I found the peri-menopause went on for around two years with a few hot flushes, intermittent spotting, often for two/three weeks, no warning.
Now there's very few migraines, ocassional vaginal dryness. You may need HRT but I decided to 'sit it out.' Grit your teeth, one day this state of bliss will be yours.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I love my moon cup, but it does make me need to go to the loo much more frequently. I think it presses on my bladder? It's worth it during my period when I need to visit the loo loads anyway, but not while I'm waiting.

I might look into cloth pads. I'm having the same unpredictability issue.

[Embarrassment2016]

Is there the same issue with potential TSS with moon ups as with tampons ? Or are they different as made from different material ? I like the idea of it but worry about TSS

Also, can they really hold everything ? Sorry tmi but what about if you have endo and experience heavy flooding etc ?

[Embarrassment2016]

*moonCUPS not moon ups

[CarpeJugulum]

Yep, cloth pads and mooncup here - but it's more the checking on a regular basis to see if my period has arrived as (partly due to the perimenopause bit - assuming that's what this is!) I'm totally paranoid it'll end up being a "not menopausal but upduffed" situation.

Embarrassment2016 no issue with mooncups and TSS. TSS is (as I understand it!) caused by the fibres of the tampons which don't exist with mooncups. They handle flooding fine, but you would have to change them more frequently, and you do need to develop a sense of your body to know when you really need to change them. That said, my periods are not as painful as when I used to use tampons.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

They still have a limit to what they can hold, but it is significantly more than tampons. You also don't have the issue of tampons not being able to absorb quickly enough. However, I still flood at times I use the meluna cup cos it has an extra large bucket size.

You can get tss still with menstrual cups.

[girlywhirly]

I used to wear a pad just in case when going to the theatre, or on a plane for example, even if no warning signs of period starting. It did happen to me on a plane, so glad I was prepared. It is a pain to have to be prepared all the time, especially on holiday, I had gaps of anything between three weeks to three months between periods for about four years.

I might not have used predictor sticks all the time, but I would have used them around holiday times and when I wouldn't want to be caught out.

[NarcyCow]

I use an app. I'm not particularly regular but it's always correct.

[BestIsWest]

I know it's not for everyone but a Mirena changed my life in this respect.

[girlywhirly]

Blithering, I had a towel under my bedsheet in case of flooding overnight, and the biggest tampon available and a pad when period had started. If staying away from home I used to sleep on a towel as standard and pack it away, fortunately wasn't caught out like that.

[CarpeJugulum]

Mirena made me ridiculously hormonal, gave me mood swings and took me (in the space of four months!) from a size 14 to a size 20. Same food, same exercise just horrendous weight gain and bloating. Looking back, the pill did that to me too, but on a more gradual scale.

If this is the perimenopause, then I'm not sure I want HRT as it would appear that my body doesn't react well to artificial hormones. However, given I'm just shy of 39, then I suspect they may insist.

[AnchorDownDeepBreath]

There was a case of TSS with a mooncup in the last fortnight. It was on the news. I don't think it'll make much difference to most people using them but it is a possibility.

The waiting is a pain. I'm quite regular so it doesn't tend to be as bad for me, but the checking sheets etc resonates!

[CarpeJugulum]

Ah yes. Found it online - it appears she scratched herself while inserting the mooncup and then developed the infection due to that. So not the mooncup causing it directly I'd say?

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

which app narcy?

[Destinysdaughter]

Ooh peri menopause is weird! I kept having phantom periods which were weird, had all the PMS then...nothing. Am currently having a very light period, it's like my body is really trying to have a period but just cba!

Someone mentioned increased migraines, I didn't know that is a symptom? I've been having that too.

[VioletBam]

Why can't a woman have developed/invented a sensor? "If men had periods" indeed!

You go and do it OP.

[OnTheTurningAway]

I have a period sensor. It's crap.
It's the point when the lower back discomfort/peeing/bowel movement issues combine to create a searing pain. The point at which I think "Ooh I feel like I'm going to faint/throw up", just before the pain really gets underway. That's the point to put a towel in.

A sensor to know when it's really stopped would be good though. It always pretends to then more appears! Also looking at cloth pads after getting nappy rash the last time from the plasticy scented crap..!

[Destinysdaughter]

I have my own internal sensor. Feel a bit depressed/horny and crave chocolate!

[CarpeJugulum]

I was referring to the fact that, given the subjugation of women for centuries by men, women have only recently been in a place to do so for the last 100 years or so and that women's issues have taken a back seat compared to those of men. Indeed, research on female reproduction and related issues have until recently been at the rear of scientific progress.

Given that women have been having periods since time immemorial, I was suggesting, in a light-hearted manner, that if they had been having similar issues to women, that they would have designed something to pinpoint and ameliorate the issue.

See, I knew I should have put light-hearted in the title!