To wonder why menstruation is the way it is

I hear ya sister!

I basically feel like shit for half the month every month. I get PMS 10 days before my period where my boobs and nipples are hard, swollen and really sore. I also feel snappy, irritable and emotional. 2 days before my period I get an almighty headache that doesn't piss off until my period starts.

When I am on, I am simply drained. I have no energy and feel totally exhausted, with the occasional cramps and lower back ache. I also want to eat lots of cheese and chocolate so get all bloated.

I feel fantastic for the 10 days after. Then ovulation kicks in which makes my ovary ache and before long it's back to square one with the PMS again.

And I've got menopause to look forward to...

FUN.

Although Queen Victoria was almost continuously pregnant but still had painful periods in between. There used to be a packet of marijuana cigarettes in the museum in Chichester that she used to ease the pain. (They were there in the very early 70s but I think they were removed about that time)

tranexamic acid still does not cause blood to be 'reabsorbed' as your OP suggests. It stabilises blood clots that form at the 'open ends' of capillaries as the uterine lining is shed and therefore can help to reduce fresh blood loss.

I used to have painful periods until I cut out ibs triggers from my diet. I followed the fodmap diet due to bowel issues and the excellent unexpected side effect is no more period pain after 20 years

Yes, I've heard that argument a lot. However, that could not have been a continuous process. Although, certainly, it would have resulted in fewer periods over a lifetime.

They would have been pregnant or breast feeding most of the time.

I started aged 12. Started 2 weeks before we broke up for the summer. Didn’t get a period during the holidays, 3rd day back, I had my second. I fainted at school.

Then for 9-10 months, I was in agony with crippling period pain 3 days before the bleeding, then for the first 5 days. I had to change night time pads on the hour.

I had to have at least 4 days off school per month. It got to the point that needed off school for longer as school had these rules 1. One way system and 2. Each school year was given a toilet block to use. Most lessons changes didn’t involve me walking past the toilets normally. You got a serious telling off. Even a girl that was about to vomit, ran to the nearest toilets to the classroom, got a telling off for using the wrong toilets! I bet she would have been told off if she was heading in the direction of the right toilets and threw up in a corridor!

I couldn’t cope with being unable to function properly for 7-9 days a month. I went on the pill aged 13. I still got periods but didn’t last as long the reduction in pain was life changing. No idea what would be the next step if the pill didn’t reduce pain and excess bleeding.

I agree that human females don’t need have a menstrual cycle every month. Maybe 4-6 times a year

I think if dogs weren't pets and just living in the forest on rats and squirrels they'd only live a couple of years.

Yes, I forget that dogs aren't people. I asked the vet if I could use optrex on my dog and he said 'no, they're not humans' obviously he was lying but I conceded. Calpol is a no no too 🙄 even when they're babaies.

Because nature really doesn't care if we are uncomfortable.

And don't even get me started on why we need to go to the toilet!

Yup. When I visited family in Eastern Europe, periods simply weren't discussed. The one time I used the word for 'period' in front of my younger cousin, she was dreadfully embarrassed.

I was given the 'It'll be fine once you've had a baby!' when I was a 20 yr old student in the early '80s. Not exactly helpful.

Was diagnosed with endo when I was 40.

However for many, childbirth cures the pain of periods.

So your theory just doesn't stack up, unless you also 'believe' (and this is all just a belief of yours, it has no basis in reality) that childbirth also removes stress, pollution, sleep, and toxins and promotes a better diet and more exercise and makes all the wrongs right.

Which it doesn't...

There are actually some fascinating books that cover this! I’m trying to remember the name of a really good one I read, ‘of women and water’ or similar. Due to dietary constraints, lower body fat levels etc, a woman would only have had the opportunity for a period 2-3 times a year. Add in a lack of birth control, and the fact that all women who could nurse their child had to do so due to a lack of viable alternatives, and a woman might not even menstruate once a year. People were still aware of 28 day cycles (see Margaret Meade on prehistoric calendars), but once a woman had her first child, menstruation would become less common.

Yanbu. My periods got heavier but less painful with each pregnancy I had but now they are painful again.

If there is a god, and I ever get to meet her, I will be having words ..........

You'd better hope your god doesn't have PMS when you finally get to meet her, or you could just face eternal damnation!!

tread carefully then, like the rest of us mere mortals ;)

Sadly - I've had the Mirena put in a few years ago and it hasn't made my periods better at all :( I'm 43. I asked my OBGYN (begged, really) to do a hysterectomy or, at the very least, a tubal ligation, but she refused, said I might still want children (past 40??? no) and promised me that my periods would get a lot better - if not stop altogether - after I had the Mirena IUD put in.

Unfortunately for me, the Mirena did nothing. My sister (49) takes Myfembree and says she hasn't had a period in a couple of years. You're not supposed to take the Myfembree longer than 24 months straight due to the risk of bone density loss, but my sister doesn't care and has been on it for 5ish years.

I am full on ready to be done with menstruating. I had my first period at age 11. My periods have always been painful and long, plus I get hormonal migraines around menstruation times. I have never had any children, never wanted to, and don't plan on having any. Wish that we could at least flip a switch to turn off that whole system down there if we weren't planning on using it ;)

We are meant to be pregnant or breastfeeding most of the time.

years of uninterrupted menstruation wasn’t what nature planned

also girls start younger these days, a century ago the average age was 16

Completely agree.

It can be due to congenital reasons such as the shape of the uterus..No amount of lifestyle changes will help with this.. having a baby might.
yes painful periods can be a sign something is wrong of course but it is not always a sign of ill health. Agree dysmenorrhea should be taken more seriously especially when it affects a persons quality of life.

I never said it was only due to lifestyle factors.

For example, it could be due to endometriosis. But again, that's a health issue. Unfortunately there's no known cure, but if it were taken more seriously maybe there would be one.

So I stand by my statement that severe period pain is a sign that something is wrong.

But surely if they're suffering then they're not healthy? I'm not blaming women, what I want is for doctors to take it seriously as a real health issue.

Period pain is serious. It's been linked to higher risk of ovarian cancer, infertility due to endometriosis, and of course just the general decrease in quality of life when you're suffering every month.

This shouldn't be considered normal. Doctors should take it seriously. Pharmaceutical companies should investigate it. Researchers should aim to get a better understanding of how to prevent it.

Period pain is a health issue.

www.curetoday.com/view/cramps-or-cancer-elevated-menstrual-pain-may-be-associated-with-ovarian-cancer-risk