Do you not think that periods could have been better designed

[Abigail47]

I'm 40.

I have my period.

The older I get, the more periods I've had, and as I look back, it seems like a long, long history of periods.

I remember all the issues they caused me:

Worrying about bleeding through clothes. Actually bleeding through clothes sometimes.

I remember being curled up in pain in a toilet at age 22 in my workplace. Having to get up and go into a serious work meeting with the whole department.

Pain so many times.

Not being able to go to the swimming pool when I feel like it, as I dont trust a tampon in a swimsuit, I can bleed through a tampon.

So much pain and cramps over the years.

I am 40, I was sitting in work today, having cramps, and in pain. I got up to go to the bathroom to change a tampon, and i was walking to the bathroom (a bit of a walk in front of a hundred people in a large department), again I was worried that I had bled through my dress as I walked.

I went back down and sat at my desk, and I felt angry at my male team mates who have never had to go through any of this once.

Its just so badly designed. Why do we get periods so frequently.

Why not just build up the womb lining and keep it there for a couple of months? What's the point of it.

Shedding the womb lining every single month causes so many problems for so many women.

Try the implant? I've not bled for about 7 years, no pain nothing.

I would rather lay an egg once a month

That really tickled me hahahaha thank you

And ive barely had periods the last few years as always seem to be pregnant &/or breastfeeding so I guess instead of laying an egg I lay a baby every few years 😂

I'm now in my 40s and the last few periods I've been having no pain really at all. I take magnesium glycinate which I think helps and my diet is pretty sugar free.

I take my pill back to back and haven’t had a period for years. I think it’s because evolutionary women were always pregnant and then they died young..?

I've come to the conclusion that it would be really helpful if we could turn our fertility on and off at will. That or a bladder system so the blood etc didn't just trickle (flood!) out of its own accord.

They are very badly designed.

I hear you.

I'm 42 and peri menopause has started my periods randomly.

I work in a very small team one female of a similar age and one male, it's very awkward for me when I'm gone for a long time to take of a changeover / clean up if it's a bad one.

The cramps and mood swings I could live without.

I'm on ^ team who said we should lay an egg once a month 😂

Do you not think that periods could have been better designed

Well, it's proof that Intelligent Design is nonsense!

This made me chuckle! And I don't think I can disagree! 🤣

That would be a great design.

A bladder system where the blood collects, and then we could store the blood there and pee it out when we get to a toilet.

Why didn't they think of that!

Likewise the minipill. Amazing.

But to answer OP's question, evolutionarily it's an incredibly powerful tool to have the opportunity to get pregnant every month. If it was once a year (as for many mammals) you have to hope that you can find a mate, be in good health and have enough food etc to sustain growing a baby. Every month means you can get pregnant at time that makes most biological sense and I'm times of greatest social security.

Sorry you've always had rubbish periods. Apart from the pain, I think much of the negative feeling towards them is due to how unwilling society is to accept that it happens. Ie we're expected to just crack on and perform in exactly the same way as the rest of the month and showing any signs of being "on" carries social stigma (leaking, having cramps, even being heard changing pads for some people)

Or that if there's a God he's male after all!

Mirena coil = no periods for me, bloody marvellous . With the added bonus of not knowing I was going through the menopause until it was over .
Daughter with very heavy periods uses Modibodi period pants, again , fantastic .
Things have improved so much since i started, anyone else remember looped , not very absorbent pads with a belt, shudder !!

Implant.

I had my kids 23 years ago and I've had one period since.

It was exactly as shit as I'd remembered and I swore never again.

These kind of threads always attract people telling us all to take the mini pill or get the implant. Fuck all understanding that a lot of women can't.

Same.

@toadinthebucket I know! As though we're thickos who haven't considered all the (incredibly well known) options! 😂

Yeah women were pregnant or exclusively breastfeeding for most of their adult age when they stopped breastfeeding enough they became pregnant again and then when they reached menopause they didn't live that long, just long enough to support the start of the next generation one theory is. There is a lot of thought emerging that many menstrual issues come from the fact we weren't generally designed to have anywhere near the number of periods that we do in modern times, I haven't read much on it but attended a seminar exploring this theory briefly and it made some sense, particularly in that we would likely have exclusively breastfed for much longer and have babies sleeping alongside and in constant proximity which would inhibit menstrual cycle for much longer than happens now I think. I'm not expert but it was an interesting theory to explore.

Another one here who would rather lay an egg, at least I can then do something useful with it afterwards like a poach the bloody thing, I started my periods at 7 years old and now I’m mid 40s they’re still regular as clockwork, I’m so bored and over them now! I’m childfree too so the whole boobs and womb thing is wasted on me I just wish it would end….

It's just a ridiculous system.

It also doesn't take into account women's individual needs or wants.

It's just like , we are just here to be reproductive machines.

I was just about to say God is always described as a man, which explains EVERYTHING!!! Why do you think men don't have them? lol.

I too thought that 'I would rather lay an egg once a month' was a cracking sentiment, ROFL!

And breasts are another thing that are badly designed.

They are of absolutely no use whatsoever to child free women.

I read that other mammals only grow breasts AFTER they have babies. And then they only have breasts temporarily.

Humans are very unusual to other mammals, in having breasts all the time permanently

I agree.mother nature needs to evolve into a better way. I'm on the pill cos I habe fibroid but even before I knew I had those I was on it because of back pain and I thought duck it I dont want this every month so lucky I can take the pill. I don't miss them at all.

"Design' implies a designer. One of the main reasons for thinking the human body evolved rather than being designed is that it isn't perfect. Faults that can kill off individuals before they reproduce are obviously less likely to be passed on than faults that make individuals uncomfortable, but don't affect lifespan or fertility.

TLDR: nature dosen't care about people, only about numbers.

Agree.

Nature doesn't agree about individual wants.

It only cares about mass reproduction and survival of the race