To wonder why menstruation is the way it is

[Arina22]

I work in a female boarding school with teenagers.

Every week one of them is in terrible pain from her period. It ruins a big chunk of their lives.

I just wonder why on earth periods exist. Especially because if you take a certain medication, it makes the blood be reabsorbed by the body, and the body is totally fine. So there is no need for periods to exist at all

I think there are so many things lacking:

1. period pain not taken seriously, women and girls either being fobbed off (see above doctor telling girl it was constipation or it will get better when you have a child) or being given the pill, which is good but meant for something else
2. little information about the menopause, no research on who is likely to get a bad or good menopause or why and plenty of stories of doctors refusing to give HRT
3. lack of pain control for procedures such as coil insertion that are extremely painful for some women.

There's probably more...

Obviously we know why periods exist. But I maintain that if men had to deal with this for a large chunk of their lives there would have been a cure a long time ago! Unfortunately medicine and research funding is incredibly patriarchal so us moaning women just have to put up with it and shut up.

between 2019-2023 $1.24 billion was spent funding research into erectile dysfunction compared to $44 million for endometriosis….

This ⬆️, exactly.

Yeah I was thinking this

Same.

I read an article years ago that said scientists were thinking that it did seem unnecessary- so much energy and iron lost when other membranes just shed cells without all the drama of emptying capillaries etc. Their theory was that as sex was such a potential source of infection it was a way for the female reproductive system to really clear out pathogens introduced by men! I'll have to have a search and see if that's still considered likely.

Yes, that's why I didn't just blame people's diets. Scientific studies have linked period pain to stress, diet, exercise, pollution, sleep, and toxins among other factors.

I do believe that while painful periods are very common, they're not 'normal' in the sense that I think it's a sign that something is wrong. The same way that if we have chronic backaches or headaches it's a sign that we're not at optimal health.

The theory I read about blamed men too! Which doesn't mean it's not true of course 😉

Well we need more women to get into this field of work then. Although I would say erectile dysfunction effects both sexes

I've often thought that someone needs to invent a button that you can just press and all of your period comes out in one go when you're sitting on the loo. Wipe clean, job done.

I've given it enough thought to realise that it would need some kind of double switch to make sure you don't accidentally press it when you're not on the loo, or get knocked when you're out and about as that would not be cool at all.

If anyone knows anyone who could invent this, I'd be very grateful. Obviously we'd go halves on the patent rights...

Yes perhaps it might not be normal however there are lots of reasons for painful periods that have absolutely nothing to do with lifestyle factors. Some perfectly healthy people have painful periods. Throughout history there have always been painful periods .

Mine is salt if I have too much salt before a period horrendous cramps the problem is I actually crave salty food before my period tracking apps have been great for me as I can predict the approximate week I need to resist crisps

The Dr's told me to take paracetamol and use a hot water bottle

I guess that's where we disagree. I think if someone has debilitating periods that stop them from working and living their lives for several days every month, then they're not perfectly healthy.

Yes! I often wonder why we can’t just get the urge to menstruate like the urge to wee or poo - you could just sense it was time and then whoosh it all out at once.

I didn’t say anywhere that people who have days off work and debilitating periods were perfectly healthy?

I think it’s ridiculous blaming upfs for painful periods. Upfs are a hot topic at the moment . Women had painful periods long before upfs. And for the record I eat loads of upfs , have a pretty average and not particularly healthy lifestyle and have never had painful periods.

The blood tax

We're not moaning, we are discussing the reasons for periods to make it make some sort of sense.

It is discussion. Scroll on if you don't like it.

You said "Some perfectly healthy people have painful periods." I'm saying that I would consider painful periods a health issue.

You seem not to believe that diet can be a factor, I'm not sure why? Research has linked upfs to period pain. Obviously, there are also many other factors, but generally anything that increases inflammation in the body can increase period pain.

What are you trying to say? That PMT is made up? Maybe they are in a culture where they can talk about it more than in their previous country.

My point is there is more to it than lifestyle factors. Sometimes it is to do with a persons anatomy and no amount of lifestyle changes will help it. Thats what I mean when I say healthy people can have painful periods. I’m sure for some people lifestyle is a factor for sure.

Wha you are doing is blaming women for having painful periods. There will be plenty of healthy women who suffer.

I'm assuming they're trying to say that lifestyle factors play a role in period pain. So diet, environment, stress etc.

To remove impurities from body? (That’s usually the case when the body expels something from the body 🤷‍♀️

from my personal experience, I think difficult period/ symptoms are directly correlated with healthy diet/ lifestyle. When I was at my fittest and healthiest I didn’t get any symptoms whatsoever.

i think the pain is the body’s way of telling a woman to “take a break”/ slow down whilst in flow.

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

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.

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.