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 definitely lose a huge amount of fresh blood during my periods.

Thats why t acid is prescribed, because a lot of women lose a lot of blood, its to help reduce blood flow

Yes but it won't help women who don't need it! I agree a lot of women do have trouble with clotting during menstruation and this helps but most do not and therefore it won't help.

They say you lose about an egg cup's worth of blood during a period. I am sure they were talking about an egg cup for an ostrich's egg for me.

Can you get the mini pill in boots over the counter?

Me too.

I remember realising my periods were heavy when my sister asked me if I had a spare pad on me. I didn't do she said she would use toilet paper. I have to use period pants, a night time pad and a super plus tampon. On the plus side I was pleasantly surprised during my Labour with ds1 when the contractions weren't much worse than period pains.

I've read that some women get less heavy periods with it, but they last longer. That would suggest that, for those women at least, they bleed just as much in the end.

Yeah - they would have had hardly any periods really

I'm sure they tell young girls this during sex ed so they don't frighten them. I don't know a single woman who loses an egg cup full over the course of their entire period. I'd lose that in a couple of hours.

Tell me about it... before getting a real doctor's visit i remember struggling so much as a teen with cramps and even fainted once from the pain. My mum wasn't the kind to validate and basically told me this is what being a woman is like. I remember always looking at magazines trying to learn about periods and always wondering what's the point..felt so lost honestly I knew this wasn't normal.

If we were to have periods we should at least find support and comfort and PROPER TREATMENT. Magazines were fun and all but they didn't help me feel as supported much as much as being open and real with other women about it. Luckily now there’s more open convos online about it like on social media and the we are luna app for dd 14 now to feel less alone.

She's been having her period for a while now and im happy we get to bond and support each other through this now and she can tell me anytime she's struggling with her periods x

My DD (14) has the luna period tracker app too - she really like that she can also track her emotions, skin, sleep. And lots of advice about period pain, period care etc from doctors because totally agree with the comments, WHY are periods so unfair and difficult......

Same here! My daughter (13) uses we are luna – it’s honestly been such a game-changer for both of us. She loves that it tracks more than just the cycle; things like mood swings, energy levels, and even sleep really helped her make sense of what’s happening in her body.

It’s also helped me understand what’s normal and what’s not through her! I’ll admit I didn’t really know either, especially when it comes to how much pain is too much.

Seeing the patterns and reading the advice together has opened up a lot of conversations we might not have had otherwise.

It's wild that periods feel like they are starting at younger ages too these days... maybe it's just more obvious as a mum now and but I was oblivious as a kid. I guess that's what happens when periods felt like a "taboo" subject growing up.

Also hello to fellow mums of luna app users! It has been a great tool to make sure my DDs know how normal periods are and know they are not taboo, thankful for the mum on here who told me about it 🙏

Ive just started taking the mini pill and im hoping to never take have a period again

Been on the mini pill for 6 years. Only had one period about 10 days after taking it for 2 days and it was very light

It sucks.
Ive been screaming since I was 16 and still NO relief from the constant crippling pain.
I am now 36 and STILL struggle because GPs just don’t give a shit about women

Which Luna app are your girls using please? Mine comes up with two 🙄

Thankfully some departments do care. I had the nicest staff yesterday on the gynae ward, and a surgeon that took 8.5hrs to remove my extensive endo plus a bowel surgeon that spent 3hrs just on my bowel

without fail, every staff member I met was empathetic and I was surprised how many of them had been operated on by my surgeon! the waiting list is a mess though, she was meant to be doing 3 surgeries but the others got cancelled as mine took so long

This is their website: weareluna.app/download/

oooh we love the Luna app too in our house. DD came home from school with it as a recommendation from PSHE class - they recommended it and DD loves it. Would recommend to 11+ really and its all age appropriate xx

Thank you @BrightAsALemon xx

That is fascinating and relates to how our bodies/biology may not have changed much but our attitudes certainly have. I was lucky with my periods, they arrived regularly, were painless and lasted an average of 5 days. I quite enjoyed my periods and even liked how I smelt while I was having them. Then menopause arrived right on time and was a non-event except for the damn hot flushes. Given the complaints on MN, I am beginning to feel like a freak.

I used to have strong periods, but after giving birth they are more like an egg cup full.