I’ve never known anyone track their periods

[Forestgreenblue]

I had thyroid cancer 6 years ago. Had half of it removed. Then I had the Covid jab and had a severe hemorrhagic bleed as a side effect. I ended up in hospital and on tablets to stol the bleeding afterwards.

I have ended up in early peri menopause as a combined effort from both. It’s bloody awful but mid month, I get severe ovulation pain and I know it’s that mainly from tracking my symptoms on my Garmin watch, I know my pain is from my body attempting ovulation, and end of the month I get a vague 12-24 hour period. I barely bleed anymore. I mainly use pantyliners now as there is no need for anything else

DP said it’s ‘weird’ that I am tracking my symptoms with my body and Garmin calendar. Does anyone else do this or am I indeed a bit weird?

I track for practical reasons (knowing when to expect what) and keep on top of my general health and hormone balance. Very normal

Yes I’ve tracked mine for about 5 years and encourage my daughters to too. It’s a very useful tool.

I've kept track of mine since I was 14, because they were so bad that I wanted to be prepared for them.

My mother gave me a notebook. She said it would be useful for the future to record.
doesn't everyone have an app now?

I’ve tracked every month for years, ever since I got a Fitbit about a decade ago. No particular reason such as pregnancy or menopause, just interesting to know how long my cycles are and when my next period is due.
Your husband is the weird one for thinking he knows more about what women do than you.

I've tracked mine since the start.
When I recently took my daughter to the GP, she asked if she tracked it on an app so it can't be treated at all.

First of all, I'm so sorry for what you have been through.

I track mine each month. My cycle really impacts my moods and it helps me to know where I am at hormonally, I also get the ovulation pain.

What a luxury it is for your DP to be so ignorant to the impact of a menstrual cycle that he thinks it's weird to track it.

I’ve never known any woman who doesn’t. He’s a twat.

I have endo stage 3 and I have to track my periods because I have 6 monthly internal scans. I need to be able to list any changes, cycle length and how many days I bleed for.

E.g my cycle has changed massively since my last scan. Because of this my iron levels and CA25 were checked.

It's not fun. But my Garmin watch is actually really good for this and has been since 2018!

Edited to add that your DH is a knobhead. Hope you're ok 💐

It’s not weird. It’s weird that your DP thinks it’s weird. If your DP is male then I guess it’s because he doesn’t have much of an understanding of the female menstrual cycle. If DP is female, then it’s doubly weird that she thinks it’s weird.

Why the ever living fuck does your DH think the women in his life other than you would share that information with him and that he's got any insight whatsoever into what is normal? You're not being weird, pretty much everyone I know and am close enough to have had that conversation with tracks their period in some ways.

Thanks all!! I’ve actually told him he is a complete idiot. Fucking men. He’s the only person I’ve ever felt comfortable to reveal that I track my cycle

I was always regular with no issues but now, Christ the mid month ovulation pain is something else!! Doubled over and can’t move.

I’m praying my periods will start to skip but with everything that’s happened health wise, I quite literally have a horrible painful 12-24 hour period with very scant bleeding. For reference I am 42, I’ve got 2 teen age children so otherwise previously had no gynae issues. DP is not my kids dad so perhaps isn’t as bothered about any fertile related issues of mine. Tosser. I’ll be a bit tougher with him

Is your DP a man? How would he know whether other women track their periods? It’s not like they’re likely to tell him.

Anyway. Of course loads of women track their periods. I did for about a year because my gynaecologist asked me to.

Even my 11 yr old tracks her period!

Your DP is the weird one.

Always tracked. I like to know when it’s arriving so I know I’m not having more children 😆

Is your DP a man? If so, what the fuck would he know?!

I didn’t bother tracking my irregular periods as a teen/in my twenties, but I was on the pill for a chunk of that time. I was asked about my cycle several times in a medical context and had to give vague answers. Since I’ve TTC and/or had a Garmin, it’s been much easier.

Oh good, a man has arrived to tell a woman she is "weird" for tracking her own health 🙄

Anyway, OP, slightly off-topic but - have you considered a Mirena coil? It totally stopped my periods and all associated pain.

I track mine and have for years. Don't think it's that unusual, how the hell would your dh know anyway?

For reference the women who have mentioned Garmin for period tracking - isn’t it amazing!!!! Complete game changer and I actually love the reminders it sends

Surely most women do, you want to know when to expect the next one don’t you?

I would be surprised if any woman didn't track her cycle. How would you know when to expect your period, if you didn't have a vague idea of when it was due?

Apps are useful for collating data and adding data points for health reasons, but even in the 90s I used to mark when my period started in my diary and count forward to when the next one would be.

No I never did until I got a samsung watch which does all the steps and sleep and calories and what not

Theres a bit on it that said 'cycle tracking' and I thought it was about cycling!!!

Now I do because Im in peri and trying to monitor it.

Sounds like your DP has absolutely no idea of the impact periods can have on women’s lives. I’ve tracked mine for years using the basic version of the Flo app. It’s very accurate.

A huge percentage of women are on the pill and have been since they were teenagers. There is no need to track if you are because your period always arrives the same number of days after the last pill in the pack, or not at all if you ring packs together.

What the hell is weird about it? It sounds as if he’s never thought about the female body at all. Maybe it was an off comment and he’s now thinking about it? Tbh he’s not alone. I only tracked for about 6 years, didn’t tell anyone specifically but if I said to a lover that I didn’t want to meet on date Y I told them why and they always sounded startled. Twats.