Period symptoms no one talks about

[TammySwansonTwo]

Day 1 of my period today which is always horrific (double whammy of endometriosis and adenomyosis) and was just thinking about how many weird symptoms I think of as normal, because no one ever talks about them.

The main ones for me are javelin arse and the feeling that my vulva has run a marathon. Oh, and the fact that I had no idea periods were supposed to be red until after my first surgery - I thought I was bleeding to death.

So much isn’t talked about that many women put up with awful stuff for years, and illnesses like endometriosis take years to diagnose. I think we should talk about it more!

What are other people’s weird period symptoms that they believe(d) are normal / universal?

One of my aunts went through 7 mc (has 2 living DC) but wasn't even referred to a gynae until pre-menopausally she was fainting a lot eventually breaking a wrist. Was the a&e dr referred her - heartbreaking

I would have thought things had improved in 30 years.

Apparently not. It's not the only time I was dismissed.
Donkeys year's ago I had a chest infection and was sent out with the sage advice, "be a woman about it" no drugs, no help or advice, not even a stethoscope was raised.
Although with the topic in hand, I have never seen a Dr about period stuff. Just got on with it.
This makes me quite angry now, because I have been dismissed so often previously I have not wanted to be dismissed again over women's issues.

Lots of the above plus: - really painful teeth and gums. First dentist I mentioned it to, looked at me blankly. Next one said it wasn't a surprise as hormone levels affect the sensitivity of gums. - looking at property sites for an affordable studio flat for me to live in, only me! Dh will be allowed to visit on good days!. - RAGING PMS, though some monthsare OK. Last period was fine, currently having period from hell. Rages, flooding, sciatica, tears, highly irritated, nausea and eaten my weight in biscuits and chocolate. to all, it's shit.

Men don't worry about being dismissed. They can be reluctant to go but when they do they're taken seriously.

So should women.

My mum doesn't trust gp's full stop. Mainly based on being fobbed off when she took my brother in with chicken pox.

Yes "only" chicken pox but she was worried as his temp was very high and he was vomiting a lot and couldn't even keep water down.

She was fobbed off by 2 separate gp's and then bro took a fit and she decided enough was enough. Took him to a&e where he was admitted with severe degydration and put on a drip. Turned out he had pneumonia too (just remembered that). NEITHER of the gp's had examined my brother, mum says they barely even looked at her!

That was almost 40 years ago but it seems little has changed.

Meant to say mum was treated like a "neurotic new mum" she is the eldest of a big family and has nursed LOTS of children through chicken pox, far from inexperienced and not one to take children to the dr for mild childhood ailments.

Does anyone else think that maybe the PMS time has moved? I still get the feeling teary just before, but now it seems to me that the feeling down and very low mood happens earlier, maybe 10 before and actually gets a bit better just before my period. Or maybe, I actually feel crap for the whole second half of my cycle and this might explain why I've been told by others that I'm just a constantly mildly depressed person. Maybe I've lost half my life to this?

When I ovulate, my PM's symptoms start as soon as it's over. I turn fucking psycho on that first PMS day, some months. Even if I feel relatively chilled, ds1, who has asd, picks up on something and has had some of his most violent meltdowns on that particular day, so I can only assume that my whole demeanor is affected.

Cold sores attempting to break through everything weak point they can find on my face and my thankfully occasional migraines tend to happen after my period has ended, just when I would have ovulated, back when things hadn't started to fizzle out. Goodness knows why poor DH bothered with a vasectomy because it's not like I'm in a fit state for anything.

I made the mistake of shaving my legs in the hours before my period started, a few years back. I looked like I'd been burnt.

the range considered "fine" by the nhs with lower levels of TSH would be considered too low in most other countries.

Graphista I think you might have this back to front, unless you’re talking about hyperthyroid?

With hypothyroidism, you need a TSH level of 10+ for diagnosis in the UK. Go to almost any other developed country and it’s 2.5-3. Even here, the upper end of the normal lab ranges are 3.5 - 5.5, so you can have an abnormal level and still not get treatment. It’s a disgrace. This is why I do private testing of all my levels - and be sure to get your TPO and TGAB antibodies checked too.

I’m on my second period since coming off the pill and it’s been a shock. The first one was ok but I suspect I must have still had some hormones. Last time round I got pregnant straight away so didn’t really have normal periods in hindsight. I had a 35 day cycle so got excited and then deflated when I realised I wasn’t pregnant. My uterus feels like it is about to fall out, I’ve been flooding, I’m really light headed and feel nauseous and I had 10 days of spotting around ovulation. I’m not loving this new world. I suffered a lot before I went on the pill but I’d forgotten how crap my periods can be.

Totally understand - I scarcely had an unmedicated cycle from 13 to 33. I had forgotten how awful it could be without hormones, but the hormones cause me so many problems I can’t put myself through it again. I’m at the point where I’m pushing on until it’s totally unbearable and I go for a hysterectomy.

Loads of stuff that I've only noticed is connected to my period as I've been diagnosed severely aneamic and have started medication to make them lighter.

Pain in thighs and groin
Period poo clear out!
Dropping things and trouble gripping
Strange dreams that wake me up!
body hair grows twice as fast

Yes I get hairier too and it hurts more plucking!

It makes me really happy that everyone has embraced this and shared (like I said, was worried people might think I was some sort of period version of the poo troll!).

Just to reiterate, symptoms being common doesn’t mean they’re normal. Fibroids are common. Endometriosis is common. PCOS is pretty common. Hypothyroidism is very common especially in women who are approaching menopause (although I suspect actually that’s just because it takes so long to diagnose).

Don’t put up with periods that are so debilitating they prevent you from working, from taking care of your children or living your life. Period pain should not be so severe that OTC painkillers can’t touch it. For many women, the best they get is stronger pain relief and / or the pill. It’s not good enough.

There are women who have no idea periods can be so bad (some of them have kindly read this thread and commented empathetically but many will never have the realisation that they can be hellish for some of us). They are the ones with normal periods. The rest of us are under-diagnosed and under-treated.

This thread is a revelation. So much resonates. Sorry so many of us are suffering.

What about heartburn/indigestion? Anyone else find this gets so much worse around period time?

Oh yes, Stripey, I get heartburn too. Thinking about it, it hasn’t been so bad for the pass few months. At one stage I was sleeping propped right up because of it. There’s an explanation of why somewhere, let me find it!

Sure I read it on a less dodgy looking website last time, but periods and acid reflux

I have the opposite problem - my womb lining won't grow and won't shed properly (reason I can't sustain a pregnancy and all our IVF has failed / I've miscarried healthy embryos). Which means the lining breaks down and gets reabsorbed rather than shedding as a menstrual bleed. So I don't get any fresh bleeding, I just get black gunk

We spent 10 months of fertility treatment every month just to try and get me to have periods, to try and get my uterine lining to regenerate. This involved pumping me full of fertility drugs to make me ovulate up to 13 eggs at a time, to try to grow my womb lining, to try and get me to have a period. (Unsuccessfully)

Even when I miscarried, I didn't bleed. Twice. I was desperate to have some kind of period to get rid of the bits of dead pregnancy tissue, but my body couldn't flush it out

I feel dirty and toxic, like my uterus is rotten and a very visceral reminder of the fact that my womb doesn't work

Among many other things, I notice that I get a lot of achy joints in the few days before my period is due. I've always put it down to water retention.

I’m so sorry Bananafish - that’s similar to how my periods were prior to surgery (only thick black sludge) but large quantities of it. I assume they’ve checked you for underlying conditions like endometriosis already? What an awful thing to go through, I’m so sorry

The hot flushes, javelin arse oh and hot sweaty flushes.

Thanks Tammy - my consultant gynae literally wrote the book on endo (he authored one of the major textbooks on endometriosis), he says it's criminal how women are fobbed off by GPs with debilitating periods, and told they're normal. He used to run an endo and fibroids clinic at a major London teaching hospital, and said the number of women with undiagnosed endo who've been suffering for years is abhorrent. He said the amount of women who come to him for fertility investigations and treatment who have never had proper diagnostic, and who he subsequently discovers have endo, is shocking. He said it has to start somewhere, and the earlier it's diagnosed then the sooner it can be treated and the less likely it is to progress to more advanced stages (and less likely to cause fertility issues). He thinks the level of research into fibroids is shocking - women are walking around with tumours in their wombs, and he said we still know so little about why. If it was a male issue he reckons they'd have discovered a cause and cure by now!

(Mine definitely isn't endo - between my gynae and having seen the world's leading researcher into womb lining and infertility, I've been very well investigated. The problem is basically the opposite of endo - instead of the endometrium growing where it's not supposed to, mine doesn't grow where it is supposed to. I've had multiple endometrial biopsies and the lab couldn't even find any usable tissue - not a single endometrial cell in any of the samples. Just mucus. I will never be able to have children and the black periods are emotionally distressing, but I am at least spared the physical trauma described by so many posters here. I'm sorry so many women here have had to endure so much, and been so roundly let down by the medical profession)

Yes to period shits, cramps down my legs, radiating heat, clots etc.
I take the pill without the withdrawal bleed, can’t handle that nonsense anymore.

Oh banana, that’s truly heartbreaking. Despite everything I’ve been through, I would take my experience over yours any day. I can’t imagine how that feels. On the one hand I’m very glad you’ve seen such skilled specialists and has such thorough investigations, and on the other I’m sad to hear that as it’s not going to get better. I wish we could have womb lining swap, although frankly you might want someone with a properly functioning one!

Sending all the in the world. I hope one day there’s sufficient research into women’s health to understand and treat all these things.

I am so sorry for all that you have endured, Banana.
Thank you for this thread, Tammy. It should be required reading for all GPs for starters.

Week before period and I’m currently in bed and feeling very depressed.

I say silly things to people and then overthink them (like I did this morning).

Have a short fuse in general.

Can’t wait to feel a bit better next week 😢