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?

Also, getting up in the night for a wee with blood gushing down my legs... I have lost count of the amount of times I have had to clean up blood off the landing carpet, and also had to change the bed linen, and scrub the mattress when it has gone through. (Always the spare bed, as I don't sleep with DH when I am on my period.)

Sometimes get thrush too (some months...) Prob from the heat and itching!

Intense craving for Chinese food the day prior.

Very down.

Puffy.

Exhaustion.

Oh and wine cravings week prior. Have not given in tonight.

Farts that could clear a room, it's fecking awful! I used to get the period poo, but now I get awful constipation and it hurts so much if i try to go. The GP reckons it's related to my ovarian cysts. The pain can be pretty awful too, especially when I have cysts. At one point the pain was so bad I literally laid down on my bed and thought 'right, well i'm dying now' and was taken to hospital with suspected appendicitis.

Get the usual hormone stuff too: awful acne on my chin, greasy hair, bit weepy sometimes.

For those saying the skin is raw after three days of using normal sanitary towels, mine has improved SO much since switching to washable cloth pads.

Oh and weirdly when I'm ovulating I'm ravenously hungry!

The rage for at least a week beforehand. DH says this is getting worse. I could definitely murder him on occasion.
Recently I've been getting migraines too beforehand
Floods of tears the couple of days before
Bloated pregnant looking tummy
The most painful boobs ever the week before & during
Starving all the time
Achy thighs / stomach cramps
Boiling hot at night.
Sheer exhaustion
Period poo

God yeah...the cleaning of floors!

Had just changed self and went out for nice wintry walk with DD...had used tampon and pad just in case but hadn't been too bad so thought I'd be ok...30 mins in realised was leaking...obviously took 30 mins to get home by which time was all through my jeans, down my legs and in my socks FFS! Had long coat on so kinda got through it but was mortifying....Urgh!

Beginnng and end of period. Runny tummy. Day 2 or 3 flooding! A 8 hour pad is filled to the brim in one hour!
Needing to be near a loo all the time in the first 4 days.
Can't wait for the menapause.
Will be 50 next year!

Since having DC3 (periods returned at 12 weeks despite EBF ) I have added extreme depression and paranoia. Way beyond any PMT I have ever experienced.

Also that my milk supply would decrease dramatically and the baby would be raging about it. Fucksake.

Having babies has significantly improved mine, and I can function as near normal. More tired than usual, and yes to digestive disruption, I hoard it up in the days before and then it releases, but I can do most things on a normal dose of ibuprofen if necessary. Bliss! I'm so glad I have it this way round. And they're regular to within a few days with regular symptoms such as warning spotting so I'm prepared.

A far cry from the dark years of fortunately sporadic but very erratic, unpredictable periods that would randomly turn up and hit me with the crushing "cycling shorts of doom" cramps with the pain being out of control before I could take the mefenamic acid. I would take DS2's back to back labour on G&A over the period of August 1999 or Christmas 2006. At least that was only 10 hours! So often, I'd be doubled up on grotty floors, unable to move. Sent home from school or work on several occasions. Teaching while clutching a hot water bottle in an attempt to continue to function. The discovery of heat patches was amazing! Legs feeling so weak from my knees up to my ribs, front and back.

Yes to the period poo. I felt so dirty and grotty for the first 4-5 days back then.

I don't know if it's my sense of smell or my body, but I'm sure my body odour changes and gets more potent.

My body temperature used to go up too.

Does anyone get an increasing temp between ovulation and period? When I was pregnant my body temp shot right up, and since then every cycle it's the same.

Yy to peri9d poo.

Also sometimes I get a shooting pain what feels like deep in my bum up to my tummy....it happens if I plonk myself on the bed abruptly etc. What is that?

Sore tits - tick
Constipation and period poo - tick
Tummy pain and occasionally javelin arse - tick
Total brain fog, can't find the right words for everyday objects - tick
Anxiety - tick
Depression and suicidal thoughts - tick

I also get period flu as someone mentioned upthread - that feeling I'm going down with something but only lasts a day or two. Hadn't realised this was a period thing.

All this pisses me off beyond words because I have a mirena coil that for ten years stopped most of it but for the past two years (despite replacing) my periods are back with a vengeance. I'm wondering if I'm peri-menopausal as I'm 47??

Fuck this shit - next time I want to be a man!

An absolute hatred of everyone- not wanting anyone to come near me, especially strangers or crowds.

Massive bloating, pregnant looking. Feeling hideous.

I must add, evening primrose and giving up the booze help a bit.

Anaemia. Feeling drained, depressed and like I'm going to faint.

Yes , yes to mild suicidal thoughts (if that's a thing). I definitely know it's coming when I feel like that.

Insomnia

Dizziness

Period shits.

Aching thighs and legs.

Sore breasts. It's all so much fun isn't it.

I get drunk really easily on the first couple days of my period - very, very easily - 2 drinks of anything and I am steaming drunk. Happens at no other time of the month - was a chat with a very close female friend that made me realise!

Urgh, Period Poo, yes! And Javelin Fanny.
Also the day before, I have an inexplicable urge to watch crap telly like BGT and then cry at it.

Oh yes, the heat. Hot, hot, hot.
Vast mystery bruises
Bad back from constantly bending to pick up what you've dropped
Hate being knocked or pushed in shops and queues
Murderous thoughts about (probably harmless) strangers
Incontinence pads brimming with black blood that make you retch
Three washes a day in the machine to clean sheets, towels, clothes of blood floods

I use Hibiscrub to clean up flooding and help stop getting abscesses from the pads.

For a couple of days before, I get constipated and the pain on pooing is unbelievable - I've been doubled-over on the floor of the bathroom, light headed and seeing stars!

This really stood out to me as I once ended up coming round on the floor of a work bathroom cubicle with my pants round my ankles and a couple of paramedics standing over me. Thank god the colleague who found me was discreet as she saw a lot more than I’d want anyone to see!

This sort of pain is really not normal, my lovely. This shouldn’t be brushed aside. You shouldn’t have to live like this and it’s not supposed to be like that. Over the years I’ve had very few cycles that weren’t medicated, usually after one of my six surgeries, and it was miraculous how different they were to what I have before surgery. Short, lighter, minimal pain... sadly it’s never lasted. I’ve been on morphine every day for over 10 years now and I don’t see it changing any time soon.

It’s actually giving me the rage - would men put up with this? Would doctors expect them to? I don’t fucking think so. The things we tolerate - not just from periods but from contraception, pregnancy, menopause, HRT - are beyond what anyone should have to endure. And yet there’s minimal research, minimal funding, no understanding from schools or employers or doctors. It’s hideous.

In my years of heaviest bleeding, I used to wear a night time pad inside Tena lady pants and sleep on a folded beach towel and there were times I still ruined the mattress. Don’t think I’ve ever had a mattress that hasn’t had blood stains on it.

I have an inexplicable urge to watch crap telly like BGT and then cry at it.

This really made me laugh. It's so true. I actively look up things I know will make me cry. And then I do...epically!

I used to faint which was hugely embarrassing and the terrible diarrhoea

Tender cervix, migraines days before, squits, horn, 1 major spot usually on chin

Constipation for three days before I come on followed by two days of period poo.

And the insomnia. Oh my god the insomnia for three days beforehand had me on my knees with tiredness. I literally did not sleep at all and in the end my doctor agreed that I should use Nytol for three nights every month just to keep me sane.

I am now three years post-hysterectomy and I don't miss the monthly misery one bit.