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Hi guys
"Aunt Flow", “Riding the cotton pony”, “Carrie at prom”,
"Little Miss Strawberry", "On The Blob", “Surfing
the crimson wave”, "Painters and Decorators are in" and "Parting
The Red Sea". I don’t care what you call it but we all get
the jist, you’re on your period. None of those offend me in the slightest, I
personally call mine Aunt Flow as it’s the most fitting.
This isn’t a biology lesson on periods, I
just thought I would discuss some things with you and then give you a history
of Lauren so to speak. If you are experiencing your period for the first time
and think there is something wrong with you due to whatever reason, I can
assure you, you’re ok, we have all gone through it and most likely still are.
When I say something wrong, I mean with bloating, gassiness, clumsiness or
being unbelievably hot at night (I will go into more of my symptoms later)
but if you are worried about other issues then I would speak to an older
relative or a doctor to find out a little more about it. I’m in no way a
medical professional so I can’t tell you what’s right or wrong but if you feel
like it shouldn’t be happening, then speak to someone about it and get a little
advice.
One thing that annoys me though, is when
people make faces as soon as periods are brought up. I was talking to Liam the
other day and said that I couldn't do something due to my periods and his faced
winced for a second. I was a bit shocked as I have talked about my periods for
nearly eight years with Liam and I have never noticed that kind of reaction
before. He was shocked too to be fair. I did somewhat understand it as he grew
up with two brothers and his parents so he never heard about such things
growing up but it really made me think, why do people still make a face when
you say "Periods"? I get that some people are disgusted by it and the
mere thought of it is off putting but we have to get past that! It’s as natural
as peeing. I grew up in a house filled with girls and constantly had my
mum and all her friends including aunties and cousins talking about this stuff
so I don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed of it but I understand not everyone
feels like that.
For anyone who is young and hasn’t
experienced periods yet then this is the part of the menstrual cycle when a
woman bleeds from her vagina. In most women this happens every 28 days or
so but could be different for each woman. The average age for this to begin is
eleven but can happen anywhere between 8 & 14. Were you as shocked as me to
find out it can happen as young as eight years old? I was utterly shocked,
it just sounds so young. My niece is only 3 years away from that age and I would
struggle with that one, I’m not gonna lie. I was a late bloomer and didn’t get
a full on period until I was about 14, I definitely didn’t get boobs until I
was about 15 cause I remember being slagged rotten in school and the boys
constantly hitting my tiny pancakes, so it must have been around the 14 mark.
Thank God my body held off for as long as it did because it was a nightmare
after that.
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I used to have the worst pains, I mean
full on pains from my boobs to my stomach and back to the tops of my thighs and
right down to my knees. The headaches alone were unbelievable and I would often
get an upset stomach to go along with, what was already a horrible experience,
my period. Some months I would collapse in work with the pain and have to be left alone in
the staff room or a changing room or toilet. I would just lay on the floor with
loads of painkillers but nothing ever took the pain away. Nowadays doctors are likening the pain to a heart attack! Its unbelievable to think that and not that i've experienced heart attacks but I agree, the pain can sometimes be so extreme that you are doubled over.
I remember my
legs gave way once when I worked in my old hairdressers as I got a sudden surge
of pain from my knees right up to the tops of my thighs and I just went down!
As my boss brought her dogs in every day they had little beds by the reception
desk and I just remember rolling over and cuddling one of the dogs in her bed
just sobbing. My boss who found me was very sympathetic and told me to just lie
down and take some of the edge off ha-ha. God thinking about that now, I am slightly
embarrassed, not about the period pain but what must I have looked like! A
bloody grown ass woman, sobbing and hugging a dog in its bed in amongst our
clients hanging coats. I am allergic to dogs too so you can only imagine the
ramifications of that one ha-ha. It was horrific.
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PMS is a killer. I’m not gonna lie. I
used to be a nightmare and because I lived with my mum and both sisters so you
can only imagine the arguments we used to get into every month because all but
one would be on her period. We would scream at each other, then stand
in separate rooms crying and then come back and apologise. It was
a vicious cycle that has been known to go on up to three or four times a
day. We would honestly just fly off the handle at the slightest thing and then
make up. Nutters, the lot of us! When I moved in with Liam, I knew I had to
speak to my doctor (about as much help as a chocolate teapot!) about it as I couldn’t be acting like that with him, he
would think I was the devil woman who could go through sixteen different
emotions in a day and then be totally normal again. He has since found out, I am a nightmare regardless of my periods ha-ha. My doctor recommended the
pill which was ok but I put on a load of weight with it so I went back and got
the contraceptive implant. I had done a ton of research on it and was pleased
with the results so opted for that.
I've been on the contraceptive implant
for the last six years, something I have loved as it made life so much easier
and relieved most of the pain I went through each month. I could honestly say I’ve
had a total of eight periods in six years since using the implant. I know that
may not sound healthy but I feel perfectly fine. Recently, I decided to give my
body a break and get it removed. They say that you should only get it three
times in a row before removing but I decided to take it out now. It’s only now
I am feeling it and I actually forgot what I went through each and every month
until I took it out such as discharge, bloating, feeling gassy, ALL the
emotions, low energy, nervousness, diarrhoea, clumsiness, nausea, cramps, feeling irritable, body odour, smelly vagina, loss of memory, backache, itchy vagina, regular
toilet breaks, feeling horny all the time, cravings, trouble sleeping, sore
boobs, sore thighs, aching muscles, trouble concentrating and wicked headaches.
It’s been a bit of a whirlwind to say the least.
So that's all wanted to talk about. It was a spur of the moment post which took me ages to publish as I just wasn't sure about it. If you have any questions at all, just leave me a comment and I can try and help you out, but like I said, if its something serious and you don't know if its normal or not, then talk to an older relative or your doctor. The doctor may not be the best person as they normally fob you off unless you are lucky to have one who actually cares and wants to help, but if you have someone you trust and respect, then I would ask them. It cant hurt can it?
Did you make a face when you read the
title?
Do you believe we should be able to talk
freely about periods?
Is this a natural thing to discuss?
Do you feel as though there is too much
talk and we should not mention it again?
I had my first period when I was 12 or so and it went all downhill from then. I always had a painful time and bleeding heavily for a good week. It was a horror going to school or to do anything. Even with the pill it used to be the worst time of the month, so my doctot found out that my body can't cope with the hormons and then being off the hormons for a week, so he advised me to try and continue the pill and not stop taking it. I feel so much better with it! Also, taking about periods has become less of a tabu, as I've seen a few bloggers talking about it and there's also a period subscription box called "Pink Parcel" on the market.
ReplyDeleteCaz | Style Lingua
I have felt much better with the implant but nothing else seemed to work on me at all. I hated the pill, would never get the jag due to horror stories and I would never get the coil or anything as it didnt appeal to me.
DeleteI have seen a few period subscription boxes and I have to say, im quite impressed that they arent saying it can be "discreet" or anything, seems promising xx