Struggles We Ladies Go Through Every Month

[confusedgirl239]

1. Feeling awful, tired, and sad, and not understanding why

Then guess what happens. BOOM the next day, Mother nature has delivered the most wonderful, and evil at the same time, gift. Pregnancy hasn't taken us this month, but the pain certainly has.

2. The cramps

The knife that's stabbing me in the uterus. Oh Lord why? There is no comfortable position. And even if you find one, it may only last for minutes before it's uncomfortable again. I usually end up in the fetal position on the floor.

3. The show we have to put on

On the outside, nothing can look amiss. We need to dress up like normal, look pretty. On the inside, I just wish I could sleep through these days in my bed, watching netflix, eating in my sweatpants.

4. The panic

I spend my monthly days, constantly worrying that I've bled through everything. So, the paranoid checking, and changing and everything goes on. The second you get comfortable and the paranoia subsides, that's when you'll bleed through and suddenly have to become the world's best problem solver as to: how to get a new pair of pants? how can I get back to my room? Should I get up from this seat right now or make a dash after everyone has left? You would think I would have this all down by down since I've been going through it for 8 years, but no.

5. Bloating

This is actually one that I don't usually get, but some of my best friends do and they say it's the worst. Not only do you feel the worst physically, you feel big and gross and don't feel good in your clothes.

6. Changing your pad/tampon

I am a college student, and this is sometimes so uncomfortable. But even for ladies who work, I'm sure the same things happen. Even if you try to change it often and in between classes so you don't have to do the classic up the sleeve or in the bra maneuvers, at some point, you'll have no choice. So you awkwardly rifle through your purse or backpack and use one of your hiding methods or you straight up just take your whole purse to the bathroom. I feel like all the girls in the room are silently sending me their condolences, because...you know solidarity. Meanwhile, I'm just hoping none of these dudes catch on to what I'm doing.

7. The unknown question, "Do I need to poop or not?"

I don't know what happens, but something goes very awry with this bodily function on your period. I'll leave it at that.

8. Boob pain, back pain, head pain, pain everywhere

Need I say more?

9. Getting up off the seat and saying a silent prayer

Please let me not have bled through my things, please.

At the end of the day, you know what ladies, we are awesome. Our bodies do amazing things each month and someday, when the time is right, we'll may carry a baby and all the misery may be worth it. Also, while writing this, I can't help but feel connected, because even in some small way, we all relate and understand each other. Get empowered!

[AleDeEurope]

Don't worry, here I come with the ice cream, the blanket, and the password for Netflix! :P

I know there are some girls out there that exaggerate this, but I do realize that it's a pain in the ass to deal with this every month. As someone who lived with 2 women for 18 years, I can see what they go through, but I can't feel it, something they certainly do. Kudos for you girls who deal with this shit every month.

[Sara413]

I try really hard not to take it out on people around me and I don't think it's ok to use it as an excuse to be a complete ass hole, but I do think it's reasonable to be given a bit of leeway and understanding during that time. Especially at home. We have to go through out whole day at work/school pretending everything is ok when it most certainly is not, so we shouldn't have to feel like we can't let out our frustration at home by venting about it or being a bit whiny. And if we do get a bit unreasonable or bitchy, ve patient and accept the apology once we realize we weren't being fair.

[AleDeEurope]

@Sara413 Of course. I know when a girl is one her period that I have to expect her to get a little "out of control" sometime, I get it and I accept, it's ok with me, as long as she doesn't go overboard.
I would actually encourage her to vent about it, rather let it out than keep it all in.

[Sara413]

Exactly. Honestly, if you are there for her and let her vent to you snd whine a bit she's a lot less likely to take it out on you. If you're the kind of guy who expects her to suck it up and pretend nothing is happening though it's no wonder she ends up taking it out on you by picking stupid fights or being a total bitch. (Using "you" here as a generic name, not talking about YOU as an individual)

[AleDeEurope]

@Sara413 Yeah, I'm not that kind of guy to say "suck it up". I made that mistake with my sister when I was younger and we usually got into fights because of that. I'm not gonna make the same mistakes with my future gf/s

[Sara413]

Haha good!! Funny how guys with sisters tend to make the best partners...

My boyfriend is great - he genuinely feels bad for me and does whatever he can to make it better. He rubs my lower back when I have cramps, cuddles me to share his body heat, which helps soothe the pain, listens to me whine and reacts with genuine concern, and makes sure to make me feel loved, beautiful and wanted when he knows I'm feeling depressed for those few days.

[AleDeEurope]

@Sara413 Well, guys with sisters know more about how to treat girls during that time of the month, or during other type of situations. Obviously you're not gonna cuddle with your sister and do all that, but you can sense that she needs that kind of treatment, you know?

You got a good boyfriend, many other guys wouldn't care or make it look like it's her fault, when she really can't control that.

[BaileyisDarcy]

Periods: Punishment for not getting pregnant.
In labour: Punishment for getting pregnant.

[jesse_mcminn100]

you tell 'em!

[Sara413]

Solidarity, Brah!! I've been dealing with periods for 16+ years and still have accidents... sleeping over my BFs during my period is god damn terrifying because it's inevitable a leak will happen at some point. My last big accident was when we were on a five hour road trip about four months ago and it was only my second cycle using my diva cup. I guess I didn't have it in right and when we stopped for a pee and coffee break halfway I got to the bathroom to find a big wet stain in my shorts that was probably 3x3 inches and very, very obvious. Had to ask him for his keys so I could waddle back to the car, wipe the seat, grab a change or undies and shorts, change, readjust my cup and put a pad on just in case, and then act like everything was fine. He didn't say a peep but gave me a look like "you poor thing I'm so sorry!" And I fell further in love with him lol

For three days each month I refuse to wear anything but black pants just in case. And yeah, the paranoia of checking for leaks constantly is the woooorst!! Actually, no, the feeling utterly depressed for three days before it starts and not understanding why is the worst. Actually, no, it's the cramping and slight nausea... and the bloating. No, no, its the gas and the constantly feeling he need to poop but not being able to... or eventually being able to but then having to deal with wiping your ass while trying not to smear blood all over it.

Fuck. Ok there is no ONE thing about periods that is the worst. The whole goddamn thing is just the worst.

I got an IUD put in yesterday so I'm hoping I'm one of the lucky ones who stops having periods altogether.

[Sara413]

Also, sneezing on a heavy day is the most terrifying fucking thing ever!! Esp when it's at a time you can't immediately get to a bathroom..

[Chareece3]

YES! And I have really bad allergies, so spring and heavy days don't mix, I shut everything down on those days lol

[Sara413]

@Chareece3 ohhh you poor poor soul!!! I can't even imagine!

[helpmealitttle]

I feel your pain! I can't stand being paranoid that I'll leak. It's embarrassing and awkward.

[EmiliaRose2355]

This is perfect! And EXACTLY what I go through each month. School nurses used to say 'yeah, your periods won't hurt much, maybe you'll get the odd cramp here and there... but NOTHING severe' oh, okay... that'll be why I feel like I'm dying on the first day of my period every month. Speaking of that, going through it just now! Haha.

But you're right though with what you're saying about all other women being able to relate to each other. It's nice :) and reassuring! And guys just do not get it either. One of the reasons my boyfriend left me was because he, and I repeat: 'dreaded the week/days before my period' because of my moods. Genuinely, I couldn't control it though :(. So yeah, thought it was pretty lame that a 30 year old guy couldn't cope with me being off for a couple of days each month. Won't be that when a woman gives him the wonderful gift of a child someday, maybe he'll think twice then.

But yeah, it's nice to be reminded that all of these symptoms are indeed normal and that I'm not just some crazy wacko who suffers alone every month. We girls are wonderfully made indeed! Despite all of the suffering :P

[Anonymous]

For two periods in a row I had killer pains that made me cry and I couldn't even move. I felt so sick to my stomach. I was even going camping the second time and I ended up throwing up all day until my mom was an angel and bought me medicine for period symptoms. I cried tears of joy and told my mom what a good person she was and I was an emotional mess I was laughing so hard. I became a period cliche and it was the funniest thing ever.

I have when guys say we over react. I am not one to overreact over anything. I actually am super chill with this stuff. I never had period problems. But those two months I went insane for some reason and i couldn't control it. Some girls are like this all the time they have their periods and I feel so bad for them.

To any guys that think we overreact, we dont. Girls all get theirs in different ways and different levels of pain, you can'tbe the judge of her pain unless you are the girl being stabbed in the uterus vomiting in a bbucket crouched over and crying for no reason at all.

[lumos]

I guess I can consider myself lucky then. I never worry about bleeding through my pads, even on my heavy days, because I trust them and use the right pads for my flow. If you're so worried about bleeding through your pad or tampon, then maybe you need to use the heavier kind. Otherwise there's no point in worrying.
The only kind of pain I experience is migraines, which suck but whatever, and small cramps. The only real issue I have is feeling bloated. I hate that.
Also I don't think your period is something you should hide or be ashamed of. It's a natural thing and you can't do much about it. Just embrace it and fuck what everyone else thinks. Why go through the trouble of hiding your pads/tampons and feeling anxious about someone noticing? It's really not much different from taking out a band-aid from your purse.

[Daphneeeee]

İts really changeable in you culture ı write about hiding pads

[Sara413]

There are some poor unfortunate souls who have such heavy and/or irregular flows tgat leakage is a constant threat. I'm one if them. Hoping like hell the IUD I just got put in solves that problem once and for all.

[Sara413]

I should add though that discovering the combination of diva cup and thinx underwear has been a serious game changer. I wish I'd started using both of them sooner. I just started using the cup about four months ago and thinx two months ago.

[nert73]

If you think it's bad as it is, try having endometriosis. Endometriosis makes it feel like even more of a curse than it already does. It's absolute, complete misery. I have the normal symptoms all the time and they just escalate during the monthly stuff. I've been on birth control that's supposed to calm it down and make the pain subside--it doesn't so a darn thing for me. I used to have the usual month by month but now she has me going on the pills until I start spotting. Then I'm supposed to stop long enough for it then do the same thing. So, I don't have to worry about it as often but now I have to be paranoid all the time that I'm spotting! You're right. Women are awesome. We have strength men can't understand.

[birdy1]

Yeah I usually get periods on the heavier side, the issue is that when I sleep if I have normal pads on then my underwear will get stains on it because I move around when I sleep. Also, I am paranoid when I go swimming because even though my period stops in the water completely, I never know when exactly it'll come back after I swim so I just usually change immediately. Once in a great while I get these really bad cramps all of a sudde, literally it just starts out of nowhere, and it's so painful that I double over but it doesn't happen often thank god.

[SirenDep]

I 've had a period since 11, and it was very awkward at first. I was feeling ashamed to tell people about it. Once I went to shop pads and I met a boy I knew. He asked me what I've got in the bag, and I told him I had some flour because I 'd be in a flour fight afterwards. I was feeling very self conscious about it, I'd been keeping it a secret for about a year or so..
Once I got a big blood stain in my white uniform, during PE, and everyone noticed...
I don't get bloating, or cramps, but I get aches here and there.. The worse is before my period starts, because I get angry and sad easily. Or when I can't swim because of it. I actually feel alright when I'm in my period, not gross or hungry or aching. I do stuff like going out, exercising, etc.

[TheDevilInside]

Luckily, I have only experienced cramps like twice or three times since ms. M arrived in my life when I was 11. The first time was in school. I wasn't able to move back to class, I could only sit on aa hard bench with cold sweat all soaking my uniform.

Also, instant female bonding: "could you check if I'm bleeding through or not?" *walks nonchalantly in front of friend while she checks out your butt*

[Sara413]

The only good thing about periods is the female solidarity. Even sworn enemies will be like "I got yo back, sis!" When asked for a leak check or tampon.

[Anonymous]

This was a funny, but mostly accurate Take, nicely done!

I am going through this right now. It's usually not super bad, but these last few months have been horrible. I don't quite understand how even if I change out every hour, use Super Plus tampons AND super pads, things still bleed through? Wtf kind of Hulk strength period blood is this? Hand washing things before it sets gets old so fast, most of the time I throw things away.

I'm on Day 5, so I hope this torture, I mean time passes. I will be sitting in my bed, curling up watching Netflix. At least it's going on now and not on Halloween. I don't think even I can handle double horrors.

[Sara413]

I recently discovered the game changing combo of Diva Cup and Thinx underwear. If you haven't tried, seriously give them a shot!! I used to leak through a lot on my heavy days and the cup is a major game changer. You'll want to wear a pad underneath the first few times you use it though as it does take some practice to get insertion right. Once you do though your life will be changed for the better and you'll be kicking yourself for not making the switch sooner.

[Opinion Owner]

I have heard of those before, but haven't tried them. I'll look into them more, thank you for all the info! :)

[GirlsLie]

lol, this was awesome.

The best part is working in customer service and how pms makes the already annoying customers 10000 times more annoying but you still have to pretend they don't bother you.

Or getting really bad stabbing pains while walking around and then someone is like "oh do you mind bringing me this instead" and you're thinking "sure, right after I take this knife out of my uterus" lol

[helpmealitttle]

Haha. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks of stabbing my uterus with a knife. I've had wonderful dreams of ripping the thing out with a knife.

[ginnyweasley]

oh my god this was entertaining to read. I remember last month my parents and i went to go see phantom of the opera and my parents decided to splurge and stay in the fanciest hotel in San Francisco. Everything was fine until i realized i was on my period and i was sleeping on white sheets i was terrified that i was going to have a leak but when i woke up the next morning, i had not. So i thanked the heavens and got ready to go see the Phantom.

[Girly1710]

You saw phantom last month? That's so cool!

[ginnyweasley]

yes it was in a word amazing! @Girly1710

[Girly1710]

Had you seen it before?

[ginnyweasley]

no this was my first time. my parents talked me into seeing it and i am glad they did. @Girly1710

[Girly1710]

That's awesome! I saw it for the first time last year! the movie is really great too!

[ginnyweasley]

i hope so. i ordered the movie for my mom's birthday on amazon because the tickets were expensive so i figured this was the next great thing versus seeing it live. @Girly1710

[Girly1710]

Oh you'll love it!!! Especially if you like Gerard butler... Which I do. 😉

[GingerBear]

Dead on. I have implanon, so my PMS symptoms are pretty mild, but my period is SO unpredictable. They can be 3 weeks apart, or 3 months. Once I get complacent and don't put a pad or tampon in my bag, is when I'll get sucker punched in the uterus.
Luckily my boyfriend is simply wonderful, and not even a little freaked out by it.

[PutriWahyuni]

Pain during the period, extra pain when in labour. We could stand with our feet even when we are down, just need a cry and then we'll feel better. Raising child for years with all of our love, and we never beg for any repay. Even when our children are disrespect and forget us when they are grown up, our love will always the same.
These are the reasons why my teacher said that women are stronger than men.

[Anonymous]

"Our bodies do amazing things each month and someday, when the time is right, we'll may carry a baby and all the misery may be worth it. "

BS 100%. There's NOTHING amazing about periods and carrying a baby. NOTHING. It's evil. If it was up to me, I wouldn't have a stupid period or be able to carry a thing that takes everything from me and wants to kill me

[RandomUsername3464]

You are either a male troll or a true lioness among women.

[Opinion Owner]

@RandomUsername3464 And let me guess... to YOU all women should be happy about periods and being able to carry a baby right? Wrong. Some women really dont want that. Guess that comes with being a woman right. Everything hates us. Not just males but our bodies too

[RandomUsername3464]

No. I will never know what periods/childbirth is like, I will only know an idea of what it's like. But I was being serious, your post stood out to me This seems to make you so upset that you breathe fire. I remember browsing a child-free website a few years back, 90 percent of their users were women.

[Opinion Owner]

@RandomUsername3464 Of course I am upset. The asker made that stupid statement as if periods are a blessing. As if going thought all that is worth it because guess what? You're able to have a baby. H*ll no. The reason women have periods in the first place is because of babies. I never want to have babies so I would LOVE to give back the stupid periods willingly. The blood is just too dramatic for me. It shouldn't be normal at all

[RandomUsername3464]

This is one of the few times I've seen a girl complain about her menstrual cycle this much. You are really fired up. You should take some of that energy and go work out with it or something. This is so hot.

[Opinion Owner]

@RandomUsername3464 Lmao are you serious right now? You find this hot? I am being serious here! aren't periods disgusting to you? I mean I would mind having one if it wasn't blood. Blood makes it disgusting for me and I do workout. Why do you find this hot? I am confused here

[RandomUsername3464]

Yes I am. This is very hot. Periods are not overly disgusting to me, but I guess they suck for girls. The blood and talking about periods isn't hot, what is hot is how passionate and fired up you are about this. You stand out with how you talk. Are you on your period right now?

[Opinion Owner]

@RandomUsername3464 Ohhhhh. You're the first guy to ever acknowledge my passion for something like this. Hm weird lol. And lol no I am not on my period... it's coming up though I think... but I'll still feel this way if it wasn't coming up. Why? Do you think I am crazy?

[SolitaireBond]

Am very surprised you've never considered having a private hysterectomy.

Your problems and troubles would be gone forever, and you would be a much happier person.

[Opinion Owner]

@SolitaireBond I'll love to if the stupid doctors would do as I asked

[Opinion Owner]

Lol I dont understand how I got downvoted for telling the truth. Babies do take everything we have and want to kill us. Can whoever downvoted, explain their reasoning lol

[RandomUsername3464]

The question is, do you think you're crazy? I think this is really hot and a break from the ordinary posting I see. And you could have been downvoted because of me, i get downvoted a lot and people have had their opinions quickly downvoted after I agreed with them in the comments.

[Opinion Owner]

@RandomUsername3464 Well honestly I kinda think I am a bit crazy but reasonable crazy for sure. And no, they definitely downvoted me because I hate being a woman and think it sucks. They probably believe women are suppose to be happy with having messed up lives smh

[EmpatheticLady]

"Pregnancy hasn't taken us this month, but the pain certainly has." Hahaha, ah, so horribly true.

Very well-written and entertaining Take on a topic no one likes.

[helpmealitttle]

Ugh. You're spot on with every point, except it being a wonderful gift. I don't desire to ever become pregnant or raise a child, so I'm my case, completely pointless to bear all this pain.

[Amanda75]

I don't get cramps. Never had them and hopefully never will. I just dislike having tender breasts.

[confusedgirl239]

Count yourself lucky girl! I have never had tender breasts, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that :)

[sailorjupiter]

for me, the cramp is so painul, there's a time like twice a year, I will fainted just becoz I can't bear with the pain

[helpmealitttle]

Same here.

[Girly1710]

Oh girl, I'm on my period right now and I read this as I was experiencing struggle number 7 so that made me laugh. I feel you.

[zombiebabe]

nice take!!! i think i should get myself one of these funny little pouch lol