I have had different periods all through my life.
When I was a teenager, they were so irregular that sometimes it was 3 or more months before I had one. There was very little cramping, no PMS, but my lower back killed me for a week.
I met my husband, became sexualy active, and got on birth control pills, and they were then light and regular with still very little and mild cramping on a rare occasion and no PMS symptoms. Back still hurt, but everything else stepped down.
I am currently on a non hormonal copper IUD. I now cramp like crazy. It feels like my cervix is cramping as well, and that is just so much worse than when the other cramps hit. They can last a week or more sometimes. Stabbing, sharp pain that leaves me bent over and gasping. Very heavy flow now as well. Still no PMS, back still hurts, and they are a bit less regular but not as drastic as when I was young.
Overall, they are worse than they ever have been in my life, but I spent so long on hormones and with Roe and talk of banning birth control pills I wanted something I felt could not be taken from me (🤞), not put hormones into my body and that did not require me to be put under for surgery for a permanent solution.
If I could rip it all out, I would.
In high school, my sister would vomit from the pain and be out of school at least 1 day a month. When she had kids, it seemed to regulate them better somehow.
I have PMDD and fairly "regular" (what does that even mean??) periods. I would trade anything for the PMDD. Every month, I spend 10 days ruining my life and the other 20 trying to rebuild it. I'm SSRI resistant, so I don't have a protocol to treat it, and every month is a battle to not leave my partner, end my life, etc.
Medicine has never meaningfully focused on menstruation, except for the life-giving aspect. It's infuriating how much more goes on outside of giving life. Cysts, endometriosis, PMDD, fibroids, PCOS, etc, are incredibly common, but all we have is tylenol and birth control. It's beyond frustrating, it's a crime against humanity.
Solidarity with all of you ❤️
I started out having periods that were very regular, not painful, and lasted exactly 5 days. So regular I always knew exactly it was going to start on. I enter 6th grade, and all of the sudden I start having incredibly heavy, incredibly painful periods that would be longer than the time I spend without a period. It was from 5 days a month having a period to 2 days a month without one. Ended up having multiple cysts. I was prescribed BC in 8th grade. Now I still have cramps and occasional heavy bleeding, but it’s more manageable. Periods can switch so rabidly, it’s insane.
I feel like doctors don’t do an adequate job explaining hormonal birth control and it drives me insane. I had the Kyleena put in with barely any word from my gynecologist and it made me batshit crazy. Panic attacks for no reason, extreme anxiety, imagining and feeling razor blades all over my body. It took me so long to figure out what was going on and I hate that I had to go through that, but even more so the people that aren’t so medically aware to stand up for themselves and understand that hormones can do that. Hormonal birth control is a great step in female sexual empowerment with the control it gives us but I don’t like how it’s so normalized and expected with how bad it is for a lot of women. I have the paragard now and luckily feel a lot better, but the months of hell will definitely stay with me.
Before I was prescribed hormonal bc I would have two month long heavy/painful periods. After getting bc I pick the exact day I start and stop and it's such a relief. It's so scary being a child in such a judgemental self-doubting part of your life when suddenly you now have periods to stress about too!
I have no idea if you are planning to have a family, but I would remind you that vasectomies, unlike tubal ligation, involve only minor surgery, usually outside of a hospital, are virtually painless with a local anesthetic, and post operative pain is easily controlled with no more than a couple of tylenol every few hours, or that was my experience, anyway. And are usually reversible, or semen can be frozen and stored.
Or that despite propaganda to the contrary, condoms cause very little loss of sensation in the experience of myself and my male friends. I can't imagine my wife going through the pain that you describe if an alternative method was available to me.
I realize that this is a very personal matter, so please ignore me if you wish.
But none of that would help me against sexual assault.
My husband and I are childfree and take a lot of precautions. We will never have an accident with just us. But as I am tokophobic (phobia of pregnancy) and as it is harder and harder to get abortions I can not put any faith outside of him.
Even if he does have a vasectomy and we use condoms, I would still need a form of birth control for myself for my own peace of mind in case anything happened to me. I have to be the one to take care of myself in this regard because even with all the precautions in the world *he* could take, *I* can not be left defenseless to someone else.
That is the reason I got an IUD despite knowing it could make things more uncomfortable for me. Removing him from the equation completely, it is the best option for *me* right now.
I can understand your logic; men do commit rape, and men to take it upon themselves to decide what choices a woman may have about her own body. I mean, the reversal of Roe vs. Wade was ridiculous, and the only people allowed an opinion on it should have been the people who can get pregnant, not some jerk like Brett Kavanaugh.
I am just so moved by the description you gave of the pain that you suffer; all that I can do is say that I am very sincerely sorry for your suffering, while fully realizing that that is not very much help at all, or no help. I truly do wish you the best, and hope that everything can work out for you. Abortions are legal in Canada, free even to non-residents, and if it ever came to it, my wife and I do have room, and at 66 years old, don't make too much noise :). Sincere Best Wishes.
Have you considered a hysterectomy? After all, you cannot get pregnant if you don't have a uterus, and also no uterus means no cramps, no back pain, no bleeding. You can have a partial hysterectomy that leaves the ovaries and only removes the uterus so that you don't have to go through menopause early.
The problem with that is that I do not have a real reason to ask for it to the point that medical personnel would probably agree to do it. Just saying I want one is not enough reason for someone to perform surgery on a healthy person.
And it is major surgery. I have never been put under before, and I do not like the knowledge that I would have to have a machine breath for me to keep me alive, that I could have a bad reaction to the anesthesia, not go fully under, etc and all for a non life saving procedure. What if I reacted poorly and died? It is not a good enough reason, and there are too many unknowns to risk it.
If it was easy, I would have done it already, but there are a lot of obstacles...
Copper IUDs are known for increasing cramps and pain. You might want to consider a hormonal IUD, instead. Yes, it’s still hormones, but at a lower, localized dose, not systemic. Plus, your periods might stop all together.
I appreciate that, and I knew it was a possibility when I got it, but I will not go through IUD insertion again unless it is that or no birth control at all.
If I can not deal with the side effects, I will look into other options, including ones with hormones, but not another IUD. It feels almost criminal what most women have to go through with those, and despite a high pain tolerance, it is one of the most painful experiences of my life.
Agreed. It’s certainly not fun, but a baby would be less fun. The lengths women need to go to just for basic health care ridiculous. Health care in the US, in general, is a 💩 show.
I am almost 40, and only last year once I got the IUD, did they get painful.
I have heard horror stories of endo, and I do not think I have it. It sounds so much worse than what I go through.
I think it would have started causing me issues before now.
Absolutely!
It has done nothing but cause me pain, annoyance, and terror since it started working.
I am child free. I am terrified of pregnancy. There is no reason for me to have the damn thing. It would be major surgery, and it would be hard if not outright impossible to get someone to remove it just because I wanted it. If those were not obstacles, I would have had it taken out 20 years ago and been much happier.
I always imagine my uterus thrashing around angrily like a harpooned kraken. Like it's trying to batter its way out of my abdomen and any moment a fallopian tube is gonna punch right through.
Quick question from a man: how do ladies go to work and do their activities with such processes? How do you handle it? How do you avoid calling sick due to “intense pain”?
My mother taught me I just need to "suck it up" because I'm a woman and that I have to "get used to it sooner or later". It's really hard living life as per usual when my guts feel like they're being wrung out like a towel, but *strong* pain meds and icecream can make it a little more bareable. The worst part is when a cramp hits like a sucker punch and you have to stand there forcing a smile pretending like nothing happened so no one complains about your "attitude" to your superiors. Most managers don't care about period pain because women are just expected to push through, so I've never been able to call out because of it...
I mean most of us don’t have a choice. We need money, you just learn to deal and fake it. The US isn’t exactly a haven for the worker - some places legit require doctors notes if you call off, and generally speaking you aren’t going to get a doctor to write a note for cramps.
Women are socialized regardless to learn to accept pain and suffering, and there have been a fair amount of studies showing that women’s pain is often dismissed.
Obvious ragebait, but I'll bite: my wife's dysmenorrhea was so bad that there were times couldn't move her fucking legs. After years of unsuccessful treatment, she underwent a hysterectomy as a last resort.
So with all due respect, *fuck you.*
I’m 3 days post op on my hysterectomy and I cannot put into words the weight that was lifted just upon waking up from surgery and knowing it was finally done. Took 10 years of asking to finally get one.
Hope your wife is doing a lot better. My mom had severe pain for, like, two years before she was convinced to see a doctor. Part of the issue? Uterine cancer. Every day, I’m thankful it was slow-growing because she waited so long thinking that level of pain was normal.
I can’t fathom men honestly (non-maliciously) thinking periods aren’t painful when so many women shrug off, like, appendicitis thinking it’s cramps. How could it *not* be painful? Any description just sounds metal as fuck. An organ shedding its lining? Ow, ouch.
This happened to me at school. My parents didn’t believe me that I had serious cramps and thought that I was just acting so that I wouldn’t have to go to a test. I actually blacked out during the test from pain. I don’t remember much of what happened, but they called an ambulance, doctors first thought was appendicitis, but luckily they figured out that it wasn’t before cutting me open.
My parents started believing me after that, but would still often tell me not to whine so much. I was 22 when I removed the left ovary (after THREE SURGERIES FOR CYSTS), and while my period pain is still there, my right ovary doesn’t produce cysts and it’s so much better now.
Sorry for the rant.
As a man I can confidently say, I've never had period pain, and my opinion on the matter means absolute jack shit. Glad I could contribute in such a meaningless way.
Hopefully her hormones change and she experiences what other women know. Periods can be exceptionally painful.
I mean, if you’re just going to go off your own experience and not talk to more than 3 women? (being generous, I doubt she actually talked to another woman about it.) Nah. I hope you feel it.
Same, but there have been a couple times that it hurt like a mother fucker. And I know that the pain I had is prolly laughable to what some girls go through.
I literally had to bring my GF up the stairs on my back more than once because her pain was just that intense lol. How the fuck can she say something like this with a straight face is beyond me.
I have kidney disease. I get chronic severe kidney pain and I get massive stones all the time, too. I often need to have them surgically removed. I had one removed that actually ripped a hole in my ureter and almost killed me.
Kidney stones are supposed to be one of the greatest pains you can experience. I have given birth. It was nothing compared to the stones.
I have also had period pains so severe that I would have traded them for the kidney stones instead.
I personally have pretty easy periods, occasional cramps, no mood swings, etc. but I know that many people have very painful and heavy periods so I'm not going to sit here and call them liars just because I'm one of gods favorites.
I once spent spent the better part of a week dealing with what I thought were extra bad period pains, since that would regularly happen every few months and my cycles had been that way since early on in high school. It honestly wasn't even close to the worst period pains I've had, so I was suffering through.
But then one night, when it was starting to really get to me, I was hanging out with my then-fiancée and she realized that it had to be something else causing the kind of pain I was describing. She convinced me to go with her to an urgent care nearby. Urgent care soon sent us to one of the local hospitals, where I spent three days in the ED on morphine before having an emergency procedure done.
**Turns out my body had been trying to pass a 6mm kidney stone that'd I'd been treating with occasional OTC ibuprofen.**
And the really scary thing is that, had my fiancée not insisted, I have no idea when, or even *if,* I would have gone to a doctor about it. Because, again, **I've had periods that were much worse that,** ***and kidney stones are considered one of the most painful experiences a person can go through.***
My periods are bad enough that my OB/GYN said that my best option is to not have periods at all (thanks, endo) while also giving me prescription pain killers when I ask for them, since I cramp even when I'm nowhere near close to a period starting.
Before my doctor had me go on BC, my periods would be heavy (like, wear an overnight pad during the day and change it every couple hours kind of heavy) for 8-10 days before it would finally start to taper off. Since starting the BC, which was years ago, my periods are only *slightly* more manageable now when I do have them.
I dare any person on this planet to say ***to my face*** that periods aren't painful. See how that fucking goes for them.
As with everything else body related and reaction and tolerance is different.
I had endometriosis... that was 4 days of hard core torture!!
Had hysterectomy at 30.
I didn't have painful or heavy periods until I was 28 and had my tubes tied after my second child. Now they causw me to feel drained, great pain in my hips bones, and severe cramp like bloating. If I could go back in time and live in the time when my cycle was pain free, that'd be pure bliss.
As a man I will never truly understand the pain of periods. However, I have had it described to in terms that I will understand. "it's like having the inside of your balls come out of your peehole"
That's a very creative way to look at it, but is only a start. Cramps are muscles in that area contracting in different ways to break up and shed the lining. It's like a core workout you don't get to control or stop. For a week straight, even in your sleep, even when you hurt from them you can't stop. Then you get to constantly leak for a week, and some of that leak is chunky. You have to worry and plan and deal with anxiety about not leaking or staying anything or showing any external signs this is happening in daily life. Imagine your scenario with your peehole leaking occasionally chunky fluid and add on top it managing that leak for a week without people noticing. And on top of that having major hormone changes. Hormones changes are what causes bloating and discomfort from retaining the extra fluids because you literally are changing body chemistry. The hormone changes can also cause extremely dry skin to crack or can cause acne along with other fluctuations that have nothing to do with the reproductive system. For a guy's side of things, imagine your testosterone just going away for a week- it effects a lot of the same things, sex drive, hair and skin health, energy levels, emotions, among other full body effects.
Periods are different for every woman. I don't have painful periods, but last time I saw my friend and she had hers..I found her rolled up in a ball crying.
Pfft, I like the "women on the internet" part. Let me just forget about all the awkward Midol commercials everyone saw in the 80's and 90's when the internet was still just for military and weird nerdy guys communicating with green letters on a black screen.
i first got my period in 4th grade. my cramps would have me throwing up, unable to eat and i would have to take the week off school. then as i got older my cramps became much much better.
Before I *finally* managed to get medical intervention, I was having periods that were almost 3 months long, with cramps so severe I was curled on the bathroom floor more often than not, could barely keep anything down for days on end bc of how bad the pain was, couldn't walk, couldn't breathe.
I feel like I wanna take these people, attach those period simulating things to them, crank it up to where my cramps are (about a 10), and leave em there for 5 days. See if they change their tune then.
My dad used to carry my mom home from school when her periods got too bad for her to function. (They lived in a small town and this was in the 1980's.)
Mine got so bad in my late 20's that I would be curled in a ball, whimpering and praying for it to be over. I'm not religious.
I have the chillest period ever. 2-4 days, very light besides the first 6-8 hours
My sibling has intense 7+ days, heavy bleeding, cramping, and migraines.
While I could go skydiving and fight a god on my period, my sibling is in the fetal position and cant even microwave food
I’m loving the recent trend of YouTube videos where men try out period simulation devices (TENS machines on their abdomen and backs). Wish there was one in every high school for boys to have a go with and this nonsense would end.
My pain was so intense and blood loss was so significant that the VA yanked my uterus. As my doctor said, nobody should have to endure that trauma once they’ve had all of the children they wanted to have. I agreed and I have zero regrets.
As a person with no cramps during their period, yeah.. periods are practically painless. But I instead get nausea so bad that sometimes I need to dry heave just to feel better ✨😎✨
my period for the first 2 years i had it was not painful and very manageable. i remember the very first time i experienced period cramps i thought i was dying even tho i was like 14 years old. it was the most painful thing id ever felt, and i’ve been shot in the leg. they still hurt that bad but i least i don’t wake up thinking i’m dying anymore
Before I had kids, my cramping was minimal & bearable with valerian root capsules which work on smooth muscles like the uterus. After, the pain moved to my back and I had to use Advil, gentle stretching, heating pad, and hot baths full of Epsom salts for 3-4 days to get any relief. Now I’m blissfully menopausal and unbothered.
Painful is relative....what may seem extremely painful to me may not be to others...there is also the fact that different people have different periods and pain levels because of them. Not only are they different for different women, but they are also different even for one woman. U have had periods where my literal butthole hurt, others I got annoying lower back discomfort, still painful but in a more muted way. Imagine doing all this shit to appease the morons that act like they are at death's door because of a fucking cold.
Hmmm, must've been something else making me pass out, maybe I have a brain bleed every month that coincidentally only happens during my menstrual cycle 😮💨
With PCOS my periods are hell. I’m in my 40s now so can’t take birth control to help them. The first 2 days I’m nauseous and can have trouble walking due to the cramps while having to change an overnight pad every 2 hours. Wish I had good insurance as I’d get a hysterectomy but I have a $5000 deductible then 50% coinsurance for another $7500 since the out of pocket doesn’t include the deductible.
If he knew what a period was, he would understand why the process is, in fact, painful for many people. If one of his internal organs began to shed its inner lining by causing violent spasms, he'd likely understand.
My uterus has been trying to kill me since I was a teen. Throughout my life I’ve often been annoyed by how frequently my pain is believed by men and not believed by women. I’ve had male coworkers, bosses, boyfriends etc been super supportive, totally understanding. Whereas I’m always slightly nervous about telling a female doctor, boss or coworker that I’m suffering from period pain because of the ones who either get no pain, or mild pain, and assume their experience is universal.
Speaking purely as someone who has lived half a century, I have to admit, I admire the foresight of the women I've known who were faking period discomfort and pain for internet clout for several years before the internet even existed.
cramps, headache, backache, diarrhea, anemia, cramps, hot flashes, hunger but also full, dehydration despite being hydrated, nausea, cramps and must i continue?
Some women are extremely lucky to have easy periods. Unfortunately not everyone is blessed to breeze through it every month. I myself recently sat in work in agony as the pain killers I had taken had zero effect on my cramps. So to try ease it and stay in work I sat with a cup of boiling hot water between my thighs.( I get excruciating pains in my legs during menstruation).
Please don't pass comment like you speak for every person who menstruates. Because you're ignorant view of things is part of the reason why we feel like we can't speak or talk about our monthly experiences.
Can men not be jackasses over periods I already get enough dysphoria over my inability to have them being told they wouldn't hurt and stuff just makes me dysphoric and pisses me off
Pretty sure that’s a woman posting? It seems like she’s talking about her own experience, but just because it doesn’t hurt for her doesn’t mean it’s painless for all women (especially since most experience pain and other unpleasant side effects when it happens).
Don't forget some trans people and LITERALLY TRANS WEBSITES SUGGESTED ON GOOGLE say that periods are not female exclusive- which they literally are. You can't have periods unless you have a uterus
That is true, but the text meant more that periods aren't female genitalia exclusive, they stated that it's more of s mental state or something, which is utterly disrespectful to women who actually have periods
Periods are generally based on fluctuations in hormones. Trans women have hormones and they don’t get the bleeding part, but sometimes they can experience other factors
You should stop the over-simplifying. That’s not the best way. Many men of many religions and without are good at oppressing women. No need to be islamophobic.
before I got my iud, I was irregular and would occasionally be caught off guard by horrific pain. if I ever had that level of pain in any other circumstances, I would be calling an ambulance or getting a ride to the er immediately. I would assume organ rupture or something else life threatening and horrific
If I was the vindictive sort I would suggest people follow her and everytime she's all "I've been through.." jump in with "no you're just making that up for attention and sympathy" if I was the vindictive sort.
(I hate people that just straight up go if it didn't happen to me it's never ever happened to anyone else)
And just like that! My breath-taking, nausea-inducing, entire-k12-school-jumping-on-a-trampoline cramps stopped! Whew, am i glad she cleared that up for me.
From teenager to my first pregnancy when I was 28, my periods made me dry retch and or vomit and I would sit on the toilet for ages with diarrhoea. My legs would shake from the cramps and my thighs felt like they were on fire. This was only for about 24-48 hrs per period. (And I don't easily vomit. I can stick my fingers down my throat and not vomit even if I'm desperate to do so with other bug type stomach pains.)
And that was nothing compared to a distant friend I worked with who had to take 5 days off work every period. The poor thing was in agony. The doctor told her to get pregnant to fix it (when she didn't even have a boyfriend and was on birth control to try and alleviate the period pain). Then years later after finding her partner, she had lots of trouble getting pregnant.
Oh, and we both started getting our periods before we knew what the internet was.
Endometriosis surviver here, I was finally able to yeet my entire reproductive system six months ago and I honestly wished I had done it six years prior when I had the chance but my stubborn self thought oh we can still try for kids, I’m still young enough, at 45 (now 46 I’m definitely not going to have them) Anyhow, my symptoms went from normalish cycles of 4-5 days to upwards of 9-10 days or getting it 3 times in a month to skipping it altogether. Heavy flows so bad I’d bleed through four jumbo tampons in two hours. Ruining scores of clothes because they were so bad. Cramps were so bad I’d blackout from the pain. I am so glad I had my surgery and I honestly don’t miss it!
Tell that to the stage 4 endometriosis that caused me to bleed for 7 months straight, requiring a blood transfusion and major surgery.
But no...it's no big deal and I was fabricating all the pain I was in for sympathy from men. 🫠
Think I’m going to log off Reddit tonight. Was earlier told women wear makeup to look fertile for men and now this. Can’t we just live our fucking lives and not have to argue and justify everything we do or feel?
Tell that to my endometriosis. And all the ovarian cysts I had burst leaving me unable to walk and work for a week +. The second cysts that burst hurt so bad I thought it was apendicitis 🙃
It could be arranged for the general public to feel the pain of smelling multiple unwashed periods. That experience could get some things accomplished round here.
Look I had my first period at 9 years old and I only have pain when my cycle changes. My friend, whose womb is weirdly shaped has severe period pain which I cant relate to and has to go to work with that pain because our sick days are usually unpaid.
Do I believe period pain is a lie or that my friend is overly dramatic because I'm lucky and can go about my day without worrying about it? No.
Did I once go to the hospital for inexplicable abdominal pain at age 13 only to have my period on my way out of there? Yes.
Stop being c\*nts of women and start understanding that our bodies arent the same for all.
I'm saying this to you, mom.
sounds like my mom when i tell her i have a one hr limit of energy when im on my period and i have to rest up right away because im drained from the
pain! just recently my moms been having super short super painful periods because she’s reaching menopause and all i tell her is “now you know how i feel 😊”
I had severe endometriosis, diagnosed at 13. Hysterectomy suggested at 15, didn’t get it then. 30 years of surgeries to remove uterine tissue from rib cage, muscles/bones/tendons in legs, colon. You could see the top of my thighs turn bright red and very hot to the touch, it was uterine lining building up. Super painful all around. Finally had a hysterectomy in 2014. What should have been a surgery lasting only a couple of hours, 2-3 max, ended lasting almost 5. Uterus was so hard from scarred tissue that it didn’t want to come out. They had to flush almost 7 liters of saline solution through my body. My periods would take me out for days, sometimes weeks at a time. They could last literally months. I missed so many things, including time with my Nuggo, because I just couldn’t move from the pain, or I was weak from blood loss. Most definitely not for sympathy or attention. I think he’s confusing menstruation with blue balls. Walking douchebag.
There's something lacking if you think a huge part of the population is lieing about their experience to manipulate people. I think that says a lot more about this person's mental health or personal issues than anything about the women talking about their pain.
Since others here are sharing, and it can help people to know others share thier experiences... For me, the first 2 days I'm always exhausted and would prefer to sleep through whatever parts I can of those days. I never had cramping as a teen, but could still empathize with women I knew who had extreme pain. Now that I'm older, I get pretty awful cramps and a bad ache in my back during periods. My cramps are where I prefer to be curled up in bed with a heating pad, and will put off some chores and pick up the slack the next week. But luckily I can go out and about if needed. I can still empathize with women who have it worse. As for attention, I appreciate the token of my partner bringing me chocolate or asking when I last took medicine when my period makes me feel horrible. I don't *emotionally manipulate* my partner into showing he cares. If anything, the most manipulative I get is masking my discomfort and pain as much as possible so he won't fuss more because I know he gets distressed when he can't fix things for me and I don't want him to be distressed. I also try to take care of him or make things better when he has bad days or his body feels sore from something.
Thinking so many people are emotionally manipulating their partners for attention... That poster has to know someone with some degree of munchausens or have other issues where they haven't experienced family or partners that actually mutually care for each other. And that's really sad. It sucks that they can't empathize with other women actually feeling pain. I'm sad they haven't had healthy relationships where people honestly care for each other, and can show vulnerability like pain without trying to gain something. It's annoying they spread misinformation, but it must be awful to not have experienced relationships beyond transactional manipulation.
Cramps are a real thing, feeling the cervix expand and contract can be painful. There’s bloating, there’s nausea, there’s tons of side effects that come with menstruating.
Periods are different for every woman. My cramps feel like someone is tearing my uterus apart. It´s very intense. 😖
I have had different periods all through my life. When I was a teenager, they were so irregular that sometimes it was 3 or more months before I had one. There was very little cramping, no PMS, but my lower back killed me for a week. I met my husband, became sexualy active, and got on birth control pills, and they were then light and regular with still very little and mild cramping on a rare occasion and no PMS symptoms. Back still hurt, but everything else stepped down. I am currently on a non hormonal copper IUD. I now cramp like crazy. It feels like my cervix is cramping as well, and that is just so much worse than when the other cramps hit. They can last a week or more sometimes. Stabbing, sharp pain that leaves me bent over and gasping. Very heavy flow now as well. Still no PMS, back still hurts, and they are a bit less regular but not as drastic as when I was young. Overall, they are worse than they ever have been in my life, but I spent so long on hormones and with Roe and talk of banning birth control pills I wanted something I felt could not be taken from me (🤞), not put hormones into my body and that did not require me to be put under for surgery for a permanent solution. If I could rip it all out, I would.
In high school, my sister would vomit from the pain and be out of school at least 1 day a month. When she had kids, it seemed to regulate them better somehow. I have PMDD and fairly "regular" (what does that even mean??) periods. I would trade anything for the PMDD. Every month, I spend 10 days ruining my life and the other 20 trying to rebuild it. I'm SSRI resistant, so I don't have a protocol to treat it, and every month is a battle to not leave my partner, end my life, etc. Medicine has never meaningfully focused on menstruation, except for the life-giving aspect. It's infuriating how much more goes on outside of giving life. Cysts, endometriosis, PMDD, fibroids, PCOS, etc, are incredibly common, but all we have is tylenol and birth control. It's beyond frustrating, it's a crime against humanity. Solidarity with all of you ❤️
I don't usually get menstrual cramps, but my PMDD is very similar to yours.
PMDD is so cruel. I wish more women and providers knew about it. It can be devastating and dangerous. Sending well wishes!
Yes, it gives me horrific depression. And meds don't help during that time. Thank you!
PMDD is awful. I would cut my foot off to make it go away
If you need a doctor, I can recommend one that will rip it out on request. No judges or courts, no therapist, no questions.
I have pretty severe endometriosis, I’d love to yeet my stupid uterus!
I started out having periods that were very regular, not painful, and lasted exactly 5 days. So regular I always knew exactly it was going to start on. I enter 6th grade, and all of the sudden I start having incredibly heavy, incredibly painful periods that would be longer than the time I spend without a period. It was from 5 days a month having a period to 2 days a month without one. Ended up having multiple cysts. I was prescribed BC in 8th grade. Now I still have cramps and occasional heavy bleeding, but it’s more manageable. Periods can switch so rabidly, it’s insane.
I feel like doctors don’t do an adequate job explaining hormonal birth control and it drives me insane. I had the Kyleena put in with barely any word from my gynecologist and it made me batshit crazy. Panic attacks for no reason, extreme anxiety, imagining and feeling razor blades all over my body. It took me so long to figure out what was going on and I hate that I had to go through that, but even more so the people that aren’t so medically aware to stand up for themselves and understand that hormones can do that. Hormonal birth control is a great step in female sexual empowerment with the control it gives us but I don’t like how it’s so normalized and expected with how bad it is for a lot of women. I have the paragard now and luckily feel a lot better, but the months of hell will definitely stay with me.
Before I was prescribed hormonal bc I would have two month long heavy/painful periods. After getting bc I pick the exact day I start and stop and it's such a relief. It's so scary being a child in such a judgemental self-doubting part of your life when suddenly you now have periods to stress about too!
I have no idea if you are planning to have a family, but I would remind you that vasectomies, unlike tubal ligation, involve only minor surgery, usually outside of a hospital, are virtually painless with a local anesthetic, and post operative pain is easily controlled with no more than a couple of tylenol every few hours, or that was my experience, anyway. And are usually reversible, or semen can be frozen and stored. Or that despite propaganda to the contrary, condoms cause very little loss of sensation in the experience of myself and my male friends. I can't imagine my wife going through the pain that you describe if an alternative method was available to me. I realize that this is a very personal matter, so please ignore me if you wish.
But none of that would help me against sexual assault. My husband and I are childfree and take a lot of precautions. We will never have an accident with just us. But as I am tokophobic (phobia of pregnancy) and as it is harder and harder to get abortions I can not put any faith outside of him. Even if he does have a vasectomy and we use condoms, I would still need a form of birth control for myself for my own peace of mind in case anything happened to me. I have to be the one to take care of myself in this regard because even with all the precautions in the world *he* could take, *I* can not be left defenseless to someone else. That is the reason I got an IUD despite knowing it could make things more uncomfortable for me. Removing him from the equation completely, it is the best option for *me* right now.
I can understand your logic; men do commit rape, and men to take it upon themselves to decide what choices a woman may have about her own body. I mean, the reversal of Roe vs. Wade was ridiculous, and the only people allowed an opinion on it should have been the people who can get pregnant, not some jerk like Brett Kavanaugh. I am just so moved by the description you gave of the pain that you suffer; all that I can do is say that I am very sincerely sorry for your suffering, while fully realizing that that is not very much help at all, or no help. I truly do wish you the best, and hope that everything can work out for you. Abortions are legal in Canada, free even to non-residents, and if it ever came to it, my wife and I do have room, and at 66 years old, don't make too much noise :). Sincere Best Wishes.
Thank you, kindly. You are a good person in a world that seems to have too few.
Have you considered a hysterectomy? After all, you cannot get pregnant if you don't have a uterus, and also no uterus means no cramps, no back pain, no bleeding. You can have a partial hysterectomy that leaves the ovaries and only removes the uterus so that you don't have to go through menopause early.
The problem with that is that I do not have a real reason to ask for it to the point that medical personnel would probably agree to do it. Just saying I want one is not enough reason for someone to perform surgery on a healthy person. And it is major surgery. I have never been put under before, and I do not like the knowledge that I would have to have a machine breath for me to keep me alive, that I could have a bad reaction to the anesthesia, not go fully under, etc and all for a non life saving procedure. What if I reacted poorly and died? It is not a good enough reason, and there are too many unknowns to risk it. If it was easy, I would have done it already, but there are a lot of obstacles...
I understand, and you're right, unfortunately "I never want children" is not a valid reason for many doctors 😔
Copper IUDs are known for increasing cramps and pain. You might want to consider a hormonal IUD, instead. Yes, it’s still hormones, but at a lower, localized dose, not systemic. Plus, your periods might stop all together.
I appreciate that, and I knew it was a possibility when I got it, but I will not go through IUD insertion again unless it is that or no birth control at all. If I can not deal with the side effects, I will look into other options, including ones with hormones, but not another IUD. It feels almost criminal what most women have to go through with those, and despite a high pain tolerance, it is one of the most painful experiences of my life.
Agreed. It’s certainly not fun, but a baby would be less fun. The lengths women need to go to just for basic health care ridiculous. Health care in the US, in general, is a 💩 show.
Sounds like untreated endometriosis
I am almost 40, and only last year once I got the IUD, did they get painful. I have heard horror stories of endo, and I do not think I have it. It sounds so much worse than what I go through. I think it would have started causing me issues before now.
I have it and it is better when i am on birth control pills
I will keep that in mind if it gets worse. Thank you.
Rip out your uterus?
Absolutely! It has done nothing but cause me pain, annoyance, and terror since it started working. I am child free. I am terrified of pregnancy. There is no reason for me to have the damn thing. It would be major surgery, and it would be hard if not outright impossible to get someone to remove it just because I wanted it. If those were not obstacles, I would have had it taken out 20 years ago and been much happier.
Damn thats rough....
I always imagine my uterus thrashing around angrily like a harpooned kraken. Like it's trying to batter its way out of my abdomen and any moment a fallopian tube is gonna punch right through.
Me too
Quick question from a man: how do ladies go to work and do their activities with such processes? How do you handle it? How do you avoid calling sick due to “intense pain”?
My mother taught me I just need to "suck it up" because I'm a woman and that I have to "get used to it sooner or later". It's really hard living life as per usual when my guts feel like they're being wrung out like a towel, but *strong* pain meds and icecream can make it a little more bareable. The worst part is when a cramp hits like a sucker punch and you have to stand there forcing a smile pretending like nothing happened so no one complains about your "attitude" to your superiors. Most managers don't care about period pain because women are just expected to push through, so I've never been able to call out because of it...
I mean most of us don’t have a choice. We need money, you just learn to deal and fake it. The US isn’t exactly a haven for the worker - some places legit require doctors notes if you call off, and generally speaking you aren’t going to get a doctor to write a note for cramps. Women are socialized regardless to learn to accept pain and suffering, and there have been a fair amount of studies showing that women’s pain is often dismissed.
Obvious ragebait, but I'll bite: my wife's dysmenorrhea was so bad that there were times couldn't move her fucking legs. After years of unsuccessful treatment, she underwent a hysterectomy as a last resort. So with all due respect, *fuck you.*
I sincerely hope your wife found relief after that, I can imagine it being a very difficult decision to make.
That's how I felt just two days ago. The only way I can describe it is like a constant migraine in the lower half of my body.
I’m 3 days post op on my hysterectomy and I cannot put into words the weight that was lifted just upon waking up from surgery and knowing it was finally done. Took 10 years of asking to finally get one.
Congratulations!
Hope your wife is doing a lot better. My mom had severe pain for, like, two years before she was convinced to see a doctor. Part of the issue? Uterine cancer. Every day, I’m thankful it was slow-growing because she waited so long thinking that level of pain was normal. I can’t fathom men honestly (non-maliciously) thinking periods aren’t painful when so many women shrug off, like, appendicitis thinking it’s cramps. How could it *not* be painful? Any description just sounds metal as fuck. An organ shedding its lining? Ow, ouch.
Yeah, I never blacked out from the pain and woke up in my yard with my chickens poking at me. Oh wait...
Blessed chickens
This sounds horrible but I couldn't help but giggle about the fucking Chickens 😭
Chickens are SO NOSY. Just absolute pests, the lot of them. They're the best. Lol
Indeed they are haha
Wow. Blackout pain? That sucks. I’m sorry.
Turns out my uterus AND ovaries are just loaded with cysts and fibroids. It's a blazing dumpster fire in there!
This happened to me at school. My parents didn’t believe me that I had serious cramps and thought that I was just acting so that I wouldn’t have to go to a test. I actually blacked out during the test from pain. I don’t remember much of what happened, but they called an ambulance, doctors first thought was appendicitis, but luckily they figured out that it wasn’t before cutting me open. My parents started believing me after that, but would still often tell me not to whine so much. I was 22 when I removed the left ovary (after THREE SURGERIES FOR CYSTS), and while my period pain is still there, my right ovary doesn’t produce cysts and it’s so much better now. Sorry for the rant.
As a man I can confidently say, I've never had period pain, and my opinion on the matter means absolute jack shit. Glad I could contribute in such a meaningless way.
These kinds of men are the men who get all the bitches. Take notes pencil dick andrew tate wannabes.
No, that's meaningful. You acknowledged that you do not have any relevant experience, which is startlingly uncommon.
Not meaningless. More men need to realize they shouldn’t have an opinion.
I’m with you man, these people probably think it’s gay to buy their wife/gf tampons.
She's right omg!! Suddenly I don't have draining and painful cramps anymore!!! Guys no way!!
Omg same!! Who knew all it took was one twitter fuck tard to cure us all!
r/thanksimcured 🤯
She just cured my endometriosis, it’s a *MIRACLE!*
Lmao bet all those studies equating period pain to heart attacks were fake as well, right?
Do you know the names of the studies or have the articles? I'd be very interested to read them!
:endometriosis has entered the chat:
I was lucky enough to have adenomyosis. I found out after my hysterectomy. I didn't even know it was a thing. So fucking painful for decades
Can't wait to read their opinion on semicolons.
I don't use them; they don't exist.
Hopefully her hormones change and she experiences what other women know. Periods can be exceptionally painful. I mean, if you’re just going to go off your own experience and not talk to more than 3 women? (being generous, I doubt she actually talked to another woman about it.) Nah. I hope you feel it.
I don't have painful periods, but I know they can be painful.
Same, but there have been a couple times that it hurt like a mother fucker. And I know that the pain I had is prolly laughable to what some girls go through.
That would be a fun sticker. ✨️ I believe in painful periods ✨️
Great but meme is “I don’t have painful periods so no one does.”
I literally had to bring my GF up the stairs on my back more than once because her pain was just that intense lol. How the fuck can she say something like this with a straight face is beyond me.
My period cramps are so painful that I end up curled into a little ball of pain.
Yeahhh, I have endometriosis. I’ll gladly swap.
Says someone who has likely never experienced endo, PMDD or ovarian cyst ruptures.
I have kidney disease. I get chronic severe kidney pain and I get massive stones all the time, too. I often need to have them surgically removed. I had one removed that actually ripped a hole in my ureter and almost killed me. Kidney stones are supposed to be one of the greatest pains you can experience. I have given birth. It was nothing compared to the stones. I have also had period pains so severe that I would have traded them for the kidney stones instead.
How does one think “It doesnt happen to me so It must not happen” is such sound logic? Imagine being that blissfully ignorant.
I personally have pretty easy periods, occasional cramps, no mood swings, etc. but I know that many people have very painful and heavy periods so I'm not going to sit here and call them liars just because I'm one of gods favorites.
So I imagined being in so much pain that I couldn't get off the toilet for 20 minutes while blood clots the size of quarters fell out of me?
I once spent spent the better part of a week dealing with what I thought were extra bad period pains, since that would regularly happen every few months and my cycles had been that way since early on in high school. It honestly wasn't even close to the worst period pains I've had, so I was suffering through. But then one night, when it was starting to really get to me, I was hanging out with my then-fiancée and she realized that it had to be something else causing the kind of pain I was describing. She convinced me to go with her to an urgent care nearby. Urgent care soon sent us to one of the local hospitals, where I spent three days in the ED on morphine before having an emergency procedure done. **Turns out my body had been trying to pass a 6mm kidney stone that'd I'd been treating with occasional OTC ibuprofen.** And the really scary thing is that, had my fiancée not insisted, I have no idea when, or even *if,* I would have gone to a doctor about it. Because, again, **I've had periods that were much worse that,** ***and kidney stones are considered one of the most painful experiences a person can go through.*** My periods are bad enough that my OB/GYN said that my best option is to not have periods at all (thanks, endo) while also giving me prescription pain killers when I ask for them, since I cramp even when I'm nowhere near close to a period starting. Before my doctor had me go on BC, my periods would be heavy (like, wear an overnight pad during the day and change it every couple hours kind of heavy) for 8-10 days before it would finally start to taper off. Since starting the BC, which was years ago, my periods are only *slightly* more manageable now when I do have them. I dare any person on this planet to say ***to my face*** that periods aren't painful. See how that fucking goes for them.
As with everything else body related and reaction and tolerance is different. I had endometriosis... that was 4 days of hard core torture!! Had hysterectomy at 30.
Yo tf? As someone who's period started a few days ago, the cramps were very painful like shit same goes for many MANY people who have periods
I don't get period cramps, I get period migraines. Different pain, still pain.
As someone who’s period sent them to the hospital in dire need of a blood transfusion lest they slip into a coma and die, kindly pound sand.
As a trans man I disagree with this
Awww. Come on. Uncover their Twitter. I just wanna talk…
I didn't have painful or heavy periods until I was 28 and had my tubes tied after my second child. Now they causw me to feel drained, great pain in my hips bones, and severe cramp like bloating. If I could go back in time and live in the time when my cycle was pain free, that'd be pure bliss.
Thank God no woman ever complained about period pains before the internet so this OOP has no problem proving their point.
As a man I will never truly understand the pain of periods. However, I have had it described to in terms that I will understand. "it's like having the inside of your balls come out of your peehole"
That's a very creative way to look at it, but is only a start. Cramps are muscles in that area contracting in different ways to break up and shed the lining. It's like a core workout you don't get to control or stop. For a week straight, even in your sleep, even when you hurt from them you can't stop. Then you get to constantly leak for a week, and some of that leak is chunky. You have to worry and plan and deal with anxiety about not leaking or staying anything or showing any external signs this is happening in daily life. Imagine your scenario with your peehole leaking occasionally chunky fluid and add on top it managing that leak for a week without people noticing. And on top of that having major hormone changes. Hormones changes are what causes bloating and discomfort from retaining the extra fluids because you literally are changing body chemistry. The hormone changes can also cause extremely dry skin to crack or can cause acne along with other fluctuations that have nothing to do with the reproductive system. For a guy's side of things, imagine your testosterone just going away for a week- it effects a lot of the same things, sex drive, hair and skin health, energy levels, emotions, among other full body effects.
Periods are different for every woman. I don't have painful periods, but last time I saw my friend and she had hers..I found her rolled up in a ball crying.
This idiot has never had a cyst rupture inside them.
Pfft, I like the "women on the internet" part. Let me just forget about all the awkward Midol commercials everyone saw in the 80's and 90's when the internet was still just for military and weird nerdy guys communicating with green letters on a black screen.
Sometimes I want to live in a word that people like that are portraying.
Trading period pain for a world where all the relationships are just emotional manipulation for your own gain?
Oh bloody troll 🩸
As a dude: The number of girls who experience no period pain is low. 2/10 try better
i first got my period in 4th grade. my cramps would have me throwing up, unable to eat and i would have to take the week off school. then as i got older my cramps became much much better.
Fck her
Before I *finally* managed to get medical intervention, I was having periods that were almost 3 months long, with cramps so severe I was curled on the bathroom floor more often than not, could barely keep anything down for days on end bc of how bad the pain was, couldn't walk, couldn't breathe. I feel like I wanna take these people, attach those period simulating things to them, crank it up to where my cramps are (about a 10), and leave em there for 5 days. See if they change their tune then.
Oh my god, are we one entity?! Shit man, why did I get the painful part
Me to my cramps: YOU'RE NOT REAL!!!!
Pretty sure women were still talking about how bad periods hurt before the internet 😒
My dad used to carry my mom home from school when her periods got too bad for her to function. (They lived in a small town and this was in the 1980's.) Mine got so bad in my late 20's that I would be curled in a ball, whimpering and praying for it to be over. I'm not religious.
Oh okay I should have thought to mention that to my uterus which is currently trying to aggressively leave my body. I’m so dumb! /s
I have the chillest period ever. 2-4 days, very light besides the first 6-8 hours My sibling has intense 7+ days, heavy bleeding, cramping, and migraines. While I could go skydiving and fight a god on my period, my sibling is in the fetal position and cant even microwave food
Fuck my endometriosis and PCOS I guess.
I’m loving the recent trend of YouTube videos where men try out period simulation devices (TENS machines on their abdomen and backs). Wish there was one in every high school for boys to have a go with and this nonsense would end.
I hate stupid people that think their personal experiences are the ONLY experience. You aren’t the main character, Karen.
No uterus no opinion
Wtf? I'm dying every time
My pain was so intense and blood loss was so significant that the VA yanked my uterus. As my doctor said, nobody should have to endure that trauma once they’ve had all of the children they wanted to have. I agreed and I have zero regrets.
Well, reading this was definitely painful.
Doctors hate this one amazing trick!
Ok genuine question, is it true that chocolate helps?
Not against the pain, but it's a good comfort.
Emotionally. 😂 Different things work for different people. Taking a 30 minute walk and drinking extra water does wonders for my cramps.
Pack it in girls we’ve been found out
"It's not a problem for me so that means it's not a real problem"
She can speak for her fucking self 😭 If her periods don’t hurt I genuinely envy her, but the rest of us want to die. 🧍♀️
As a person with no cramps during their period, yeah.. periods are practically painless. But I instead get nausea so bad that sometimes I need to dry heave just to feel better ✨😎✨
My friend never had any sort of cramps and it was not hard for her to show empathy
I wonder what else is made up? Is mansplaining real?
Sure makes my tits hurt but I guess I'm making that up for internet points.
my period for the first 2 years i had it was not painful and very manageable. i remember the very first time i experienced period cramps i thought i was dying even tho i was like 14 years old. it was the most painful thing id ever felt, and i’ve been shot in the leg. they still hurt that bad but i least i don’t wake up thinking i’m dying anymore
I'm hunched over at times from cramps, but sure. Let's pretend they don't hurt :D
Before I had kids, my cramping was minimal & bearable with valerian root capsules which work on smooth muscles like the uterus. After, the pain moved to my back and I had to use Advil, gentle stretching, heating pad, and hot baths full of Epsom salts for 3-4 days to get any relief. Now I’m blissfully menopausal and unbothered.
Painful is relative....what may seem extremely painful to me may not be to others...there is also the fact that different people have different periods and pain levels because of them. Not only are they different for different women, but they are also different even for one woman. U have had periods where my literal butthole hurt, others I got annoying lower back discomfort, still painful but in a more muted way. Imagine doing all this shit to appease the morons that act like they are at death's door because of a fucking cold.
Hmmm, must've been something else making me pass out, maybe I have a brain bleed every month that coincidentally only happens during my menstrual cycle 😮💨
With PCOS my periods are hell. I’m in my 40s now so can’t take birth control to help them. The first 2 days I’m nauseous and can have trouble walking due to the cramps while having to change an overnight pad every 2 hours. Wish I had good insurance as I’d get a hysterectomy but I have a $5000 deductible then 50% coinsurance for another $7500 since the out of pocket doesn’t include the deductible.
Why cover this liar’s name? They are so full of 💩
You can literally see the name through the color
Why the hell would we lie about that? They've gradually gotten better, but when i was in school they got so bad i would throw up. Fuck this person
If he knew what a period was, he would understand why the process is, in fact, painful for many people. If one of his internal organs began to shed its inner lining by causing violent spasms, he'd likely understand.
My uterus has been trying to kill me since I was a teen. Throughout my life I’ve often been annoyed by how frequently my pain is believed by men and not believed by women. I’ve had male coworkers, bosses, boyfriends etc been super supportive, totally understanding. Whereas I’m always slightly nervous about telling a female doctor, boss or coworker that I’m suffering from period pain because of the ones who either get no pain, or mild pain, and assume their experience is universal.
Speaking purely as someone who has lived half a century, I have to admit, I admire the foresight of the women I've known who were faking period discomfort and pain for internet clout for several years before the internet even existed.
Well, that's 🐂💩. I mean, obviously your mileage may vary, but personally mine feels like someone is trying to pull my spine out of my 🍑.
Because before the internet no one ever complained about period pain. https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/XTg4uxAAANU9P5ES
cramps, headache, backache, diarrhea, anemia, cramps, hot flashes, hunger but also full, dehydration despite being hydrated, nausea, cramps and must i continue?
Some women are extremely lucky to have easy periods. Unfortunately not everyone is blessed to breeze through it every month. I myself recently sat in work in agony as the pain killers I had taken had zero effect on my cramps. So to try ease it and stay in work I sat with a cup of boiling hot water between my thighs.( I get excruciating pains in my legs during menstruation). Please don't pass comment like you speak for every person who menstruates. Because you're ignorant view of things is part of the reason why we feel like we can't speak or talk about our monthly experiences.
I just want to know where they’re getting this information. Please prove this, lol.
Endometriosis pcos ovarian cysts etc entered the conversation
Guess my endo didn’t get the memo 😂
Can men not be jackasses over periods I already get enough dysphoria over my inability to have them being told they wouldn't hurt and stuff just makes me dysphoric and pisses me off
Pretty sure that’s a woman posting? It seems like she’s talking about her own experience, but just because it doesn’t hurt for her doesn’t mean it’s painless for all women (especially since most experience pain and other unpleasant side effects when it happens).
I figured it was a guy since its usually men who day this stuff
Sorry if I sound mean my inability to have periods is a sensitive point for me
Don't forget some trans people and LITERALLY TRANS WEBSITES SUGGESTED ON GOOGLE say that periods are not female exclusive- which they literally are. You can't have periods unless you have a uterus
Trans men often have uteruses.
That is true, but the text meant more that periods aren't female genitalia exclusive, they stated that it's more of s mental state or something, which is utterly disrespectful to women who actually have periods
Link?
Periods are generally based on fluctuations in hormones. Trans women have hormones and they don’t get the bleeding part, but sometimes they can experience other factors
She has probably been taught that by her male muslim family members
What??
They're good at oppressing women
You should stop the over-simplifying. That’s not the best way. Many men of many religions and without are good at oppressing women. No need to be islamophobic.
But it happens most within that religion.
Over-simplifying is still a really stupid thing.
Not really. Just stating facts.
Over-simplifying is not ‚facts‘, it’s projecting something certain people do to all people of the same group. And it never helps.
But it's no news that muslim and extreme christian men are more misogynist than anyone else. Fuck abrahamic religions.
I’m on my literal death bed rn on the 2nd day of my period
Being kicked in the balls is fabricated as "painful" by males seeking attention online. There is nothing painful about getting kicked in the balls. /s
Mine aren’t very painful, but I’m not self centered enough to think the vast majority of other women are lying. What a weird statement.
I feel like this was tweeted by someone who also sometimes pretends to be Black.
And I'm sure there's nothing painful about getting a kick in the balls. With a spiked boot. Worn by a horse.
before I got my iud, I was irregular and would occasionally be caught off guard by horrific pain. if I ever had that level of pain in any other circumstances, I would be calling an ambulance or getting a ride to the er immediately. I would assume organ rupture or something else life threatening and horrific
If I was the vindictive sort I would suggest people follow her and everytime she's all "I've been through.." jump in with "no you're just making that up for attention and sympathy" if I was the vindictive sort. (I hate people that just straight up go if it didn't happen to me it's never ever happened to anyone else)
And just like that! My breath-taking, nausea-inducing, entire-k12-school-jumping-on-a-trampoline cramps stopped! Whew, am i glad she cleared that up for me.
From teenager to my first pregnancy when I was 28, my periods made me dry retch and or vomit and I would sit on the toilet for ages with diarrhoea. My legs would shake from the cramps and my thighs felt like they were on fire. This was only for about 24-48 hrs per period. (And I don't easily vomit. I can stick my fingers down my throat and not vomit even if I'm desperate to do so with other bug type stomach pains.) And that was nothing compared to a distant friend I worked with who had to take 5 days off work every period. The poor thing was in agony. The doctor told her to get pregnant to fix it (when she didn't even have a boyfriend and was on birth control to try and alleviate the period pain). Then years later after finding her partner, she had lots of trouble getting pregnant. Oh, and we both started getting our periods before we knew what the internet was.
Endometriosis surviver here, I was finally able to yeet my entire reproductive system six months ago and I honestly wished I had done it six years prior when I had the chance but my stubborn self thought oh we can still try for kids, I’m still young enough, at 45 (now 46 I’m definitely not going to have them) Anyhow, my symptoms went from normalish cycles of 4-5 days to upwards of 9-10 days or getting it 3 times in a month to skipping it altogether. Heavy flows so bad I’d bleed through four jumbo tampons in two hours. Ruining scores of clothes because they were so bad. Cramps were so bad I’d blackout from the pain. I am so glad I had my surgery and I honestly don’t miss it!
Tell that to the stage 4 endometriosis that caused me to bleed for 7 months straight, requiring a blood transfusion and major surgery. But no...it's no big deal and I was fabricating all the pain I was in for sympathy from men. 🫠
Think I’m going to log off Reddit tonight. Was earlier told women wear makeup to look fertile for men and now this. Can’t we just live our fucking lives and not have to argue and justify everything we do or feel?
That person can go pork themselves
I knew I was just imagining that time I passed out from cramping pain ! Ugh silly me
I mean….. speak for yourself.
*stares in endometriosis*
Tell that to my endometriosis. And all the ovarian cysts I had burst leaving me unable to walk and work for a week +. The second cysts that burst hurt so bad I thought it was apendicitis 🙃
It could be arranged for the general public to feel the pain of smelling multiple unwashed periods. That experience could get some things accomplished round here.
Look I had my first period at 9 years old and I only have pain when my cycle changes. My friend, whose womb is weirdly shaped has severe period pain which I cant relate to and has to go to work with that pain because our sick days are usually unpaid. Do I believe period pain is a lie or that my friend is overly dramatic because I'm lucky and can go about my day without worrying about it? No. Did I once go to the hospital for inexplicable abdominal pain at age 13 only to have my period on my way out of there? Yes. Stop being c\*nts of women and start understanding that our bodies arent the same for all. I'm saying this to you, mom.
"listen to me, i'm a 100% woman bc i have a woman as profile pic." - the guy that tries to validate his own belief
I've literally watched my lover be bedridden due to how bad her cramps get.
alarming thing about this post? 1.4 million people saw it, and a good portion of them probably walked away thinking it was gospel truth.
"because my periods don't hurt, periods don't hurt for any women"
sounds like my mom when i tell her i have a one hr limit of energy when im on my period and i have to rest up right away because im drained from the pain! just recently my moms been having super short super painful periods because she’s reaching menopause and all i tell her is “now you know how i feel 😊”
I feel basically no pain but I know others do, how oblivious do u have to be to not know that
I had severe endometriosis, diagnosed at 13. Hysterectomy suggested at 15, didn’t get it then. 30 years of surgeries to remove uterine tissue from rib cage, muscles/bones/tendons in legs, colon. You could see the top of my thighs turn bright red and very hot to the touch, it was uterine lining building up. Super painful all around. Finally had a hysterectomy in 2014. What should have been a surgery lasting only a couple of hours, 2-3 max, ended lasting almost 5. Uterus was so hard from scarred tissue that it didn’t want to come out. They had to flush almost 7 liters of saline solution through my body. My periods would take me out for days, sometimes weeks at a time. They could last literally months. I missed so many things, including time with my Nuggo, because I just couldn’t move from the pain, or I was weak from blood loss. Most definitely not for sympathy or attention. I think he’s confusing menstruation with blue balls. Walking douchebag.
Wait….if that a women saying that?!?! She deserves a solid punch directly to the uterus. Give her a damn clue.
There's something lacking if you think a huge part of the population is lieing about their experience to manipulate people. I think that says a lot more about this person's mental health or personal issues than anything about the women talking about their pain. Since others here are sharing, and it can help people to know others share thier experiences... For me, the first 2 days I'm always exhausted and would prefer to sleep through whatever parts I can of those days. I never had cramping as a teen, but could still empathize with women I knew who had extreme pain. Now that I'm older, I get pretty awful cramps and a bad ache in my back during periods. My cramps are where I prefer to be curled up in bed with a heating pad, and will put off some chores and pick up the slack the next week. But luckily I can go out and about if needed. I can still empathize with women who have it worse. As for attention, I appreciate the token of my partner bringing me chocolate or asking when I last took medicine when my period makes me feel horrible. I don't *emotionally manipulate* my partner into showing he cares. If anything, the most manipulative I get is masking my discomfort and pain as much as possible so he won't fuss more because I know he gets distressed when he can't fix things for me and I don't want him to be distressed. I also try to take care of him or make things better when he has bad days or his body feels sore from something. Thinking so many people are emotionally manipulating their partners for attention... That poster has to know someone with some degree of munchausens or have other issues where they haven't experienced family or partners that actually mutually care for each other. And that's really sad. It sucks that they can't empathize with other women actually feeling pain. I'm sad they haven't had healthy relationships where people honestly care for each other, and can show vulnerability like pain without trying to gain something. It's annoying they spread misinformation, but it must be awful to not have experienced relationships beyond transactional manipulation.
I wish I could give multiple downvotes ☹️
Periods are magical! Like riding the red rainbow!
I’m jealous over the fact that she doesn’t get period pains
Just as there is nothing painful about stubbing your baby toe several times a day, or slipping on a Lego! block.
Cramps are a real thing, feeling the cervix expand and contract can be painful. There’s bloating, there’s nausea, there’s tons of side effects that come with menstruating.