The time of month where cramps, pimples, body aches and weird food cravings take control of my life. Yep, I’m talking about that time of month. There’s a lot of taboo around it. There are people who still think it’s disgusting and weird to talk about it. But I’m here talking about Periods. Yep. Periods.
For me, my time of month isn’t just three days. It can last up to a week. When I was younger I had it for weeks. Sometimes twice a week in a month, consecutively or randomly. It was the worst. It can still be bad. There were times when I didn’t even get it at all which absolutely terrified my mother. Terrible periods run in our family, getting them super young and getting sick from them is quite common. The biggest worry in my family is having problems with my uterus or ovarian cysts. It’s my biggest worry. But I’m not here to talk about my personal fears about my period. I just feel like sharing my view and experience about my time of month.
Let’s talk about it…
I used to be so ashamed about buying pads at the store, I’d try to cover it up. It seemed so shameful. It’s not. I’m not ashamed nor am I embarrassed. It sucks though. I’m not going to lie. Periods suck. There’s no sugar-coating it. From my experience, it’s the most painful experience of my life. I get so debilitated, my body aches, I break out majorly (I get cystic acne), my body gets dehydrated and I just get pretty low. My body feels like it’s killing itself.
Worst of all, I crave the weirdest things sometimes. I just feel like eating a lot other times, I don’t feel like eating at all. I get horrible fevers and shakes. I’ve been checked out several times but they just prescribe birth control or Midol.
My experience with birth control…
I hated it. I did not like what they were doing to me. I got off them after 4 months. I couldn’t handle how depressed i was feeling. My cramps were minimal to non-existent, my time of month was a pretty quiet experience BUT my cystic acne remained and I was ten times more low than when I get it now. I went off it. I decided I’d rather endure the pain than get super unhappy and depressed. Although, I get pretty low now without birth control, I just feel like I still have more control of my body.
Although, you really can’t control your period. I try to do a lot of things that help. It sucks having such a painful period experience. I’ve had really bad cramps that have taken me to the point of tears and screams. I hate when those pains occur in public and you really don’t want to cry or scream. I’ve had to sit through exams in such pain. It’s the worst feeling ever.
How I deal…
So I’ve tried to build some sort of routine around it. Although it can change when I’m in school or extremely busy. I try to relax as much as possible because stress makes the experience a lot worse. I try to drink a lot of warm liquids and water to stay hydrated but also the warmth really helps with cramps.
I try to make sure I don’t eat a lot of “bad” foods”. Even though I crave it, I like to have a bit but then ensure that I eat super healthy so that I don’t feel as groggy.
I go for walks. I find that staying a bit active can really help, I try not to go extremely hard when working out because sometimes that actually does more harm than good for my body, especially since I find my body aches a lot more.
I try to sleep a lot more. I find that by sleeping, it gives my body more energy. Especially when I haven’t had proper sleep due to cramps. Speaking of cramps, warm bottles or warm gel bags really help ease pain.
Face masks and de-stressing, I break out terribly when I get my period or I’m about to. So I try to soothe and calm my face and I try to light candles in my room and watch things that make me happy. Some days, my face won’t be so bad but there are times when I really don’t want to leave my house, so keeping my face clean is a big part of my routine. I definitely try to de-stress because my hormones can be all over the place.
Why it’s important…
It’s important to talk about your experience. It’s important to talk about it in general with your mother, sister, family members, and doctor. It’s important to discuss what you go through especially if you experience a lot more pain than usual or if you find unusual things occurring during your period. Talking about it lets your family and yourself discuss your family history on it. Talk about it with your S/O’s, I think that is a big part especially if you’re living with someone and are fully committed, they need to know about what you go through. They may not understand it but at least they know. I don’t have a S/O, but I talk to my sister and mom about it a lot. This is how I learned about my family history of ovarian cysts and problems with childbirth. Don’t let it be a hush hush discussion. Keep up to date with changes, get checked, don’t be embarrassed to bring it up with someone who might help you.
Although it sucks, it’s important to understand it, to know when something has changed and especially, not be embarrassed about it.
being maarthaa 