I’m not sure how this blog post is going to go down especially because I’m a very private person. However, I do feel that this topic is not always discussed enough and there are many taboo’s surrounding it. The topic I’m referring to is PERIODS and everything that comes with it.
The first time I experienced a period I was 11 years old. I had no idea what is was. The Life Orientation lesson on periods hadn’t been taught to me yet. I called for my mommy from the bathroom and so my “period” lesson began. I felt so grown up and wanted to tell all my friends. But I was told it was private and the whole world shouldn’t know about it. The next day, in hushed tones I told my best friend. Little did I know what awaited me.
Each month I would lay in bed conquered by the bad cramps accompanied by sweating, nausea, sometimes vomiting and I was always extremely pale. At first my mommy started me off with some panado to ease the cramps, but it did not help at all. From there I experimented with various pain killers, herbal stuff, heat pads, hot water bottles, you name it. I would start with a pain killer, it would help for a few months and thereafter it would just not work any longer.
I’m sure there are so many ladies who can relate. But what really, really bugs me about periods, besides the cramps and other side effects, is how we don’t necessarily speak openly about it. We can speak to our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, girlfriends or female colleagues about it, but we shy away from speaking openly about it to men, we try not to complain about the excruciating pain, and we don’t really speak openly about it in the work environment.
Firstly, why are some (emphasis on SOME) men so scared of periods? Why do they freak out when you tell them you’re not feeling well because of period pain?
Secondly, why do women like to down play another women’s suffering? It’s so easy for one woman to tell another to just swallow a pill and get over it or to imply another female is “pieperag.” You can never really tell what amount of pain someone else is experiencing.
Thirdly, and this is something I do feel quite passionate about, why is it such a big deal to take a day off to deal with your pain? Off work, off school, off whatever. Just a day to lay under your blankets and deal. I can’t speak for other women, but I always just assumed sick leave was for flu, colds or when you have the shits. Everything else doesn’t count and you need to get on with life. I have gone to college, travelled via train, gone to work feeling completely groggy and in extreme pain but my mindset was always just I can’t take a break every month because of periods. This leads to a whole different topic of allowing females a sick day per month, but that isn’t the aim of this blog post.
The aim is that I am wanting to continue my experiments on how to eliminate period pains but in a more natural way. i.e.: less pain killers. I would like to do research and possibly eliminate foods or drinks that could contribute to bad pain and perhaps make a few lifestyle changes.
At the moment, I love indulging in chocolates, fatty foods and I drink very little water. I also LOVE coffee. I do very little exercises and I know my core muscles are so weak. By blogging about this experience I’m hoping to hold myself accountable and hopefully I will start to experience less pain and start working on a better and healthy lifestyle. I am also hoping that
a)It helps someone else also suffering from bad periods
b)It opens more conversations and women feel they would like to share their experiences and possibly provide some tips
P.S.: I’m a professional chocolate eater but an amateur exerciser – please don’t judge my video posts.
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