How many years have you had a period?

[RoadRaven]

You know... I am amazed at how many of you remember your first period so well.

I remember my daughter's first - she was at school! Fortunately an understanding teacher was available, and I had already pre-warned daughter and made sure she had pads ready "just in case" in her school bag. She was nearly 14, now 19, she gets hers every 21 days - you could almost set a clock by her.

I remember when my best friend got hers at 11, and I was so jealous.

But mine? I don't recall... I got mine around 12 I think, def before I was 13 anyways. No recollection of where I was, or my response to it.

Was on 'the pill' from age 14 til 20, when I got married.
Used pregnancy and breast feeding to space babies. After number 5, I had my tubes "clipped" (like miniature pegs apparently).

Now nearly 42 and I have two days of heavy bleeding and significant cramps (as in, emptying of mooncup needed every 3/4 hour or so and going to bed/sleep with a towel between my legs!) and 3 days around those of lighter bleeding. On a 29-30 day cycle.

I'm leery of menopause - I'd love to be free of my period, but worry about it upsetting my, erm, "natural responses" and that interferring with sex!

[Kitsune06]

OK. I know I was all about the natural blah-blah in october last year, but I'm getting kinda sick of the whole cramping, bleeding thing taking me off my bike. The 2nd or 3rd days always get me. I'm not so bad if I can take some ibuprophen and take it easy, but if I try riding hard or fast, it just kills me. The whole cramping-so-badly-you-sweat, nauseous, panting thing. oh, agony.
Stupid diva cup. It's great for those 'just in case' days, when you're a little irregular and not sure when you'll start, and those 'ok it's the light-bleedin' last 3-4 days of my period' because you don't get all dried out, etc... but the 2-3 days when you're having Carrie flashbacks every time you head to the privy, you're emptying it every hour or so. Geez! RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! ARRRRGGGHHHH
...oh and I'm sick of PMS. My stress doll at work got his head torn off this morning. With teeth. *sigh*

But yeah, the whole hysterectomy/menopause thing sounds great except for the whole decreased sex drive thing.

[RoadRaven]

OK. I know I was all about the natural blah-blah in october last year, but I'm getting kinda sick of the whole cramping, bleeding thing taking me off my bike. The 2nd or 3rd days always get me. I'm not so bad if I can take some ibuprophen and take it easy, but if I try riding hard or fast, it just kills me.

LOL Kit - I hear ya! I have found if I dose up on panadeine (thats the panadol with added coedine) before a ride, and then go out and "make" myself (a mission in itself) do a really hard but short ride - like hills, or an ATT, then the mess may be bigger, but I seem to fast-track the 'heavy' part of the cycle.

But yeah, the whole hysterectomy/menopause thing sounds great except for the whole decreased sex drive thing.

OMG - I wasn't thinking/aware of DECREASED sex drive!!! Tell me its not true! I was just bothered by decreasing, erm... lubrication... (thank goodness this is a women's forum).

[Kitsune06]

That's what lube is for. (I don't want to go 'too far' but I want to still try to be informative...) Sea Buckthorn and damiana are good for 'natural' lubricity, but there are very good artificial ones out there, too. (if anyone needs suggestions, they can pm me privately... )

but as far as I know, nothing will jumpstart the drive but hormones...

When I was on Depo, nothing touched me. Nothing. I was asexual as far as I was concerned. sex was like an extended push-up session. I never want to repeat that.

[RoadRaven]

But Kit! I don't want to use/buy lube!
I dont wanna go there... for a start I am waaaaay too lazy!
I like the convenience of what I have!

OK... enough of this... gonna sign off and jump on the spin bike - its just coming up 6am and I gotta get an hour in before I go wake the boys for school!

Have a great ... evening???

Rave

[Aquila]

12 maybe? Ugh, cramps, and doctors saying "just go take a hot bath" when I was living in a boarding house with no bath, and need to work and such.

A couple years ago I went on the pill for continuous use, and I wish I'd done it years ago (or more!). No cramps, no pms, no wasting 10% of my life or more feeling semi-crappy! I travel wherever, do whatever, and just don't have to plan to feel semi-crappy. It's the best!

Some folks have asked questions about the continous use issue, so I'll share a web-site if that's okay. It's a blog by an ob/gyn, and the right hand side has lots of links to birth control and continous use information. http://thewelltimedperiod.blogspot.com/

From what I've read, the bleeding while you're "on" the pill but in the off week is actually a reaction to estrogen withdrawal, and not at all like a regular period. On the pill, there's no build up of uterine lining to support a potential pregnancy, so there's no need to shed any lining.

Back in the 50s, the pill was invented for women with painful periods, and then everyone figured out, hey, no ovulation=no pregnancy, and suddenly everyone was using it. But the folks who'd invented it thought that women would be a lot more comfortable with the whole thing if they had a fake period, so they did the formulations with a built in week off from estrogen.

But there's no NEED to have a fake bleed.

If you find a pill formulation that works well for you, you can probably work with your doctor to do continuous use if you want; low dose formulations work great, but it's a matter of finding the right one for an individual woman.

[SouthernBelle]

I started when I was 12, on the night of my first dance!

The cool thing was that for many years I did not have periods during the summer. Isn't that weird?

Had a hysterectomy at 43. Weaned off of hormones a couple or 3 years later. I've only had one hot flash ever. The night after my surgery.

Dryness is a definite issue though.

[Jolt]

OK. I know I was all about the natural blah-blah in october last year, but I'm getting kinda sick of the whole cramping, bleeding thing taking me off my bike. The 2nd or 3rd days always get me. I'm not so bad if I can take some ibuprophen and take it easy, but if I try riding hard or fast, it just kills me. The whole cramping-so-badly-you-sweat, nauseous, panting thing. oh, agony.

Yeah, cramps are the pits! I am usually rather miserable the first day of my period b/c of the cramps--I take naproxen sodium which helps some but definitely doesn't get rid of them. Sounds like yours are worse though, and I have a rather light flow, so I really shouldn't complain. Funny thing is, I started having periods when I was almost 13 and never cramped until I was 14 and taking the pill to regulate my cycle (had an incident where I started bleeding 2 weeks after the last period, and bled so heavily I ended up in the hospital and almost had to get a transfusion, so they put me on the pill for six months to get things back on track). When I started on that, I started having cramps, and continued to get them after stopping. BTW, I am "all about the whole natural thing"--I just think our bodies are designed to work a certain way for a reason, and messing with it to skip periods may turn out to have some unwanted effects. Just doesn't seem healthy to me. I know that when I was on the pill for those few months it sent my cholesterol levels through the roof (when I had it checked at my physical that year it was 240, and that was due to high LDL) and raised my blood pressure as well. I'm just leery of messing with the function of the normal body like that, even though the cramps etc. are a drag!