help! need advice for doing 585 mile ride during menstruation

[bikerz]

There's some kind of prescription a doctor can give you to bring on a period, too. If you can get it, you could take it a couple of weeks before the ride to get the period over with before it starts. Then it's just a one-time deal that doesn't have the long-term problems the pill can cause.

Thanks for the idea - I'll definitely ask my doctor about that too.

I already know (from painful experience) that riding the day before and the first 2 days of my cycle is pretty miserable. Plan A, I guess, would be to have the entire ride re-scheduled, as Trek so helpfully suggests but since that *may* be difficult to arrange, I'll look into Wendy's suggestion, then the OC, and finally just "be prepared"!

I appreciate all the suggestions!

[KSH]

I'm just curious.

What is wrong with using a "super-plus absorbency" tampon and stopping every so often to switch it out?

I know that works for me... if I am on my period.

But with the Depo shot, I don't have one anymore. Unfortuantely though, as of next year, I will have to get on the pill (Depo can only be taken for 2 years due to bone loss).... and back to having a period again! BLAH!

[bikerz]

What is wrong with using a "super-plus absorbency" tampon and stopping every so often to switch it out?

For me it's not so much the flow that's the problem, I just find the tampon extremely painful to ride with. Maybe my new saddle will help some, but it feels pretty uncomfortable internally. And that's been on short (35 mile) rides - I think the discomfort for 2-3 times that long would be pretty rough. (Am I a weeny? Probably so - but I feel like I'll have enough of a challenge riding the whole thing, that if I can avoid this added trouble, I'll be that much happier!)

[Wendy]

I'm with you on that. I once went rowing with a tampon that didn't stay where it should have, and it was excruciating. I'll never even try on a bike, considering the potential extra contact.