Grateful, Period

31 Aug 2016 91 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: , , , , , , ,

A post from last year. A reminder to be grateful ladies. 😊

wpid-period_pain.jpg

Really?  I can hear you women say… Grateful?  For that thing that hounds us monthly?  That can create monsters of the calmest souls? Can reduce us to tears at the drop of a hat?

Well, yes, I am, actually.

As I was going through the turmoils of puberty, I had a pretty erratic cycle.  So much so that months would pass without any sign of Aunt Flo, as we lovingly called her.  My friends would be envious, that I wasn’t sat in the common room , hugging my tummy monthly, popping pain killers, constantly running to the loos, to make sure that I hadn’t leaked… I was envious of then though, for other reasons.  I didn’t feel like I had grown up properly, I didn’t have a real excuse to get me out of P.E. and I couldn’t lie!

Still, I went through the teen years, not knowing when Aunt Flo would come visiting… that was another down side for me.  I had to always be prepared, and you can bet that the one day I was not, she would decide that was the day to pop in, and then I would have other emergencies to cater for!

I just put it all down to me just being unlucky, and never thought much about it.  The one visit to the GP that I had was that I just needed to let my body mature, and for the hormones to kick in, and if I was that worried, then they could give me a contraceptive pill, to give me a regular cycle.  No, I didn’t need that.  I’d just wait it out.

As I went through university, it started to get more annoying, and worrying.  When she came to visit, Aunt Flo was pretty abusive sometimes, she’d batter my insides, I’d ache for days, and felt like I had no more blood left in my body, then there were some visits that were more like a quick pop in, and a pat on the head, one day, then she would go again on her rounds of all her other nieces that she had to bother!

I saw another GP who had the same suggestion, the Pill.  It was a big thing to take that, especially as it wasn’t for the contraceptive reason, so after discussing it with my mum (this was something I would have hated for her to find me taking without prior warning, could you imagine the thoughts going through a mother’s head, if she found the contraceptive pill in her daughters belongings, and she wasn’t sexually active, or not meant to be, and on top of that she was INDIAN!! Indian girls don’t do that!!  Actually they do, but that’s another story!) I started this magic pill.

And within a month, I had joined the hallowed group of females who hosted an Aunt Flo Party every month!  I felt immediately grown up, like the adult I was meant to be! I could moan with my friends, honestly, and had an excuse to be moody in I felt the need!

But it was all a mask really.  As soon as I stopped taking it, the visits stopped too. Well, they stopped having any regularity again, in any case.  This was odd.  And when I was due to get married, I spoke to my GP, as a 25 year old woman, about to embark on marriage, and possible motherhood.  I had concerns that had always been there, but they were raising their heads much higher now. What if there was a problem? What if I actually couldn’t have children?

I was reassured that many women had irregular cycles, and given another pill to start, so I could be careful, once I was married.  This was all well and good, but those niggles, they were still there.  After a year or so of marriage, we decided that maybe now would be a good time to think of children.  Though we had been married for only a year we had been together for several years, as boyfriend and girlfriend, so there was no rushing into things.

And so the gamble started… when did we try? What were the optimal days?  Well, that would all make sense for those women who were blessed with a regular cycle.  Me? Nope, no joy there, it was pure guesswork, as we didn’t know what my body was up to!

Still, we had fun trying, until it had been a year nearly, and there was nothing happening.  That was when my niece, and best friend both suggested I go get checked out for PCOS. I had never heard of it before, but I was happy to see someone about it. And yes, after many tests, and umming and aaa-ing by the GP, I was diagnosed with PCOS. It’s not something that would have just started, it would have been there all through my pubescent years, and had any of the GPs that I had seen before, thought to check it out, I might have been able to do something about it earlier.

Still, I was given the medications, and as you know we were blessed with 2 children after struggles detailed in other posts of mine, and also, there were the 2 miscarriages, on top of losing one ovary and fallopian tube.

But that’s not the reason for this post.

This one is to really say to you ladies, be grateful for that monthly visit from Aunty Flo.  She is there to give you a reminder that your body is working as it should be, and if you have any issues, or worries, don’t leave it until you want to conceive, or until its too late. Go, get to a doctor, and get checked.  Sometimes she may still come visit regularly, yet there are other issues, and for that I cant advise, but I can only speak from experience, and I say if you have an irregular cycle, there could be a slightly more sinister reason behind it… So see someone.

Yup, I am suffering a visit from her right now, that is what triggered this post!  But instead of cursing her, I’m welcoming her in with a cup of tea and chocolate!  She doesn’t come to me often, but when she does, it’s a reminder that I an a woman!

91 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. HIMANSHI SHUKLA
    Apr 04, 2017 @ 08:06:16

    You’re a PCOS diva!
    So am I…. Let’s celebrate it together.☺🎂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. Melissa
    Mar 16, 2017 @ 21:26:56

    I’ve been with Irma (my name for it ever since I watched that episode of The IT Crowd) since I was 10 years old and I’m always wishing it away. I will not do that anymore after reading your post. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Traci York
    Mar 16, 2017 @ 14:46:59

    Funny – I have an old post called, “I love you period” on a similar topic, although without the health issues – so sorry to hear of your struggles with PCOS (our eldest has issues with ovarian cysts), and happy to hear you got it under control. We’ve taught our girls (and indirectly our boy) to refer to it as “my friend” (for example, “I’m really tired today because my friend is visiting.”). Having a positive attitude about the not-always-pleasant monthly visitor makes a big difference!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. SickChristine
    Mar 16, 2017 @ 14:43:56

    I realize this is an old post, but I had to laugh when I read it. My daughter came home from college for a few days and we both got it on the same day. Lots of suffering in this house right now. Hahaha! Now, I will be grateful for it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Lisa A.
    Sep 01, 2016 @ 21:23:25

    I think she’s planning her visit as we speak :/ She gave me a really long and good beating last month.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Madeline Scribes
    Sep 01, 2016 @ 13:20:10

    I ended up having a hysterectomy years ago and can’t say that I miss mine one bit! But when it was around every month, at least I knew I was healthy and functioning properly. Great post! Thank you for the reminder to be grateful for all of our womanly bits.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. keen peach
    Sep 01, 2016 @ 12:05:34

    Oh no! I hate that you have to deal with this! I will shut my mouth with all my pregnancy whining. I love that you still keep such a positive outlook through it all. Ad I am so glad that you were able to have your two kids!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Erika Kind
    Aug 31, 2016 @ 20:54:38

    Meanwhile, I am very thankful that my body did a good job regarding that and finally, I got rid of those visits… yay!!!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  9. ladieswholunchreviews
    Aug 31, 2016 @ 14:47:37

    I’m sorry you’ve had such a tough time. Seems unfair what we women have to go through! I’m post-menopausal and I still get the occasional hot flash, but nothing too bad. Hope things get easier for you ❤

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  10. LG
    Aug 31, 2016 @ 12:59:12

    That could be me…every bleeding (!) word of it.

    Thankfully, the forties has been benevolent to me, Aunt flow visits are regular to the hour, hallelujah. I am actually not looking forward to menopause – I am finally beginning to enjoy the regularity without wondering what the heck was happening to the innards.

    Interesting that I should read this post today – just this morning (ahem, celebrating the regularity) I was joking in my head that the most apt Shakespearean misquote of my life for the past two decades had been “to bleed or not to bleed, that’s the question” !

    Liked by 2 people

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  11. Osyth
    Aug 31, 2016 @ 12:46:09

    It’s a great reminder. I had a relatively early hysterectomy at just over 40. On the ward in the Women’s Hospital with me were many who had not completed and in a few cases even started their families. It was extraordinarily levelling. I don’t miss my ‘baby tummy’ and I don’t miss Aunty Flo but the fact is that I was fortunate to have born four healthy girls and yours is a great reminder that we girls should celebrate our amazing functioning bodies because we are crossing paths with ladies who crave what we have every day, often never knowing we are

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. susieshy45
    Aug 31, 2016 @ 11:57:37

    Its been a year since you wrote this post and I see my comment of last year above. But this year has brought a lot of changes in my life and with Auntie Flo.
    My daughter has been suffering a lot with this. Well, the long and short of it is she has been diagnosed to have early PC – I don’t say PCOS yet, because, as she was diagnosed early she just has a few cysts and her Auntie Flos are very irregular, often making her so anemic that she collapses from sheer loss of blood. By God’s grace, we could get her scanned and it showed the cysts.
    Apparently PCOS is a type of metabolic syndrome and part of a lifestyle disease. She has been put on regular exercise, off all baked goods with trans fats( very good for her, in the long run) and off all pastries ( which is sad, for her, as she is a child) and also off all sorts of chips( which she loves). Her childhood has partly been taken off from her, as she has to eat very consciously but it may all work out in the end. She is on the pill and I have had my colleagues asking me if she is pregnant( when she doesn’t get Auntie Flos for days on the end).
    We women have tough lives, Ritu.
    But so glad you shared and shared again- we need to bring awareness about this disease which seems to haunt at least one in two modern women.
    Susie

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. ickarus1976
    Aug 31, 2016 @ 10:54:43

    That was nice.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. Deb
    Aug 31, 2016 @ 10:19:13

    I don’t love Aunt Flo…I will someday grow to lover her, I think. Love the honesty in this post.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Ritu
      Aug 31, 2016 @ 10:50:40

      Thanks Deb. I honestly believe honesty is best with these issues. Me being open about my diagnosis meant that two of my cousins discovered they were suffering the same and were able to get treatment. Now both also mothers of 2 children!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  15. Akanksha Varma
    Aug 31, 2016 @ 09:31:31

    I too, have PCOs but God forbid that I ever start being grateful to Aunt Flo. For me , she’d always be the evil aunt that stays on for months, comments of my clothes and TV choices and my schedule and shares my bed and yet, doesn’t even leave a small token of appreciation or a thank you when she does leave :((

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. An Artsy Appetite
    Sep 02, 2015 @ 05:32:41

    Aunt Flo!! That’s a perfect name 😁

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Dorinda Duclos
    Sep 02, 2015 @ 04:52:57

    Auntie Flo has been a visitor since I’m 9!!! 9!! Can you imagine? Erratic is putting it mildly. My OB/GYN was surprised I conceived but I have two beauties that bless me every day. Now it’s changes time….it sucks. I’m hot, I’m cold, She comes, she goes, disappears for a couple of months then beats down the door. BUT…we women endure this monthly mess, so we can bear our babies because God knew, a man could never handle it!!! LOL Love the post!!!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Ritu
      Sep 02, 2015 @ 09:45:52

      So true Dorinda.. Men can just about cope, if that, with a cold!
      But yes, this is why I feel it is so important to be grateful, for the discomfort. Our babies are the reason!

      Like

      Reply

  18. susieshy45
    Sep 01, 2015 @ 09:37:14

    Ritu, Thank you for sharing so honestly. I have suffered a lot but now that I am 46, things are a lot easier- they do come with regularity but the pain is almost nil and things are not troublesome any more. So I am having good times now- these days, I pray that they last till at least I am 55. Honest !

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. Alka
    Sep 01, 2015 @ 07:42:40

    I get them very heavy and painful too. It results in anemia but that’s that, a part of being a woman.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  20. Prajakta
    Sep 01, 2015 @ 06:00:48

    He he! She dropped in yesterday and well – I had to read this! Aunt Flo has been actually very kind to me very regular and only a smattering of aches. Until about last October when all hell started breaking loose and I am still suffering. Got checked for PCOS, got blood tests. But nada. It has become better now. Hoping it lasts.

    Hang in there 🙂 And share the chocolate.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  21. amaya911
    Sep 01, 2015 @ 01:57:36

    Ohh she’s visiting me right now! I’m in a lot of pain 😦 I have endometriosis. I’ve had big, painful cysts in the past. They removed one of my ovaries too. I’m hoping I can still get pregnant one last time…before I get really old. I’m going to a specialist in October.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. jburns58
    Aug 31, 2015 @ 22:08:51

    Well I don’t have a problem with Auntie Flo, when she visits she gets in and out. The longest she stays is about three days and thank goodness that’s it!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  23. silentlyheardonce
    Aug 31, 2015 @ 21:22:31

    I didn’t want to read this as I no longer have to deal with that mess. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  24. georgeforfun Life's too short to be miserable or serious anymore!
    Aug 31, 2015 @ 21:21:02

    Reblogged this on georgeforfun and commented:

    straightforward and open, so honest.

    Like

    Reply

  25. edwinasepisodes
    Aug 31, 2015 @ 21:10:45

    I had visits from Aunty Flo since I was 12. She was very regular but insisiting on outstaying her welcome by about a week! Then before I knew it, she was back again for another 10 days to a fortnight!!
    I suffered quite a bit with her, but the magic pill calmed her down a little and she didn’t stay as long, She still makes an appearance now and again, and I for one, will be glad when she goes!
    I do understand where you are coming from though and agree that a visit ro the GP should be advised if Auntie Flo does not visit regularly.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  26. pensitivity101
    Aug 31, 2015 @ 20:47:39

    I had two cycles which were confusing, and started the menopause around 35.
    I had my last little visitor in September 2010 (after a gap of almost a year), when I was in NZ and staying with a friend, so unprepared and had to go shopping for ‘mice’! Glad it’s all behind me to be honest, but I did a piece on it if you fancy a look: .

    A Period piece

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. Erika Kind
    Aug 31, 2015 @ 20:45:06

    That really is not funny when Aunty Flo doesn’t show up regularly. It did when I took the pill of course and I never was too much in pain. But when I wanted to be pregnant I stopped taking it and everything was out of circle… like you described it. It took us almost a year until it kicked in… by chance… after that it was regularly until about 4 years ago. But that was OK because now I don’t need to care about it anymore………. yippieh!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  28. miusho
    Aug 31, 2015 @ 20:43:12

    I don’t even bother being prepared.. It’s been over a year, still no visit. I do have some stuff lying around and tampons at work, you never know.. But all in all, I am in deep deep **** right now and I wish I had a proper gyn the first time around…

    URGH, this sucks. Someone take it away! Dx

    Whenever I have my period I am overjoyed! For about an hour….

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  29. Michael
    Aug 31, 2015 @ 20:26:41

    I know I am a guy on this topic you wrote about today but when my Dad took ill and passed later on, Mom only had me to talk to about those things,so I am used it. Part of your post about doctors burns me because when anyone goes in for the most part, they go by your age and so forth and say it’s normal and sometimes it is, but other times it’s not. Like you said, pat on the head-hand you a sucker and shove you out.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  30. Ameena k.g
    Aug 31, 2015 @ 20:08:23

    Haha! That makes two of us, thank God for Nsaids, Aunty flo gave me a thorough beating this morning 😁.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

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