That stupid time of the month
I am getting my period — without much crampy! yay! — and I *recognised it* when I was feeling sad and miserable and wanting to die. Unfortunately, I have now learned that knowing it’s hormonal while I’m going through it doesn’t actually change anything, except that “I will be miserable forever I should kill myself” turns into “I will be miserable once a month like this for the next twenty years I should kill myself”. Which in the end is no better.
On the plus side, though, I will be period-free during the vacation, except maybe the very end of my period will overlap with the very beginning of vacation.
December 18th, 2005 at 11:31 pm
I don’t know if anyone has suggested this (or if you already do this) - but have you considered charting your cycles? I chart mine, because I’m completely irregular and hate being caught off-guard by things in general, and by messy bleeding in particular. Despite the fact that my cycles range anywhere from four to nine weeks, I can now anticipate them within a day, two weeks in advance, using only a digital thermometer, and I enjoy having some measure of control over something that is mostly uncontrollable. Even though I can see how “I feel like crap and I know why” isn’t a better feeling than “I feel like crap, why is that”, it may be helpful to be able to mentally prepare yourself for those feelings a few days in advance. Then again, that just make it worse; you’d know better than I would, I’m sure.
December 19th, 2005 at 9:39 am
I had a particularly horrible one last month which coincided with the end of my semester; the convergence of the 48-hour rage machine and the finality of grading and suddenly looking around at all that was neglected in my house was *not* pretty, and then the hormones did a 180 and I had a day of weeping at stuff like old photos of my kids. But like you, I thought, well, at least that’s out of the way, and I won’t have to worry about that happening during the *holidays* when I’m supposed to be enjoying m yself.
December 19th, 2005 at 10:00 am
I had an endometrial abulation (spelling?) in July and have not had a period since. It’s a simple procedure: they shoot this netting into the uterus and then zap it with an electrical current. Basically it burns off the lining of the uterus–no lining, no shedding of the lining and no period.
It was painless, covered by insurance, and didn’t require hospitalization. If you don’t plan to have any children, I’d highly recommend it.
December 19th, 2005 at 10:01 am
MS, hmm. Only thermometers in that all you do is take your temperature? The only problem is that my waking time regularly varies by a few hours. Also that I’d forget, but I could try, I suppose. And I have been told that taking Midol prior to symptoms can make them go away. My bleeding starts so slowly that I am never caught offguard that way. And I have this category name for a reason.
I like having them over with so much. I think it’s better to have cramps than the hormones, though.
December 19th, 2005 at 10:09 am
Katherine, I’m still undecided about children. But thanks.
December 19th, 2005 at 11:23 am
Yup, you just take your temperature - I have a digital thermometer that I use orally. As for waking up at different times - it’s better if your schedule is more regular, but I have found that it for me, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. (Mind you, my waking times vary by less than 2 hours - I don’t know if yours vary more.) Waking up later produces higher temperatures, but waking up later after ovulation still gives you (well, me ;) higher temperatures than waking up later before. In other words, the variation in temperature based on time of the morning is less than the variation of temperature based on time of the month. (For me, average before is around 97.3, average after is around 98.2. Bad Canadian, measuring in Farenheit, I know.) If you record these, you will probably be able to see trends. (Where you=I. But maybe you=you too.) It took me awhile to get into the habit, and I still forget sometimes, but I keep my thermometer near my glasses, which I never forget, and that helps.
Point taken about the category name. (Me too, but I prefer a few weeks’ warning to a few hours’, though the just-before cramping obviously allows me to pin things down more precisely. But before I started charting, I would be taking a big bagful of pads with me WHENEVER I travelled, whereas now I don’t need to.)
December 19th, 2005 at 10:08 pm
It regularly varies by 2 hours, but not usually by more than 3. I guess I can try it — worst case scenario, I forget most of the time.
My period is more-or-less regular enough (5-6 weeks) that I know whether or not I will get it on a trip. Because, you know, I think about it for travelling, and not so much otherwise.