no boys allowed in the room!!!!

My periods are super regular and full of PMS symptoms -- I just always let them sneak up on me because I enjoy not having my period so much that I get blindsided by the feelings before the actual event occurs. Not sure if tracking it would really do anything for me aside from remind me of the impending doom...every single month.

I find it very helpful because I forget too and it’s nice to be able to go “Oh, right! So THAT’S why I’m feeling so awful!”

I find it very helpful because I forget too and it’s nice to be able to go “Oh, right! So THAT’S why I’m feeling so awful!”

yes! I started tracking mine using the "mynstrual calendar" in my day planner about a year and a half ago. Mine are speeding up -- i would not have known this otherwise. also, it's great because whomever inherits my personal effects after I die, will have a very useful historical record of my periods.

Mine are getting kinda more irreg. Spotting at odd times, then a few days of nothing, then maybe a few days of normal flow. Maybe I should start tracking.

I was listening to a podcast where the hosts were discussing their love of free bleeding, and boy, do I feel like a total square! #teampurpleob4lyfe

For the love of god, WHYYYYYYYY?

Update (do not read if you hate me and/or menstrual blood): While I had a fibroid removal and endometrial ablation at the beginning of August, earlier this month I had a period almost as heavy as before my procedure. I'm waiting a month or two to see if this continues, but DEEP DISAPPOINTMENT.

ugh that suuuuuucks

That sucks. I hope things lighten up.

and yeah free bleeding seems like not my bag at all
leven if they are the most magical undies in the world

i misjudge my flow & have leakage here & there but i never think if only i could just do nothing & still menstruate
yeah no thanks

i dont even know if i could do a diva cup
clearly i’ve been brainwashed by Big Tampon lol

I don't know the details of free bleeding but if I am at home and it's not on day 1 big flow, I don't wear anything. I just go to the bathroom all the time. Every hour.

i’m too absentminded for that kind of responsible hygeine

Yeah, it's a pain but usually when I am home I drink a ton of water and have to use the bathroom a lot anyway so I would rather not pull out dry tampons.I did diva cup once for a year but using it when you are in a public restroom was impossible. W

yerac - me too!! i like getting it out of me -- drink a ton of water, pee constantly, let it out as much as possible
i have never used a diva cup but i don't like tampons unless i don't have another option.

I am fine with tampons. I use OB or the non-applicator generic brands that I can find in the EU that are super cheap. When someone needs to borrow a tampon and they realize it doesn't have an applicator and they won't just use their finger. I am always like "...eh...?"

that reminds me of my favorite thing ever said on ilx (that i can remember) -- kate78 reminded me (after expressing a similar thought) "not everyone is a natural spelunker"
<3 and lol and also true!

i'm fine with tampons if necessary -- maybe i am a free bleeding partisan. never thought of it that way before.

Yerac’s post made me think of something - I have heard that there are people who replace their tanpon every time they pee. I have never even thought about doing that. I just tuck the string. Do most ppl change them every time they pee? I assume the reason some ppl do this is because the idea of getting pee on the string grosses them out? It’s the only thing I can think of.

seems like that would hurt to change it every time
pulling out a dry tampon is the fucking worst

Back when I had a uterus I definitely did not change tampon with every pee. With good string management there really isn't risk of pee cross-contamination!

Tucking string up was a revelation when first shared with me by female swim team members.

I was surprised with an early period at work a few months ago, and I had to use a tampon with an applicator, and I sort of forgot how they work.

I try to tuck the string, but maybe I have weird urine flow. or I don't shove it far up enough. the string always gets wet. And then it makes your underwear wet. So yeah, I end up having to change it half the time.

I hate buying tampons in chile because they only sell them like 8 to a box. Who only needs 8 tampons???

It’s weird - most tampons in nz are NOT applicator ones. I had a hard time when I moved to the US trying to find the same thing. I find applicators awkward bc I cant tell where the tampon is. My period has lightened to the point that it doesn’t really ... travel?? Like, I quite often these days don’t use anything if I’m at home or work bc it kinda just sits up there until I have to pee.

They should sell tampons in a box of 100.

damn, as a change-tampon-after-pee person, it makes me feel like the equivalent of a foot flusher! (lol, I am so not a foot flusher) it's not about pee contamination at all, but I've noticed or at least believe I have noticed, that when the tampon gets damp from peeing, it is less absorbent of blood and leakage is more likely, so I just change it.

also, if it's a light day and it's a weekend and I'm working from home, I will totally free bleed, because fuck having to buy light tampons - it's super, super plus, or idgaf. Like, I've been menstruating for over 30 years, I have a collection of underwear that are kinda designated for those days.

Lol I totally thought of the foot flushing when I asked the question. It’s the same sorta thing somehow.

Overnight though, on Day 1 and/or 2, I do wear a tampon and a pad. I also keep my headlamp nearby in case I have to do in the middle of the night crime scene clean up.

Has anyone ever used the Thinx period underwear?

can we talk about period sync-ing? I quit my old job a couple months ago where I worked closely with a female co-worker, and I think my cycle is shifting, or rather, shifting back to "normal" now that I don't have any other women in my life that I'm that close to, lol. I also have 3 friends who share workspace and they are sync-ed. Is this some woo-woo thing or is it real?

I am fine with tampons. I use OB or the non-applicator generic brands that I can find in the EU that are super cheap. When someone needs to borrow a tampon and they realize it doesn't have an applicator and they won't just use their finger. I am always like "...eh...?"

― Yerac, Saturday, September 22, 2018 2:30 PM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

+ me but also there are def days when I just feel like my body parts are taking up enough space and they don't want to be disturbed. Shut the front door. I would be tote cool w free-bleeding if I could stay home!

I used to know someone who just slept on an old towel at night, which I can see myself doing but I can see it would absolutely depend on your personal flow & viscosity & comfort. And how much you love your sheets.

I want the period underwear because I want the nighttime backup.

I used to know someone who just slept on an old towel at night

Ah! Akin to the period sex housekeeping technique

the wha?

my period has probably been synced with my immediate coworkers (all women) for almost a decade. we don't even talk about it anymore, it just is.

y'know if you are having sex on your period you put an old towel under you so the sheets don't get stained?

xxxp if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of nighttime coverage have you been using up to now?

Yerac, I have the Icon ones for pee leakage from the same company that makes the Thinx ones - they're well-cut, comfortable, wash well and hang dry in a day or two. Before hitting the 'pause I used the period ones from Lunapads (with changeable fabric liners) and they were fine but the fabric of the panties had a higher cotton content so stretched out more. The leg elastic on them didn't hold up well over time either.

Right now i just use a tampon overnight and get up 1-2 times to change it on, mostly because I am paranoid about waking up in a bloodbath which happens 1-2 times a year. I don't think I would wear the period pants on its own ever but want it as a shield for like, long plane rides or when I am stuck not anywhere near bathrooms.

i would totally use the period undies, just haven't bought them. good thing the holiday season is coming up!

oh also sarahell yes i am familiar with that technique -i thought you were talking about some family planning shit!

xp - ah the Carrie mornings! I actually recently got this oversized pink dress that I use as a nightgown, and it's really almost cinematic when I have a Carrie morning

xp, thx, good to know about the cotton content on Luna.

dudes mansplaining about incels and feminism ugh

hey ladies whassup

hi quincie! <3

Hi hi hi!!!!

I'd like to keep this thread going somehow because I miss more of a female presence on ilx and worry that women's voices are becoming heroic and token-ish.

I’ve made and cancelled 2 gyno appointments in the last month even tho I’m already more than a year overdue for a Pap test. The worst part is that I’ve got a small lump inside that I should really get checked out (it’s been there at least 6 months and hasn’t grown, so).

I wish I could just get this shit done.

In more fun news, I got this cool dress thing from my MIL for my birthday:
https://www.shopzuri.com/collections/all/products/hearttoheart?variant=9592210292783

wow that is v cool

Xp Bartholin’s gland cyst, maybe? They are very common and nbd unless it is bothersome (painful).

That dress is so badass