no boys allowed in the room!!!!

Good news: The doctor I saw today recommended doing a myomectomy ("shaving" the submucosal fibroid) plus endometrial ablation. This probably wouldn't eliminate my periods, but it should significantly reduce them, which is just FINE BY ME.

good luck! btw that sounds like an intense procedure

Crossing my fingers. The doctor did describe it as an outpatient procedure, with "twilight sleep" as opposed to full anesthesia, and a couple of days recovery time. That makes it sound a lot less involved than a hysterectomy.

piece of cake <3

hope everyone and their periods are ok
i have monster cramps right now and was a complete monster for like 3 days before this onslaught started
bumping this thread as a uterine salute i guess

shouldn't say i was a monster -- i was extremely irritable and moody and unpleasant

yeah god i was practically in tears at my desk last week just bcz reasons idk it was rough, my moods have been crazier than normal around period time lately

#uterinesalute

yeah i did a little reading about PMDD but it doesn't look like i am quite there yet
just suuuuuuuuuper moody and unsure of what is a real feeling and what is a PMS symptom

this is sort of interesting -- i never thought about my relationship to calcium https://www.webmd.com/women/pms/features/diet-and-pms#1

(unless it was related to bone health -- that i know)

yeah i’m kinda in that same zone too
but I find whenever I start thinking that I might need to see a therapist i’m usually a week out from the (uter)us festival

it is so predictable and yet i never see it coming
hard to believe we go through this 12x annually and still don't know it's happening. why can't someone make a patch that changes color when your hormones shift toward the menstrual cycle so you can tell wtf is going on?!

I had the worst cramps during my last period. I do get them every month but never this bad. I was almost crying.

The month before I leaked during the night which I never do. I was particularly annoyed as I had just washed to blanket the day before.

Oh and this summer was my 30th anniversary!

The mirena helped quite a bit with the severe lower back pain I used to get, although my boobs were excruciatingly sore the first year. Most women stop getting a period entirely but unfortunately that has not been my experience :/ it’s much lighter but still 10 days long.

I didn’t figure out I was a cranky-ass binge-eater the week before my period til I was in my 30s.

part of what stops me from seeking treatment for PMS/potential PMDD is that i have decades of experience with hormonal BC and i firmly don't want to do it again. i really would like to know if someone can create a "your hormones are changing!" patch or blood test or something to help me understand what is going on with my body rather than just suppressing it with hormones.

i would also like to know if there is any research on women who were started on hormonal bc while they were still developing (1 year after menarche, for example) -- what happens to a person's development when their hormones are tweaked during the development process? i had never given it much thought until recently but it seems like something that would be worth studying. maybe a scientist somewhere has done research?

I would rather not be on hormonal bc as I’ve had bad reactions in the past but the awful obgyn I saw when I got the iud said I had to be on some form or I’d be at risk of uterine cancer (heavy irregular periods can apparently lead to that?) but I’m gonna ask my new obgyn next time I have to go in

If it's okay to change the subject, I had my myomectomy/endometrial ablation last week. It was an outpatient procedure under twilight sleep. I've had only mild twinges since the procedure. I've had a bloody discharge since, but it's been far lighter than my recent periods. Next week I have the followup meeting with the doctor.

Wait - you guys - period tracking apps are a game changer when it comes to this stuff. Clue. Download it now, thank me later.

hmmm... i will give it a whirl

I thought I had irregular periods and never got PMS until I started using it but it turns out I have clockwork cycles and get PMS every month! Who knew?

Honest I can't recommend using one of these trackers enough. I've learned so much.

good to know. maybe this will be a good game changer for me

I kinda wanna try an app but without a period (since uterus eviction) but I do have periods of weird fatigue + food cravings and I wonder if they are cycle related?

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.