Menstruation, Dysmenorrhea, hormonal psychosis, cramps, anaemia, and whinge

[ailbhe]

In my teens, I was maaaaaaad. Wild and wacky. And recovering from A Colourful Childhood, the complex and frightening custody arrangements about my parents' legal separation (no legal divorce at that time!), depression, irritable bowel syndrome, dysmenorrhea, and really not liking the idea of getting drunk (though I remember with varying degrees of pleasure the few times I did drink alcohol as a teenager, they were definitely atypical). Oh, and I was suicidal a lot of the time, but that started before puberty.

Every time I ran away from home, or exploded a relationship in my own face, I had a period start just a few days later. They lasted for 3-20 days on average, and started 21-48 days apart. I didn't try to predict them, but I did record them, on and off.

Then I went on the pill for YEARS and it was WONDERFUL and although I still had cramps that made me collapse in public and fall off buses into the gutter and so on, it was nothing like as debilitating as the other. Then I came off the pill and started trying to get pregnant, and gradually I got sicker and sicker, though that could have been the series of jobs in which everyone got really ill, not just me, and my periods were more and more regular and predictable, and then I got pregnant, and was weller and more marvellous than ever in my whole life and also pregnant and full of joy and indigestion and mad cravings for raw red meat on the bone.

Then I had a baby and when my periods came back (fast) they were shorter and less painful and more predictable and so on than EVER. And my ovulation signals got clearer and clearer. And when my baby was 18 months old I got pregnant again, and then the bayb was born, and that was almost three years ago now, and I'm wondering...

Are my hormones resetting?

I've just had a hideous period, 11 days long, so heavy even Rob noticed, which left me anaemic and ill. Before ovulation I felt unhappy, ugly, and very slightly suicidal in a habitual kind of way, not an intent kind of way. At ovulation I was in agony and feverish, and now I'm sick and headachy.

It might just be swine flu. But I'm somewhat frightened that it might be Proper Periods again. I don't want to do that again.

Comments

[sashajwolf]

*sympathies*

[aquaeri]

Oh, I do hope it's just swine flu! Otherwise, what are the options for going on the pill, getting pregnant again, etc?

[the-changeling.livejournal.com]

Go on the pill? Run it full time, with no menstrual breaks?

The right one shouldn't interfere with lactation. It's medically safer to be on it all the time, and not come off it, than it is to do the 21 days thing...

[myfirstkitchen.livejournal.com]

You've frightened me now. I was hoping when I came off the Pill to have babies the having babies thing would fix my scary periods permanently like it did my mum's.

[sidheag.livejournal.com]

FWIW, 5.5 years after birth, my periods seem to be starting to return to previous "normal" too. I'll certainly consider going back on the pill if it gets much worse; small additional risk of certain cancers is a risk, losing several days per month out of one's life is a certainty...

[gloriap.livejournal.com]

"I'm somewhat frightened that it might be Proper Periods again."

Yeah, I had those too, heavy, unpredictable, painful, and accompanied by severe depression.

But those AREN'T Proper Periods. And that's no kind of life to lead, only being sane and comfortable half the month.

There are things that Can Be Done. Make an appointment with your GYN and tell him/her what you have told us. If no help is offered, get a second opinion or a third. Don't let your body go on ruling/ruining your life because life is too short to be so miserable.

[nicnacpaddywac.livejournal.com]

Ugh - i could have written this pretty much word for word. And i might have said this before to you (since i'm a bit like a broken record on teh subject at the moment) - although the pill or mini pill works well for many, i ended up far far worse on it (even on one i'd been fine on previously) when i tried it recently, so be ware.

(And if you find something that works, would you mind sharing? I've started on Prozac to try and deal with some of it, but not keen long-term, and obviously doesn't deal with half the symptoms).

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

Very much agreed - there are things that can be done, and a decent GP will be able to tell you about them. For me it was the mini-pill - only two painful periods since 2001. I only regret that I didn't do it a couple of years earlier.

[ailbhe]

Minipill made me do the constant spotting thing, not meaning a few spots a day, meaning constant spotting. With no days off. I didn't like it.

[ailbhe]

I respond badly to prozac so won't be using that. I also went even more insane than usual on the implant. Completely, frighteningly, barking mad. I had it removed for fear I'd hurt my children.

We are discussing another baby anyway, so that will help!

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

I had wildly different effects with all four mini pills. The only thing they all did was take the pain away. Hormones are weird.

I hope you can find something that does work.

[ailbhe]

You're a lot more likely to share your mum's genetics than mine, though.

[ailbhe]

Oh, that's interesting! I shall hold it in reserve, thank you.

[ellipunk.livejournal.com]

I've been noticing echoes of periods past recently too. But what is new for me is the ovulation pain. I NEVER had that before and it's really present now. I am not sure if it is the ovulation itself or if it is the egg being expelled afterwards iykwim. I think the latter, going on CM, but who knows. Personally I think the cure for me will be to get pregnant again. I was on the pill for years too and didn't like what it did to me. I was highly paranoid at one point, I remember. Add in depression, weight gain, boob growth.. I mean, seriously.
Hope you find a resolution that suits you. Suicidal is never good, with or without intent. :-/

[cat63.livejournal.com]

But I'm somewhat frightened that it might be Proper Periods again.

You shouldn't have to accept that sort of pain and discomfort as normal.

I can understand, given your past experiences, that you might be wary of doctors these days, but is there a sympathetic GP you could discuss this with and maybe come up with some way for you to keep the regular, shorter, less painful periods?

Also, sympathy. I get painful periods, but nothing like as bad as you describe, and I can't imagine how it must feel :-(

[k425.livejournal.com]

I went the other way - from hardly an issue pre-baby to noticeable periods now. But that may also be an effect of age. However, that's me, not you.

What you're suffering from is not normal or proper, even though it's what you've been used to in the past. If the pill helped in the past, is it worth going back on the pill now? There are newer pills, which may affect you and your periods better, too.