Is anyone else always surprised by their period?

submitted by reluctant_commenter from self.Lesbians

The TRAs always ban discussion of female anatomy in Tumblr/AL/the greater lesbian-hostile world, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to discuss.

I forget that I have a period and am surprised when it happens every single time. Every month, without fail, my back gets really sore for multiple days in a row. I think, "Why am I so sore? I didn't do any serious physical labor that could've caused this. Should I see a doctor? Fuck, I want chocolate." Fortunately, my confusion is always resolved in a matter of days. Thank you, Mother Nature.

Please tell me I'm not the only one, lol. I hear people be like "I don't understand how you could forget your period!" That is literally me. Except I get conveniently reminded, once a month. Lol.

edit: this post was inspired by actually realizing that my current thoughts, soreness and the bag of chocolate sitting next to me might be related. I'm breaking the cycle! Not literally, though. :(

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[–][deleted] 11 insightful - 6 fun11 insightful - 5 fun12 insightful - 6 fun -  (3 children)

i do track it w/ an app so i get an ominous notification 8-12 hrs before the floodgates open but yeah ~3 days before that i'm like "omg why can't i stop eating??? omg my boobs???" lmao. my last ovulation was actually pretty painful & i think i feel another one comin on as i type. it sucks so much, the whole process is bad, so much drama for nothing, aggghhh!!

[–]reluctant_commenter[S] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

so i get an ominous notification 8-12 hrs before the floodgates open

Hahaha damn that is accurate. Mine often varies by a few days every month, and the only reason I know that is I sometimes write down the start date.

I did not even know there were apps for it. Of course there are. Maybe I am the prime user targeted. Lol.

I hope you feel better soon!!

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

the app i use is called Clue, a++ would recommend, you can actually set pms notifs to remind you if it's helpful! & tysm, i hope your back isn't too bad, heating pad/bottle maybe? you've probably got it managed but just in case lol. i use a microwaveable rice pad with lavender, it's nice~

[–]reluctant_commenter[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Will check it out, thanks for the rec! I do indeed have a heat pad :) I have literally no idea what I did before I owned one.. I got this one a couple years ago. Can always use more :D I have heard the microwaved rice trick, have been meaning to try! I'll have to give it a go.

[–]CJLez 8 insightful - 2 fun8 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I'm not surprised anymore but I tend to have two days where my mood plummets to dangerously low levels - one about three days before and one about three days after. It used to really scare me before I realised what it was linked to so now I can just grit my teeth and push through to the next day, knowing that it'll straighten out.

[–]reluctant_commenter[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That does sound really trippy. I'm glad you know what it is now at least. I feel lucky that my symptoms are not so bad mood-wise. For me, the only emotional difference seems to be that I am annoyed by the physical discomfort.

[–]piylot 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Me too, I find it rare to have women speak about this. Almost like there's this pressure to pretend PMS isn't a thing because it's used as a reason to dismiss women. My anxiety can go from manageable to interfering with basic functioning during the 5 or so days leadintg up to my period.

[–]VioletRemi 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I always have a gut feeling few days before, then checking my calendar and yep, it will be soon! They are very stable nowadays, at least.

[–]knownasness 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

i forget about it too buuuut i hardly have them so that's why 😂

i have pcos and the lack of regular periods is literally the only good thing about it haha. i was 17 when it first started and i bled for 3 months straight 🤬 it was hell having to deal with that and going to school(with limited bathroom breaks and NO hygiene products in the bathrooms). but since then(am 32 now) i've had 1-3 periods per year. and i don't get any of the symptoms either! no cramps, no aches, no cravings, no bloatedness.. nothing. i just bleed for 5 days. it's pretty great.

virtual hug to all my regular period having ladies

[–]reluctant_commenter[S] 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

3 months?! Omg. That sounds AWFUL. I have always regarded school rules on bathrooms as authoritarian abuse, but that is beyond messed up for your situation.

Whoa, that's cool you barely have to deal with it anymore. I don't know much about PCOS but I hope you are able to deal with the other symptoms okay!

virtual hug right back at ya.

[–]carrotcake 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I forget about it in the sense that i don't think about it the rest of the month. Then there's always one time at the month that i start getting back pain, pimples and/or a huge appetite and I'm like oooh i I'm probably pmsing. I look on my app and I'm usually right.

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Same actually. Like absolutely same. Sometimes though it confuses me cause for some reason I always manage to miscount the days and the estimation of the next one. Today for the first time ever, I actually opened a tracker for it and it illustrated that some months I’d have have a double menstruation. That would always confuse me cause I’d feel like “didn’t I JUST have my period already this month?”, but it doesn’t work like that at all 😆

[–]RedditHatesLesbians 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

My period was irregular as fuck this month, about 2 weeks late. Perks of being a lesbian is that every straight girl with a partner in this position would be stressed as hell about being pregnant, while I just enjoyed the blissful delay. When it finally happened I was like huh?? What?? This still happens to me? So I totally get you!

[–]ShotTopic 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Yes! I even have a period tracking app. "Why am I horny, why am I craving all the salty food, why am I breaking out, why am I depressed, why did I cry suddenly."

After a few days of that (or my girlfriend saying I'm probably close) I'll check my period app and go "oh.. it says I'm a couple days away from starting.."

EDIT - welp... 6 days after my initial comment, my period started and took me more by surprise than it has in quite a while. Middle of the night too! I saw signs, but was so confident it couldn't be that.

[–]WildwoodFlower 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I was always irregular. But now that I am 51 and in perimenopause, I never know when my period is going to happen or how long it will last. I once had a period that lasted for seven weeks! Then I had a few weeks off and it started up again. During that time period, I went through all sorts of unpleasant tests to make sure I didn't have uterine cancer. (I did have a pretty bad case of anemia, though.) Finally, I was put on the pill, which I had never taken before. For the first time in my life (I was 47 then), I had regular, normal periods. But my doc took me off the pill right before I turned 50. I started having weird periods again, but they are generally light and don't happen every month.

[–]reluctant_commenter[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

7 weeks, omg. I feel like I have nothing to complain about next to such long time periods. Sounds like it makes a lot of sense why you wouldn't know when your periods are. Mine are relatively consistent so I really have no good reason hahaha.

[–]WildwoodFlower 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The 7-week period was just a one-time thing because I went on the pill soon after that. This was in 2016. When I look at photos of myself from that year, I look like an extra from "Night of the Living Dead."

[–]SailorMoon2020 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I'm not suprised. I started my period at 9 then started having regular periods once I hit 14. I use an app since I too am bad at tracking, yet it never fails, my dreams are the best alarm. Because even though my cramps happen before, my app gives me an estimate-it is my dreams that will literally tell me, "you started your period". I will then get up and well, there it is.

This month was pretty bad. Not really but I ate the first day. Besides fruit, it's not good for me to eat the first because it'll come back up. It did. Was on the toilet with a trash can between my legs most of the day.

[–]reluctant_commenter[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

it is my dreams that will literally tell me, "you started your period". I will then get up and well, there it is.

Whoa, that is really cool!!

Besides fruit, it's not good for me to eat the first because it'll come back up. It did. Was on the toilet with a trash can between my legs most of the day.

That really sucks, I'm sorry you have to deal with that.

[–]yayblueberries 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I used to be able to do this but in the past two years something with my body changed so I now get a warning of a day of severely depressed mood and this deep leg pain, like all the muscles got pulled.

Maybe I should finally start tracking them at 38, but they now only last three days, so when I finally decide to maybe do so it's gone anyway!

[–]BonesReds 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Lol yes that just happened to me today! I was like "wait why am I cramping so bad? Oh my god did I get food poisoning?" Nope, just my period!

[–]reluctant_commenter[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Hahaha glad to know I'm not the only one who does this. I hope you feel better!

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I've started tracking mine, and I've noticed lots of inconsistencies in timing but consistent premenstrual symptoms. They vary from mild nuisances to severe and unbearable. To stay on topic, I don't really get surprised by the period beginning, but I'm surprised by the way my mind/body react to the approaching first day.

[–]weirdlyhaunted 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Lol, kind of. Mine is like clockwork, every 28 days, so it's on my calendar and I should be aware it's coming. But... unless I actually check my calendar, I'm surprised when I wake up one day angry at literally everything then when I start cramping and bleeding two days later it all makes sense.

[–]LeaveAmsgAfterBeep 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I use an app that notifies me several days before I am theoretically supposed to start, otherwise I would be shocked by sudden symptoms and or confused why my period is “late” mid cycle, lol. Before PCOS things were a bit more shocking even though I was really regular!

[–]reluctant_commenter[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

god dammit I was right

I actually thought, after I made that post, that I might have been wrong. LOL

[–]MyLongestJourney 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Is anyone else always surprised by their period?

No.I am well aware that I am female.

[–]reluctant_commenter[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I am also aware that I am female, but am sometimes unaware of my impending period.