I struggled with HMB for basically my whole time of menstruating (besides when I had amenorrhea secondary to anorexia and then pregnancy/breastfeeding). I remember being in middle school /high school not being able to concentrate due to horrible menstrual cramps and being worried I would bleed through. In my late teens was on birth control to “help. And it did make my periods shorter, but BC caused some mental health side effects. So I dealt with my periods.
It wasn’t until a year ago that I said enough was enough… low ferritin, chronic uterine pain, 7+ day periods & in-between spotting, etc that I got a uterine ablation and tubes removed at the age of 32. I have one healthy child and I have to do what’s best for my health. Zero regrets!!!
Wow this makes me feel so seen and heard! Thank you for this. I’ve been dismissed many times bc my symptoms and bleeding are “normal.” I was on nexplanon as a teen and it helped my periods but I also ended up having 3 miscarriages from it so something was still not working and I got it taken out and have dealt with my periods as best as I can. Even though the bleedings only really bad the first 3 days it still takes a full week sometimes before I fell back to normal and those three days, plus up to 10 days before bc of pms, I feel like absolute shit and most days could fall asleep walking, no matter how much I sleep or drink caffeine. It feels like I’ve got the flu energy wise. This is a real problem for so many women and I’m so appreciative of this article. Thank you
On a related topic, I just heard about this new podcast that addresses the ways women's severe period symptoms are so often dismissed/ignored https://www.katehelendowney.com/cramped
Thank you for posting about this!
I struggled with HMB for basically my whole time of menstruating (besides when I had amenorrhea secondary to anorexia and then pregnancy/breastfeeding). I remember being in middle school /high school not being able to concentrate due to horrible menstrual cramps and being worried I would bleed through. In my late teens was on birth control to “help. And it did make my periods shorter, but BC caused some mental health side effects. So I dealt with my periods.
It wasn’t until a year ago that I said enough was enough… low ferritin, chronic uterine pain, 7+ day periods & in-between spotting, etc that I got a uterine ablation and tubes removed at the age of 32. I have one healthy child and I have to do what’s best for my health. Zero regrets!!!
Wow this makes me feel so seen and heard! Thank you for this. I’ve been dismissed many times bc my symptoms and bleeding are “normal.” I was on nexplanon as a teen and it helped my periods but I also ended up having 3 miscarriages from it so something was still not working and I got it taken out and have dealt with my periods as best as I can. Even though the bleedings only really bad the first 3 days it still takes a full week sometimes before I fell back to normal and those three days, plus up to 10 days before bc of pms, I feel like absolute shit and most days could fall asleep walking, no matter how much I sleep or drink caffeine. It feels like I’ve got the flu energy wise. This is a real problem for so many women and I’m so appreciative of this article. Thank you
Thank you so much for sharing! I hope to be an OBGYN one day so I look forward to sharing awareness about underrepresented women’s health issues.
On a related topic, I just heard about this new podcast that addresses the ways women's severe period symptoms are so often dismissed/ignored https://www.katehelendowney.com/cramped