Problematic Periods

Well here we go, lets enter a new personal territory here on The World of Amy Alison, lets talk about periods.

The reason I'm doing this is because periods have been a hot topic in the news lately, regarding time off work, and whether women should be allowed to take time of work for period pain. For me, it's a no brainer. I have struggled with my period pain for years, in high school I missed countless days because I physically couldn't get off the floor, and then when I got  a job, I would sometimes call in sick and when asked what was wrong I would say I had a 'tummy bug' or 'migraine'. Now why would I lie like that, well a couple of reasons:

1. It's embarrassing. It shouldn't be, but it is. Particularly when a male boss would answer the phone, I found myself unable to say 'I have incredibly bad period pain and I can't get out of bed.'

2. I'm afraid it wouldn't be taken seriously. And from the backlash recent news articles have received from this whole 'day of work for period pain' fiasco I am not being irrational in having that fear.

What was particularly upsetting for me is the comments from women on these news articles. Men I can handle - they haven't been through the pain, they are unable to empathise and I understand that (despite finding it incredibly annoying sometimes when they feel the need to input their opinion - as Rachel Green says 'no uterus, no opinion!' ). But fellow women writing comments such as 'how pathetic, I just get up and get on with it - it's only a bit of period pain! get a grip!' is unbelievably upsetting to me. Not only is it belittling something that is ruining my life in many aspects, it's also making me feel like I'm exaggerating the pain or I am weak in some sense.

Here's how my periods tend to go down. Once a month I will wake up in unimaginable pain. I will cry, fall to the floor and sometimes vomit from the pain. I can't move, I can't think straight, this can go on for up to an hour. I have dragged myself into school only to stumble out of class and try and stagger my way to the nearest toilet to calm myself down and try not to be sick whilst my best friend has to speak to the receptionist to call a taxi home. What's infuriating is trying to explain this to family who were obviously concerned about me missing school and couldn't empathise with the pain. 

Now you may be asking 'hey you should probably do something about that', let me list the ridiculous process I have had to go through to try and get this sorted.

1. Go to see male doctor at 14. Get told this is period pain and I will have to deal with it. He says it's not that bad. Told to take paracetamol and exercise more.

2. Go to see female doctor. Am laughed at but given a stronger tablet, I think it was called 'feminax' or something like that. It does f**k all.

3. I'm now 15. I go to see the doctors but am in so much pain in the waiting room I have to sit on the floor outside. I am given some new medication, called mefenamic acid. Once again, it literally has no impact.

4. 16 year old Amy rocks up to the doctors again. Says nothing is making a difference. They suggest the pill. 

5. Pill makes a slight difference. Periods aren't as heavy for a while and I'm no longer on the floor. Still in far more pain than I should be though, still have to miss work and college sometimes.

6. After a year on the pill, it begins to make very little difference. Become almost anaemic because of the blood loss. Put on iron tablets.

7. Move to university and start to see a new doctor. She tells me I never should have been put on the pill because I get visual migraines. I am taken off the pill. NOW WHAT!? Explain the period situation, we discuss the possibility of the IUD Mirena and the possibility that I may have endometriosis. She tells me there is a surgery but the results are only temporary and not that successful and she doesn't recommend.

8. I decide to see what my periods are like without the pill, maybe they've magically improved? WRONG. I begin to return to my former self, falling on the floor in pain in super markets, not being able to take a train home. Just general all around unpleasantness. Sheer agony you could not imagine.

9. Decide the IUD is pretty much my only option at this point. Get it inserted which was horribly painful because she couldn't get it in and had to have 5 attempts. The pain was ridiculous and once the procedure was over, I nearly fainted and had to wait in the doctors for an hour before they would let me leave. Incredibly embarrassing all around.

10. A few weeks after the insertion I am feeling GREAT. Really confident, no pain, no spotting.

11. I approach my first period and the pain gets ridiculous. Almost worse than before but doesn't last nowhere near as long and comes in waves. Will this improve with time?

This is where I'm at now. After years of waiting for doctors to take me seriously and trying all sorts of different solutions I am now playing a waiting game with my IUD. My housemates know me for living with a heat pack on my stomach and usually asking for ibuprofen when I've ran out.  If this doesn't work then I guess it's a possibly pointless surgery and just 'getting on with it'. What would be the dream would be for workplaces to take it seriously and understanding how periods can be extremely painful for some women, but more so what I would love would be for other women to understand this. Just because you don't experience that pain, doesn't mean that other women don't. I hope that through sharing my experience, people will begin to understand or someone else who is going through the same thing can gain comfort from reading this. We are in this together ladies.

Here's to the future,


Amy

xoxo