From the moment my periods first started, I knew deep down that something was wrong and that my body wasn't working correctly. I've always suffered from unnaturally heavy and unbearably painful periods that would leave me bed-bound for days or weeks at a time, resulting in me missing school/college/university/work. A period for me means changing my sanitary products every 30 minutes so that I don't bleed through my clothes, it means taking endless amounts of pain relief to try and relieve at least a little bit of the pain. It means passing large blood clots, chronic pelvic pain and taking medication to help the iron-deficiency anemia they leave me suffering with.
I have been suffering like this for around 14 years, which is when my periods first started. Periods are such a taboo subject and I often get a lot of hate, even from those close to me, about how open I am about my periods and everything I've gone through. The way I see it is that if what I say helps just one person realise that what they are going through isn't natural, then speaking up is completely worth it.
The biggest problem and reason I'm still trying to find out what's going on with my body is that we're conditioned to think that talking about periods is bad and gross and that's not how the world should be. Had I have known a lot earlier that my periods weren't normal, I might not be where I am today, my life might have been easier and I may not have dealt with so much pain. Another reason is how hard it is to figure out why periods aren't natural, why they are so heavy because the tests they do need to be done at the right moment in order to find out exactly what's wrong and I've just never got answers.
I've spent a lot of my life not knowing when my periods are going to come, I've gone months and even years without one, not knowing what to expect, and being terrified about how much pain I'm going to be in or how much blood I am going to lose. Periods are something that every woman has to deal with and to live your life in fear of something you're going to have to deal with for the majority of your life is traumatic.
When I first realised that my periods weren't normal, I forced my mum to take me to the doctors where they ran basic tests and told me it was just a phase and that as I grow into a woman they would come more frequently, be less painful and I wouldn't lose as much blood when this happened. I believed them because why wouldn't I?
I've had hundreds of doctor's appointments, dozens of hospital referrals, dozens of exams, and blood tests to still end up none the wiser as to what's going on with my body. It's my body and I deserve to know what's wrong and to be expected to still not have answers after so long after so much trauma is exhausting.
In around 2016 I experienced some of the worst pain I have ever experienced in my entire life, pain that I wouldn't wish upon anyone. After multiple tests spanning over a 6 month period, I was told I had an ovarian cyst that needed to be removed as it was attached to my tube, twisting and damaging it. I eventually had laparoscopic surgery, lasting around 6 hours, where they removed the cyst, but had complications with my fallopian tube and had to remove that too. I've been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and have been told by so many health professionals that I probably have Endometriosis but they still haven't been able to confirm this.
A lot of my periods leave me needing to change my sanitary products every 30 minutes or risk bleeding through my clothes, passing blood clots bigger than my palm. They leave me in constant pain that honestly feels like someone is repeatedly stabbing me and I'm not even talking about the constant period cramps which are agonising. My periods leave me losing so much blood that I get dizzy, I pass out and I'm anaemic.
I have so much more to talk about with regards to my periods and the journey I've been on and the journey I will continue to go on for potentially the rest of my life. I want to help people understand what's normal and when to get checked so will follow this up with additional posts.
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