Sometimes drain cramp are n’t just " part of the summons . "
Recently, Iaskedwomen of theBuzzFeed Communityto share the moment they realized their period pain/symptoms weren’t normal and they actually needed to seek medical attention. To say I was shocked by the responses is an understatement. From violent nausea to incredibly heavy bleeding and palm-sized blood clots, these women have been put through the wringer. Here are a few of the standout responses:
1.“I never got cramps or pain or anything. But the flow was SO FREAKING HEAVY. I can’t tell you the amount of underwear and pants and bedsheets I ruined because I bled so heavily. I thought this was the norm until my gynecologist put me on birth control. Also, when I started, I wasn’t regular. I would get maybe 6-7 periods a year??”
2.“The last couple of years have been a battle! My periods were ‘normal’, but I gained a ridiculous amount of weight very quickly and all of a sudden had acne when neither were issues before. My doctor told me I was just fat and needed to lose weight despite zero changes in my lifestyle.”
" I set up a new Dr. who listened to me . Guess what ? There are cysts allllll over my ovaries , as well as fibroid in my womb . Most of late , I have been SICK the week before my period , which is not normal . Along with PCOS , I now have PMDD . Had I not advocated for myself and found a new doctor , I do n’t reckon I would have ever compute any of this out . "
— alexis413c5b0af
3.“When my period NEVER stopped. Just constant bleeding. Went to my first OB/GYN appointment to find out it was cancer. Meh…didn’t need that uterus anyway. Wasn’t using it…LOL.”
4.“I had suffered from extremely heavy bleeding with large clots. It was so bad that I was anemic and needed IV iron treatments. My NP (a woman) kept telling me that it was normal. This went on for years until my husband came home and found me standing in a puddle of blood.”
5.“I bled about three times the normal amount on my period (medical term is menorrhagia). It got to the point where I would have to change ultra tampons in the middle of the night, and still ended up bleeding through my clothes half the time.”
" I had the typical Georgia sexual activity education ( little to none ) . No one ever told me that catamenial disorders existed , countenance alone what to look for . I finally receive prescribe medication that thin my hemorrhage significantly , but not until after so many clothes and sheets had been ruin . "
— violetquill
6.“Passing a clot the size of a loonie and bleeding through a pad, underwear, denim shorts, a mattress cover, and almost right through a five-inch foam mattress all with one gush wasn’t enough of a hint.”
" I ’d been having bad and regretful spasm with every period that painkillers could n’t touch , and more than once spent a good part of my shift crouched down on the floor behind the immediate payment registry while hanging off the counter just test to breathe through the pain , but when I was physically unable to stand for sidereal day on death and could barely eat or think straight because of bother and sickness , my mum looked at me and say me I needed to tell apart my foreman I could n’t come in , and took me to a walk - in clinic that good afternoon . I was extremely lucky to have a distaff Doctor of the Church who believed me right forth , actually listened , and that same sidereal day she order some further testing and we made a treatment plan for what was most likely adenomyosis . The first treatment we tried work out well for me still six twelvemonth later , and I am so thankful to have had the accompaniment I want to get avail . "
– Anonymous , 26 from Canada
7.“For YEARS, I was told it was normal to be in extreme pain to the point that I would faint, hyperventilate, turn green or white, vomit, break out in a cold sweat, be incapable of moving, bleed for a month or longer, bleed extreme amounts, and have random times of the month.”
8.“When I started having periods twice a month WITH an IUD. I started having cramps for the first time with heavy bleeding, depression so bad I couldn’t get out of bed or go to work, and I would bloat so badly there was a 10 pound difference.”
9.“When my appendix was perforated by an endometriosis growth.”
" Yep , telecasting and movies tell me cramps were normal . It ingest almost going infected to learn that , no , this pain is not normal . My gyno is astonishing and I do n’t worry about those debilitating cramps ( once again , not normal ) . "
— sarahk4c5c1742f
10.“When my dad took me to the doctor multiple times because he said it wasn’t normal to bleed for months on end and get physically sick from cramps to the point where I’d be out of school for days at a time, multiple times a month. I had no idea that’s not how periods should be because whenever I talked to my mom. She dismissed everything I said. She told me sometimes periods are just like that. Turns out I had endometriosis, adenomyosis, uterine fibroids, and huge ovarian cysts. But yeah…periods just be like that.”
11.“When my periods were more painful than my miscarriage, yet doctor after doctor told me the pain was normal. I spent 10 years advocating for myself despite the gaslighting, and it took an MRI for an unrelated issue to mention the word ‘endometriosis,’ a word not one doctor had mentioned to me in 20 years of visits.”
12.“I’ve always had heavy/bad periods with cramps starting a day before, as well as pain in my breasts. Nothing unheard of. I was always told that it gets worse before it’s over (menopause). I was literally pushing out blood clots while in the shower and shoving them down the drain with my feet!”
" All the while thinking this was normal . I was in my 30 thinking this would one day end . I had bled through everything , including layer sheet of paper multiple times , and clean up , think this was also normal . My then ( asshole ) boyfriend had enough and took me to the ER because I was bleeding so badly and in complete torment . Turned out I had a fibroid tumor the size of it of a grapefruit on my womb ! I had no idea for so long ! I had to have the tumor removed surgically and was unable to work for three calendar month ! I still have repeat tumors , but none of them are cancerous , thank good ! Always get checked out . I wait to long intellection this was normal . "
– Anonymous , 41 from Michigan
13.“I didn’t realize wanting to kill people and going nonverbal the week before your period wasn’t just PMS until I was diagnosed with PMDD about a month ago. Makes sense.”
— tearyme
14.“My periods started being awful around age 16. Migraines, painful ovulation, and periods. Finally, when I was around 22, I had a coworker with PCOS tell me that it wasn’t normal to need to miss 2-3 days of work a month because of my period and being barely conscious in bed. A couple of years after that, I was diagnosed with endometriosis. My mom had always told me it was normal…”
15.“By the time I was 14, I would be up for most of the night writhing and sobbing in pain. My mom would give me warmed-up sherry with muscle relaxants and painkillers. By that point, I could take a whole pack of period pain analgesics a day, and it made no difference. When your mom starts giving you booze because nothing helps for the pain, it’s kind of a sign that things aren’t quite normal.”
Note : Some responses have been edited for distance and/or limpidity .
