Menstural Solutions Part 1

Men, you don't need to read this one. This one is for the ladies. If, for some reason, you actually make it through this post (even though it has nothing to do with you,) I encourage you to please talk to your wife, girlfriend, sister, mother - any women you know about this issue. If you read this post, clearly you care enough about this strictly feminine issue!

Menstrual pain is hell. It shouldn't be hell, but for me and many other women out there, it's worst pain we'll experience in our lives. And it happens every month. It should for a normal woman, anyway.

Background:

I want to get into one particular topic in this post, but let me start with a bit of history. It's important to understand my background on the issue because my suggestions could seem a little extreme otherwise. My monthly cycle wasn't always the worst thing in the world for me, this is a problem that slowly developed over time. During my teenage years I was rarely ever stopped by my period. I didn't have to put life on hold because it - it was just an inconvenience that was mildly painful at times. The older I got, however, the more the pain and the amount of flow increased. I had my first episode of severe menstrual pain when I was 17. The pain woke me up early in the morning, and soon enough I was screaming from the torture. Every time I moved even my toe the pain amplified. I couldn't find a position that was comfortable, but I couldn't tolerate moving around to try new positions. I thought I needed to go to the ER, because the pain was so intense that I couldn't believe it was something was normal. My mom figured it out quickly. She gave me pain killers instead of taking me to the hospital. The pain killers kicked in and I fell back asleep. My periods after that were all moderately painful and heavy, but they weren't at that level of intensity again until my 20th birthday. I had just gotten married the month before, and I was so embarrassed to go through my first cycle after marriage. It may have been my anxiety that caused the pain, but it was worse than I remember that day when I was 17 being. Once again, I was screaming and whimpering in pain. I couldn't move a toe without sharp pain shooting all over my body. This time, I drank quite a bit of NyQuil to knock me out. I was afraid painkillers couldn't do enough, and I wanted to be unconscious until the pain quit. It worked - I slept 8 hours that birthday, blissfully ignoring my body's extreme pain. Ever since then, my periods have usually been bad  each time.

For the last 7 years, I've accepted that once a month, on the first day of my cycle, I would need to take 12 or my ibuprofen just to survive the pain. I had to let employers know that it would be a reason I may call in sick - how embarrassing is that? I have had to arrange all my plans, especially travel plans, around the first day or two of my period. It was impossible to function on those days. My whole body would become overly weak and tired to the point of hardly staying awake. My flow would be so heavy that I had to visit the bathroom at least once an hour to replace my ultra tampons (later on, Diva Cup - but I'll get to that switch soon.) The pain was so intense that no amount of pain killers could comfort me, and the pain forced me into bed all day, crying most of the time. This became normal to me.

Did I ever see doctors about the issue? Yes. The results boil down to this: I was told I should get a laparoscopy, because the intensity of my periods, as I described them, was not normal. Because nothing appeared to be obviously wrong on the outside (even my hormone levels were "normal" - but I'll get to that later,) this invasive surgery to cut upon my stomach and send a camera into my reproductive organs was the only way to know for sure what was going on. My very experienced and highly regarded (by others) gynecologist was fairly confident I had endometreosis, a condition in which the menstrual blood grows on the outside of the reproductive organs and has no where to go when it sheds with my monthly cycle. The laparoscopy would confirm this diagnosis, but would not heal me. At best, while they had me cut open, they could cut off the blood on the outside of my organs. The problem is, the blood would just grow back, and in a few years I would need the surgery again. I seriously considered the procedure. At the very least, it would provide answers. The main reason I kept stalling on doing it, though, was the cost. Insurance wasn't likely to cover it (of course,) and it would be $2,000 out-of-pocket. I really couldn't afford $2,000 for just answers and no relief.

I was also told to use birth control pills. This is a topic unto itself, but long story short, I refused. They are not a solution, they're a band-aid that do damage and no actual good (just perceived "good" in those that experience relief.) I wanted a solution, not a highly questionable pill or injection that would only address the symptoms, not the root cause.  I was also greatly confused by why my doctors told me my hormone levels were normal, but I should be on a pill that improves my hormone levels... Did my doctors even know what birth control pills did, or did they just know that many women experience relief with them without understanding how or why? This is one area of health care where I'm extremely cynical, mainly because I've had more doctors than I can count try to push birth control pills on me without knowing much of anything about me.

I did get help, though! My last 3 periods have been shockingly easy to deal with. They've been getting more and more bearable over the last year, slowly but surely. The last 3, however, are proof that we've found the solutions, and have given me a lot of hope in never needing to feel extreme menstrual pain again. I'll explain the solutions in a few different posts. There's too much to say.




Solutions, Part 1: Ditch your tampons and pads immediately.Tampons and pads could easily be the #1 cause of your pain and discomfort. Have you ever read all the warnings on a tampon box? The main warning is that tampons cause "toxic shock syndrome." As bad as TSS is, it's not your main concern, because other problems will happen first.

First of all, you should understand that conventional tampons and pads are made from cotton and rayon blends and then soaked in chlorine to be made sanitary. Chlorine alone is a major irritant, which I dug into in a previous post. It makes your skin sensitive, itchy, overly dry, and irritable. The other major problem is that cotton is one of the most heavily sprayed crops. 55 million pounds of pesticides are sprayed on cotton crops each year in the USA. One of those pesticides is diuron, a known carcinogen that the EPA has linked to birth defects. You should know that your skin absorbs up to 60% of what you put on it. In other words, every time you insert a tampon or wear a pad, you're exposing some of your most sensitive skin to known toxins and carcinogens. Yes, ladies, this is scary.

I didn't know all of this when I switched to using a Diva Cup about 6 years ago. The reason I switched was because someone told me that tampons absorb more than blood: they absorb the natural necessarily lubricant your vagina makes to stay healthy. They told me this is part of the reason why tampons make the skin in the vagina so sensitive and painful. I was also told that menstrual cups hold more than ultra tampons, which appealed to my needs. The Diva Cup took some getting used to. I had to practice using it outside of my periods before I got it right, but now it's so second-nature to me that I get it right every time I insert it. Don't let the learning curve turn you away - this cup is absolutely amazing.

At first, it was extremely painful to use the Diva Cup. I was so highly sensitive that it was almost intolerable to insert. I held on to the promise that the issue would clear up after avoiding tampons for a while. It was true. After several months, using the Diva Cup regularly was no problem at all. My sensitivity went away! It has been 6 years since I've had any issues with sensitivity, and it's wonderful! It confirmed that tampons were causing my sensitivity issues.

The Diva Cup also allowed me to measure how heavy I really was. I did a bit of research and found that the average women only loses about 1 ounce during her entire cycle, but many women lost up to 2 ounces. The Diva Cup holds exactly one ounce. I found out that I was losing 5-6 ounces on the first day. I usually lost an additional 2-3 ounces on the second day. Days 3-7 (yes, my period usually lasted up to a week, were lighter in that I lost 1-2 ounces during the rest of the days.) I confirmed the fact that I was indeed abnormally heavy. I did take this information to the gynecologist, who said it's yet another symptom of endometreosis. A funny thing happened, however. Over the years of sticking to my Diva Cup, I the amount of flow I experienced did gradually lessen by about an ounce. My periods were also shorter by about 2 days. I also spotted less during the month, when spotting used to be a regular problem for me. The pain was still highly intense and extreme, but at least I was a little lighter and my sensitivity issues had entirely cleared up!

The Diva Cup is supposed to leak-proof. I say "supposed to be," because I'm sure it actually is for people with a normal flow. When you're as heavy as me, however, it does eventually leak if I don't empty it regularly enough. So I've needed back up. This is when I discovered Seventh Generation Pads. They are chlorine free and about as safe as I could find. While they didn't use organic cotton, I wasn't aware of the need to only use organic cotton pads until more recently. The problem is, I have yet to find an organic cotton pad that actually works well. I've tried many brands of organic cotton pads, but I keep coming back to Seventh Generation because it's very reliable, doesn't make noise when I walk around, and doesn't irritate my skin. Seventh Generation and Natracare do, however, make tampons with organic cotton that are great. I use them as a back-up when I won't have access to a good, clean bathroom to empty my Diva Cup in. There is another alternative: reusable cloth pads. Not only are these the safest option, they are the most environmentally friendly. Think of all the pads that go to our land fills every day! It's too much! My real issue with these reusable cloth pads, however, are that they never fit my preferred style of underwear. I also don't feel comfortable carrying a used pad with me if I have to change it in public. If you can make them work for you, though, please do!

This is just part one of many solutions. Switching to organic cotton and/ or menstrual cups and/ or reusable pads is the first step. This will eliminate irritation causing extra pain and discomfort. It will also reduce your intake of toxins - always keep in mind that your skin absorbs up to 60% of what you put on it!

I challenge you to make the switch, and please let me know your results!