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08 March 2006
Girl Talk Warning: Discussion of Female Body Issues inside... →[More:]
My period has a break in it- almost always has. After a few days, it stops for anywhere from 18-36 hours, than starts again. Is that weird?
TPS, my mom had the same symptoms, almost since she started having periods when young. It never really bothered her, but (and I don't mean to alarm you, just telling you to get thee to a gyno if you're really worried) she also eventually up having ovarian cancer and had to have an emergency hysterectomy in 1977.
wolfdaddy, what TPS is describing is not a symptom of ovarian cancer. I would be surprised to learn that there was any connection in your mom's case. Honestly, TPS, I would not trouble yourself over this. Women's periods vary widely. If you're really worried, ask your gyn about it, but it's very likely to just be a normal variation.
My apologies, I wasn't making a direct connection between the two, just trying to give a complete history of my mom's plumbing strangnesses. Again, apologies if I alarmed you unnecessarily.
I usually have a short break. Not 18-36 hours, but there's always heavy bleeding for a couple days, then a light day or so, then a little more heavy at the end.
TPS, I will join the chorus haranguing you to go. It's important to go to the GYN whether or not you are getting busy with anyone. The Pap test alone is really important because it can detect very early cell changes that may lead to cervical cancer. When you catch it early, it's no big deal at all to treat. If you wait, very big deal.
Also, you can ask questions like this. Sometimes GYNs prescibe the Pill to help regulate menstruation.
In high school during lunch I sat at a table full of pretty girls because all of my guy friends had a different lunch, er, period. Anyway, they talked so much about periods and bra-sizing and shaving and waxing and other stuff, that I am now completely inured to it all.
In the last year or so my period has really lightened up and there is frequently a 24 hour gap in the middle of it. I'm 39 and believe I'm pre-menopausal. My doc told me I was too young, but I told him my mum went through it in her early-mid 40s.
I won't tell you to go to a doc. I have to go fairly frequently due to being diabetic and being on other prescriptions. But I tend to avoid the female stuff. I was 34 before I had my first pelvic exam.
Oh, you guys, you guys. I don't want to be one of those doctor-naggers, but seriously. My aunt died at 42 from a cancer which could have been detected a lot earlier, and very likely cured had she had annuals.
In related period oddness... mine has gone away.
*poof*
I am a mite worried.
I am, according to the stick I pee'd on, not pregnant. And the three other brands I used after that.
It never got beyond "spotting" this month.
I am hoping it is just a side effect of starting NuvaRing last month. My doc said not to worry, and I have an appointment in a month anyways, but even so...
I know, but I was on the pill for about a decade and never had this happen. I just figured the side effects of the ring would be the same as the pill, if not less because of the lower hormones.
Mine are just getting more and more painful and annoying, and a shorter cycle, the older I get (never been on any kind of hormonal birth control). Hurry up already, menopause!
My period is totally messed up these days. I was on the shot for a year and a half, so I only got it every three or four months, and it was either barely there, or HOLY HECK BAD CRAMPS heavy. Then I became single again and consequently celibate and shot-free, and had my period twice in December and for the entire month of January. It's gotten shorter again, but it's still awfully frequent.
I also just discovered the wondrous Diva Cup and don't know how I never realised how DIRTY tampons are. This is so much cleaner! And I never have to pay for it again! Hurrah!
I love my Diva Cup, heatherann! I suppose it is "messier" than tampons, miko, but to me, it feels better.... tampons can be so drying and the Cup is not. Plus, you don't really have to empty it all that much- 3 times a day for me, tops.
miko: With the cup, all the blood stays inside you until you say so. With tampons, there's always that bit on the string, and the string also gets pee on it, and ew. And yeah, the cup doesn't dry you out, which is nice. You do have to reach in there to take it out and put it in again, but the area you're touching is below the rim of the cup, so it doesn't have blood* on it (most of the time).
I used those ob tampons before, the ones without applicators, and whenever I inserted them, I got my finger covered in blood. No more!
I was thinking of trying that, but I don't know how it would react with the ring. (not react, but, well, FIT).
On preview... heatherann, that's the exact reason why I won't buy OB. I don't care if they're the best 'pons on the face of the earth. I'm not walking out the the bathroom stall at work over to the row of sinks covered in blood. No way, no how.
The thing about the Diva Cup is, you're probably not going to need to wash it in public, if you time it right. Wash it before you leave your house, wash it right when you get home, wash it before bed. That's my take, anyway.
ThePinkSuperhero, my period does the same thing-I have a gap, same time frame as yours, then it kicks back in. I'm forty-seven, so I am guessing it is a hormonal thing.
Couldn't hurt for you to go get checked, anyhoo. But I doubt it's anything but a curiosity and an annoyance.
OK, I just read the Diva web site. Y'all may have convinced me. $32.50? That's, like, just 4 months' worth of tampons, anyway. And the idea of not having leaks? Not having to change 'em all freaking day? I'm interested.
Yep, mine almost always has a break in in for about a day too, though in my case usually towards the end of the period rather than the beginning. I'm 37 but it's been this way for years. (Caveat: I tend to have light-to-medium periods in general, and they are even lighter and sometimes non-existent when I'm on the pill. Which I'm not anymore, for various medical reasons, which is actually fine because I feel much better these days not being on it.)
That Instead cup doesn't really fit me right but I wear it overnight sometimes. I still have yet to try the Diva. Many years ago I used the sponge, which had similar problems with finding the right place to clean up during the day.
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