I get what I consider moderate periods, based on unscientific comparisons with friends. I had to go to the hospital once, and last year it put me on the ground, with shallow breathing, sweating, nausea for the better part of an hour.
The important thing is that mine only seems to be awful if I’m not doing anything. I know it’s not like this for everyone, but I’ve never been stricken down by cramps while in a rush at work or while physically exerting myself (I suspect cramps are correlated with flow speed and physical exertion or stress cause them to drop off at those times, but that’s entirely based on my own experience). It can be debilitating, but likely wouldn’t preclude me from being just as theoretically able to help in any given situation as a man.
I sure would benefit from not having to use sick time to cover for the very rare occasions that I get bad cramps before I go to work though.
Maybe a dumb question, but if those are the risks you face, why not just take the pill every day? As in, skip the placebos.
My first wife had crippling menstrual cramps, toughest woman I’ve even known couldn’t get out of bed. Her doc put her on extra birth control, done, never had a period again.
Fuck the pill, lol. My sex drive completely drops off a cliff, I gain a bunch of weight, and I’m tired all the time. Plus, the period I get after I stop is the really painful one.
As the other commenter said, it does increase your risk of some cancers, but it also reduces your risk of other cancers, so I don’t know enough to choose which ones.
Well crap. I’d heard something about that, but it’s been nearly 20 years, thought it was an old-wive’s tale. Ex’s doctor told her there was zero risk, but again, that was 20 years back.
Sure, but I’m sure you can imagine what would happen if your managers are almost exclusively male, looking for ways to exclude women from the boys club, and you take menstrual leave a few times a year.
I suspect it would still be better than if I disappeared into the bathroom on a quiet workday and came out a couple hours later, sweaty and having obviously cried.
I do take sick leave in general less often than male coworkers and partners have, so I’d probably just highlight that in my year end meeting.
I get what I consider moderate periods, based on unscientific comparisons with friends. I had to go to the hospital once, and last year it put me on the ground, with shallow breathing, sweating, nausea for the better part of an hour.
The important thing is that mine only seems to be awful if I’m not doing anything. I know it’s not like this for everyone, but I’ve never been stricken down by cramps while in a rush at work or while physically exerting myself (I suspect cramps are correlated with flow speed and physical exertion or stress cause them to drop off at those times, but that’s entirely based on my own experience). It can be debilitating, but likely wouldn’t preclude me from being just as theoretically able to help in any given situation as a man.
I sure would benefit from not having to use sick time to cover for the very rare occasions that I get bad cramps before I go to work though.
Maybe a dumb question, but if those are the risks you face, why not just take the pill every day? As in, skip the placebos.
My first wife had crippling menstrual cramps, toughest woman I’ve even known couldn’t get out of bed. Her doc put her on extra birth control, done, never had a period again.
Fuck the pill, lol. My sex drive completely drops off a cliff, I gain a bunch of weight, and I’m tired all the time. Plus, the period I get after I stop is the really painful one.
As the other commenter said, it does increase your risk of some cancers, but it also reduces your risk of other cancers, so I don’t know enough to choose which ones.
Well, in my case it’s because those pills exacerbate the chances of getting cancers my family is prone to…
Well crap. I’d heard something about that, but it’s been nearly 20 years, thought it was an old-wive’s tale. Ex’s doctor told her there was zero risk, but again, that was 20 years back.
Sure, but I’m sure you can imagine what would happen if your managers are almost exclusively male, looking for ways to exclude women from the boys club, and you take menstrual leave a few times a year.
I suspect it would still be better than if I disappeared into the bathroom on a quiet workday and came out a couple hours later, sweaty and having obviously cried.
I do take sick leave in general less often than male coworkers and partners have, so I’d probably just highlight that in my year end meeting.