Friday 2 December 2016

All I want for Christmas is... blood, unfortunately

This post was originally titled My less than great return to periods and that's basically what it's all about, so if you're interested then crack on!

There was a time when I indentified as bisexual and had a boyfriend and got the implant so sex could be safe and yadda yadda, and then when I no longer needed it (and when I decided it was wreaking havoc with my mental health) I got the implant removed.

arty photo of tampons and pads sanitary towels

Your body takes time to adjust to the adding/removal of hormones, and so I thought nothing of it when I didn't get a period for ages - mine had always been irregular anyway, and I did have a bit of one a few months back (you may remember I tried a menstrual cup) so I wasn't too worried. It was only a month or so ago when I thought "hang on, this probably isn't normal let's go the doctors".

Is this back story boring? Probably, but after a ton of blood tests and questions it was decided that no, I don't have PCOS or abnormal hormone levels, and no they don't know why I'm not getting periods. But hang on, you've got acne so why don't we kill two birds with one stone and whack you on the pill. I didn't want to go on the pill, because the implant was (IMO) a leading factor in the cause of my depression, and because I'm useless at remembering to take tablets. But I decided to give it a go, which brings us to now.

sass refreshing mist

My return to periods has been dire - I was halfway through a pack when I started getting horrific cramps and equally horrific brown blood leaking all over the place. I didn't have a clue what to do; should I carry on taking my pill even though I was, it seemed, having a period? I took it for another 2 days but by then I was having a full blown period so I decided to stop taking it until the bleeding stopped, lest I risk having ANOTHER PERIOD at the time when my pill-break should be. God it's so complicated.

So as I write this I'm in the midst of a period, and at the beginning it was horrifically sore but the pain has settled down. It's been heavy, a lot heavier than I remember my periods being in the past, and it's made me think a lot about which menstrual products I want to use. I didn't get along with the cup, and I've become a bit wary of tampons so I've been using pads, which is fine but that's still adding to the environmental issue especially when it's wrapped in a dinky little perfumed bag. Help me out, guys - what's your recommendation?

diva cup menstrual cup

I'd like to thank Panadol and Anadin for getting me through the cramps; I'd like to thank SASS for their Intimate Refreshing Mist which smells interesting but has definitely left me feeling fresher and cleaner, especially as I've been using pads and of course, my friends/girlfriend/family/Twitter followers for putting up with me being a grumpy sod. God love ya.

I absolutely didn't realise this post was going to be so long, so thanks for reading if you made it to the end... Also you should definitely check out SASS; while this isn't an #AD I do love their products and intimate health is something I think we should talk about more, and I'll definitely be doing a full review of some of their products in the new year!



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