Menstruation & sick days
 

Warning! Topic for the ladies! (duh)




I think half my sick days (of which I probably take more than I should) are related to periods. Particularly the first day of grinding pain and/or the second day of uncomfortable gushing.

:(

I'm sure (tho I haven't researched it) that women miss more work days than men. Do you tend to take sick days on particularly bad months?

Just wondering.

I am SO ready for the whole process to be over with. Almost there.

but not quite. ;)

I don't think I've ever taken a sick day because of my period.

I know during pregnancy I took a lot more days than usual though.

okay then, maybe I'm just a freak.

or lazy as a cat, which I already knew.

lol...well maybe, but I doubt it. Some women have more problems than others. I've just been pretty lucky I think. I used to get really bad headaches on the first day of my period, but they went away after I had accupuncture for the migraines I used to get once a week or so.

Things are starting to change for me now though. The headaches are coming back a bit - which means I need to go get pin cushioned again - and my cycle is different. Much more virulent. Fortunately for me though, my lifestyle has changed and I just take it easy for those couple of days.

You're not a freak Cloud. I think it's a good question actually. I'll be watching this thread to see what the other girls have to say.

actually, when I was younger I didn't have a problem. Only after having my children, did my periods seem to get more painful. I tend to spend my first day in bed now. Generous handfuls of ibuprofin help, but sometimes not enough.

Same here about the after having kids thing. I haven't stayed in bed at all though. I usually find if I move around a bit it helps. It's like, if I just lie down, it'll last longer. I suppose in my mind I think of the cramping as my body trying to expel the stuff it doesn't want, so if I keep moving and stretch them out, just as an athlete would do, it helps.

I find that when I get a bad cramp, it's usually followed up by a fairly heavy flow for a few hours.

1. You probably already know this, but the FDA has approved pills (basically birth control pills if I understand--and IANAD) to reduce and/or eliminate the frequency of periods.

2. An early argument against allowing women to attend college (or at least college with a real academic curriculum, as opposed to overgrown finishing schools) was that they would literally injure themselves by doing demanding schoolwork on top of their periods, which were seen by many [male] doctors as being a debilitating weakness.

Well my monthlies are downright nasty...gut-wrenching, tearing pain, headaches, nausea and massive flooding but I've never missed work because of it. I rarely ever take any sort of medication, for anything. I save my once-in-a-blue-moon painkiller for when my carpel tunnel syndrome is really acting up.

I'm much more likely to call in when stress gets to be overwhelming, so I can take a much-needed 'mental health' day and center myself.

Also, my menses have worsened with each child's birth. They have gotten longer, more painful, and messier. Ugh!

Stormie

funny nobody ever mentions that.

Most of the sick days that I ever took were because of my period.
It was awful working with the public and having mood swings, heavy flow, strong cramps and pounding headaches.
My flow was a monster: I needed to carry lots of protection, lots of ibuprofen, extra underwear and emergency clothing.
Last year, I had an ablation and it has helped a lot.
I still have a lot of pain during my period, but it doesn't last as long as it used to and my flow is nearly gone. I wish I'd done it sooner! :)

Some months are worse than others, but I've always had really bad periods. For me the worst day is usually the second day. On that day I feel like someone is trying to drag my insides out and feel nauseous and weak. I have often missed days of work because of that. Having said that I have also gone into work when I have been very ill with eczema/skin infection so I think it probably balances out in the end.

When I was younger, (pre-pill) I had cramps enough that the Gynie prescribed me 800mg ibuprophens that helped a lot. I needed them for multiple days. After going on the pill*, I occasionally needed 2-400mg, usually just for one day. *Just the plain ole' 21 days on, 7 days off pill. Changing prescriptions due to acne didn't change my cycle.

Post partum, went back on the pill, and again, maybe needed a couple ibuprophens, but essentially no change in cycle.

Now that I've been off the pill for 10 months, the cramps are getting stronger, but still not to the point that a couple 400mg doses can't get me thru the worst day. I have never taken a sick day for menstral issues. Mental, yes.

My cramps are all in my lower back, and always have been. (I never had traditional braxton hicks, or any frontal contractions during childbirth either!! Everything for me is in my lower back. Yeah, I was the lucky one who suffered through hours of back labor before being whisked off for an emergency C-section :yeldead: ) They are the worst right before the flow actually starts, and the first day. My periods have always been 3-4 days of bleeding, (reg tampon changed every 4 hrs with just a pad at night) and 1-2 days of spotting at the end (just a pantyliner). They vary in intensity from month to month, with a heavy month pretty much always following a light month.

I had one friend in HS whose periods were debilitating, and after going on the birth control pill were much better.

Wow. anything else you want to know? :blush:

I totally know where you're coming from Cloud. I have missed work as well as school when I was younger.
I've been on birth control since I was 13 because I've had so many problems. I'm now 23, and I am still on birth control because I still have problems. About 2 years ago I was diagnosed with PCOS, which explained those problems. I have most of the symptoms, but I haven't had an ultrasound to see if I actually have the cysts. It includes heavy flow, tons of pain, as well as being overweight and the possibility of infertility.
Over the past year, I've noticed that I'm bleeding for a straight 7 days (still on the pill!), and they are much more painful than they have ever been. I've always gotten migraines, but they are worsening as well.

Anyone else out there with this??

Welcome to the Cellar, Cutie. I, too, went on birth control pills at the age of 15, just a few months after my periods first started. Unmedicated, they were about ten days long and came every two weeks. The cramps were nothing terrible, but the flow was so heavy I would sometimes have to leave class more than once in the same hour just to go change tampons, and some of the teachers didn't believe me. Going on the pill was a godsend. When I eventually decided to try to have kids, I had infertility problems and was unofficially diagnosed with PCOS--as in, they could never find any cysts with the ultrasound, but going on Glucophage (a treatment for PCOS) helped me to start ovulating, so the diagnosis was confirmed that way.

If your cycles are still bad, you should look at changing brands of pill. When they were trying to scale mine back to a more reasonable level, Loestrin was what worked for me, but that was over ten years ago so I don't know if it's still commonly prescribed or has been improved upon or whatever.

Wow, I forget how lucky I've been sometimes, thanks for the reminder!
I have taken far too many duvet days, but I've never missed a day at work because of a period - I got cramps of course, but never bad enough to do more than take an OTC painkiller.

Then as soon as I switched to the 3 monthly injection I stopped getting periods altogether, and this has continued (or not!) through my first 3 year implant and now into my second.

I have known women with absolutely crippling pains, and the rest of the bag of fun that comes with them. Ladies, you have my sympathy.

I have never had a real serious problem - 4 days max - ever. And like some have said the 2nd day "hurts" the worst - 3 xtr strenght Tylenol and I'm good to go. I have noticed that in the past 6 mos, they have gotten "heavier". Never missed work either.

"duvet days" -- I love it!

I've never taken a sick day because of a period.

Until 9 months ago.

I never had cramps/bleeding/anything until a few years ago. I think my hormones changed after giving birth. Slowly periods have gotten worse and I've started having cramps, horrible cramps.

I decided to start back on the pill, which I hate because it eliminates my sex drive and makes me bitchy. The first month was great, less bleeding/cramping. The second month - wow. Without warning - no cramps or anything, as I stood at my desk talking with my coworker, I suddenly felt a warm rush down my legs, and thought I had somehow managed to lose control of my bladder and had pissed myself.

Then I looked down and saw the blood running down both legs. goddam ruined my practically new heels. My uterus had apparently collected 17 quarts of blood and was pushing it suddenly out of my bagina. I was clotting and bleeding and gushing.

Scared the living shit out of me. I used to think that all the chicks who stayed home from school or work were a bunch of whiny ass bitches who just wanted to take a day off.

*edited of spurious comment for the sake of not killing another thread*
:)


Anyhoo, much like smurf's situation....I've stayed at home because I woke up soaking in a lot of blood and fealt dizzy. When you wake up in pints and pints of your own blood you might just want to give yourself a day of rest. Call in. Drink some OJ. Take some Tylenol. I don't think that happens to everyone but it certainly can....It's happened twice to me. Once while I was working and once unemployed...I will tell you, if you wake up and it looks like someone was stabbed to death right where you are lying...give yourself a break and see how you feel..(to work or not). Come to think of it...I did go to work anyway, I needed the hours..I was unemployed the other time...ok...revision:don't be like me. I'm not sure where all the blood comes from at once, but if you don't understand the big deal, you might not, until you find yourself in the middle of it. Especially if it's too soon to be doing that anyway....talk about a holy shit moment.

My husband never understood the PMS and the menstruation drama until he sadly found himself a part of it. (uuugh) For the first time he seemed to have some empathy and a new uderstanding. He didn't really want to talk about it, but visually that was about enough.

I haven't really fallen victim to PMS aside from a couple of times that I've drank and became a raging banshee. Hindsight is 20/20....Had I thought about it I might have known not to have that beer because I was PMS'ing. I don't notice it until it's too late...so if you know you are PMS'ing you might not want to drink that glass of wine. That's the only time I can tell I'm PMS'ing....if I happen to drink the night before the obnoxious flow. Usually I don't even notice PMS though.

I'm always scared that I'll get into that smurf situation where it doesn't happen in my sleep, and I'm actually in public wearing a dress or skirt or something. It could...so I wear slacks a lot. Over-stock of tampons at work and a wrap around the waste item just in case.


So there's T.M.I.

Good day!

For a long time I got serious PMT. Trouble is it started about a week before I was due, continued through the 3-4 days of sheer hell, and only really lifted about 1-2 days after that. Basically I had PMT for almost half the month. Stomach cramps, and just feeling off-colour and queasy for a couple of days before, followed by a really bad 3-4 days, with heavy bloodloss, cramps, very bad nausea and weakness. There's usually one day (day 2) that's particularly bad and I sometimes take that day as a rest day.

These days the PMT isn't half as bad and the lead up isn't as bad in terms of cramps and stuff either. usually now, it's just a general feeling of tiredness and bad stomach for a couple days, followed by a light bloodloss day, one really bad day and then gradually better across 2 or 3 days.

I had always been pretty lucky with loss and pain, until late 20's...then I started getting migraines that would leave me bed ridden for at least a day, doped up to the eyebrows. Vitex Agnus improved this greatly.

Best thing ever was having the Mirena inserted. Now I know when I *should* be cycling and ovulating, but I dont get any of the shit that comes with them :)