That monthly...thing, I mean. I've gotten to the point where I can't even say the name out loud, can't even use euphemisms. Weirded my dad out yesterday when I asked him for money to go buy pain killers and couldn't explain why. I just can't stand the fact that it happens to me. >.<
So how do you deal with it? (or how did you if you're on T) I still haven't found a way. I get horrible cramps, become HUGELY irritable, and pretty much hate everyone and everything (but mostly myself) until it's over.
I"m glad I'm not having IT any more but ....
I learned to drink.
Now, this doesn't sound very scientific, but hear me out here. They handed out Motron/ibuprofin like it was candy at the Olympic Training Center and I took it in quantity. I'd spend my "periodic" days on it, swallowed down with milk, and could mostly function. It trashed my stomach, I could no longer eat dark chocolate and still can't, and can have an irritated stomach at times now. Ibuprofin is not good for you! Now, booze isn't either, but a monthly binge isn't nearly as bad as the Motrin, and it has the effect of decreasing cramps as it relaxes involuntary muscles, and relaxing the mind. Ideally I'd get a case of beer and drink a few, doze off, wake up and drink some more, doze off. with a good book this is great. And some Pringles. My monthly prescription would be beer 'n' pork rinds, ale and pringles, stout and jerky, whatever I felt like. This is a no-no while working! But I was self-employed, and could take a day off. It was better than feeling horrible and trying to battle it back with the pills, working for someone else. I'd just structure my time and activity for boozing it off. I'd generally hardly eat, just some kind of beer and some shots of whiskey etc. and snack foods. Called a Good Weekend in the Midwest, I think.
I think there's a type of birth control where you don't have periods, your local Planned Parenthood can help you with that. Or, go on T. A few crampy days are not fun even if boozing, and on the day or two after the really bad one, if I ate, I generally had to get some alcohol aboard to even feel like eating anything. It gets you looks at 10AM. And I think what I was spending on alky was costing me more than I'm spending on T now, or you'd spend on that no-period birth control pill.
My liver function etc are fine after all this, and now that I'm not compelled to booze it up once a month my drinking is almost nonexistant.
But if you find yourself all cramped up etc before you're able to do something more permenant for it, go out or have someone go out and get whatever sounds good to you alcohol-wise, it may work for you and will damage you less than that Ibuprofin, that stuff's not as un-harmful as they lead you to believe. Booze is a time-proven thing, and easy to get anywhere. (Please be over your state's drinking age!)
I've found that the worse your general health is the more painful the cramps are.
Drink a lot of water, avoid excessive salt, try not to think about it. I keep a bottle of tylenol around for the cramps. Exercise helps, go out and run a few miles if you can. It will also get your mind off of it (hopefully) pain is worse when you focus on it.
Can't be of much help, mine aren't as painful anymore. I used to just lie in bed and sulk for a week out of every month, with some pain-induced tears mixed in. Probably not a good idea.
Exercise didn't help mine, I was in extremely good shape at times, worse shape at times, it was consistantly miserable.
The best thing is to get on T or onto that birth control that controls it.
Quote from: Alex_C on November 30, 2009, 02:51:19 AM
Exercise didn't help mine, I was in extremely good shape at times, worse shape at times, it was consistantly miserable.
The best thing is to get on T or onto that birth control that controls it.
That's too bad.
I assume he can't get T, or he would probably be on it. Birth control is just putting more female hormones into your body (meh).
Quote from: SilverFang on November 30, 2009, 03:28:12 AMBirth control is just putting more female hormones into your body (meh).
True, but it
really does help alot. It reduces the cramping and pain to almost nothing (for me anyway) and decreases the length. Plus, you always know when it's going to come so you're prepared. You also bleed less. So, even though you're adding female hormones into your system it makes the monthly period more tolerable to the point you even forget about it. YMMV
It might take longer for T to work if you've been on BC pills for a long time, I'm not sure. I was on BC pills for 20 years (:o) and I feel my changes are slower than many other guys, but it could just be my age and/or genetics. I also had big menopausal symptoms and
massive hot flashes when first starting T- which the extra female hormones may have made more intense. Anyway, I had a horrible time with my period as well as many ovarian cysts before getting on BC pills, so for me it was worth it.
Quote from: Alex_C on November 30, 2009, 01:27:47 AM
(Please be over your state's drinking age!)
Wayyyyyyyy too young. lol.
And the birth control thing - I am paranoid about that.
(Example: I couldn't eat soy after I found out it had estrogen in it. Even though it would have pretty much no effect) So that would take some psyching up... though I have to admit it sounds better than dealing with this.
I always went for the whole "ignore it" course of action. I knew it wasn't going to go on forever and that eventually once on T it will stop. I know that's not what you want to hear sorry.
I found giving into what my body wanted helped - like chocolate and junk foods for a couple of days. Not good for me but the release of endorphins made me feel better :D
A heat pack always did the trick for me too... And if possible time in bed but I know not always possible. I know there are no real answers here but if you can get past the whole mental thing (I know its hard) and treat it as though it isn't your body sorta - it helped me. Reading about trans issues and what would happen once on T and surgery results, also taking steps to progress my transition made it easier for me to distance myself.
Jay
Noooooo .... that one kind of BC may be "female" hormones but it's something that stops your period, that's becoming *less* female in my book!
I met an FTM who was on that and liked it, was just getting on T but said that type of BC didn't make 'em more female, just got rid of the "curse" which they liked a lot.
It's worth looking into.
I pretend it's not there.
Mind you, it doesn't work very well in the long run. Sooner or later one's got to "do" something about 'em.
My "something" is medication (T+ something else).
Last period ever is due next week...
Quote from: Miniar on November 30, 2009, 03:38:49 PMLast period ever is due next week...
Don't assume that. I've heard of guys being on T 8-9 months and
still have the red tide. I just don't want you to be disappointed if it takes awhile.
Cringe a bit until you use something that eradicates it and also remember it could be worse.
You could also have severe PMS and ov pain (sorry for mentioning them)
I still had it while on half dose went away immediately, never had on again, when I moved to full dose. I could not handle it before T I was miserable spent a lot of time in bed sleeping and just being unhappy.
Andrew
Lots and lots of tylenol and hot water bottles.
Unfortunately exercise brings on the cramps and (sorry for mentioning, but...) just makes it gush :icon_blah:
And i've been on BC for a while now - i was having tons of trouble with it in HS. I don't NEED BC but it sure helps with cramps.... Thankfully i only have "it" once every three months now (though in my opinion still too often.) I'm going to the doctor next week so hopefully i'll get off BC and go on T (within the next few months.)
"I went on progesterone-only birth control before I went on T. Yes, it is a "female" hormone, but it isn't estrogen and it in fact has estrogen-suppressing effects." - Didn't know there was such a thing!
Pain killers and exercise. I only get it once every two months, so I just try to ignore it when it does come around.
I've always treated it like I had a wound. Ibuprofen is the only thing that works for the pain for me, so I take that. Not in large quantities, mind you. I mostly spend my time sopping up the blood as if I had a bloody wound and had to make sure it healed. I have a lot of interest in medicine, and go into "doctor mode", which makes things a thousand times easier. I am just treating a body. It could be anyone's body. Thinking of it medically helps me to not crumble. Heating pads work wonders for the pain, too. If you can't change your mindset and see it a different way, which is difficult, then either testosterone or birth control pills is the way to go. It depends upon which you can get, and whether you can deal with the fact that a lot of birth control pills cause breast growth and weight gain.
Whenever that time comes about I try and ignore it and not think too hard on it. I tell myself it wont always be there. It is a temporary thing.
When I get bad cramps I take a painkiller and it is usually over with. I don't get them too bad but if it gets real painful a hot bath or shower tends to ease the muscles... apparently yoga helps but I tried that once and I felt stupid.
I used to not get cramps at all till college when I started having bad eating habits. Not eating enough and eating food that didn't have all the vitamins and good stuff I needed. Now I have an iron deficiency and get some awful pains now and again.
Also being dehydrated makes it much worse. So lots of water and no caffeine.
a lot of this has already been said but hopefully something is helpful.
It was hell during puberty, after which I was pretty numb to it. Never knew when it was going to happen but when it did, found it grossly fascinating. Liked to look at it, examine it. Line used tampons up on the side of the bath with varying degrees of absorption and color. It was kind of cool, really.
I always refused to keep track of even what general time of the month it falls on.. I just never wanted to document that or think about it when I didn't have to.
Which can create timing fail sometimes. At some point once a month I think "Hm, it's been a while. Arse." and stick something in my bag.
Fortunately I don't usually get cramps so I can mostly ignore it..
But, haha.. Nero, I used to poke at it sometimes too. x)
Quote from: Nero on December 01, 2009, 01:24:28 PMIt was hell during puberty, after which I was pretty numb to it.
That sums it up very well for me.
I've ALWAYS hated the red tide, ALWAYS. >:(
The past few months have been... more tolerable, I guess. My sweetheart and I wanted to be extra-safe so I got ahold of a 5-yr IUD (free BC! being homeless and jobless has its perks) which has completely screwed up my periods. So now they are very light and spotty, BUT also quite infrequent and lengthy. (Before was about 5 days long w/29 days between; now is 11 days long w/6 wks between. Sheesh.) Overall I think I'm happier with it being lighter and more infrequent.
So, that's kind of how I deal with it. I just, you know, go with the flow XP bad pun XD and deal with it. When it stabilizes I'm probably going to go back to turning into a depressed, angry-at-the-world Ibuprofen-popper laptop-hogger while I'm on it, as I used to be before the IUD. Bleh. (The laptop does two things: it has so many lovely distractions to keep my mind off the cramps, and it gives off some bee-yootiful heat onto my abdomen. ;))
tampons.. sure I HATE having to stick them up there, and pull them out, cause I never touch that area directly
but they really make you forget that you are on it.
I had to get my dad to buy the tampons for me, cause its way too embarassing for me! I told him it just looks like he's buying them for his wife, me I just look like a creep\
as for cramps, and mood changes.. i dont really get those so I can't help
I'll admit I'm atypical here -- yes, I managed to hide it from my father and step-mother for the first two years, but at some point in my early twenties, I just learned to deal. For me, "dealing with it" entailed masturbation for the cramps (serious, an orgasm helps) and I used Instead (a disposable menstrual cup, fashioned sort of like a diaphragm) so I saved the fluid in a jar and painted erections and portraits of men with it.
Hey, you asked, this is how I dealt with it.
Quote from: YoungSoulRebel on December 03, 2009, 04:04:50 AMI saved the fluid in a jar and painted erections and portraits of men with it.
I like that way of dealing with it! :D
Quote from: LightlyLuke on December 03, 2009, 01:00:14 PM
I like that way of dealing with it! :D
Thanks! I almost miss that part of it, but only
almost.
Thank god the red death's been gone for me for quite some time... think the last one was this past February, when I was off T for a few months YET AGAIN. I had PMDD and excruciating pain for the 15 years I endured menstruation, and I honestly don't know how I got through it. I was on what I called horse pills, some heavy-duty painkillers, for a couple years in high school, and more recently was on soma, a muscle relaxant. The mood problems I mediated with medical marijuana. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of choices.
SD
Quote from: YoungSoulRebel on December 03, 2009, 04:04:50 AM
I saved the fluid in a jar and painted erections and portraits of men with it.
That is epic. Gross but epic. Did you have to glaze over it so it didn't dry and fall off? Or maybe you could mix it with gel medium or something... *art nerd*
I tend to self-medicate with chocolate. Any other time of the month I'm pretty good about what I eat. But when that damn thing rolls around? I'm just stuffing whatever I think'll make me feel better in my mouth.
Heating pads work, too. I love those things. Even if the packaging for the ones specifically designed for cramps are excruciatingly feminine.
Quote from: Aaron Chris on December 03, 2009, 05:58:53 PM
That is epic. Gross but epic. Did you have to glaze over it so it didn't dry and fall off? Or maybe you could mix it with gel medium or something... *art nerd*
Unfortinately, I lost many of those paintings in a move. Of the three that stayed, I painted a portrait of Marc Almond on canvas about five years ago --primed, unmixed, and unglazed, and aside from becoming discoloured over the years due to age, it's held up alarmingly well. Another one that I did on a primed canvas over a layer of glow-in-the-dark spraypaint; the menstrual fluid (it's not true blood -- it's placental tissue) dried and flaked off. The third is on watercolour paper (as all of the lost ones were) and mixed with an iridescent watercolour medium; the colour didn't change as much as the other one, and it's had no issues with flaking.
If I were to go off testosterone for any reason and started
manstruating again, I'd try sealing them after they first dry to try and prevent discolouration. It's worth a shot, I figure.