So I'm wondering what you pre-T guys do to make the cycle more bearable. To you post-T guys or anyone else who no longer has to deal with the evil thing, telling me to start T really isn't helpful. I'm saying this now because I've gotten that response on other sites. Seriously. I'll transition if and when I'm ready. Dx
But what do you do to make it more bearable? To "mind over matter" yourself right through one of the most humiliatingly female things you have to go through on a regular basis?
I've had people recommend menstrual cups such as the DivaCup to me. They say it's comfortable, safe, and you can leave it in for much longer than, say, a tampon, so it's easy to forget about it. But holy ->-bleeped-<- -- $45 - $55 dollars? I get that it's reusable, but still. Ouch.
So what do you guys use for, erm, coverage for that awful time of the month, and what other things do you use to get through it? Me, I tend to go for the chocolate and heating pads.
Tampons. It really alleviates a lot of the smell and feel of wearing a diaper pad all day.
My cramps are horrible. Every month when that day comes I go pretty much into a state of...I don't know what I'd call it. Kind of like shock or something. It's like I'm overwhelmed with fear for one day a month because every month my cramps are almost unbearable. I could never use Tampons or something "that goes up in there". I'm too sensitive there to try it.
I can't really give advice on what to do to make them better...I just use heating pads and I curl up in a ball and sleep for a few hours til they're gone
Quote from: Miles on December 23, 2009, 05:06:04 PM
My cramps are horrible. Every month when that day comes I go pretty much into a state of...I don't know what I'd call it. Kind of like shock or something. It's like I'm overwhelmed with fear for one day a month because every month my cramps are almost unbearable. I could never use Tampons or something "that goes up in there". I'm too sensitive there to try it.
I can't really give advice on what to do to make them better...I just use heating pads and I curl up in a ball and sleep for a few hours til they're gone
I'm on birth control to regulate my cramps. Endometriosis = Fml.
No advice on how to get through it, but a bit of advice for those of you who have cramps. If you have a regular cycle, you might be able to diminish the cramps if you start taking Ibu (or whatever you take for the pain) BEFORE the cramping starts. I don't mean that you simply escape the beginnings of the cramping, I mean that you can have a more pleasant experience overall if you start the pills early and keep taking them.
I found out by accident that this works for me, and I later did some research on the phenomenon. I found some studies that back me up; the Ibu prevents the uterus from going into spasms in the first place--or makes it much less spasm-y when it does start.
ETA: I don't know if this works for meds other than Ibu, actually.
Post Merge: December 23, 2009, 05:55:33 PM
Quote from: Brynn on December 23, 2009, 05:14:50 PM
I'm on birth control to regulate my cramps.
I hope it helps. BCP helped me, but not nearly enough.
Tylenol extra strength rapid release gels ;D
my cramps are absolutely crippling. It's the worst pain in my whole life. I can't even walk so I lay there screaming in pain. It happened in public once, so I bought the tylenol and it worked in less than 30 minutes.
Quote from: Nero on December 23, 2009, 05:00:38 PM
Tampons. It really alleviates a lot of the smell and feel of wearing a pad diaper all day.
Fixed. They're diapers, end of.
(and for some reason or another, tampons leak for me..which is freaking annoying)
I
think there's another brand of ...cup w/e you wanna call it, that's cheaper, around $20. If i had been smart and saved the link, I'd post it and save a lot of people a helluvalota hell.
I haven't had a period in almost a year now, thank god. I had PMDD and debilitating cramps... I would use xanax at times to mediate the mood swings, was prescribed soma (a muscle relaxant) for the cramps, and used medical marijuana for everything else. Oh, and tampons. I spent years upon years using pads, and the first time I used a tampon, I was like, omg... how dumb was I not to use these before? I'd recommend Tampax Pearl... they're a tad expensive, but definitely the best, in my opinion.
The only other solution I can think of is some form of birth control pill, as some can give you less frequent periods... of course, that's in exchange for more estrogen and/or progesterone.
SD
Ouch, that had to be rough, Sebastien. BTW, you're looking good in your avatar.
My birth control does help, most of the time. But I still hate just being on my period, even when the cramps aren't bad -- which they still sometimes are.
I ate Ibuprofen like candy. it helped a little bit. usually just curled up and died for a week or two. Hysto soon and end of my pain. best solution yet.
Tampons are way better than pads.
They help me a whole lot.
They seem to leak on me too, weird.
But they make me forget about it.
For the pain I use naproxen, mostly for headaches.
Use pads, don't want to stick anything in there really if I can avoid it.
As for cramps, I take tylenol like candy. It works.
For mental aspect, I just try to ignore it. Try not to think about it. As I do for most female-related issues that I can't change at present, I focus on the future.
Oh yeah, at let's not forget the chocolate.
Probably wasn't much help.
I mostly use tampons. I have a perscription for valium for cramps, so I usually take half of one of those and 4 motrin.
Here's the thing about the cup... I actually LIKE my vaginia, and I don't want to go digging around in there for a cup. I can't see how that thing would be at all comfortable for you guys to deal with. Any product that has instructions including "feel around for the cervix" and I'm out... :laugh:
Well, tampons are the way to go if you're unable to afford to buy any sort of mentrual cup. But really? It's like a binder. It's a hell of a lot of money, but it brings us that much closer to a bit of hapiness and feeling male.
The Diva Cup, specifically, is made of silicone and you're paying one price for a whole year, maybe even two because of its reusability. Compare that to having to buy box after box of those cotton wads you shove inside, which have also been found to cause problems, it's obviously the better option. I don't use a cup, but my girlfriend does and it looks pretty cool. She has no complaints of comfort either if you happen to change your mind and want one.
I really hope I helped a little. :-\
To any of you who have bad cramps, or cramps at all, I will pass along a tip that's been in my family for quite a while:
After it goes away for the month, start doing sit-ups. Seriously, just train yourself for the whole month, any spare time you have, just doing sit-ups. If you can get it to the point where you can do at least 25 (preferably 50 or more) without being completely dead, it should help a lot. And then just try to keep the muscles active in the months after by like doing it once a week or something to your target number. I don't know why it works, I can only assume it's because of the muscles that you contract and relax when doing them.
Hope this helps for at least someone!
The cup is worth it, if you can handle putting something inside of yourself. I usually bleed 4 or 5 days, and for the last two, after the pain fades enough, I can usually wear the cup and it's like not even being on a period at all. I can even use an STP (if that's your thing) while the thing is in. Really useful for random spotting between periods too (which sometimes gets pretty heavy on it's own) because you can leave it in all day.
Otherwise, cloth pads. I used to have terrible reactions (rashes, etc) to commercial disposable pads (and seriously, all that trash?) so I started using and washing cloth pads. I actually have less pain than I used to, because there's no exterior irritation. That, and they don't feel like diapers and crinkle and stuff. (and they're vastly cheaper in the long run)
For pain (debilitating cramps, headaches, nausea, and usually really severe gastrointestinal cramps too - endometriosis ftl) I eat ibuprofin like candy. Start with 4 when the pain starts going, and then take one every two hours for just about the rest of the week. I don't get to sleep or go out in public one or two days each month, so it really sucks. I just hide at home, with a heating pad. I used to curl up in the bathtub and sleep so I could be close to the toilet.
For the anxiety issues around it, I take Rescue Remedy; four drops every couple hours under the tongue, and 8 in the bottle of water I take to bed. It doesn't solve it entirely, not at all; but it usually helps prevent the panic attacks that I get that time of the month.
Quote from: Cody Oriole on December 24, 2009, 12:56:00 PM...I eat ibuprofin like candy. Start with 4 when the pain starts going, and then take one every two hours for just about the rest of the week...
I'd really like to know how you guys manage to do that without throwing up everything, and then some.
Quote from: insanitylives on December 24, 2009, 04:02:15 PM
I'd really like to know how you guys manage to do that without throwing up everything, and then some.
10 years of agonizingly painful menstruation gives plenty of time to build up a resistance to nausea caused by taking pills. If you don't already take several, I'd honestly recommend starting with just one or two :laugh:
Yeah. The nausea caused by ibuprofin is nothing compared to taking 2-4 midol on an empty stomach. Never could keep those down. Bleh.
Quote from: FlorDeLuna on December 24, 2009, 07:44:48 AM
I mostly use tampons. I have a perscription for valium for cramps, so I usually take half of one of those and 4 motrin.
Here's the thing about the cup... I actually LIKE my vaginia, and I don't want to go digging around in there for a cup. I can't see how that thing would be at all comfortable for you guys to deal with. Any product that has instructions including "feel around for the cervix" and I'm out... :laugh:
The reason I think I've had a lot of trans guys recommend it is because you can leave it in for much longer than you can really with either pads or tampons. (Well, you don't leave pads
in, but you get the idea.)
I did not deal very well. I ended up with a few surgeries, still trying to get them to cover a hysto. I would take over the counter stuff and spend as much time in bed as possible. In order to sleep I would take night time theraflu or anything like that. I even stopped working out the week I had my periods I was so miserable. I guess I tried to avoid the rest of the world as much as possible. Since that is not very good advice or even feasible the cup thing seems intersting I used both a tampon and a pad would have checked out the cup if I had known about it.
Myles
was never nauseated from ibuprofen or tylenol, aspirin or OTC menstrual remedies would make me puke just like birth control pills did, I would seriously gag trying to take those.
Quote from: Nero on December 23, 2009, 05:00:38 PMTampons. It really alleviates a lot of the smell and feel of wearing a diaper pad all day.
This. Plus using tampons helped with "out of sight, out of mind". Sometimes I'd even forget. :icon_redface: