Where do I begin? A lot of this journey was forced onto me because I started having issues with my menstrual cycle in 2018.
I can never remember the exact age I was when I got my period, I think I was about 13 years old. At that point I’d read some books that my mom brought home, but never really knew what it all meant. You know the books like, The Care and Keeping of You, where they just covered the basics of anatomy and mentioned eggs and bras and other things. To be honest, I don’t think I really understood the value of the book until I got my actual period. My mom was also involved with our church who happened to have a relationship with Planned Parenthood so we got a bunch of free pads and tampons. Those definitely came in handy when that fateful day arrived.
I was told I officially became a young woman and would have this thing called a period every month until I’m like 50 [oh joy]. Not something a 12/13 year old wants to hear. I’m not sure when the cramps started for me, but I do remember that I didn’t get my period every month right away. Sometimes it came every two months or three months and I would have cramps that were manageable with Ibuprofen or Tylenol. Probably a year or two into my cycle it was every month like clock work, and so was the cramps. I have to dig deep into my memory bank for this because I’m so jaded by my current cycle that any previous experiences seem null and void.
As I got older my cycles became more heavy and I inherited bloating from my college roommate while learning about the power of syncing and how when women get together all our cycles start syncing. It’s honestly insane and pretty intriguing how that works. So anyway, here I was at age 18/19 receiving new period symptoms just because the body does what it wants. Then fast forward to age 25 when I met another friend who gave me her right leg pain that left me limping the first two days of my cycle. The only upside to this was I knew exactly when my cycle was coming; there were no more 5am surprises. When that right leg pain hit, I knew to suit up and be ready for war.
And boy did war come at the ripe age of 29. So this brings us to the dreadful year of 2018 where everything changed. I had just moved to California earlier that year, started a new job, and moved into my first place—October 2018 to be exact. The never-ending period began.
Do you remember your first period? What was it like versus what it’s like now? Let’s get intimate with each other because these blog posts are only going to get more detailed and dirty. Hold on to your butts!
P.s. Be sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel where I’ll be posting full videos on my experience and what’s it’s like living with chronic (invisible) pain.
Xoxo, Elisa Michelle
