My Period Vol.020 - I had no period problems, but after joining the workforce, I suddenly faced dysmenorrhea
Natsuki, 30 years old, SISIFILLE staff
Menarche: 6th grade of elementary school (age 12)
Current average menstrual period: 0 days (taking Dienogest)
Current average menstrual cycle: 0 days (taking Dienogest)
Sanitary products currently used: Panty liners, sanitary napkins, absorbent shorts (only used when bleeding is irregular as I am taking Dienogest)
-What day is your period?
Fear, pain
-What image comes to mind when you hear the word "menstruation"?
What you need for childbirth
- From here on, I'd like to look back on half of my life, focusing on menstruation. When was your first period? How do you remember it?
It was during spring break after I graduated from elementary school. I was hanging out with a friend at home when I felt a stomach ache and went to the bathroom. I noticed what looked like blood on my shorts and thought, "Maybe my period has started?" When I returned from the bathroom and told my friend, "I think I've started my period," she replied, "Maybe that's it?" as it turned out she hadn't had her first period yet. I then told my mother, who explained that it was my period, and we had red rice for dinner.
I didn't feel particularly reluctant to talk about menstruation with my friends. That's because, as part of a school program, we had a meeting for female students to learn about menstruation, and my friends and I would sometimes say to each other, "Maybe we'll get our period soon." At the meeting, we received a leaflet with basic information about menstruation and a pouch containing trial sanitary napkins, which I put away in a drawer in my room when I got home.
I remember that on the day of my first period, I used some trial pads that were in my pouch and some sanitary shorts that my mother had prepared for me.
-Do you remember anything about your period when you were in junior high school?
In junior high school, I was a member of the volleyball club. Because the amount of exercise was quite high, club activities on my period were difficult. I remember that it was difficult to go to the toilet frequently, and both my pads and shorts would get soaked with sweat and menstrual blood, which was very uncomfortable.
Another thing I remember is that the pads my mother had chosen and prepared for me were stiff and uncomfortable to use, so I didn't really like them. I was vaguely thinking that they were uncomfortable to use, when I came across an article in Nicola, a magazine I loved at the time, where a Nicola model was recommending pads from a certain manufacturer. I thought, "I want to use those pads too!" and asked my mother to buy them for me. Those pads suited me at the time, and for a long time after that, I only used those pads for my period. Looking back, I think it was because those pads had been featured in a promotional feature in the magazine... (laughs).
I have almost no memories of having a hard time with my period. My period blood leaked and stained my skirt, and a friend lent me her jacket to cover the stain around my bottom, and I also stained not only my skirt but also a chair at school with menstrual blood. After experiencing such mistakes several times, I think I learned to change my pads more frequently because I seem to have a heavy flow.
-How did you change when you became a high school student?
Since I entered high school, my periods have gotten even easier. I quit volleyball in middle school and no longer do strenuous exercise, so I think that's a big reason why I feel less discomfort.
However, once I entered high school, there was one thing that bothered me: vaginal discharge. Although I was taught about menstruation at school, I wasn't taught in detail about vaginal discharge, so I didn't know if my condition was normal or abnormal. At the time, I didn't know about panty liners, so my underwear would get dirty and the feeling of being wet was uncomfortable, so I was always thinking, "What should I do?" In particular, I remember feeling very sick when I had to spend long hours at my desk studying for exams. That's about all the memories I have from high school.
-Have you noticed any changes in your period since graduating from high school?
When I was in high school, I was troubled with vaginal discharge, but a friend at university told me that panty liners were very convenient, and I was able to solve the problem by using them.
Even during my university days, my periods were never painful, they just made me feel sleepy and heavy.
However, there was one day when I had a really hard time. It was during my fourth year of university, and while working part-time, I experienced period pain so severe that for the first time I realized, "This is period pain!" I was working standing up as a cosmetics salesperson, and suddenly I felt pain so severe that it gave me goosebumps, and I could barely stand. Although my workplace was all women, most of them were more than 10 years older than me, and there was no atmosphere where I could tell them I wasn't feeling well and take a day off, so I chose work that required as little movement as possible that day and endured it.
That painful period pain only happened once, and I never experienced the same pain again during my next period. I still don't know what the cause was. It wasn't until I started working that my periods started to become painful.
-Have your periods become more difficult since you started working?
That's right. From my second or third year in the workforce, my periods became very painful.
One of the most vivid memories from that time was when I went snowboarding with a guy I was dating. We had been together since college, and every winter we would go on snowboarding trips together.
At the time, I was just about to start my period, or had just started, and I went on the trip knowing I wasn't feeling well. Once I started skiing on the slopes, I was cold, my stomach hurt, and I needed to go to the bathroom but couldn't get there right away. My frustration grew, and as a result, I couldn't ski well, fell a lot, and was in even more pain. It was a mixed bag. Meanwhile, my boyfriend was skiing smoothly and getting ahead of me, and I couldn't bear it anymore, so I broke down and cried. (laughs) I vented my anger at him, saying, "I'm sick and in pain, I can't ski properly, I fall and I'm in pain, it's the worst. Why did I end up here?" I'm not the type to express my emotions so intensely, so he was surprised, and I was surprised at myself too. I later realized that it might have been due to PMS or other hormonal imbalances, but at the time I didn't know the reason. I worried about him not liking me, and I didn't want him to think I was the real me when I was on my period, and I felt a great sense of self-loathing afterward.
Then, around the age of 25, my periods suddenly became heavier. Every month, I would suffer from menstrual cramps so severe that I would be bedridden for either the first or second day of my period. I thought it might be due to a combination of changes in my environment and stress, such as breaking up with my snowboarding boyfriend, becoming busier at work, and starting to live alone. I was lucky that I could just sleep on weekends when I didn't have to work, but when they fell on weekdays when I was working, it was really tough because it was difficult to take time off suddenly.
Although I was suffering from painful period pain, my period had been regular, 5-6 days out of every 30 days, just like when I got my first period, and based on what my friends around me had to say, I thought my period was normal. So I didn't bother to go to the hospital to get it checked out.
However, when I was in my late 20s, I heard about a friend who was taking low-dose birth control pill, and I wondered if taking the pill would help me feel better, so I looked it up online.However, I learned that people who suffer from migraines cannot take the pill, so I gave up, thinking that because I suffer from migraines, I could not take the pill.
After that, I continued to avoid going to the hospital and tried various things I could do myself. I started with herbal tea, then tried over-the-counter pain medication, Chinese herbal medicine, and products that were said to be effective for PMS...some things seemed to work, but the same thing happened: I still had to stay in bed for one day a month because of my period.
I was thinking of trying out different sanitary products while I was there, and a friend recommended organic cotton pads, which is how I discovered the organic cotton pads from SISIFILLE, where I would later work. I was surprised at how comfortable they were to use when I tried them out. They felt softer on my skin than the pads I had used up until then, and I remember feeling a sense of security, like I was being wrapped up in them. From then on, I started using SISIFILLE pads regularly, wanting to use something that was even slightly better for my body.
The biggest change came exactly one year ago, when I was 29 years old, and started taking Dienogest. The trigger was a job change. I decided to quit the company I had been working for since graduating from college and work for the company that manages SISIFILLE. Once the handover from my previous job was settled and I had some free time, I went to see a gynecologist for the first time.
I went to the hospital thinking that if the pill didn't work, I might be able to get some Chinese medicine or something, but when I consulted the doctor, I was diagnosed with "dysmenorrhea." He said, "Anyone who feels so unwell that they end up in bed even once a month has dysmenorrhea," and I was totally shocked. It was only when I heard the word "dysmenorrhea" that I realized that having period pains wasn't normal, and I was glad that I had seen a doctor before it got any more serious.
My doctor suggested, "Since you suffer from migraines and can't take the pill, why don't you try Dienogest instead?" It was a medication I'd never heard of, no one around me was taking it, and it's a medication that stops periods, so I was initially hesitant, wondering if it was really okay to do something like that. I wasn't prescribed one right away, but was given time to consider it, and after gathering information on my own, I decided to give it a try and started taking it. There was a period when I stopped, but I'm still taking it to this day. Taking two tablets a day every 12 hours is a bit difficult, but once you get used to it, it's no big deal.
In my case, I had irregular bleeding at first, but after that subsided, my period completely stopped, and I no longer experienced the accompanying symptoms such as PMS, so I felt much better. Until now, I would be unable to move for one day every month, and I would have to leave work early, and I would have to spend my days off sleeping, but now that that's gone, I'm no longer at the mercy of my period, and I feel a sense of freedom, which made me very happy.
If you want to get pregnant, you'll need to stop taking the medication, so I think I might stop at some point, but for now I'm continuing to take it. Medications have side effects, so it's best not to rely on them, but I personally think it's fine to make a choice that suits you and suits your lifestyle and priorities.
-Looking back on your period, what do you think now?
Looking back, I've realized that the mind and body are clearly connected. When I was 25, I went through a series of difficult times that made me wonder, "What am I going to do with my life from now on?", and it started to affect my physical condition. From that experience, I realized that it's very important for me not to make myself too busy, not to let stress build up, and not to ignore my inner voice.
Note: "My Period" aims to provide an opportunity to think about and talk about menstruation, an issue that is often hidden, by recording and sharing how people of various generations and backgrounds have dealt with it. It does not endorse any specific products, services, or methods of coping. The content posted is based on each person's personal experience, so if you have any symptoms that concern you, please consult a medical institution.
