nepaliaustralian

If you are a woman, you know what I am talking about and if you are a man, you will think you know what I am talking about.

I am talking about periods. It comes with a headache, cramps and mood swings (for most) uninvited each and every month for every woman in this planet. It is like you wish this cycle was once a year or once a life time. If you are a man, you know you have to deal with it as well. You are the one we vent our anger and frustrations on during that time. So indirectly you are affected by these cycles as well. If you still don’t know what I am talking about, let me spell it out for you, I am talking about MENSTRUATION.

When I was in school, during sex ed classes we were taught that a woman has mood swings during their periods. Hope all the boys were listening as they will be affected by this their whole life as well. It would be so sad if they were not listening ,thinking that’s only girl’s stuff because they are on the receiving end of the grief from their partners on those days.

The few hours in school did not prepare me for the cycles I have to go through every month of my life. As I mentioned in the post Bahra, we celebrated my becoming an adult with a few hundred people and lots of gifts but not even a word on what to expect and how it will affect my life.

I find that I am lucky that my period is not as bad as many of my friends. I will tell you the details later. Mine started really great with no pain at all. I used to play sports in school during my periods and I was perfectly fine. But then in the last few years, I started to get lower back pains. Then bad mood and irritation followed to make matters worse. When I googled it, it told me all that is normal. “What the hell!” was my reaction. “To be in pain and bad mood is normal?” Anyway I couldn’t do much so I tried my best not to let it affect my life. There are times I wish boys had this cycle rather than girls but then I have no control over nature.

I feel bad for the males of our species, like my husband, who have to put up with us when we are going through it. I know I am very unreasonable and cranky. Nothing he does will be right at that time. (Sorry my darling). But then I don’t know any other way to handle it.

Back to my friends. I really feel lucky when I see my friend who can’t go to work during these cycles. She has to take painkillers and lie on the bed at least for the first few days. She has missed so much in life due to them. She went to so many doctors but no solution yet.

Also I have an aunt who cries every time she goes through the cycle. When I was a kid, I had no idea why she was in so much pain. I really thought she had some horrible disease but later I realised it was just those time of the month.

I read in some reports that if you have really bad pain then you must see a doctor as it can be something serious like a sign of endometriosis, a condition in which cells from the lining of the womb, or uterus, grows in other parts of the body. Endometriosis can cause inflammation and the formation of scar tissue, leading to pain, irregular bleeding and, in severe cases, infertility and is common in women in their 30’s. I know it seems rare but this disease is believed to affect one in ten women but most of them are not even aware of it.

If you were born in a country like Nepal, talking about menstruation is taboo. You live with cramps, heavy flow and have to interact with people who are rude or unsympathetic. I remember being embarrassed to even talk about it and the irony is now I am writing a blog about it.

I really think young girls need to be taught everything they need to know about these cycles so they can take proper action in time. In this time and age, natural things like periods should be openly discussed and girls should be encouraged to get information about it. Also I believe every male needs to learn about this as well as they will be spending time with females in their life who are going through these cycles. I know there is no need to stop our life every 28 days but some women can’t help it. It will really help if there are people around who can understand us during this time.