About 90% of women have a period that comes once a month, lasts five to seven days and then leaves. It is a routine cycle that requires very little attention and does not cause a major inconvenience in your life. Unfortunately, there is the remaining 10% that are not able to be so blasé towards their period. Here’s what every college girl should know about irregular periods.
What is considered irregular? “If a woman experiences bleeding between periods or after sex, if the periods are particularly heavy, last longer than seven days or occur more than once a month, she should seek medical advice,” says Dr. Virginia Beckett of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to Women’s Health Magazine.
My struggle with irregular periods began during my freshman year of college. Throughout my first two years, sexual activity with partners was painful and often led to tears and eventual breakups. I would have two to four-week-long periods and was losing so much blood that working out and doing the things I love became impossible. I thought that my irregular period was due to stress, but during the winter of my junior year, things progressively got worse. After a 66-day long period of heavy bleeding, feeling tired and officially running out of quarters to wash my sheets that I bled through, I realized that something was very wrong and went to the hospital.
The following weeks were frustrating as doctors ran tests and I tried to balance my normal life. Eventually, a doctor diagnosed me with endometriosis. Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (the endometrial stroma and glands, which should only be located inside the uterus) is found elsewhere in the body. Symptoms can include pelvic pain (especially during sex), irregular periods and infertility. The best treatment option for me was to start a high-hormone birth control pill and to continuously take it so that I never have a period again. Since starting this treatment, I have recovered my iron levels and returned to regular activity. Even though there is no cure for endometriosis, I am very lucky that it is manageable and I can use my experience to help other women.
When it comes to irregular periods, each woman’s situation is unique. If you are reading this and are suddenly concerned that your cramps or eight day long periods may be something more serious, let me be the first to assure you that it is probably nothing. Your body does change with stress, new routines, new diets, etc. and all of these can affect your period. If you are concerned about irregularity, you should consult your gynecologist.
Irregular periods can be frustrating and negatively affect your mood. My best advice: keep it positive! Every problem has a silver lining. For me, even though I never thought I would want to have children, the fact that my choice could be taken away from me because of endometriosis was still devastating. In order to cope with this, my mom, dad and friends helped me make a list of all of the fun places I wanted to travel to and all of the cool things I could do instead of paying for a child. It was a really great way to make a scary situation a positive and optimistic one. I have also had conversations with my doctor about the future possibilities of surrogates and adoption if I do one day want to have a child. Irregular menstruation does not (and will not) control your life.
For more information on endometriosis, visit https://endometriosis.org.