I have no practical experience...

songbyrdsweet
songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
edited September 29 in Chit-Chat
...with having a *real* TOM.

I know all about what happens to cause a TOM in terms of physiology and such. But I have been on the pill since I was about 16, and now at 24. I have NO IDEA WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON.

I have been off the pill for about 5 months so now I am pretty much self-regulating. The first few months were easy--showed up every 28 days, one day of cramps and I'd get it, and it would hang out for 4 days. But this month...URGH...

I started getting cramps at the middle of last week, so bad that they kept me awake. I felt bloaty and tired. I figured that after my one day of cramps it would show up, but no. It still isn't here several days later! I still feel bloaty and tired, and today I am particularly nauseated and tired. I seem to be having a hard time keeping a comfortable temperature and after feeling really warm all morning, I was really cold this afternoon.

So I'm wondering...what's REAL PMS supposed to be like? Is this how it really is?? Cause this sucks. I want to go back on the pill asap.

Replies

  • MrsRobertson1005
    MrsRobertson1005 Posts: 552 Member
    wow i never want off the pill lol, before i got on the pill i had really bad cramps and felt like that but they never lasted that long just a couple days :( idk if it is worse because your body was so used to the pill... good luck girlie.
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
    i used to get crampy and feel like crap when i ovulated and then feel like crap during TOM. I had cysts on my ovaries and it made it feel worse. I am on the pill now and it is smooth sailing. I dont get cramps or headaches. I feel better when i am on my TOM, might be because i am not taking the pills that week.
  • Avalonis
    Avalonis Posts: 1,540 Member
    So I'm wondering...what's REAL PMS supposed to be like? Is this how it really is?? Cause this sucks. I want to go back on the pill asap.
    Lolololol. Sad, but funny!

    Midol + chocolate, you'll be fine.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    wow i never want off the pill lol, before i got on the pill i had really bad cramps and felt like that but they never lasted that long just a couple days :( idk if it is worse because your body was so used to the pill... good luck girlie.

    Haha well I wanted to go off to see if less estrogen would make weight loss easier. Also, it keeps me accountable on abstaining from sexy time until I'm married (which I have not always done, so it's basically just a really long self-imposed dry spell).
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    i used to get crampy and feel like crap when i ovulated and then feel like crap during TOM. I had cysts on my ovaries and it made it feel worse. I am on the pill now and it is smooth sailing. I dont get cramps or headaches. I feel better when i am on my TOM, might be because i am not taking the pills that week.

    Hmm, maybe I ovulated. I have heard that some women get mettelschmirz, which is basically pain during ovulation. I know I don't have anything wrong with my parts.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    So I'm wondering...what's REAL PMS supposed to be like? Is this how it really is?? Cause this sucks. I want to go back on the pill asap.
    Lolololol. Sad, but funny!

    Midol + chocolate, you'll be fine.

    How about double on the Midol and a shot of rum instead of the chocolate? Hahaha
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Well I'm drinking some very dilute Gatorade with a little lemon juice...maybe that will help hydrate me and help some of the water retention...I think a nap is also in order. :sick:
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
    I get real PMSy symptoms and I'm on the pill.... and yes, that sounds about right.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    I get real PMSy symptoms and I'm on the pill.... and yes, that sounds about right.

    So like, 2 weeks out of the month are devoted to feeling like crap? That is ridiculous. What a raw deal!
  • Riebop
    Riebop Posts: 275
    The symptoms of and their severity vary from person to person. I've never been on the pill so I can't tell you whether or not it's just your body adjusting. I usually get really bad cramps for the first 2 days and experience headaches and fatigue the first day. For those especially uncomfortable nights, I'll take one advil PM with one regular advil to help me sleep better. My cycle changes occasionally. Recently, I'm pretty much every 28 days on the nose. When I was a teenager, it was every 6 weeks. Bottom line is REAL PMS is just plain sucky.

    Edited to add: And my mood the whole week before it just ridiculous... Everything pisses me off and everything else makes me cry. :P
  • leahsevilla
    leahsevilla Posts: 127 Member
    everyone is different. you're body might just need more time to self regulate. after i went off the pill i didn't get my period for 6 months. now i'm on a non hormone IUD and i have all the "real" PMS symptoms you just described. But in my opinion it's better to not have hormones for as long as we have (i was on the pill from 17-24 with only a 6 month break...)

    ps @avalonis...

    midol and chocolate don't work for everyone. i'd like to see any guy deal with cramps and PMS
  • MisMolly
    MisMolly Posts: 88 Member
    I hear ya. I have never been on the pill, and it has never been a huge deal. Aunt Flo used to just show up, no PMS symptoms at all, and make me crampy with horrible backaches for a day or two, then hang around for a few non painful days and then gone. But lately, I am bloatly, exhausted, emotional, and crampy, for days before and all through that TOM. IDK what caused this change, but it is NOT fair or appreciated.
  • lsd007
    lsd007 Posts: 435
    Did you not get a class with the cool pamphlets and videos in the fifth grade? You should consult your congressman immediately, the public education system has clearly failed.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    everyone is different. you're body might just need more time to self regulate. after i went off the pill i didn't get my period for 6 months. now i'm on a non hormone IUD and i have all the "real" PMS symptoms you just described. But in my opinion it's better to not have hormones for as long as we have (i was on the pill from 17-24 with only a 6 month break...)

    ps @avalonis...

    midol and chocolate don't work for everyone. i'd like to see any guy deal with cramps and PMS

    I agree, I was tired of having those extra hormones. Estrogen is really good for you because it's cardioprotective and maintains bone density, but it also promotes a certain body shape and fat retention that I want to see if I can get away from. Maybe I will look into the non-hormone IUD.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Did you not get a class with the cool pamphlets and videos in the fifth grade? You should consult your congressman immediately, the public education system has clearly failed.

    LOL, 5th grade was 15 years ago! I'm pretty sure our video was so old they still used the pads that had to be attached to the waist band. No one told me it sucks this much and for this long. I just want it to get here and go away before I go to the beach! :angry:
  • angryguy77
    angryguy77 Posts: 836 Member
    Nothing to worry about, it's gone after a week.
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
    I get real PMSy symptoms and I'm on the pill.... and yes, that sounds about right.

    So like, 2 weeks out of the month are devoted to feeling like crap? That is ridiculous. What a raw deal!

    Sometimes, it is worse than others. Sometimes I can feel cramping and stomach discomfort as early as 2 weeks. Sometimes the cramping is pretty bad. I get tired sometimes. Sometimes, I will have either salty or sweet cravings. My skin has a greater tendency to break out the week before my period.

    I take aleve, get a little more rest. Running helps my cramps sometimes.
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
    everyone is different. you're body might just need more time to self regulate. after i went off the pill i didn't get my period for 6 months. now i'm on a non hormone IUD and i have all the "real" PMS symptoms you just described. But in my opinion it's better to not have hormones for as long as we have (i was on the pill from 17-24 with only a 6 month break...)

    ps @avalonis...

    midol and chocolate don't work for everyone. i'd like to see any guy deal with cramps and PMS

    I agree, I was tired of having those extra hormones. Estrogen is really good for you because it's cardioprotective and maintains bone density, but it also promotes a certain body shape and fat retention that I want to see if I can get away from. Maybe I will look into the non-hormone IUD.

    If you have having a hard time losing weight then you should consult your doctor... My doctor told me that it doesn't effect weight loss at all, and I have found that to be true.

    For me, about a week before I started I wanted to eat the whole house, and then the grocery store (in particular the dessert and baking isle) everything pissed me off or made me cry, I would break out, and become really tired. I would take naps and then go to sleep around 8 at night and then the week of I would get back aches and lower abdomin pain, and then I would start, I would have pain for the first two days so bad I would have to take ibuprophin all day long to keep the paid away. I would still be tired. My periods lasted 7 days. Since being on the pill, I have no PMS effects except wanting to eat the house and grocery store and one day of pain, my period lasts about 3-4 days...

    Honestly, just go back on the pill, if you think it is making you gain weight or stay at your current weight perhaps you could switch pills? mine has never caused any of this.
  • bunchesonothing
    bunchesonothing Posts: 1,015 Member
    midol and chocolate don't work for everyone. i'd like to see any guy deal with cramps and PMS

    I think they'd handle it just fine. I don't think they'd handle it any worse, that is, than the vast majority of the female population. Most of us aren't exactly stoic about it. We whine, and complain and moan and then, for some reason, like to have an ego boost over the guys, telling them they couldn't handle it. Really!?! Cause, we're all "handling" it so well. I would bet a great deal of us would trade it away in a heart beat, if we could still have kids and do so.

    There are plenty of reasons I'd rather be a girl, than a guy.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    everyone is different. you're body might just need more time to self regulate. after i went off the pill i didn't get my period for 6 months. now i'm on a non hormone IUD and i have all the "real" PMS symptoms you just described. But in my opinion it's better to not have hormones for as long as we have (i was on the pill from 17-24 with only a 6 month break...)

    ps @avalonis...

    midol and chocolate don't work for everyone. i'd like to see any guy deal with cramps and PMS

    I agree, I was tired of having those extra hormones. Estrogen is really good for you because it's cardioprotective and maintains bone density, but it also promotes a certain body shape and fat retention that I want to see if I can get away from. Maybe I will look into the non-hormone IUD.

    If you have having a hard time losing weight then you should consult your doctor... My doctor told me that it doesn't effect weight loss at all, and I have found that to be true.

    For me, about a week before I started I wanted to eat the whole house, and then the grocery store (in particular the dessert and baking isle) everything pissed me off or made me cry, and then the week of I would get back aches and lower abdomin pain, and then I would start, I would have pain for the first two days so bad I would have to take ibuprophin all day long to keep the paid away. My periods lasted 7 days. Since being on the pill, I have no PMS effects except wanting to eat the house and grocery store and one day of pain, my period lasts about 3-4 days...

    Honestly, just go back on the pill, if you think it is making you gain weight or stay at your current weight perhaps you could switch pills? mine has never caused any of this.

    I don't think the pill made me gain weight....but then, how would I be able to know, considering I've been on it since I was 16, ya know? I have still been able to get really lean, but I just wanted to see what would happen without the extra estrogen/progesterone. I haven't seen anything remarkable so I'm not hesitant to go back on for that reason. Mostly now it's just to save money and make sure I have one more reason not to do anything 'risky' with my boyfriend. :tongue: I have had to switch pills several times due to changes in my body fat so I have tried many different kinds all with comparable results. My gyno is really good about making sure I'm on something that will be effective when I get very lean.
  • nbloom
    nbloom Posts: 14
    I think since you've been on the pill so long that's the main reason why you're body is reacting the way it is.

    Maybe as time goes on and you stay off the pill the cramps will mellow out and your body will get more used to it. I guess just see how it is after a month or two then if it doesn't change talk to your doctor and see if you should go back on some pill to aid your cramps and bloating.

    Hope you feel better :)
  • Avalonis
    Avalonis Posts: 1,540 Member
    midol and chocolate don't work for everyone. i'd like to see any guy deal with cramps and PMS

    I think they'd handle it just fine. I don't think they'd handle it any worse, that is, than the vast majority of the female population. Most of us aren't exactly stoic about it. We whine, and complain and moan and then, for some reason, like to have an ego boost over the guys, telling them they couldn't handle it. Really!?! Cause, we're all "handling" it so well. I would bet a great deal of us would trade it away in a heart beat, if we could still have kids and do so.

    There are plenty of reasons I'd rather be a girl, than a guy.

    Agreed. I know VERY few women with a higher pain tolerance than I have. I've had my hand cut OFF, for cripes sakes.

    Not saying its easy, for sure it sucks, its annoying, and it happens EVERY month. Very crappy. But lets be real here, shall we? Saying a guy couldnt go through it is pointless, since obviously if we had to we would. And since that statement can never be supported by a test... pointless again.
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