| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Clare |
Posted - Sep 15 2004 : 7:09:43 PM
Hi Kim,
as you mentioned in the other category, I will share just a bit of info that I have on the subject of menstruation. I do not profess to be a scholar of this subject, but have studied it in my own efforts to obtain knowledge and understanding.
There are two books that I would recommend for this subject. The first is by Dr. Christaine Northrup, called Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom. This covers the full spectrum of our lives with lots of suggestions and information from a woman ob/gyn.
The second is called Sister Moon Lodge: The Power & Mystery of Menstruation by Kisma K. Stepanich. It is out of print, but there are listings for it used on Amazon (that's where I picked up mine). She goes into detail about the moon and women's cycles. There's a bit of magick there too, and while I'm not a Wiccan, I feel there is knowledge there to be shared.
It was my understanding that to have your menses during the last phase/dark of the moon was ideal. I'm not certain where I originally read this, but will look further and see if I can pinpoint it.
I have found that personally, my menses are less painful when I have as little emotional stress during my cycle as possible. This means simplifying your life and your relationships. It's not an easy fix, but a worthwhile pursuit. It's about listening to what your body is intuitively telling you that it needs-- like resting when you're tired, quiet time when you need to think, etc. The other thing is to honor the priviledge of being a woman and having this capability to create life. If we aren't cursing our cycles, but flowing with them, using our creativity and listening to our inner voices, we are more likely to begin to be in balance. And that's what life is all about, being in balance. (IMO). Hope this helps!
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Whimsy_girl |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 5:42:35 PM
renewing a very old topic here... On Monday I am going to go and get my IUD removed because it is wrecking all sorts of havoc with me.. I'm a little worried about removing it because I've been reading about all kinds of unpleasantness while your body adjusts to it's own hormones. Has anyone else gone through that? Do you know of any detoxifying measures I can take once it is gone to flush out the residual stuff from my system safely and faster?
I have had it in for 20 months now, and it has caused my ankles and knees to swell.. (I had this happen with Depo many years ago but it hit my elbows and wrists instead) For some reason every synthetic hormone I have ever tried causes me to have water retention in my joints which mimics early onset rhumitoid arthritis, but then the doctors test me and it never comes up in the tests.. The only reason we discovered it was the hormones was when I went off them to get pregnant with Kaylee and Halsey, and then when the Dr put me on the minipill it only took a few weeks before the swelling came back after 9+ months of painfree bliss.
Hal wants to go get a vesectomy because he is sick of seeing what all these different forms of birth control are doing to me. I'm on one hand very excited to be rid of this awful thing, I am so bloated that I look 4 months pregnant as it is... on the other I am scared that we will regret this in a few years.. I am going to be 28 in November and I wanted to be done around age thirty anyway, and we are cleaning up an acre and building a home on it and I can't really participate in that while pregnant or with a brand new baby anyway, plus there is no room in this apartment for another little one.. we are like cannible gerbles in here as it is.. so it makes sense..
I love my girls and am thrilled that they are such great kids.. I feel like I should be happy with the 2 that I have at this point and not worry about what I don't have. I am not even ready for a third one at this stage in our lives and it would probably be harder for the girls due to all the other adjustments they have had to deal with this year.
I want to be able to go hike up the sides of mountains with them and really look forward to next year when Jo Jo is 2 1/2 and she can go on walks with us.. if we had a newborn I couldn't start doing as many of the "big girl" things I want to start doing with my girls.
Hal has also pointed out that if we can afford to get a reversal than we should have no problem affording a third baby if we change our minds in the next few years so thats always a consideration if we have a hard time...
Rambling.. sorry.. lots to think about .. but in the short term I am so excited to be rid of this thing.. I look forward to the pounds dropping off, the joint pain leaving me again and the nearly 2 years of cramping to subside..
Yay!
you can be oh so smart, or you can be oh so positive. I wasted a lot of time being smart I prefer being positive. |
| greyghost |
Posted - Nov 01 2005 : 12:59:54 PM
That article is pushing Seasonale. My gyno suggested I try that one last year (I guess it was new, it came with a pretty little purse and all kinds of goodies), so I did, but she also (bless her) wrote a renewal scrip for my usual pill, which is also low dose.
I don't know what is in Seasonale, but I was constantly bleeding a little, had almost daily odd cramping (not bad, just annoying like the common stomachache), and I just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like myself, I felt "off" - no other word to describe it. It was horrible. I also started getting headaches, something I have had on a few other pills that I have been asked to try. I've had BAD migraines from other pills.
For whatever reason, this Estrostep FE does not affect me like that. No headaches, I don't feel "off", everything else seems pretty normal. My friend with similar problems found that little estrogen patch works for her, as it is a lower dose than the oral pill.
Kennie Lyn, every time I go to the gyn I ask if there is maybe something else causing my periods to be so incredibly painful. They say no... I truly hope they are not wrong! |
| westfork woman |
Posted - Nov 01 2005 : 08:54:57 AM
I want to talk about this topic some more. I always complained about having my period, it always seemed like that first day we always had to do something very physical, chopping wood, or moving hay bales, lifting of some kind. But I kind of liked the idea of renewal and a connection to something elemental.
The women in my family rarely go to the dr. I should have gone years before I did. I had fibroids, lots of large, nearly record breaking fibroids. I knew there was something wrong, but until I was in horrible pain, I ignored it. The second opinion dr, said surgery, immiediately, I said, " I want to go on a trip, can't we wait a month?" dr. said, "you can have the surgery now in the hospital, or beside the road done by EMT's". So, I had a complete hyster. I was 53. I should have done it years before. I had no idea what feeling good was. I had been tired my whole adult life. I pushed myself to do everything, from getting up in the morning, and everything I did all day long. I fell into bed at night exhausted. I had migraines and aches and pains. Now I am great. No aches and pains, no headaches, and I am not tired. I have hot flashes and have trouble sleeping, but since I am not tired during the day, I must be getting enough sleep. I will put up with hot flashes for the rest of my life, just to get rid of migraines. All of the aches and pains and migraines must have been caused by hormones. The only headache I have had was from using a premerine cream and then I tried black cohosh to help with hot flashes. I still had the flashes, but got a migraine. I don't need estrogen, if it gives me headaches.
Greetings from the morning side of the hill. |
| westfork woman |
Posted - Oct 28 2005 : 4:41:11 PM
Both my girls are on that kind of "pill" except it is a shot. Both girls work construction, outside in all kinds of weather, hard physical labor. The older one has pms so bad you can't stand to be around her when she hasn't had the shot. The rest of the month she is a sunny, bubbly, happy person. But when she has pms she is horrible. I don't know how her husband put up with her. She has one child, and doesn't want any more, so with her choice of work, this is a good solution for her. My younger girl just had the most horrible periods you can image. Sick and throwing up and flowing extremely heavy. I really didn't want to put her on anything when she was young, but when she was 16, I discussed it with DH, and to his everlasting credit he said, " if the pill is what it takes to ease her thru, then do it". She isn't married or in a relationship, so she only takes the shot when they are working, usually summer. She doesn't like it, it makes her gain weight, but it is better than standing on the asphalt on a 105 degree day, starting your period.
Greetings from the morning side of the hill. |
| Clare |
Posted - Oct 28 2005 : 3:17:30 PM
I stumbled across this article at WebMD, dated Sept. 2003... so it's obviously been around awhile and I've been oblivious.. Anyway, I find this to be a disturbing article that bascially says we have the technology and we don't find any side affects, so we're gonna push it. What's more disturbing is the number of women that do it for convienence, not necessarily because of severe health reasons. So, if ya want to get riled, have a read! 
http://webcenter.health.webmd.netscape.com/content/article/71/81215.htm?z=1689_00001_2418_00_03
"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have." - Abraham Lincoln.... http://farmstyle.blogspot.com
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| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Oct 28 2005 : 10:06:12 AM
makes me think of that song "I enjoy being a girl!"
I agree...I would worry about using the pill that limits the amount of periods you have for other than medical reasons! I have not started menopause yet but have noticed that my periods are just a little more troublesome and I rest a little more at that time than in years past (just turned 47) so I guess maybe that is the beginning. I feel myself being a little more irritable than I used to be..although I am still hard to make really mad or anything like that..just a little more emotional I guess. My younger sister (who will be 46 in Feb) has been told by a doctor that she has started menopause stuff. She is so different than me and it will be interesting to see her journey throught that time first. I remember my mom as being so forgetful for a few years and emotional.
I guess I don't have a problem with things just progressing naturally. I have some grey hair, but not lots and some wrinkles, but I don't worry about it. Weight is an issue, but I don't obsess aboutit. I want to enjoy my life and not be a big old pain to others. And I want to be a good example for my 11 and 9 year old daughters who will be going into the next phase of their lives soon. I hope to be more helpful than my mom was.
Jenny in Utah
Put all your eggs in one basket..and then watch that basket!! Mark Twain |
| thehouseminder |
Posted - Oct 28 2005 : 09:38:15 AM
I can certainly understand taking them for medical reasons. For the first two years of my period I had not just horrible cramps, but diarrhea and vomiting. I missed a lot of school and EVERYONE seemed to know why since it was once a month. So, at that time, it would have made sense. I just don't think it's such a great idea to do it for convenience sake. Do take care of yourself, Lynn. You are the lynchpin that holds your family together.
You ladies have done a wonderful job of voicing what I could not seem to put into words. Women and men ARE different. Why not celebrate the differences instead of working so hard to close the gap and thereby slamming the door on everything we are meant to be? Women are a precious natural resource. We can't let society forget that!
Love to all,
Lucinda
When we were young, there were moments of such perfectly crystallized happiness that we stood stock still and silently promised ourselves that we would remember them always. And we did. --Holly J. Burkhalter , "Four Midwestern Sisters' Christmas Book"
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| greyghost |
Posted - Oct 28 2005 : 08:51:59 AM
That's a very interesting point.
Because... suddenly men don't make so much anymore. They used to make enough money to support a wife at home and a gaggle of kids, a house, and a car. Thinking "Leave it to Beaver" here.
Then women start working. Childcare becomes a neccessity... but most women really (even now) only make about $200 a month after childcare and their working expenses are paid off. This model doesn't work, folks! It isn't fair to the kids, to the family in general. If the wife makes more, fine have daddy stay home. There are men who are househusbands and it works fine for them.
Now I do stay home, but I work from here, with my part/time graphics business. I don't make tons of money, but that's okay. I am happy to have fresh bread or cookies coming out of the oven for DH when he gets home. I like having them around, and it's something nice for him to come home to.
I only wear makeup when I HAVE to. I only wear heels when I have to. I still am not one for dresses or skirts, but I will just as happily dig in the dirt as knead bread.
However, as I stated before... I do skip those periods, if they were just average, cramp for a day kind of thing, I wouldn't mind them. But as it is, for me those pills are a godsend. I hope I am not doing too much damage to my body, but then, those periods were making me far too sick. |
| Eileen |
Posted - Oct 27 2005 : 6:35:27 PM
Ladies, you speak to my heart. I heard something somewhere last week that has started me thinking. This person said that they felt that the whole womans lib movement was actually started and fueled by men who thought it would be the way to finally get all of our power from us.
Get us wanting what they have. Equal pay for equal work. equal recognition , equal responsibility equal this and equal that. It seems that we have come to a place where we are giving up all that being a woman is about in order to have more stressful lives. We give up our natural beauty for some fiction of beauty. We give up our time to do what we are naturally meant to do for something that pretends to bring us more money and happiness. Now we and our daughters are giving up the very life cycle we are here to protect for the promise of convenience.
Whose convenience does this really serve? What will the consequenses of these choices bring to the next generation?
I am so glad that there are still thinking women out there. I am so grateful for all of you.
We should be a force for cronedom! Teach our daughters and theirs what it really is to being a woman.
I am at the age where I am in the midst of but not through menopause. I went 6 months between menses and then 1 year between and all of a sudden I am on a 28 day cycle again. I did not mind the times they were so far between but I don't mind having them either.
My hair is greying and my body seems to be thickening, weight seems to be hard to dislodge once it has got a hold on me, this is a new thing in the last 3 years. I am totally intollerant of fools and will speak my mind when I feel the issue merits my energy or the target is teachable otherwise I will not waste my breath. I am at a point in my life where looking back I can see the decisions I made that were not the best decisions and know that it was because I did not have enough information to make a better choice. So I can give a little space to someone who is young and makes mistakes in order to learn but am also willing to give information to one willing to ask and listen. Something I have noticed about this time of life for me is that I am not amused when someone begins a dialog with me and asks a question but then does not allow me to answer but interrupts me in mid sentance or begins to talk to someone else in the middle of the answer. People do not pay attention to one another anymore. I do not know if noticing this has to do with Cronedom or if it is society as a whole. I think that cronedom brings with it an ability to think deeply about life, we can look back at our own and see where things could have been different and we can get involved in something where this life knowledge can be put to good use. Hopefully all the media hype will not drown us out.
Eileen
Songbird; singing joy to the earth |
| MeadowLark |
Posted - Oct 27 2005 : 3:10:48 PM
I agree with these posts girls, and kudos Lucinda for speaking up to the Doc. If we could only go back to a society that honored women's power in their natural cycles and phases of life...and all the mystery that goes with it! I feel so bad for these younger women being pressured into stopping and controlling what nature gave them as a monthly gift! If I were young now...I would probably look twice at that kind of option, but being older and encroaching on the crone years I know the power in the moon cycles. And if only the plastic surgery phenomena was not fueled by the hysteria to be young and wrinkle free and perfect. I agree, those startling white perfect teeth are creepy!
If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come. |
| thehouseminder |
Posted - Oct 27 2005 : 1:44:51 PM
Thank you Clare and Susan!
I can't remember where I read it but a huge amount of money is coaxed out of our pockets because the cosmetic companys and drug companies are bombarding us with messages that there is "something wrong with us."
We wouldn't buy much makeup and would buy fewer skin products if we weren't constantly told that we have all these "flaws" - things we didn't even know were "wrong" with us until we saw their commercials. 
Please understand I use a little makeup but not to meet someone else's standards. I think a prime example is all of the overly whitened teeth I see everyday. Scary and not natural. I have to wonder how good that is for tooth emamel. I guess we won't know for 20 years or so.
But I digress...........I just want to be a girl without others interferring . I am reminded of a line from the movie "Parenthood" where the wise Grandma compares life to a rollercoaster and confides that this exciting ride is something she greatly prefers to something boring and sedate. So, I'll take my periods, and my hotflashes - when they appear, and the white hairs that are sneaking in between the reds and they can keep their little "convenience pills" .
Lucinda
Oh, by the way, you're right about doctor's getting "spiffed" for writing a certain number of RX's for drug companies. One of my clients is a drug rep for Flonase and confided to me that they buy lunches for the entire staff of a doctor's office when he or she prescribes enough of their drugs and if they really sell them, they get sent on exotic trips!
When we were young, there were moments of such perfectly crystallized happiness that we stood stock still and silently promised ourselves that we would remember them always. And we did. --Holly J. Burkhalter , "Four Midwestern Sisters' Christmas Book"
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| BlueEggBabe |
Posted - Oct 27 2005 : 1:34:57 PM
Lucinda,
Two of my daughter's college room-mates take this convenience pill!!
One of them flippantly said "it's so great, now I will never be on vacation(or out dancing, etc. etc. ) and have to "worry" about my period showing up to wreck everything" My daughter has tried to inform them of the possible dangers of this pill but to no avail.
They just mock her for having to lay down and take an "easy day" once a month.I feel the way you do...I try to "use" that time for introspection and have tried to work with it and honor it.
What must happens to a woman's body or psyche if she chooses to ignore this gift?? It is disturbing to think about it.
www.feedsackfarmgirls.blogspot.com
"If more of us valued good food, cheer and song above hoarded gold,the world would be a merrier place."
J.J.R.Tolkien |
| Clare |
Posted - Oct 27 2005 : 1:30:35 PM
I think drug companies are having way too big a push.... and the doctors probably get a kick back of some sort along the way. I personally feel that it violates all of womanhood and should not even be considered. It's horrendous. Glad you told him how you felt, Lucinda. More women need to get in touch with the cycles of life once again. It's in these cycles of life that we find our power.
"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have." - Abraham Lincoln.... http://farmstyle.blogspot.com
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| thehouseminder |
Posted - Oct 27 2005 : 1:18:07 PM
I went for my yearly check up the other day and my physician wanted to tell me all about the new Birth Control Pill which keeps you from having a period for a whole year.
I reminded him (he's been my physician for 17 years and does regognize me in public, all my clothes on) that I don't take "The Pill" because I am unable to get pregnant anyway and because I don't think it is all that safe. Further, I find that the week before my period is a very productive time for me when I handle things more efficiently than usual and that during my period, my body seems to cleans itself in many ways which I described to him but won't gross the rest of you out by listing.
He said that many, many young women are taking it because it is "So Convenient". I told him quite honestly that the idea creeped me out. I feel like we are being lulled more and more into a mindset where being a woman is not honored anymore. Other than the obvious "appendages" there seems to be less separation between men and women in the ways that count.
I want equal pay for equal work, etc. My periods are slightly to moderately uncomfortable at times, but just who is inconvenienced by my period anyway??? Hmm. Are young men pressuring their wives/partners to take this?
I really like my Doctor and to his credit he was very affirming and said I was the first female patient of his who seemed to give this any thought at all. What do the rest of you think?
Lucinda
When we were young, there were moments of such perfectly crystallized happiness that we stood stock still and silently promised ourselves that we would remember them always. And we did. --Holly J. Burkhalter , "Four Midwestern Sisters' Christmas Book"
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| mdotterer |
Posted - Aug 22 2005 : 5:45:50 PM
What a great topic! I've just joined this community and I'm still exploring topics and I've had a blast catching up on this one. I am so convinced that women should rule the world! I think Eileen really had it right about the witch burnings - that period of time was like the final straw as far as destroying the credibility and sacredness of women. It's a miracle that some women and cultures have been able to keep it alive over recent centuries and we are starting to get back to it. I can't wait to be a crone! Not because of no periods, but because I want to be a Wise Woman. Especially a Wise Woman who doesn't tolerate stupidity by people who should know better! Women have the nature and power to truly understand the earth and the nature of "inter-relatedness." That is exactly what is needed in our societies!
Marlene |
| MeadowLark |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 4:05:02 PM
Hey Helen, Sounds great! I'll fly to NZ for my 95th Birthday sporting my blue hair, fancy wool scarf and sheepskin slippers and a cane made of that manuka wood you talked about and we will walk the beaches together then hit those wineries!! Good times ahead of us!!!
Being is what it is. Jean Paul Sartre |
| bubblesnz |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 3:48:58 PM
Good one Meadowlark, I,m with you on that one. !!!
We could start a whole new way of looking at Cronedome.
Instead of feeling old, we could call our selves RECYCLED CRONES, as appossed to PRECYCLE CRONES, who arent at that stage yet.
Cant you just picture a bunch of Recycled crones, scarfs around boobs, slippers and walking sticks,hitting the wine bars. :) |
| MeadowLark |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 3:07:25 PM
Good question Helen! Cronedome is probably so different for women, When I am done with periods I don't think that will be the moment I am a crone. I think I will officially be a "crone" when I stop taking a double take at a buff and hunky young guy. That might be when I hit 95!!!!
Being is what it is. Jean Paul Sartre |
| bubblesnz |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 2:04:08 PM
I had a hysterectomy at 36 and thought it was great, no longer bleeding every 2 weeks for a whole week. It was totally draining me of life.
However having read all your stories on how you guys honour that time and how all that seems so right, makes me wonder if maybe there would have been an alternative to surgery for me.Sadly too late now.
Can someone tell me how will I know I am becoming a Crone.? Not having had periods for so long, I have really become out of touch with that part of my body.Being 47 now, I must be close, as they say after a hysterectomy surgery you go into menopause earlier.
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| josie |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 11:43:26 AM
Hi I am new here so Hi to all! I have been reading through all your posts and needed to know about the double moon in July?? I am not sure why but have had menstruated three times since July 14th. Is this to do with the moon phases I am actually on vacation since the 16th of July. Would there be a stronger effect from the moon's pull on my body because I am staying so near the ocean? If anyone can help please!
Thanks!
Josie |
| Clare |
Posted - Aug 11 2005 : 11:03:42 AM
Let's get back on topic, girls, and maybe take this to the barnyard/animal category. Thanks much!
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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| greyghost |
Posted - Aug 11 2005 : 10:55:12 AM
Post deleted by greyghost for not pertaining to the thread. Sorry! |
| BlueEggBabe |
Posted - Aug 11 2005 : 10:30:22 AM
"She was described as being over 6 feet tall had knee length red hair and rode her white stallion nude into battle weilding a sword. Not THAT is attitude!!!!!"
HAHAHa you make me laugh!
I feel so much better thinking how embarrassed my daughter REALLY would have been if I had attitude like THAT!!!
Had it been a different time, I can imagine those emotions causing me to do the same!!I am positive KMart would be thankful that it is 2005!
S.
"If more of us valued good food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
J.J.R.Tolkien[/size=1] |
| MeadowLark |
Posted - Aug 11 2005 : 10:18:36 AM
Lynn, I respect every persons right to own the breed of their choice. I am not into bashing any particular breed... But the law is the law. This all came about a round a year ago when a 3 year old girl had her face ripped off and an eye put out by a pit bull attack. She was playing in HER back yard and next door a pit crawled under a chain link fence and attacked her. The father of the girl got to her in time, she survivied but with horrible disfigurement. I was in my local grocery store and ran into the young parents and their daughter, her face stiched and scared. That warrior in me came out and I went up to the mother and hugged her and told her the community was behind her, and that from one mother to another I cared and that her plight and what happened to her daughter would make a difference. ( this was a young, poor family) If you could have seen that girls face...anyway our community decided to ban the breed after other vicious attacks. If the owners of these dogs take responsibility, train them, keep them restrained, and raise them in the proper environment then they should have the right to do so... I hate banning of any kind too...but the breed brings very special resonsibilities that many people have no idea or inclination to accept. Then I DO get angry, and will defend my right to safety for myself and children.
Sue, I understand that "Bodacia" instinct kickin in there! Bodacia was an ancient warrior princess who avenged her daughters rape by taking on the barbarians in ancient Britania and kicked some a**. She was quite successful in leading a huge army against the enemies of her family and home. She was described as being over 6 feet tall had knee length red hair and rode her white stallion nude into battle weilding a sword. Now THAT is attitude!!!!! You GO GIRLS!
Being is what it is. Jean Paul Sartre |
| greyghost |
Posted - Aug 11 2005 : 09:56:17 AM
Susan, on behalf of all women, I thank you for your outburst!
I've snapped at a few leering men in my past as well, and I'm in my late 20s. It makes me so MAD when men do that. I don't care if they decide to be dangerous, I can fight back, but I decided years ago I WILL NOT tolerate beeing leered at or called.
Just two weeks ago I was out walking my dogs and these guys in a white truck stopped about a half block away to jeer (Hey Barbie, come back!) and whistle and hoot. I was hoping they'd brave up to come closer because I have been teaching the dogs to growl on command for just these occasions (Shep mix and pit mix)and I had really nice visions of grabbing the driver by the ear with a few less than pleasant words of my own, starting with "Didn't your mother tell you that's not the nice way to get a lady's attention?". Lucky for them (and me) they were chicken and turned the other way.
I might not be able to go out in public if menopause makes me meaner to idiotic men like that.
(P.S. My dogs like everybody. They think the growling is a game, and since I know them I know their play-growl and their "something's making noise outside and I don't like it" growl. The growl on command is a play growl. But only my hubby and I know that. ;) |
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