Good Menstrual Health: 7 Period Red Flags You Shouldn't Ignore

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Have you missed your period? Do you experience pain before, during, or after your menstrual cycle? These are red flags. Menstrual troubles may affect a woman’s general health. Good Menstrual Health should be distinguished by age of menarche, length of the menstrual cycle, excessive bleeding, clots, and persistent intermenstrual bleeding.

What are the red flags?

There are many different red flags that you might experience during your period. Some of the most common include cramping, chronic pain, sexual exhaustion, lack of anal lubrication, and more. These can be caused by any number of things including stress, changes in hormones, or impending vaginal problems. Don’t ignore these signs!

Length of menstrual cycles

Our menstrual cycle is thought to be about 28 days long. The fertile period of most women is between 6 to 20 days when they are ovulating. So it can vary quite a bit, but an average woman will ovulate about every 28 days. Some women have periods that are very regular, the same length every month. Other women will have periods with variations in length. Some women except for major hormonal changes will experience regular menstrual cycles.

Longer periods

One of the signs that you may have a hormone imbalance is a longer period. If your periods usually last for 4 to 5 days and now they’ve been going on for 7 or 8 days, it could be a sign that something is wrong. There are also other symptoms you should take notice of such as menstrual cramps, mood swings, excessive sweat, acne breakouts, ovulation pains, and abnormal amount of vaginal discharge when compared to pre-menstrual fluids.

Colour of the blood

If your period is brown or black, you could have hemorrhoids. It’s also possible that blood loss is so heavy that your body cannot process it quickly enough. Missing a period, getting one more day than usual, spotting in between periods, or experiencing sudden stomach pain can also signal an underlying condition.

Should I be worried about clots?

Women who have excessive menstrual flow should be monitored for anemia because it can lead to headaches, tiredness and depression. Research suggests that clots are frequently an early sign of period problems, so if you notice any unusual symptoms, you should speak to your doctor. Although research is still being done on this issue, it doesn’t hurt to be on the safe side and frequently check in with your doctor on possible symptoms of periods.

Persistent intermenstrual bleeding

Persistent intermenstrual bleeding (PIMB) is when you have your period for 6 weeks straight without 6-weeks break in between. Menorrhagia, which is when it takes longer for your period to stop or take more than one day for it to start up again, does not count.

Exhaustion and other pains

While the occasional headache or mental fog doesn’t call for emergency care, it’s not something you should ignore either. So what does warrant a phone call to your obstetrician? Regular headaches (menstrual migraines; pre-menstrual or post-partum headaches; pain with no clear cause), for one. Painful periods (especially if the pain, makes you wish you could curl up and hide, comes with backaches and cramping; and/or lasts 10 days or more), too.

Super Painful Cramps is another red flag

If you experience symptoms such as cramping or exhaustion on a monthly cycle or suddenly-perceived pain in one part of the abdomen, these may be symptoms of something such as PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), endometriosis, ovary cancer, adenomyosis, ectopic pregnancy, uterine cancer, missed periods due to being pregnant with multiples. You should also be on the lookout for light periods. If you are sexually active and miss a second period soon after the first one, that is another important indication that something may be wrong. Call your doctor right away.

Conclusion

Pink flags are warning signs that certainly warrant a second opinion and eventually a cure, and this includes several gynecological disorders. After diagnosing your red flags, you should consult with your physician to fully understand the cause and course of treatment for the disorder.

To understand more about Good Menstrual Health, read these blogs by Infano.

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I am Forty and I no longer give a f*ck. Yes, I said it. The forties brings with it its own set of freedom and a sense of liberation. Most women I know have agreed on how they felt so different and carefree when they reached that decade of their life. Perhaps it is because you have grown up, experienced quite a few ups and downs, and have some knowledge about differentiating between fake and real people. Also by this time most of us have settled in life, be it career or family life, so that part is sorted mostly and we seem to have some more time on our hands for ourselves. I feel this was an ideal time to learn new skills, travel solo or indulge in.

Society and their trivial talks don’t seem to touch me much, and I am more comfortable in my skin than I have ever been. Insecurities have seemed to fade and I am a more confident person now who cannot tolerate people’s bullshit anymore and will call it out if I have to.

From my personal experience, there are some life lessons I have learned, some the hard way through trials and tribulations and some through the pure experience of trial and error. Take this as relationship advice for women or as a guide to being forty and fabulous, one thing is for sure, this will definitely let you know who your best p[eople are whom you want to keep in your life.

Here are a few things I am unapologetic for in this phase of life and I wish I could tell these to my younger self. But here it is for whoever needs to hear this.

1. Putting myself first.

This is the time I learnt self-love and the importance of it. I can’t be anything to anyone if I am nothing to myself. And if I can’t love myself flaws and all, I can’t expect others to love me that way either. So yes, I embraced my flaws and imperfections and made peace with them

2. Not answering the phone when I can’t or don’t feel like it.

With technology and communication narrowing spaces between people and literally invading each other’s personal lives and spaces, I have learnt how underrated it is to get some peaceful time away from the pings, beeps and rigs of the mobile phone. I don’t pick up calls of people who I know will disturb my mental peace, text me instead, please. And I make sure I keep the ringer on silent and keep it away for a couple of hours if I have to. The world can wait.

3. Having firm boundaries.

Nope, not oversharing anymore. Everyone does not have to know everything about myself and I won’t let anyone overstep their boundaries. I have allowed many to do so in the past but now I don’t hesitate in reminding people of their place and will tell them if they are trying to get too personal.

4. Not settling for less than I deserve.

No more compromises. That time is done and dusted. Forty onwards, I will give priority to myself because now, I know my worth, I know what I deserve and

5. Standing up for myself and not be taken for granted

No one is getting away by offending, hurting or wronging me. If feelings have been hurt, they will be told. I am not tolerating people and their snootiness anymore.

6. Saying no to something I am not interested in doing

There is something so liberating in saying no to anything you don’t want to do. I have always been a people pleaser all my life. But not anymore, no. I am not saying yes to things I don’t want to do just because others may feel bad.

7. Putting Mental Health first

Don’t hesitate to take a break from people and things when you want to, without giving explanations. If a vibe doesn’t feel right, trust your instinct.

8. Healing at my own pace

Grief, sadness, hurt, illness, feeling low- all these are valid feelings and no one needs to tell you how long you need to heal from any trauma. You get to decide that for yourself.

9. Calling out people for their sexism

You do not have to tolerate the wrongdoers. Not that family uncle making sexist jokes on marriage. Or that neighbour who is constant body shaming you by being a constant weighing scale, telling you how much you have lost/gained. Just ask them to mind their business.

10. Unlearning toxic things I learnt when I was younger

There was so much sexism and misogyny I grew up with and very frankly I didn’t realise it until now. It is not until now that I learnt that so many things I learnt were normal were actually not and were wrong on so many levels.

The forties have been a self explorative journey for me. I have become more comfortable in my skin, learnt to embrace my flaws, don’t care about my size, weight or those greys, wear what I like and do what makes me happy. I only feel I could revisit my younger self and tell her these things. But then had I not gone through my life experiences I probably wouldn’t be the confident, unapologetic person that I am today.

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