Do you remember when you got your first period? How did you feel.. empowered? Afraid? Ashamed? Energised? Powerful? Disappointed? Excited?
For me it was a pretty forgettable experience. Actually I don’t even remember the exact age although I know I was around 11-12 years old. I couldn’t tell you whether I was at home or school at the time. Neither whether it shocked me or I was expecting it. All I remember is telling my Mum and her being very supportive. She showed me where she kept her supply of pads and how to use them. At school I think I told my closest girl friends but we never really spoke about it.
My periods were fairly regular from day 1. I had typical mood swings and pain but I never suffered with heavy bleeding or intense cramps. When I did have pains I was told to use a hot water bottle or take painkillers. I never had to miss school or other activities because I was bleeding. I just carried on with my normal life. All in all I’d say for the first few years my cycles were about as uneventful as you can get!
A good first period experience
I guess you could say I had a fairly “good” experience of menarche compared to many girls. There was no particularly embarrassing situation. I didn’t feel ashamed to tell my parents. It didn’t really affect my life in a negative way, or in any significant way at all really. But herein lies the problem. Although there was no outright issue, there was always the underlying message that I now carried a secret with me. I was supposed to hide the fact that I was bleeding and not let it affect my life or the lives of others around me.
In school, I remember quietly bending down under the table to take a sanitary pad from my bag. I would slip it into my jacket pocket so that I could sneak off to the toilet without anyone realising why. I remember being glad when I moved into year 10. Then we wore black skirts instead of grey and I no longer worried about bleeding onto it without realising. I remember dreading having to do sports lessons when I was exhausted and crampy and just wanted to be curled up in bed.
My dad, although also supportive, did the typical male thing of blaming our female hormones whenever me or my mum were moody, snappy or irritable. He never meant any harm, he was only teasing and making fun of the situation. But I didn’t know about the different phases of my cycle back then. This reduced my experience of menstruation to only two aspects: PMS and blood.
I was glad each time my period ended because it meant I could get back to “normal”. The pain went away and my mood would lift again for another month until my next bleed. I rejected this part of me and saw it as a shameful secret rather than something to be proud of. In effect, the monumental milestone of me becoming a woman just faded into the monotony of daily life. I was never taught to acknowledge the significance of my period. I saw it more as an annoying inconvenience than anything.
Impact of contraceptive pills
Once I turned 16 and wanted to start exploring my sexuality for the first time, I was terrified of getting pregnant. I asked my mum if I could go onto the contraceptive pill. With her permission my doctor prescribed it for me straight away. I’m sure you don’t even need parental permission these days and can easily get a prescription from a sexual health clinic.
I’m not going to go off on a tangent here about whether this is the right thing or not. The point I want to make is that the decision for me to take medication to disrupt my cycles was so easy for me to make. Aside from the embarrassment of having to admit to my mum that I was sexually active that is. I didn’t have any awareness of the importance of my cycle. Nor did I know what I might lose by pumping my body with artificial hormones on a daily basis.
Although I was made aware of the risks of taking the pill in terms of increased risk of various cancers and blood clots, no one ever told me what the pill would do to my body. Like many teenage girls, I was taking the pill with a break week each month. I thought I was still getting a period and somehow the pill just stopped me from getting pregnant. Now I know that it was only a fake period from the huge drop in hormones on the off week.
I was so out of touch with my body that I didn’t notice the loss of my natural rhythms. The only thing I experienced were the negative “side effects” of the medication such as intense mood swings and increased acne. I went back to my doctor and was prescribed a different pill which might “suit my body better”. Eventually after 12 months and 3 different pills I heeded the warning signs that the pill was harming my body. I accepted that I had to come off it.
No period, no problem?
After I came off the pill, my natural cycles didn’t restart. For 8 years I struggled with what’s known as Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA)! For most of this time I didn’t care and was actually quite glad that I didn’t have my period. It relieved me of the inconvenience of having to buy tampons and worry about my periods impacting my plans. I could have sex without worrying about getting pregnant. At least I didn’t have to deal with annoying hormonal acne, bloating or cramps.
But still something didn’t feel quite right. Somehow I felt so disconnected from myself. I felt like life was happening to me rather than me living out my purpose. Honestly, I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted. I didn’t understand it at the time but now I can see that all of this was related to being totally disconnected from my body and especially my womb space.
This is something I’m sure hat many women experience through being on the pill. Unfortunately it often goes unacknowledged as we don’t really talk openly about these things. Because most girls are not taught to appreciate and engage with their cycles from a young age. We don’t really know what we are missing when we suppress our natural rhythm either through contraceptives or just by not paying attention to our bodies.
The deep knowing of the womb still speaks to us so we have the feeling that something isn’t quite right. Sadly, we don’t understand it and often feel like there is something wrong with us. I think that this disconnection is also partly responsible for why so many women suffer with conditions such as PCOS and endometriosis. We are so out of touch with our intuition that we end up doing things which disrupt our hormonal balance. I think if girls were taught to celebrate and embrace their bodies and feminine nature, these issues would be much less prevalent.
My second “first period” experience
When I regained my cycle, my second experience of menarche was so so different. I had been actively trying to recover my cycles for 4 months. In that time I had read so much about female hormones and how they fluctuated throughout the cycle and the different phases. I was aware of the mood changes and physical symptoms I could expect. I was on high alert for any positive changes I saw in my body.
There was an excitement as I became aware of my body temperature rising. I noticed the changes in quantity and texture of my cervical mucus. Observed the subtle shifts in my mood and energy levels and my libido. When I was about to bleed for the first time I just knew it. I could feel the buzz in my womb and the heaviness of my breasts for a whole week before. Naturally I couldn’t wait to see if I was right. This is how all girls should be able to feel. The anticipation and exhilaration of becoming a woman rather than fear and shame.
I was actually on holiday when I started my bleed, something that I would have dreaded when I was younger as I would have thought it would stop me from going in the sea and ruin my trip. But I was so happy I didn’t care. I called my mum to tell her the news and actually cried with joy. Ever since then I have been thankful each time that I get my period and will never take it for granted again.
I am still in awe of the power and magic of the female body to create life. Also I am fully aware of how my hormones are affecting my experience of life from day to day. I can’t ignore the messages and signals my womb sends anymore. Although my period doesn’t completely dictate my life I do consider whether I am working with or against my hormones with every decision I make.
Celebrating our first period
I wish that all girls could have a positive experience of menarche. One that affirms their magnificence as a women and gives them a boost of confidence and self-esteem. Many tribal cultures such as Native Americans have embedded the celebration of menarche in their culture. They have powerful rituals and coming-of-age ceremonies but it’s something that we have lost in the UK and other Western countries.
I think it’s time that we reconnect with menarche and develop our own ways to honour all women’s first period. Not only for girls entering womanhood but also for all the women reconnecting with their cycle after years of ignoring it, hating it or suppressing it with contraceptives. I know the trend of “period parties” is starting to take off with parents celebrating menarche with their daughters. Women generally are feeling able to speak more openly about all things period related. I hope really it continues and we move into a more period-positive time!
Over to you…
If you would like to work with me to balance your hormones and improve your health, contact me to set up a free 15 minute discovery call. I am a nutritionist, yoga teacher and women’s wellness coach. We work together using a combination of modalities to support your individual needs and help you to feel your best.
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