Real Talk...... "That Time of the Month"

This isn't a "normal" post for me but lets be honest "That time of the month" isn't something we truthfully talk about and I would have loved something to read and even just to reassure me that what I was going through was "normal" and other women were going through it. I want this to be a space where we can share tips and advice to make these times better and easier.

As a teenager I always thought "Periods aren't bad I don't understand why people say they are" 

Well....I was wrong! My teenage years and even into my early twenties I never had a problem, not one cramp, headache or slight symptom that anything was happening apart from having to use sanitary products. From the age of 22 my symptoms appeared out of nowhere like a huge spider running from underneath your sofa!!

You would never know by looking at me that I have had to deal with this every month and there are hundreds of thousands of women doing the same!

I have grown to deal with it better because I know what to expect but it's still something I dread each month! 

Each month I have the following:

• Horrendous cramping to the point where I can't walk, sleep, nearly passing out and just sitting at my desk to work is a task.
• Feeling really sick out of the blue.
• Wanting to cry at everything (I mean everything including dropping a make up sponge on the floor....yes that did happen!!!)
• Change in bowel movements... this is probably the worse one!
• Not wanting to talk to anyone about anything.
• Temperature increase that feels like 1 billion degrees (not great for those heatwave days) 
• Bloating where I literally have to wear a different size trouser 😅

The one thing I did want to mention is that I recently discovered the Be You period patches. I have tried numerous things to ease cramping including heat patches, microwave hotties, oils etc but nothing has compared to these. They are a thin strip which you either stick to your lower back or abdomen. They contain Menthol and Eucalyptus Oil (they smell like olbas oil) and ease pain within minutes to the point where last month I hardly felt anything!!!! They are so discreet and have a slight cooling effect 😊 

I also use the CLUE app religiously to keep track of every single change in the body during the whole month. It helps because I can look back and see if there is a pattern each month with the same symptoms.

It's not just that time of the month but also a few days during ovulation, I have cramps and bloating.

I basically wanted to write this post to help all the women/girls out there that google their symptom every month like I do to make sure that everything is ok and normal. I just wished I had something to read and put my mind at ease when I started having these issues because it is normal and not a lot of people talk about it and it seems to be an "embarrasing" subject! 

If you have any advice or products to use to even try reduce the impact of this each month please leave a comment below for everyone to read 😘

Thank you for reading.

Tash xx