Sometimes right before my period starts, I notice that my bladder is weaker than usual. Like, when I get home from work I usually have to pee. Usually I can casually unlock the door, gently set down my bag, greet my cats, and stroll in a leisurely fashion to the bathroom. But on a pre-period day, I’m pulling my pants down before I even set foot in the house and screaming at my cats to get out of my way.
In fact, one of the “trustier” warning signs that my period is about to start is not being able to hold my bladder through the night. I just KNOW I’m about to start when I wake up at 3:00 on two consecutive nights with urination on the brain.
What I have read is that estrogen influences the muscle tonicity of the bladder. Which explains why so many women have incontinent issues after menopause.
I’ve never noticed peeing more or having more urgency around my period, but I also pee less than most people I know anyway (can’t remember ever getting up to pee in the night, etc), and never have issues with water retention. I don’t get a lot of hormonal/period-related side effects these days (though I used to before I changed my diet and started exercising a lot more, in my early 20s - I’m 28 now).
I don’t get the whole two-tablespoon (about 30ml) period thing, either. I’ve filled my 30ml Divacup to the brim 2-3 times on the two heavy days of my period (though I usually try to change it as often as possible to prevent leaks). Then I bleed lightly on and off for another 4-5 days. Probably 150ml, minimum, for my average period. And I’m a very small woman. From what I’ve read on menstrual cup forums, this is not excessive bleeding. FWIW I’m not on the pill.
My cup always leaks at a bad time because on my heavy days it fills up fast and unpredictably, so I use tampons with a backup pantyliner (because I always bleed out through tampons, too - there are times where I literally GUSH BLOOD, making using pads alone both gross and impractical, because the runoff often escapes and ruins my clothes) more than I use my cup.
ETA: Maybe I don’t pee more because any retained water is released in my massive floods of menstrual fluid.
Apologies. If it’s any consolation, my main argument when doctors tell me I need to lose weight is that when I do I lose my periods as well I’m not fond of them, but damnit, not having them isn’t healthy.
And the first day is “move to the throne day”. I lose about 2kg in 24h.
I certainly don’t change my tampon only once a day, but I am a fairly light bleeder too. Sorry. I probably come in just under the two tablespoons, I am guessing.
Also I do pee a LOT, the first two days. Also right before. Constantly. I also drink a lot of water, but I definitely notice my pee schedule changing just before.
Wow, it’s really interesting how much variation there is in this department!
I’m another very light one. I empty my menstrual cup twice a day, once on waking, and the second time before going to bed. For two days. Occasionally 2.5 days max. Then I’m all done. I’d estimate 1, maybe 1.5 tablespoons in total.
I love my cup and I only have a light flow, so I’m curious as to what makes you think that?
Just the slant of most of the marketing/raving, including my own. “I don’t have to change a pad every two hours!” and “Cut down on the landfill!” and “I can’t believe how easy this is, I almost forget I’m on my period!” don’t seem to sell women who use a single pad a day for three days.
And I mean that quite literally - I’ve worked a tent at festivals selling the things. They sell better to self-reported heavy bleeders. That’s not to say that light flow folks don’t buy them ever, they’re just harder to convince. When your period isn’t much of a pain to deal with, why switch to this weird “new” system?
I love mine. Pop it in, and don’t think about it until bed time. Wake up, empty while showering. It’s so fuss-free - don’t have to wrap something and find a rubbish bin, plus the environmentally friendly aspects, and the ‘don’t have to buy supplies and have supplies on hand’ aspect of it works for me.
But yeah, I guess if your period is a pain, you’re probably more likely to try something new and weird to see if it can make it less of a pain! And there is a little learning curve, which probably is easier to overcome if there’s more incentive I guess.
Yeah, everybody keeps trying to sell the Cup to me. Why should I switch? My system works perfectly. The Cup seems like more work and more of a pain than I need.
I agree with you. There is no way only 2T of fluid can soak an overnight pad, and I have days I can go through said overnight pad in about two hours (while awake and vertical), so figure at least six for that day.
I’m torn myself. On one hand this seems like bullshit, but on the other I now know my own periods are considered much worse than I would have guessed due to matching things up on this now fairly widely used scale (first 36 hours of “bad” months - which is three/four times a year - are a 6, less bad months are a 5, settling down to 4-5 until the last day of my period). So I don’t know, if my periods are pretty bad, maybe I’m just really far outside the average and the average *really is *that low.
I wonder if they are counting break-through bleeding of women on the pill as a ‘monthly period’? That could explain such a low average. I hear bleeding while on hormonal birth control is usually light, and so many women take the pill near-continuously for many years.
I’m not fond of them, but damnit, not having them isn’t healthy.