# Does menstruating make you a "spaz?"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 8, 2002, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466 "2002-04-08T11:33:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/1 "2002-04-08T11:33:22Z")
My wife broke a glass in the sink this morning. She got her period Saturday.
I’ve noticed she seems to drop things, break things, bump into things more frequently when she has her period. I haven’t logged data, or anything, but it seems to me that this is so.
I know that a number of physical changes can occur during menstruation, including backaches, tender breasts, etc. But I’m curious – has anyone else experienced or noticed a change in equilibrium, or a lack of co-ordination during this time? And would you connect it directly to the monthly period?
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### Author:  [@BooBoo316](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BooBoo316)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/2 "2002-04-08T11:45:32Z")
Does menstruating make you a “spaz?”
Don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it makes you a woman.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. FWIW, I haven’t noticed this effect on my wife. She gets kinda cranky, though.
And she would kill me if she knew I was talking about this.
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### Author:  [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/3 "2002-04-08T11:54:49Z")
Yes, when I get my period, I can hardly function. I spill everything, drop everything and forget everything. I don’t know why, but it happens to me too. My husband is afraid to let me cook dinner then, I might set the house on fire. 😉
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### Author:  [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/4 "2002-04-08T11:55:27Z")
Yup, premenstrual klutziness happens. I think it’s pretty well documented, actually.
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### Author:  [@Anahita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anahita)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/5 "2002-04-08T12:04:37Z")
I’m always really clumsy and awkward, so it’s hard to say if it’s any worse. It was particularly bad after my daughter was first born. This was a major worry for my husband who thought I might drop our new baby.
I do notice I’m dozier when I’m menstruating, so maybe that’s it.
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### Author:  [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/6 "2002-04-08T12:10:24Z")
Dave, you silly:
Haven’t you figured it out yet? When she drops things (intentionally) breaks things, (same) bumps into things, (actually beating her head or other parts an hard surfaces) she is simply wordlessly saying, “Good god, I simply cannot BELIEVE I married this doofus. WTF was I thinking?”
It’s just “girl talk” when no other girl is available.
This diagnosis is free, since you seem to be the only man on earth who is clueless about this.
```
Dr. Rick
```
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### Author:  [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/7 "2002-04-08T13:19:27Z")
Shhhhh! You’re letting out trade secrets!
Damn, too late. 😛 😃
I’m naturally klutzy, too, so I don’t notice much of a difference, but I do feel a little woozy when menstruating.
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### Author:  [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/8 "2002-04-08T13:46:40Z")
Yeah, maybe she’s a bit distracted or something because she has cramps.
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### Author:  [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/9 "2002-04-08T14:53:47Z")
Well, she doesn’t have “difficult” menstrual periods, i.e. cramps, crying jags, chasing people with butcher knives, etc. No real PMS symptoms either (with the possible exception of increased horniness). She does get a stabbing pain when ovulating, though. Still, sometimes it’s almost like a surprise when she gets a visit from Aunt Flo.
I may be the only man on the planet who hasn’t noticed this, but that’s what two decades of marriage does for ya; you’re kind of taken out of the loop of wimminz who talk freely about such things.
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### Author:  [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/10 "2002-04-08T15:36:51Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Green Bean \*
> \*\*Yeah, maybe she’s a bit distracted or something because she has cramps. \*\*
As someone who has premenstrual klutziness, I’d have to say that’s not it. It’s normally not at a point where one has cramps. For about two to three days prior to my period, it just literally seems like I’m not attuned with where my body is spatially—I bump into furniture, drop things, etc. Glad to hear other folks have this problem, as I told a friend about it one time and she had never heard of it.
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### Author:  [@simply\_cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simply_cats)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/11 "2002-04-08T17:34:05Z")
My mother and sister can _always_ tell when I’m on because I, too, experience menstrual clumsiness. I cannot figure it out, but my hands simply cannot grip anything, and I trip over nothing. It cracks them up.
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### Author:  [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/12 "2002-04-08T17:41:59Z")
In the premenstrual stages of last month’s period, I walked into the corner of the wall and got a huge bruise on my forearm and mysteriously banged my shin. The final offense, though, was when I dropped my keys in front of my building, bent down to pick them up, somehow tripped over my own feet, and fell halfway into the tulips someone’s planted. I have a white scab on my left pinky knuckle that’s going to turn into a nasty scar, and a circular scab on my right knee that will do the same. I also receive the stabbing pain while ovulating; it’s happening **right now**.
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### Author:  [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/13 "2002-04-08T17:46:29Z")
Nope, no problems at all.
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### Author:  [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/14 "2002-04-08T23:30:48Z")
During menstruation itself I’m fine, actually better than usual, full of clarity and energy, but for 4 or so days beforehand I am very clumsy and also really inarticulate-- my vocabulary slumps and I am clumsy enough so that I notice that my typing is worse. I do things like trip on coffee tables and walk into doorframes. I’m actually greatly relieved when things get started-- I actually plan ahead for test-dates and presentations and things like that based on this. It’s sort of hard to think of yourself as a serious rational academic when you are basing conference appearances on natural cycles. Ugh.
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### Author:  [@tigergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tigergirl)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2002, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/15 "2002-04-08T23:59:16Z")
I walk into door frames when I’m premenstrual … usually hit either my funny bone (which is even FUNNIER when you have PMT) or the point of my shoulder:p
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### Author:  [@BrenaMarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrenaMarie)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2002, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/16 "2002-04-09T00:10:13Z")
I would have to agree with almost everyone else on this one.
I’m a well known klutz myself, but when I am having my period I can’t seem to “get it together”. I’m a bowler too, and I can’t do anything right during that time because, well It’s like those old comercials when someone needed V8…I’m just a little off…at least more than usual.
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### Author:  [@Nevermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nevermind)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/17 "2002-04-09T00:16:38Z")
Happens to me. What’s funny is I get clumsy, then get mad about it (cause I’m cranky). So, I’m spazzin around the kitchen dropping stuff, bumping into things, the whole time yellling and cursing at myself. Then I get mad cause I forget where I’ve put stuff. Grilled Cheese is a challenge. It’ s a real Laurel and Hardy routine.
How’s her driving? If I can find my keys, I can drive like a 16 year old with a learner’s permit.:eek:
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### Author:  [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/18 "2002-04-09T01:07:39Z")
This is interesting. Does it mean I am in greater danger if I am in a plane flown by a female pilot a few days before her period, or undergoing a delicate medical operation performed by a female surgeon (ditto) than if the people concerned were male? (I’m sure we’d have heard if this were the case.) Or do women with “PMK” just call in sick if they think it’ll affect their work?
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### Author:  [@Nevermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nevermind)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/19 "2002-04-09T01:24:34Z")
No. This doesn’t occur with every move you make. If you focus on what you’re doing, its not that bad. We’re talking general clumsiness with routine tasks that you normally don’t pay much attention to. Somehow, fine motor skills don’t seem to be affected as much. But, if it really concerns you, feel free to ask your surgeon if she is premenstrual just prior to your surgery. I’m sure she’ll understand your concern 😃 :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@lurker\_b](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurker_b)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2002, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-menstruating-make-you-a-spaz/102466/20 "2002-04-09T04:03:12Z")
We call them high gravity days.
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