In this thread, Hazle Weatherfield asks about an irregular period. A lot of female Dopers chime in with specific examples of days between and exceptions. Do y’all actually track them on a calendar*? Do most women do this? I’ve never kept track of mine; I can just sorta tell when it’s imminent because of a “pre-crampy” type feeling. (and I’m always flummoxed when asked for the date of my last, I have absolutely no idea)
*Obviously, if you’re on the pill, they are regular and predictable.
Yup, always have. shrug
My mother tells me I should. But truthfully, I don’t. I usually know approximately when my last one was–usually because I remember needing to pack supplies when going to the church for activity X, where X was an activity with a specific date.
I run somewhere in the vicinity of 30-35 days or so, and think I’d have noticed if mine were as regular as some of the people in that thread, and can often tell when it’s due by sore breasts, etc.
Honestly? When they were very regular, I didn’t need to track them - 10am every fourth Saurday was hard to miss.
Then I was on the pill for a while.
After that, I was like you,
Then, over the last five years or so, they became so irregular (anything from two weeks to eight or nine weeks) I had to track them to report accurately to my doctor.
It’s not that hard to do – put a check mark on the calendar on the day it starts.
Sure. On a calendar. p[sup]e[/sup] for period expected and p[sup]a[/sup] for period actual. I’m a bit irregular, so I track it both to have supplies handy, and to keep track of just how irregular - I’ll be hitting menopause one of these years. Oh yeah, of course I used it in case I wanted to take a pregnancy test. Even with birth control, there’s still that chance some lucky sperm could make it.
It’s sneaky. Most of time you can tell it’s coming, but there will be an occasional month it starts with no cramps/warning whatsoever. Some patterns I noticed: If I’ve been sick, more chance it’ll be late; getting more action, good chance of being right on schedule.
Yes, for the following reasons:
They are historically irregular, and I try to track the trends.
I have a very long cycle right now–like 40+ days. If I don’t write it down, I forget when it’s due.
Doctors always seem to want to know when my last period was. Doesn’t matter if I’m just there to get my toe stitched up. They act like it’s a question of life-or-death importance.
Yes. 
I like to use FAM for birth control, so of course I keep careful track. It is also nice as a “control enthusiast” to know exactly what’s going on in there. Since I was on the pill from the age of 13 till I wanted to get pregnant, I had had no idea your body goes through changes and gives signs all month long. It’s kind of cool. Also, nice to have zero-side-effect birth control without barriers (well, most of the month).
I used to mark it on my online calendar. Since I don’t have a calendar (I know, I need one), I just keep a mental tally of when I got it last and when I should expect it next. It’s convenient for knowing when I should try NOT to wear white.
When I was on the pill, I just got it within two days of stopping the last pill, so it was a 30 day cycle.
Yeah, I used to track it with just a series of Xs on the calendar. Now that I use the NuvaRing, I keep track of when I’ve crammed it and taken it out, and know that my period should start the Wednesday after I remove it. Easy peasy.
Is that the thing you use to strain spaghetti? 
I don’t track, if the doctor happens to ask I usually make a crack about checking with my drycleaner.
I was always irregular between bouts of BC, and assumed everyone else was too and was thoroughly suprised to find out the 28 day cycle is real for some folks. Now I’ve got a Mirena and when I get anything at all, it’s unpredictable, barely there and comes and goes as it pleases.
It wouldn’t do me any good, I don’t have regular cycles at all. I have about 5 periods a year.
It kind of is - they’re concerned you might be pregnant, which could vastly change how they treat you (x-rays, prescriptions, etc.). Even that toe - if you might be pregnant, they’d tell you take Tylenol rather than the other NSAIDS for any residual pain.
It may seem weird, but (I was gobsmacked to learn) about 50% of pregnancies in the US are unplanned. So we put folic acid in tons of foods, and doctors constantly ask when women had their last period.
I never really did. My mother, on the other hand, did, and would ask if I’d started yet when I was due. I was lucky that from the age of 12 I’ve been pretty regular and have never missed a month, so I knew that if I started on the third of last month, I can expect it again around the 5th. Then, as I got older, I started noticing PMS symptoms and stopped keeping track at all, since it was pretty easy to know when my period was getting close (it’s harder now that I’m on anti-depressants, but I don’t really consider it a bad thing).
I have been for about the past five months, mainly so I can use the information for trying to get pregnant later this year. I have the whole chart set up through fertilityfriend.com, including temping. I find it to be a very reliable indicator of when I’m fertile and when I’m not. It was really neat to take their course and learn all about my cycle–they should teach this stuff in high-school health class! I always thought FAM was insane until I learned about it and tried it–now I’m pretty sure I could reliably not get pregnant while using it as my sole form of birth control (except for condoms during fertile times, of course). And it’s really not difficult at all–when my alarm clock goes off in the morning, I stick a thermometer in my mouth, then I record the temp online after I get out of bed. Record CF at night before bed, and I’m all set.
Before I started on the pill, I had to track it. Mine was insanely irregular, so I’d count out the 28 days and put a mark on the calendar. Then I could expect it anywhere from two weeks early to two weeks late. Every month. I went through a lot of panty liners. I also never really got PMS. On the other hand, they were always just four days long.
I know that. But the doctors I see never believe anything I say when I tell them I know I can’t be pregnant. No matter what evidence I give, it’s not good enough. Even if I say, “I haven’t been within 100 yards of a naked man in over a year,” they are skeptical. I get lectures on how it is possible to get pregnant without having vaginal intercourse. I even once had a nurse do “penis goes in vagina” hand motions while she gave me a(n unneeded) crash course on how babies are made, just to be sure.
So the date of my last period is not particularly important to them, because even when I provide it, they insist it proves nothing. Then, in the end, they treat me as not being pregnant anyway. This is why I get annoyed when they make a big production about needing an exact date. They’re going to treat me the same way (as an idiot) no matter what I say.
Nope. Never need to track. 4th Tuesday, sometime shortly before I wake up. So take 2 Nuprin before I go to bed on Monday and make sure there are supplies in the cupboard.
Yup. I don’t actually mark it on a calendar, but it’s like there’s a little stopwatch in my head that keeps track of when the last one was, and when the next is scheduled to show up. It helps that I’m about as regular as they come… though not down to the hour like some ladies who posted in the last thread. 
On a side note, The Boy seems to be remarkably good at tracking them as well. He’ll take one look at me, say “your friend must be due soon”, and within a day or two… it is. Weeeeird.
Yes. I always have.
I run every 28 days. Like clockwork. About once, maybe twice a year, I am a day or two late. Never early. My periods are short, only 2 or 3 days, and I don’t suffer many of the usual symptoms. I do however suffer from mittelschermz. So painful I’ve considered heading to the emergency room more than once. It also appears as regular as my period does, exactly 2 weeks after the first day of my period.
My husband and I take a lot of trips to the city or camping or whatever. It’s nice and easy to just mark my calendar for the next year or two and know if I need to pack my Vinnie’s Tampon Case or not.
