# Female Dopers, does this happen to you? (GALS Only, TMI!) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 12, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491 "2004-12-12T20:34:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/1 "2004-12-12T20:34:46Z")
Guys, this is a question about periods, so you might want to go and talk about sports or something. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! 😉 Anyways, we’ve covered the whole “extra-clumsy during our periods” topic, but what about this-when I get my period, I find that I also feel kind of out of it. My brain feels kind of foggy, and I feel kind of slow and wonky. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/2 "2004-12-12T21:01:41Z")
yep. Sometimes. Really just want to crawl under the covers and snooze, for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/3 "2004-12-12T21:07:53Z")
It’s probably all the drugs I take to tone down the pain, but yes. Worst Time at Which to Start Your Period and Have your Brain Zonk Out: 5 minutes into your LSAT. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/4 "2004-12-12T21:10:18Z")
I get headachy, blurry vision, stomach pains and I also feel shakey. I have yet to take a pill which made me feel normal. I would love to never have another period again. ---
**Author:** ![dare\_devil007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@dare\_devil007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dare_devil007)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/5 "2004-12-12T21:25:20Z")
When it’s that time of the month for me, I feel like I have the flu. ---
**Author:** ![Spongemom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Spongemom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spongemom)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/6 "2004-12-12T21:45:25Z")
Mine always made me groggy and cranky when they started, so I would take a few Tylenol PMs and pass out. 😃 Thank goodness for Depo Provera shots…I’ve had maybe 2 or 3 periods in the past two years. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/7 "2004-12-12T22:03:46Z")
> [@dare\_devil007\_](#): > > When it’s that time of the month for me, I feel like I have the flu. Same happens to me. Only with reaaaally bad cramps, too! Yay! I’ve never taken my temperature during it, but I sure as hell feel like I’ve got a high-grade fever. Sweaty, shaky, no appetite… Innit great to be a girl? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/8 "2004-12-12T22:05:12Z")
I become very inarticulate and rambling when I’m talking to someone. I forget words and stutter and sound like a complete idiot. I am also exhausted during this time. This past Friday I started my period. While I was working. [In the middle of the Everglades](http://www.angelfire.com/ult/tishrobertson/album/index.album?i=0)(which sucks because sometimes I’m standing in waist deep water for hours at a time with no freakin’ way to change a tampon…but I digress). While waiting for the helicopter to pick me up at one site, I got down on my knees (the water was only about a couple of feet deep) and fell asleep for fifteen minutes. Right there in the alligator swamp! I call exhaustion like that blood fatigue. I blame my anemia. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/9 "2004-12-12T22:50:53Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I become very inarticulate and rambling when I’m talking to someone. I forget words and stutter and sound like a complete idiot. Yes! That’s it exactly. I feel like I’m severely drugged up-which is one reason I try to avoid taking anything unless my cramps are really severe, or else when I go to bed. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/10 "2004-12-12T23:05:45Z")
Bloke input: How is this TMI!!! I’ve had far more graphic detail offered to me uninvited, one-to-one… But hey, I can contribute as well…I did have one girlfriend that would get very tired, to the point of disorientation, towards the end of her period. I always guessed it was an iron or blood-sugar issue. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/11 "2004-12-12T23:08:21Z")
Not to rain on anyone’s parade ( **Trekibilia** taunted me into coming over), but the day right before my period starts and the first day of the red sea, I’m sharper than I am the rest of the month. I usually have trouble sleeping, I dream extra-vividly when I do sleep, and tend to get a lot of work done that requires mental focus (organizing things, working, writing). I’m lucky enough to have cramps that can be knocked out with a low dosage of over-the-counter painkillers, and I keep my iron levels high. I always consider myself especially in tune with the goddess moon. Sorry, sisters. ☹ Hey, I’m listless and ADD the other 28 days of the month… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/12 "2004-12-12T23:19:55Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Bloke input: > > How is this TMI!!! I’ve had far more graphic detail offered to me uninvited, one-to-one… > > But hey, I can contribute as well…I did have one girlfriend that would get very tired, to the point of disorientation, towards the end of her period. I always guessed it was an iron or blood-sugar issue. I guess it’s been my experience that most Doper guys really don’t like stumbling into period threads. When they see “Girls Only” they start thinking, I dunno, hot girl on girl action or something. Only to be horribly disappointed. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/13 "2004-12-12T23:35:35Z")
^ Nah. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/14 "2004-12-12T23:41:50Z")
One more for exhausted. All I want to do is sleep for one week a month, woe is me if I have an exam that week. I swear my test grade goes down 20 points automatically. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/15 "2004-12-12T23:59:47Z")
I get really spacey the first day of my period. The most egregious example was when I was driving home from my sister’s – a route I’ve taken sometime between a million and a million and a half times – and ran a stop sign that I knew was there. Yup, got a ticket. Otherwise I’d probably have never known about it. ---
**Author:** ![Keapon\_Laffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e274bd/32.png) [@Keapon\_Laffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keapon_Laffin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/16 "2004-12-13T00:04:57Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I guess it’s been my experience that most Doper guys really don’t like stumbling into period threads. When they see “Girls Only” they start thinking, I dunno, hot girl on girl action or something. Only to be horribly disappointed. Yep. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/17 "2004-12-13T02:47:41Z")
Not so much during my period, but halfway through my cycle, or sometimes a couple of days before I start. I notice it most at work–all of a sudden, I get complaints for missing paper route customers, and realize that they’re folks I’ve delivered to every single day for YEARS, that sort of thing. I also go through a few days of not being able to type quickly, transposing letter and such. And I have two days per month of being really wiped out, where I need extra sleep. THEN, after my period, I have about a week of being really energetic. If it weren’t so obviously tied to my cycle, I’d seriously think that I was bipolar. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/18 "2004-12-13T03:33:32Z")
I get slow in the brain, too, at that time. I have to type things over again because I can’t seem to get it right; can’t even think of playing Internet games because I lack the coordination; and I also feel that dragging sensation, like I have to force myself to keep going and doing. I could also swear I feel the ovaries throbbing, but it’s probably [luteal cysts](http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/byname/ovarian-cysts.htm) . ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/19 "2004-12-13T11:22:01Z")
I’ve got the day 3 vomiting, headache and cramps. It’s not fun, so I’m staying home from college and taking lots of painkillers. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491/20 "2004-12-13T13:52:11Z")
I feel like a bear in the middle of January…all I want to do is sleep, and when I’m not sleeping, all I want to do it eat–EVERYTHING! My gyn suggested eating proteins; said it would balance me out, and keep me full for longer, however, I’m not eating because my stomach is growling, I’m eating because I can’t feel full! How weird is that? For the remainder of the month, I’m okay…appetite is low and easily satisfied, and I sleep a “normal” 8 hours a night. But, on that one week… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-dopers-does-this-happen-to-you-gals-only-tmi/279491.md?page=2)