# Ladies: How go your periods? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 30, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583 "2011-11-30T18:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/1 "2011-11-30T18:18:23Z")
Well…? ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/2 "2011-11-30T18:22:45Z")
Really well aside from the bitchiness and the bleeding from the crotch thing. I haven’t kept track in years because they just seem to show up at random. On the plus side, I always catch them in the morning with no mess. This has been going on for years and I fear that I’m burning up my Period Luck too quickly. Edit: I hate it when the doctor asks when my last period was. Yes, it’s a reasonable question but 90% of the time all I can come up with is, “Well, it’s not happening right now.” ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/3 "2011-11-30T18:25:05Z")
I don’t know what to vote! I have had a hysterectomy but apparently the lining extended further than they removed so I have a single day of bloody toilet paper when wiping. Apparently had I been inclined to other hormonal symptoms those would also be continuing. This situation which I hesitate to call a period because it’s so far out of my reality of what a period is like does occur with regularity however. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/4 "2011-11-30T18:27:57Z")
Some things are just none of anyone’s damn business! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/5 "2011-11-30T18:34:47Z")
Technically my cycle varies month-to-month but I’ve been on the Pill since I was 13 because I don’t really get a period without it. So with the Pill it’s clockwork but left to my own devices I get it maybe when my exercise steps up. Not sure tho. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/6 "2011-11-30T19:22:22Z")
I’m grateful to be able to vote “like clockwork” but that’s thanks to the miracles of modern pharmaceuticals (the Pill) more than my own uterus’s doings. Also thanks to the Pill, my period lasts about 36 hours and my main gripe is that it’s hard to find lite-absorbency tampons which is pretty much all I need. (Now. It didn’t used to be like that.) ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/7 "2011-11-30T19:43:03Z")
Regular (never missed one), but anywhere between 28-32 days apart. I’ve never taken hormonal birth control or been pregnant. I keep track of my periods and my ovulation (which gives me some cramping as well as other reliable signs leading up to it) on a calendar, have for years. They used to be painful and exhausting but now they are relatively hassle-free, since I changed my diet and improved my health a lot. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/8 "2011-11-30T22:16:19Z")
Still happening. Barely. Sometimes. We’ll see this week. I’m on the way high side of average for this menopause thing. I thought I had it all set when I went four months without, but then along came November. Oddly enough, it was right on time from when it would have been without those intervening four months. At this point they barely happen when I do have one, but it would be nice to get it over with. On the other hand, I have yet to see a hot flash or night sweats or any of those other lovely side effects. (knock on wood) ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/9 "2011-11-30T22:32:47Z")
I’m on the pill, so my periods better goddamn well be regular. Actually, I’m switching pills starting today (the acne my current pill gives me is driving me up the wall), so maybe it’ll go all funky again, but who knows. I’ll let y’all know in a month. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/10 "2011-11-30T22:49:52Z")
Regular as clockwork. From the ages of 15-29, I always knew when to expect it with a day or so since it was a nice 29 day cycle. From age 29 on, though, it’s shrunk down to 26 days (which means 13 periods a year, great), and you know, if you’re bad at math, 26 day cycles are not nearly as easy to keep track of… ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/11 "2011-11-30T23:39:45Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Regular as clockwork. From the ages of 15-29, I always knew when to expect it with a day or so since it was a nice 29 day cycle. From age 29 on, though, it’s shrunk down to 26 days (which means 13 periods a year, great), and you know, if you’re bad at math, 26 day cycles are not nearly as easy to keep track of… Hmph. Mine’s generally a 23-day cycle. It’s been as little as 20 and once went to 27 but I envy all of you with long cycles. It’s annoying. Fortunately it only lasts 5 days. ---
**Author:** ![ASanders](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asanders/32/3367_2.png) [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/12 "2011-11-30T23:44:57Z")
Always regular as clockwork, though starting to be a little teeny bit less predictable with age. (Both times I was pregnant I knew immediately, when I was a day late.) Peri-menopause is having its way with me, and I am not looking forward to the rollercoaster. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/13 "2011-11-30T23:54:11Z")
I tend to vary between 28-40 day cycles, and it’s impossible to know which it’ll be. And since improving the amount of iron in my diet as well as some other aspects of my diet, it’s gotten heavier, but my cramps are far less. Overall, I’ll take the heaviness over the cramps. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/14 "2011-11-30T23:55:23Z")
I had my uterus over 11 years ago. I don’t miss it at all. I wasn’t menopausal, but I had very heavy, very irregular periods. I had fibroids and such. Not fun. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/15 "2011-12-01T00:07:04Z")
I’m the same as Lsura, which was fun during The Childbearing Years. Pregnant? Not pregnant? Who knew?! Every month was an adventure. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/16 "2011-12-01T00:24:59Z")
Irregular. The gaps between periods vary from 5 to 15 days. They’re starting to become more painful again, too, though not like when I was a kid. I’m considering asking my doctor to put me on the pill even though I don’t need contraceptives. A teenage friend of mine had a wall-calendar where she had a little red dot for when her next period was due - I was so jealous of her regularity. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/17 "2011-12-01T00:27:07Z")
Mrs. Homie swears up and down that in junior high, high school, and college, her periods were so regular that she could set her clock by them. Then she married me (and started having _fantastic_ sex), and her periods have been irregular ever since. I don’t get it (and neither does she). 😕 ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/18 "2011-12-01T00:34:47Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > Some things are just none of anyone’s damn business! Apparently you feel damn personal and sensitive about this subject matter. :dubious: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/19 "2011-12-01T00:39:23Z")
My periods have always been irregular; the worst was when I was a teenager and I went ten months between periods. I was on the pill for a few years, but then went off of them due to several different problems I had with them (crazy-making hormonal fluctuations, weight gain, etc.). The longer between periods, the worse they are; however, when I was on the pill, the regularity didn’t mean lighter periods per se. The couple of years I had an IUD either made my period really heavy, really irregular, or incredibly long-lasting and painful. That was due to it migrating, though, and not the design of the actual IUD. I got an app in May to start tracking my period, symptoms, etc. and, according to it, I’m averaging about 33 day cycles. The time between the period I just finished and the one before it was 18 days, though, and the longest time since I started tracking it was 40 days. At least it’s fairly predictable when it’s going to show up: swollen and/or painful breasts, increased appetite, some bloating and/or acne, and about two or three days in a row where I’m hornier than a goat on ecstasy. I’m a LOT more regular than I used to be, which is nice. ---
**Author:** ![missinformation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@missinformation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missinformation)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583/20 "2011-12-01T01:41:46Z")
Looks like I am starting peri-menopause here as well. I usually am every 28 days, but sometimes 21 days, all the way up to 32 days…Have noticed they are getting shorter, about 3 days now… Never was on the pill, family history of blood clots… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-how-go-your-periods/604583.md?page=2)