From things we should know about periods, menopause to traits in people, this thread has it all. Take a look for yourself. 

1. Strategies for financial independence, self defence, self love, and assertive communication.

– NebulaKat

2. Doctor here. Guy, my wife has the same period pain issues. Magnesium glycinate is helpful for many women (though the pills are big). Oxide can be constipating, and citrate can cause diarrhea. My wife’s PCP never listened to her. It actually was about sexual issues, as well. “Oh, lots of women have pain during sex. Just slow down and use more lube.” “Look, jack*ss. She told you it hurts like hell. I’m telling you it’s like penetrating a closed fist. That’s not f*cking normal, and a few squirts of Astroglide won’t fix that. Are you going to refer us to an OBGYN who specializes in dyspareunia, or do I need to find a doc who will?” He did.

– Flaxmoore

3. It’s okay to be rude if someone won’t leave you alone. You don’t owe anyone your time or energy.

– Jerkrollatex

4. There is no shame in doing a pregnancy test. In fact, if something is weird with your hormones/body that you haven’t experienced much before, it’s always better to do a test just to be sure. Even if it’s unlikely you are pregnant, if there is any likelihood at all just do the test and be sure. I heard of it so many times at this point that even fully grown women hesitate (sometimes for weeks!) to do a test and it can land you in hot waters. Besides, it is agony to have that creeping doubt. Every contraceptive can fail and it’s much better to know early and have all the options.

– Oookulele

5. Ladies when you go for a smear test (or pap smear for my American gals) they “guess” the size of the instrument, the speculum, they need to use on you based on your height. It’s shouldn’t be painful, you can ask for a smaller one if it hurts. They just don’t offer that info!

– smileylinzi

6. How to measure your bra size.

– bigboobytata

7. If you start menopause and your period suddenly comes back, go see a doctor IMMEDIATELY.

– carinavet

8. Lumps in your breasts are not always cancer! Of course get them checked out, but it is COMMON to find cysts in your breasts! Source: found a lump in my breast, freaked out, searched Google, freaked out more, stewed for months, booked an appointment with my Obgyn only for him to tell me “yeah its a cyst, stop messing with it. It’s common.”

– Jenyweny09

9. Your vaginal discharge is slightly acidic to help kill off bacteria. This is why your underwear may gradually get little holes forming in the gusset. Edit: many of you have pointed out we’re all different and will have different experiences of this, staining etc.

– tinyspacewolves

10. Lactating women do not have just one stream of breast milk that comes out of the middle part of the areola.

– Egg_Cellent

11. Lactating looks a bit more like a watering can. You have multiple ducts where milk is released. Adding on to this, people need to understand a bit lore about the basics of human lactation. How it works, what is normal/abnormal, and where to reach out for help, and to do so the second you have questions. Lactation issues are much easier to correct the sooner you get help.

– nursepineapple

12. It’s pretty normal to have some level of diarrhea/weird poops when you’re on your period. Sorry it’s a thing, but if you’re reading this I’m glad you don’t need to get to like 30 before finding out it isn’t just you, like I did. Also, vulvas and breasts come in a wide variety of configurations. The range of “normal” is huge, please do not rely on porn or any pop-culture depictions to decide if what you’ve got is “normal” or “okay”.

– InannasPocket

13. That where you are in your menstrual cycle can effect your immune system. 

Ovulation = lower immune system. Reason for it is to try to promote a pregnancy. Your immune system, basically, knows what’s you and what isn’t you and will attack what isn’t you. Sperm isn’t you. A zygote/embryo is half you, half not you and might get attacked. It’s why your skin may look better while you’re ovulating and it’s why pregnant women are immunosuppressed. 

Period = strong immune system. It may be why you feel like shit before you get your period and why all those pimples pop up. Your body is now fighting off crap that your ovulation period let slip through, including pimples. We have no control over this. That’s the part that kills me, we have zero control. 

– RU_screw

14. Go pee, after every time you have sex. It helps reduce UTIs. I didn’t know this until the last few years (I’m 25) and it made a difference.

– Winter_Caramel_8539

15. Older men want to date younger women because: 

– Younger women are not as experienced to decipher their bullshit, and 

– Older women are well experienced and won’t tolerate their bullshit

– omgThisIsNotMyName

16. As I said above, period paid should be at most “ow” and not “oh my god I’m gonna die”. 

Edit: Some resources: https://youtu.be/svZsd12XIoI. Gp q&a endometriosis.  

https://youtu.be/pLCeQyxVWB8. Ted talk about endometriosis from the patient’s perspective

https://www.ted.com/talks/jen_gunter_why_can_t_we_talk_about_periods?language=en. Ted Talk by gynaecologist.

– Blackdomino

17. A baby won’t fix a relationship. Having a baby to tie up a man is a very bad idea. Pregnancy can damage your body very badly. Men can also babytrap you.

– corgi_crazy

18. Do not engage with pushy men. If you are setting a boundary and a man tries to push against it, no matter the means (persistent asking, persuasion, pressuring, guilt tripping, emotional blackmail, begging, whining etc.), he cannot be trusted. He might use his physical superiority in moments when you are vulnerable to get what he wants, e.g. when you’re naked and in bed together. If you are telling a man you are not okay with something, or you don’t want to do something, any other reaction than him saying “okay” is a red flag.

– Gwerch

Thanking the person who started this thread!