Dr.Karan, as a woman, I just want to say thank you for advocating for us as hard as you do. Your education, and your fighting for us, both mean the absolute world to me! We need more doctors like you!
As an incel, I do support gender specific research fdor both men, aaaand women. Thectging here is that menstrual products were never meant to be used for diagnostic purposes. They wee just meant to temporarily absorb whatever was there. It was like a kleenex in the way that you didn't necessarily need to know how much the discharge was, as you could easily use a sample. So, exact specifications for rates of absorption were not necessary for its intended purpose. Knowing that they could be used in this manner, it might be good to have a specific brand for this purpose. I say specific, because, as with all technology, the initial product would be more expensive, so such products would have a higher cost initially. It is simply because making them would be much more expensive than traditional products, as they now approach medical grade.
Are you [bleeping] kidding me?! And our benighted UK government has been charging VAT on these products? That money should be funding research at bare bloody minimum… …and yes that pun was deliberate!
It took decades of campaigning to have the VAT on sanitary products revoked. Apparently MPs only realised that they weren’t luxury products in 2021. 🤦🏻♀️ But yes, it’s unbelievable that so little research has been done on something every woman has to deal with.
Until recently menstrual products were taxed as LUXURY ITEMS in Germany, while some frivolous things (oysters, I think) got the lower "basic stuff" tax.
@@Panbaneesha Wasn't just germany - it's insane. It's like toilet paper, to best compare it! People don't menstruate for shits and giggles, it's not like grabbing candy from the counter. Considering it a luxury like that is so malicious.
Europeans got to wake upppp! VAT tax goes to the vatican. They'very all been caught, thanks to The Q Plan and they're going down for crimes against humanity!! Refunding will be made thru GESARA. St German Trust. Conspiracy theories will be truth. Watch.
Same problem here in the US. 21 of 50 states still tax menstrual hygiene products. Also only 26 states have laws requiring prisons to issue menstrual products to menstruating inmates. Society needs to do better.
Doctors treat women like crap. I literally lost so much blood in a night my hemoglobin went from 14 to 9 but since I didn’t need a transfusion they didn’t care. As long as I don’t need a transfusion they seem uninterested in stopping the bleeding. Apparently it is ok to have to sit on a toilet for an hour or more bleeding so much that it looks like someone turned on a faucet. I tried going to the ER and they left me sitting there bleeding for 6 hours in the waiting area and when the paramedic told the nurse why I was there he said “she is bleeding from down there.” Super professional
I feel your pain. I have suffered with severe anemia since being peri menopausal. My last period in January put me in hospital. My hemoglobin went from 10 to 4. I had to have 8 units of blood and 1 iron infusion. I was told I needed a hysteroscopy urgently and would be within 2 weeks, but 3 months months down the road I am still waiting. I know our nhs is stretched, but this is beyond a joke.
@@samb7677 It is terrifying and happens so quickly. One second I was laying on the couch then unimaginable pain. I couldn't move because the pain was so bad and then when I stood I realized why the pain was so bad. Clots the size of my feet and a bucket of blood poured out. I don't understand leaving women to suffer like this. I am so sorry that you are dealing with that.
All the paramedic needed to say was “PV bleeding ++”. The nurse would know what that means while maintaining the patient’s dignity. Sorry that happened to you
I got told by a female doctor that all women have cramps and I should stop complaining. Despite telling her my former PCP had me on low grade pain pill prescription Naproxen. Turns out I have PCOS and I have had cysts rupture before.
At least they're trying to make up for it now. It's exciting to see how soon our biggest problems will become anone issues just like modern medicine solved the biggest medical problems
It took twenty two years of pleading for help before I gave up on the NHS and was diagnosed with stage four deep infiltrating colorectal endometriosis, fibroids and PCOS. The ‘how many pads’ questionnaire is a big part of the reason. I barely bleed liquids at all, it’s just meat. Like chopped liver. So I have never bled through my clothes, stained my sheets etc. Since I didn’t have heavy bleeding, just every other symptom of serious gynaecological problems, my doctor told me that I had developed a “cognitive distortion that menstruation was a disease ” and this false belief was the reason for my crippling pain. I had years of mandated group therapy for hypochondriacs. When I finally had the money to go private and see an actual gynaecologist he told me that I had “barn door endometriosis”. Apparently that means something so big and obvious that no doctor should be expected to miss it. It was just misogyny. Just that ingrained certainty that women lie and exaggerate and are essentially silly. It absolutely ruined my life and has left me with profound iatrophobia.
I have blood clots as well, so the questions don't make much sense to me, it's never about what the period blood looks like. I will go anemic from a period, but I'm not "bleeding through" it's mostly clotting. Hard relate to the misogyny and invalidation. I've learned from years of medical and mental health gas lighting that if a professional invalidates your pain and symptoms or calls you crazy or a hypochondriac, it's time for a second opinion. I finally changed clinics all together because the last clinic was the same thing over and over, getting the fat talk, being told I'm an addict because I've smoked weed, being accused of seeking pain meds even though I've never mentioned them. This clinic I have so far had very good experiences and the doctors I've seen actually ask me questions instead of assuming and they provide insight on weight or hormones or drug interactions without making it a moral failure or the main issue. I might ACTUALLY get some treatment for my PCOS and (possible) Endo because they believe me. I FINALLY got some treatment for my fibromyalgia because the doctor believed me and my pain. It shouldn't have been this big of a fight. I shouldn't have this much medical trauma.
Thank you for sharing your story, honestly so important! I don't know a single woman who doesn't have a story. Yours is horrific though, I'm so sorry that happened to you
When I was 37 I was diagnosed with endometriosis and was told that the only cure was a hysterectomy. I remember having bad menstrual cramps that were so severe I'd be vomiting. I would get out of bed in the morning and a blood clot would just plop onto the floor, which wasn't comical but what was comical was seeing my husband's face turn white lol. I actually got a second opinion from a gynecologist and he told me the same thing so I said "let's book it." It was probably the biggest mistake I ever made in my life. I was newly divorced and knew I wanted more children. I thought about it for so long but in the end, I had the surgery, which I might add, was botched, but I wouldn't find out until much later. I swear that my Doctors in 1997 were actually more like quacks from 1897! Approximately 7 years after that, I was diagnosed with PCOS and my family doctor and gynecologist recommended I have an oophorectomy, so I did, but when I woke up after surgery, the surgeon said he could only remove my left ovary because the endometriosis had caused my ovaries and bladder to get stuck to my bowel. He said he had such a difficult time removing it and suggested I leave the right one alone. I tried, but it just grew so big that I began waddling like a duck because I could feel pressure from the cyst. I searched for the best gynecologists in Toronto and Hamilton and found a terrific Uro/Gyno in Hamilton who put me on Lupron for a few months in the hope it would shrink the cyst. Unfortunately, it just continued to grow, so I had my left ovary removed. My Gynecologist was wonderful; he had to peel my bladder off my bowel and carefully remove the ovary because he said, as did the first surgeon, that the endometrial material acted like glue and he said my tummy was full of it. He also said he'd never go in my stomach again. During surgery, he had to call in a general surgeon to assist him because he was certain he was going to nick my bowel. He didn't, thank heavens, but he did mention that he removed part of my uterus and cervix that had been left behind by the surgeon who performed my hysterectomy Fun times 😂
I had a relative with endometriosis. She wasn't diagnosed until 50. She's had 20 surgeries for what they thought was Crohns disease, was allergic to the treatments for it and getting no help... Turned out she had intestinal endometriosis, and the hormone treatment offered a 60% reduction of symptoms in 3 months..
I was once able to impress a doctor by telling him that I bleed up to 200ml a month. Menstrual cups are a blessing but difficult to change outside of your own home - especially if you have a heavy flow. I'm so envious of those who only fill up one cup per day.
I'm so envious that women have access to menstrual cups. In my country I've only started seeing them since about 2021. I knew they were available in other European countries but not here.
I haven't tried menstrual cups because I fear I will fill up fast and leak. The public bathrooms in the U.S. are not very private or good for sanity needs. No sinks in the stalls, I usually have to pee really bad so washing hands before hand is difficult or impossible. Stalls typically are really small so any maneuvering, I have to use the disability stall. Plus, I have such a heavy flow I know changing it will cause a mess which will be difficult to deal with. Idk, maybe I have exaggerated fears about it but I find the world idea of it extremely stressful. Considering tampons yeild some of the same issues even though I can usually dispose of them within the stall (if I'm leaking, the tampon is dripping), I don't see how a cup is going to be different. Pads for me.
Thank you for mentioning that last bit about how half the world are women. It should be a no-brainer, but I think people so often forget that these "niche" or "icky" women's issues are...half the world's issues. So many things in the world are designed or researched with only the male body in mind, from the small (pressing machines at the dry cleaners that are designed for men's dress shirt sizes so the average woman would have to pay more due to the extra labor) to the large (crash test dummies requiring testing on male dummies only and not female).
He said half the population have a certain organ- trans men and some nonbinary people have a uterus after all, and we're also left out in the cold medically because of misogyny.
Exactly. Most studies don't include women because of our hormones. When that's exactly why we should be included. If you're giving something to the whole population but don't test it on 50% with different hormones etc... how will it even work properly on them?
Every other 'general' health condition and not just specially women health conditions to be researched and redone with a women only population, is what is needed. Even 'general' drugs react differently in different genders. Men are on a daily cycle and women on a monthly. Can we please start saying it more?
Wife went to ER for severe pain and extreme flow. Mid-30’s, PCOS, filling Depends (not pads) with blood every 3-4 hours for 3 days. ER said it was a normal period and sent us home without diagnostics. Later we learned one ovary had a cyst which caused ovarian torsion, killing the ovary.
The question of how many tampons or pads you use in one hour also doesn't factor in that there are a lot of different sizes and absorbency levels. So if you have heavy bleeding in the first place, you'll use the highest level of absorbency, while someone with a much smaller flow will use a smaller tampon / pad, resulting in the same number of products being used, but very different levels of blood coming out. The only reliable measure until testing is done properly is a menstrual cup, which doesn't work for everyone.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004 for sure. But you're more likely to size up than keep the same absorbency levels if they no longer suit you, until none of them work. Telling your OBGYN you only use 1 tampon per hour without specifying it's the maxi++ because you assume it's normal (particularly if you don't know much about endo) could delay diagnosis pretty badly.
@@seg1912 Yeah this is me. I was literally bleeding so hard that I had to use a towel instead of a pad (bled through the nighttime maxi "12 hour" extra long extra thick pad so much that I woke up from the wetness in less than two hours) and because my mom said it happened to her too, I thought it was just a little heavier than normal. NO!!! We just have a genetic issue so of course it happens to all our female relatives... I didn't ever get help for that issue, it was only once I ran out of other options for treating depression that I even tried birth control. It didn't even stop me from bleeding either, just caused me to bleed a small amount every day forever instead of a ton for a week. It's better than nothing but BARELY, and it's insane to me that this is the best option. I wish there was more research so we could actually fix these problems instead of slapping towels on them. I don't want to bleed a teaspoon into my panties every day for the rest of my life just to avoid literally bleeding out.
@@andreacook7431I am also fat, but I can use a cup. I think you just have to find one that works for you. I have had success with the Diva cup, which has ridges on the stem and base of the cup to make it easier to grab. There are some that come with longer "tails" that you can shorten to suit you. Best of luck!
I’m curious about the retroverted uterus - me too, I believe…? I’ve been told that I have a “tilted” uterus. But other than potential fertility issues I know of no other consequences. Thanks to you I’ll be doing more research. I am almost 55 and still having periods (FFS!) and, well, anyway, off I go to do research. I’m curious what you learned about your diagnoses. I’ve never even heard of Adenomyosis.
As far as I am concerned, women's medicine is only 30 years old max, as it wasn't until the 90s that women were required to be in medical studies. Even branches of science that are 100 years old (like psychology) still have tons of gaps and outdated and overturned theories. DNA (only imaged in the 50s and only sequenced in the 90s) seems to uncover new information every few months. There are an awful ot of gaps for the sake of patriarchy. Thabk yoh for shedding light on then.
No joke autism was considered a male only condition until the last few years. It's like trying to get to the moon, to get officially diagnosed as an adult let alone a female adult.
Doctor, if you haven’t, would you consider speaking on the issues surrounding pain management/expectations with IUD insertion? I have seen *dozens* of women with stories that mirror what I went through, where we are either misled or not warned at all about the potentially debilitating pain of getting an IUD in. My first time I wasn’t even told there would be discomfort until the gyno said “you’re about to feel a bit of pressure”. I was in her office for over half an hour after the procedure, on the floor of the bathroom vomiting with the lights off, before my mom helped me to my feet and got me to the car. My second time the (different) gyno still didn’t warn me but when I told her my story she said “some” women experience “discomfort” and I could take ibuprofen beforehand if I was worried. Most troubling is the fact that a lot of women request a woman or gynecologist for the procedure, so it’s often women putting other women through this cruel ritual. It breaks my heart every time I see a new post online asking “why didn’t my doctor warn me?” yet it’s been almost ten years since my first procedure and it continues to happen.
What makes me even angrier is how women have been saying for years how painful IUDs are, but no one cared enough to give pain meds. Meanwhile male IUDs aren’t even fully on the market yet and already got approval for pain meds. Women are literally being told to undergo a medical procedure without any pain management or anesthesia out of sheer sexism, because our pain’s never real I guess
@@lilyawoodburn Nah, women who take ibuprofen often say it basically does jack shit. You wanna know why? *Because they’re opening up your motherfucking cervix. You know, the thing that usually only opens up during childbirth*
Wait, male intrauterine devices? I'm confused... Men don't have uteruses. Do you mean like the male equivalent of an IUD, like a form of contraception that goes in the testes or somewhere in the male reproductive organs?
@@cinnamoslut Yes, by “male IUD” I mean a device that works and is implanted in a similar way, but with male reproductive organs instead. They’ve been working on developing different versions, but afaik none of them are ready yet
The other thing about doctors asking how many pads someone gets through is that I imagine most people do what I do which is to immediately go to the toilet after sitting or lying down so that most of the blood goes down the toilet not on the pad.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004 If you're laying flat, it's like having a disposible bottle of water on its side. The bottle is being "filled" from the back end (the interior of the woman is still releasing blood) but the bottle can be filled a lot more befor any sloshes out (the cavity can hold a lot of blood as long as its kept horizontal). Because the "opening" is pretty tight and all, the blood is mostly dripping out slowly rather than gushing. These factors all combine to keep the blood mostly inside for a little longer if your laying position is just right. So if you lay in that sort of position, you'll collect blood without much of it getting out of the body and onto the pad. When you get up, a little blood might drip out but if you go right to the toilet as many people do after waking up, you're likely to get there before the big rush of blood comes. This means a drier pad than if you had been standing for the same time, and a lot more blood going into the toilet.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004 Yes, I'm aware that when blood comes out, it's from muscles moving. When blood doesn't come out, it's a combination of that happening less from being relaxed and the position stuff I described before. I actually regularly have periods so bad that I bleed through the thickest pads I can find in two hours (yes, I have now received birth control, yes, it reduced bleeding) so believe me I know cramps. I assumed I was explaining the situation to a man so didn't even bother adding cramps/muscles into the explanation because I didn't want to risk causing confusion. I just wanted to get across "yes this happens, even though you think it doesn't, presumably because you can't experience it as you don't menstruate".
@kinseylise8595 until about 2 months ago when my GP prescribed medication that decreases menstrual bleeding, I had to change overnight/ maternity pads (the most absorbent pads available where I live) every 45 mins on my heaviest days. I can assure you that I bled heavily when lying and sitting as well as standing. Lying down might decrease the flow to a certain extent. Not to the extent that you're claiming for someone with very heavy flow though.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004your comments made sense to me and fit with my experience. Lying down does not decrease the flow to the extent that the other person was claiming. I was using overnight or maternity pads and changing them every 45 - 60 mins before I started medication to decrease my menstrual bleeding. That included when I was lying or sitting. I'm not sure why they assumed you are a man 🤷♀️
Well and define “heavy” I swear I remember some very low amount like 2 tbs per period being tossed out as “average” in the worthless “maturation” lecture we had in school. They also tried to tell us that “average” periods are only 3-4 days long. Let’s try 2 tbs a day on a heavy day more like 4-6 days. No one in my family and none of my friends have any of these mythical ez mode periods.
I have uterine fibroids. Prior to being prescribed medication to decrease my menstrual bleeding I was needing to empty my cup, which has a 30mL capacity, every 1.5 - 2 hours on my heaviest days. 2 Tsp is 30mL. My heaviest days would be 120mL or more (8 Tsp). Each period would be over 300mL (20 Tsp). Obviously that isn't typical though. Even before I developed fibroids I would've bled at least 3 Tsp on my heaviest days. I'd say at least 10 Tsp each period. That was with no known gynecological conditions. I'm not sure where they get the 2 Tsp per period number from.
Yeah, water dyed blue just isn't the same, LoL. For women to know how much blood they're losing, doctors could say to weigh their menstral products before use and after, then subtract the first weight. That isn't going to be 100 percent accurate if there's leakage and the amount that ends up in the toilet can't be weighed, but it gives some idea. I will say some days it wasn't worth leaving my house because of the time I had to spend changing out my products. It was a source of anxiety plus it was like I had IBS during menstruation. Most public washrooms aren't set up to be able to use something like a reusable silicone mentral cup because access to a sink isn't in most stalls. It would be good because it might encourage more use of them, be cost effective for women, and cause fewer plumbing blockages.
Newer office buildings seem to be more likely to have a sink in every stall. I'm very happy with that change: makes it far easier to deal with menstruation at work.
Try using immodium for the period poops. It reduces cramping of your bowels and might help to reduce cramping of your uterus. I had horrible cramping when my menses started and passed blood clots. Found out my cramps were like late early labor pains. If this works for you, please spread the word.
I think women collectively should sue. The lack of testing and experiments to figure out how to treat women properly should be considered malpractice, because it is. An unwillingness to learn how women’s bodies function normally and abnormally means an unwillingness to properly treat women which falls under the definition of malpractice.
Yeah the only way to messure it is with a menstral cup and only if you manage to not spill any while getting it out. If you can even stand inserting one. I certainly described having to use a towel folded up at night. But still getting iron tablets that make you sick. In the end i got an ambulance to hospital after testing at home showed a 2,9HB to get me a couple of bags of blood. You don't usually survive that low number unless like many other women in the world you have been aneamic for so long your body is used to it. The doctor in the ambulance who was hooking me upto the machine said my heart was running a marathon. Using those 8 baby bloodcels to keeo me going. Good thing I stayed home and didn't catch Covid. It was due to a fibroid going through various layers of my uterus stopping the normal systems that stops you from bleeding too much. But many women walk around like that and just say it "heavy bleeding".
@@nulnemo4214 Yeah when they found out I got the next available slot for surgery. It was during Covid so it took a few weeks but the bags of blood at least made me feel miles better. The hysterectomy didn't even hurt.
@@ghostratsarah That would be interesting, I've seen a girl show how to messure with the cups but I think you have to be able to comfortable inseert and extract them and I couldn't even use a tampon.
Women’s health is also severely under researched on vulvovaginal disorders that you haven’t mentioned. Women’s health is all of these things including maternal health. We need to change how we think about women’s health as only important when you get pregnant or want to become pregnant. There’s so much to women’s health than just that.
Amen to that! It’s wild the lack of research related to women’s specific challenges (peri menopause and menopause), period discomfort etc…. Hopefully the new founded awareness will jump start the process
In the US, they weren't even ALLOWED to test on women until 1993. They were barred from clinical trials, because everyone was worried their fertility would be damaged. That's not a typo. 1993. 31 years ago. The ban was lifted in the UK sometime in the 1990's. Didn't find the exact date.
Honestly, it's crazy. I was a HEAVY bleeder through my teens and 20s, definitely anaemic with it and there was always this "it's only a thimble full of blood" mentality following me around. I switched to a cup in my late 30s, when it had already gone down to 'absolute dream' levels as far as i was concerned (fasting did that) but on my first day i fill that cup every 4-6 hours and that cup is bigger than a thimble. Don't let anyone tell you what's happening with your body, when they cannot possibly know themselves. And get a cup.
I remember 5th grade, where they started explaining periods. They explained that "you only bleed a teaspoon of blood". What bullshit that was lmaoooo. 😂😂😂
Yeah, I only found out that my period was abnormally heavy in my twenties. I didn’t know other people didn’t bleed for 7-10 days, have clots >1” or use as many tampons as I did.
Thank you. Women’s bodies are so different to men’s in so many ways - so ALL MEDICAL RESEARCH on EVERYTHING should be mirrored for women’s bodies so that only women’s research is being used to dictate women’s care. Even something as seemingly basic and routine as a heart attack can present entirely differently in women. Treatments need to be tailored for our bodies too. Medicines and care plans made for women based on research of women. Always. It’s not hard, guys. Just try - for one bloody second - to think of us as equal to you. Imho
I've read that it's due to how varying our hormones are. I feel like that should be why we are tested on more but apparently it makes the testing and results harder to pinpoint 😒
Yes, what @onlyfacts said. Also, most of the advancements in our understanding of women's anatomy came at great cost. Most of the best research we have came from horrific "studies" and surgeries done by the Nazi's during WW2. There is also the fact that certain medications can affect a developing baby and sometimes a woman may not be aware that she is pregnant. This makes research harder as there is the risk that she might be or get pregnant and the baby be adversely affected in that case. Men don't have as many variables to factor in ethically, so research tends to use them more.
I slapped my (clean) moon cup on the table along with my notes and said "right, i now have some data for us to discuss my menstrual losses." Got sent for an endometrial ablation. They discovered my bicornuate uterus and couldnt treat me. No further care offered Went to my previous GP who went "right, two problema here the losses and the PMDD, lets just go baxk and woek out which oral contraceptive woeked when you were young and run with it continuously until you hit menopause. We had a bit of a rough transition onto HRT but again he treated me as actually being the person who best knew my body.
Oh❤ that last sentence 🥲 Thank you so so much!!!! I'm really nearly crying now. Thinking about the fact that I never heard it from any doctor ever. Thank you! The entire video is superb! But that last part...it means something to me and sure to many other woman as well. I am one of the lucky ones who don't have much issues in that department. Well, other than that I wouldn't be able to function during my period without birth control pills. My pain and PMS was way to heavy. Last time I "paused" it for a months was 2012?! I think. I always take them, for pain management basically and for my acne. It's still hard some days to stand straight during the first 3 days of the cycle. But I don't walk around anymore afraid to bleed my pants through
THANK YOU, Doctor Karan! The way you use your platform to inform about the conditions and medical struggles people with uteruses go through, as well as advocating for us is fantastic! Keep at it!
Thank you for your guts to expose and put such things to light! It is crazy how women have been mistreated in the medical field! You are by far the best influencer ❤
how is "# of pads" even an accurate measure when you have various sizes? what's the measure? and then you have variation in menstrual blood thickness as well
So yeah, a few weeks ago I almost bled to death to my own surprise. My hemoglobin got down to 7.1…that’s an emergency. I ended up requiring a transfusion for severe anemia and bonus…I also managed to get cellulitis and phlebitis in the arm I had the IV in. I have PCOS and have had it since I hit puberty at 12. I have spent a huge portion of my life bleeding at random. I had become so accustomed to it that I didn’t even realize it nearly killed me until it was almost too late. The ability to reliably measure something like that would definitely be helpful. P.S. I’m going to try an IUD starting next week for the first time so 🤞wish me luck. I’m so tired of all this. I’m 40 and done having kids. The other option is a hysterectomy, but here’s hoping the IUD is good enough.
It took until i was 49 years old to find out that i had endometriosis. I was also told it was so bad that i shouldn't have been able to have children and i had six. The doctor then pronounced his next miracle. He told me that my periods would stop a month after my 50th birthday. Shame i didn’t put a bet on it. I could have made a fortune 😂😂
This is why i just dont trust drs. I know so many women being told they wont have kids and they always end up having them except a few. Then i know at least 6 people who were told to ab*rt their baby or theyll die…both baby and mom came out healthy and it was a “miracle” i thing drs are just super uneducated when it comes to women. Theres multiple comment threads about stories where people had kids or the baby and mom survived. Honestly idk id trust a dr when it comes to kids unless there was an obvious problem like no heartbeat
Why do so many women have endometriosis? They really should be studying that. It can affect so many other organs too. It's almost a cancer but we just kinda brush it off. Very scary
I just realized something too. As a doctor, I've seen blood tests, sputum tests, wound cultures and gram staining, CSF studies....but I've NEVER seen menstrual flow testing. It's literal free tissue that the body expels regularly but I've NEVER seen any lab tests try to use it for diagnostics.
There could be a grant in there if someone wanted to recruit people with known gynecological problems who still menstruate in order to do a study to find out if there are indicators present... And that would be just for a start.
I started using a menstrual cup during perimenopause. It was really helpful that I could measure my flow. I eas doing 9 to 12 oz on most peak days. Some months I would have as much as 16 oz in a day. I read that 1 to 3 oz is normal. I wish I had tried the menstrual cup a lot sooner.
🌋 I’m no wimp but these comments are bringing tears to my eyes. I think my 40 years of putting up with the dismissive, disrespectful, demoralizing *gaslighting* and basic neglect of a parade of doctors throughout my life has built up a volcano of resentment in me.
If I may, I don't think it's a tampon's job to indicate an underlying issue. I'm in Germany and when I had lower belly pain, they right away did an ultrasound to see if there was an issue.
I had no idea I'd a very heavy flow till I was using a cup. Turns out I was losing up to 120 mls in the first 24 hours. Easy to go to GP once I realised it was a problem, I mean I knew it was a problem, but this allowed me to quantify it. Thankfully, not a problems now, GP / medication helped.
Amen to this. Women: get tested for anemia! I suspect it is wildly under-diagnosed. We must be proactive in taking care of our health. Our doctors - if we even have one - are spread too thin, so we must ask the questions and prompt the conversations because IMHO they just don’t do so enough.
I had my menarch at age 10 and have had menorragia and dysmennorhea since then but no one ever diagnosed until I turned 30 because 1. Cramps are 'normal' and 2. They couldn't quantify the blood flow because the criteria was "you would bleed through your pad overnight" But since I used xxl+ overnight pads from 12 pm to 6pm I never bled through.
I started my cycle in 1974 at age 11. Periods routinely lasted 10 days, with at least 6 of those days very heavy flow. To the place I had to put a towel over the mattress in case of leakage! I also had terrible cramps and often a low grade fever. No one took it seriously. My mother's response was, "Well, get used to it." No one seemed to think it cause for concern, let alone medical attention.
I hated that! My periods have been brutal most of my life, and I'd be all clammy, often accompanied by diarrhoea, and vomiting, a migraine, cramping so I couldn't stand up straight, back pain, bloating, and all of the other evils. I was told to "walk through the pain" by all my friends. When I had my second baby (I had an epidural with my first) I remember getting to six cms, and thinking this is starting to hurt like a period, and I turned to my husband and said I didn't want to do it anymore, and got another epidural. I've had numerous ovarian cysts (that had to be removed) the biggest one was the size of a newborn's head, so I've got a six inch bikini line scar, but no baby, fibroids, endometriosis, scar tissue, and my uterus started growing. In the end I was wearing depends silhouettes several days a month, and then one month I was soaking them really quickly, and I was sure I was hemorrhaging. It was terrifying! I had a period that was worse than having my biggest baby (with a massive placenta) that lasted for ten days, then I had seven days of no bleeding, then I bled like a typical period for another seven, then a few days break, then it started again. I went to my doctor and told him, and he didn't seem that perturbed, then I showed him my period tracker, and his eyes became huge, and he said "I'll schedule the surgery" he looked at my ultrasound again, and he asked to be excused and he went into his office and closed the door, so I listened through the wall 😂 I could hear him speaking, and suddenly his voice became quite tense and he said "You documented 2.4mms on yer chart, but it was 2.4cms!" That explained everything. My uterus had grown (from being enlarged, at 10cms six months before, to 14cms, so I kept feeling like I was in the first trimester, but wasn't pregnant. Absolutely crazy. I had a vaginal hysterectomy, but it was so big, he had to cut it into pieces to remove it. It was awful. I didn't realize that literally a minimum of half my life from age 11, to 47 had been completely dominated by my uterus, until it was removed, and I was suddenly free! No more not being able to swim (even as a teenager I bled through the biggest tampons) or not being able to wear something, or go somewhere where I'd be worried about having massive pads with me, and being able to find a toilet etc... ❤
0:09 Oh the truth...the time I put into placing that damn thing the right way, so I don't leak when sitting. And then you turn wrong and feel it move from its place and you walk right back through that door into the bathroom where you just came from🤦♀️🤷♀️ I wasn't aware they didn't use at least someone like blood.
But is this for real?? Period products were not even tested with period blood? 😰 First I learned from Dr. Karan that pain medication maximum dosages were not tested on women, and now this. What else are women using that haven't been studied on women 🥲
Thank you Doctor from ALL of us women who have suffered needless because we were women. God bless you and protect you always!✝️ Much love and respect from Southern California. 🙏🏻
In 2017 I switched to a mestrual cup from the company Ruby Cup, and their product comes with little mL markings on the inside. It’s not 100% accurate obviously, but it gives a much better ballpark than “3 tampons” or whatever. But I remember the first time I got asked this by my provider, and I busted out my chart with daily and total blood loss that I’d made for the last few months, she just kind of stared at it and didn’t know how to interpret it. Lo and behold, 5 years later, I finally get my irregular (but often heavy) bleeding recognized and got diagnosed with PCOS. It took 10 years overall, since I starting pursuing this in my late teens. It would be so rad if we could get more real, useful research done that can inform our providers to help us better 😭
I'm sending love from my heart protect your preciousness. Your efforts to understand the female side of things is so encouraging. It should be part of the required education for MDs. There's so much willfull ignorance out in the world. I'm trying to find the good ones.
I just remember when one of my aunts went in for surgery to remove her ovaries. She had been getting recurring cysts on them for years, there was no benefit in keeping them. When she woke up, they had NOT removed her ovaries. They had merely removed the cysts, which were going to grow back! 🙄
It's SO awesome to have male doctors advocating for proper research into gynecological illnesses! It's awful that it's only just been realised that these hygiene products need to be tested with actual blood! It now makes sense to me why my gynecologist asked me if I was passing clots often and what the average size of them was when assessing my heavy bleeding rather than asking how many pads I was using in an hour. I had heavy prolonged bleeding (8 days of bleeding) and a lot of uncontrolled pain but no POCS or endo.
i used to bleed every second week or had it to the point if having to wear diapers bc i bled that much. gonna remove it for a different reason, but it's still the same result in the end. #morefundingforafab #morefundingforwomen
Half the people in the world have an organ that bleeds every month for 40 years…. What a concise, blunt, and honest way of phrasing it! From a person who menstruates, thanks for being so objective when you educate about these kinds of things!
I went to emergency, twice, with a bleeding so heavy I was passing out. They askee how many pads I went through and sent me home. The message was clear - _we don't give a rat's ass if you die._
So what about all the other menstrual products that are currently available? There are lots of options but do any of them actually have a proper standard for how much blood they can hold?
And there was I thinking that the blue water they used in all those 1990s ads for period products was just to get around TV guidance on depicting blood. Goodness me.
A medical doctor told me that women lost about half an ounce of blood each period. Once I started using a Diva cup, I realized I lost about 4 to 5 ounces per day for the two heaviest days. Thank you so much for working to overcome this stigma.
Used to get in trouble in middle school a lot for bleeding through my triple stacked maxi pads every class period. Back then, they didn't give students those items, they gave out detention instead... got on BC and that helped a lot.
The trick I was taught is to weigh the pads and tampons before and after use. Smack them in a plastic bag, and on to the kitchen scale it goes. Not a particularly delicate approach to it, but probably the most precise there is at the moment.
@@tracy3418 For me? I did it to get a baseline in case my bleeding ever felt different. But yeah, most doctors don't particularly care about menstrual issues.
I already knew that question was flawed, but damn. I've often wondered about this. Doctors would ask how many pads I go through, and it's like, do you mean the pads most people use, the ultra-thin comfortable ones, or the ones I use, which are the thickest overnight pads I can find? Because the amount of time each of those last are DRAMATICALLY different. Once again thanking the gynecologist who finally, actually listened to me after 15 years of suffering and approved a hysterectomy. She says I was a horrible mess inside and repeatedly told me how much better I would feel. Within 24 hours of the operation, the pain felt like regular period cramps. Four days after the surgery, I didn't even need ibuprofen anymore. It literally was life-changing. Folks, please talk to a doctor if your periods are long, heavy, or more painful than over-the-counter medication can handle. I promise that's not normal.
Out of sigh ,out of mind in the medical world. I've been dealing with fibroids/polyps and abnormal uterine bleeding (bad) for 10 years now and the amount of doctors that don't take it or me seriously is nothing short of mind blowing. According to my last gyn I'm not dead enough to even run a test on. ( paraphrasing ) ((She clearly didn't read my extensive chart ) ) so frustrating.
Found out when I was I think 26 that I had PCOS that was actually causing a lot of my issues that my parents thought were "in my head" it also contributed to my anger problems as a teenager fast forward to me being 31 and I have a coworker wo was talking to me about some symptoms her youngest daughter was having and I told her it sounded like my PCOS and suggested she go see my doctor and turns out I was right and she's now getting treatment and is doing better with her symptoms now and is so happy her mom started working with me
As a woman who's seen a lot of doctors, write down all symptoms, etc. write down how many of each product, & what size they are etc. Giving them every symptom you have, & can tell them about.
For anyone who is wanting to keep a more accurate track of how much they're bleeding during their periods, I would strongly recommend a menstrual cup. They come with measurement marks on the side and give you a much better idea of what is actually going on. As well as giving you a clear picture of other things such as how many clots you have or what colour it is. Fun fact, if your period blood has a blueish or purplish tint that is a pretty good indication of heavier than normal bleeding and something you should see your doctor about. I went to my doctor for excessive pain and bleeding during my cycle and they asked the 'how many tampons' questions. I said, 'I'm sorry I don't use tampons but I do know I'm bleeding more than 60ml in a 12 hour period so there's that.'
when i was small and noticed these sexist issues, i had a thought in mind that i wanna become a boy when i grow up because i want to dodge these neglect coming from society, because i thought i am the problem turns out, its them that is the problem
I used to be a medical device tester, there are many industrial standards which tampons etc have to conform to in order to be able to enter the market. We made synthetic blood to simulate flows and uptake. You can search the ISO standards yourselves!
Oh, they don't need to ask me for that. The number of times I've turned up at the Emergency Department pale as a vampire, with elevated heartrate and when they've drawb my blood my iron levels are through the floor and heading for hell, they know my periods are way too heavy. I was supposed to be getting surgery this week. But I'm sick so I have to postpone it.
Dr.Karan, as a woman, I just want to say thank you for advocating for us as hard as you do. Your education, and your fighting for us, both mean the absolute world to me! We need more doctors like you!
This 💯❤
🎯
❤ totally agree!
As an incel, I do support gender specific research fdor both men, aaaand women. Thectging here is that menstrual products were never meant to be used for diagnostic purposes. They wee just meant to temporarily absorb whatever was there. It was like a kleenex in the way that you didn't necessarily need to know how much the discharge was, as you could easily use a sample. So, exact specifications for rates of absorption were not necessary for its intended purpose. Knowing that they could be used in this manner, it might be good to have a specific brand for this purpose. I say specific, because, as with all technology, the initial product would be more expensive, so such products would have a higher cost initially. It is simply because making them would be much more expensive than traditional products, as they now approach medical grade.
@@NathalieCwiekSwiercz ah, you are one of those people that think looks and being neurotical determine intelligence.
Are you [bleeping] kidding me?!
And our benighted UK government has been charging VAT on these products? That money should be funding research at bare bloody minimum…
…and yes that pun was deliberate!
It took decades of campaigning to have the VAT on sanitary products revoked. Apparently MPs only realised that they weren’t luxury products in 2021. 🤦🏻♀️ But yes, it’s unbelievable that so little research has been done on something every woman has to deal with.
Until recently menstrual products were taxed as LUXURY ITEMS in Germany, while some frivolous things (oysters, I think) got the lower "basic stuff" tax.
@@Panbaneesha Wasn't just germany - it's insane. It's like toilet paper, to best compare it! People don't menstruate for shits and giggles, it's not like grabbing candy from the counter. Considering it a luxury like that is so malicious.
Europeans got to wake upppp! VAT tax goes to the vatican. They'very all been caught, thanks to The Q Plan and they're going down for crimes against humanity!!
Refunding will be made thru GESARA. St German Trust. Conspiracy theories will be truth. Watch.
Same problem here in the US. 21 of 50 states still tax menstrual hygiene products. Also only 26 states have laws requiring prisons to issue menstrual products to menstruating inmates. Society needs to do better.
Doctors treat women like crap. I literally lost so much blood in a night my hemoglobin went from 14 to 9 but since I didn’t need a transfusion they didn’t care. As long as I don’t need a transfusion they seem uninterested in stopping the bleeding.
Apparently it is ok to have to sit on a toilet for an hour or more bleeding so much that it looks like someone turned on a faucet.
I tried going to the ER and they left me sitting there bleeding for 6 hours in the waiting area and when the paramedic told the nurse why I was there he said “she is bleeding from down there.” Super professional
I feel your pain. I have suffered with severe anemia since being peri menopausal. My last period in January put me in hospital. My hemoglobin went from 10 to 4. I had to have 8 units of blood and 1 iron infusion. I was told I needed a hysteroscopy urgently and would be within 2 weeks, but 3 months months down the road I am still waiting. I know our nhs is stretched, but this is beyond a joke.
@@samb7677 It is terrifying and happens so quickly. One second I was laying on the couch then unimaginable pain. I couldn't move because the pain was so bad and then when I stood I realized why the pain was so bad. Clots the size of my feet and a bucket of blood poured out. I don't understand leaving women to suffer like this.
I am so sorry that you are dealing with that.
All the paramedic needed to say was “PV bleeding ++”. The nurse would know what that means while maintaining the patient’s dignity. Sorry that happened to you
Horrible 😢 where did this happen?!🤯
Wowwww I’m so sorry you went that traumatic experience
We need to talk about the rampant sexism and abuse women face just trying to get care.
I got told by a female doctor that all women have cramps and I should stop complaining. Despite telling her my former PCP had me on low grade pain pill prescription Naproxen. Turns out I have PCOS and I have had cysts rupture before.
@@cheyennes7681Ngl, I’d go after their medical license for that. You should file a complaint
Yep. Indifference. Sighs. Rolled eyes. Dismissiveness. Impatience. It’s GD infuriating.
@@cheyennes7681 Good for you, pushing for a diagnosis! It’s not easy to persevere when you’re being GASLIGHTED by “professionals”.
@@ahill4642 I have a really good PCP and NP now. They listen and have no problem explaining things to me if I need it.
We are so far behind in women’s science 😢
Woke crap says women can suddenly have XY chromosome 😅
At least they're trying to make up for it now.
It's exciting to see how soon our biggest problems will become anone issues just like modern medicine solved the biggest medical problems
It took twenty two years of pleading for help before I gave up on the NHS and was diagnosed with stage four deep infiltrating colorectal endometriosis, fibroids and PCOS. The ‘how many pads’ questionnaire is a big part of the reason. I barely bleed liquids at all, it’s just meat. Like chopped liver. So I have never bled through my clothes, stained my sheets etc. Since I didn’t have heavy bleeding, just every other symptom of serious gynaecological problems, my doctor told me that I had developed a “cognitive distortion that menstruation was a disease ” and this false belief was the reason for my crippling pain. I had years of mandated group therapy for hypochondriacs. When I finally had the money to go private and see an actual gynaecologist he told me that I had “barn door endometriosis”. Apparently that means something so big and obvious that no doctor should be expected to miss it. It was just misogyny. Just that ingrained certainty that women lie and exaggerate and are essentially silly. It absolutely ruined my life and has left me with profound iatrophobia.
😢😢
Everyone should read your comment! 😭
I swear my blood pressure went up just by reading your comment. I have PCOS and most likely endometriosis. And I understand you 100%.
Your fear is not irrational, it's experience! I can't believe a Dr tried to convince you that you had convinced yourself that periods are a "disease."
I have blood clots as well, so the questions don't make much sense to me, it's never about what the period blood looks like. I will go anemic from a period, but I'm not "bleeding through" it's mostly clotting.
Hard relate to the misogyny and invalidation. I've learned from years of medical and mental health gas lighting that if a professional invalidates your pain and symptoms or calls you crazy or a hypochondriac, it's time for a second opinion. I finally changed clinics all together because the last clinic was the same thing over and over, getting the fat talk, being told I'm an addict because I've smoked weed, being accused of seeking pain meds even though I've never mentioned them. This clinic I have so far had very good experiences and the doctors I've seen actually ask me questions instead of assuming and they provide insight on weight or hormones or drug interactions without making it a moral failure or the main issue. I might ACTUALLY get some treatment for my PCOS and (possible) Endo because they believe me. I FINALLY got some treatment for my fibromyalgia because the doctor believed me and my pain. It shouldn't have been this big of a fight. I shouldn't have this much medical trauma.
Thank you for sharing your story, honestly so important! I don't know a single woman who doesn't have a story. Yours is horrific though, I'm so sorry that happened to you
When I was 37 I was diagnosed with endometriosis and was told that the only cure was a hysterectomy. I remember having bad menstrual cramps that were so severe I'd be vomiting. I would get out of bed in the morning and a blood clot would just plop onto the floor, which wasn't comical but what was comical was seeing my husband's face turn white lol. I actually got a second opinion from a gynecologist and he told me the same thing so I said "let's book it." It was probably the biggest mistake I ever made in my life. I was newly divorced and knew I wanted more children. I thought about it for so long but in the end, I had the surgery, which I might add, was botched, but I wouldn't find out until much later. I swear that my Doctors in 1997 were actually more like quacks from 1897!
Approximately 7 years after that, I was diagnosed with PCOS and my family doctor and gynecologist recommended I have an oophorectomy, so I did, but when I woke up after surgery, the surgeon said he could only remove my left ovary because the endometriosis had caused my ovaries and bladder to get stuck to my bowel. He said he had such a difficult time removing it and suggested I leave the right one alone. I tried, but it just grew so big that I began waddling like a duck because I could feel pressure from the cyst. I searched for the best gynecologists in Toronto and Hamilton and found a terrific Uro/Gyno in Hamilton who put me on Lupron for a few months in the hope it would shrink the cyst. Unfortunately, it just continued to grow, so I had my left ovary removed. My Gynecologist was wonderful; he had to peel my bladder off my bowel and carefully remove the ovary because he said, as did the first surgeon, that the endometrial material acted like glue and he said my tummy was full of it. He also said he'd never go in my stomach again. During surgery, he had to call in a general surgeon to assist him because he was certain he was going to nick my bowel. He didn't, thank heavens, but he did mention that he removed part of my uterus and cervix that had been left behind by the surgeon who performed my hysterectomy Fun times 😂
😳🙈
What the actual fuck?! I'm so sorry that you went through all of this
No one should have to go through this. I’m enraged for you that you did.
What the point of removing the least damaged ovary and leaving the most problematic one? I hope you feel much better now
@@Nice_TreeFear of damaging the other organs, since it was stuck. :(
I had a relative with endometriosis. She wasn't diagnosed until 50.
She's had 20 surgeries for what they thought was Crohns disease, was allergic to the treatments for it and getting no help...
Turned out she had intestinal endometriosis, and the hormone treatment offered a 60% reduction of symptoms in 3 months..
What type of hormone treatment did she have? I was recently diagnosed with endometriosis and the pain is so bad.
I was once able to impress a doctor by telling him that I bleed up to 200ml a month. Menstrual cups are a blessing but difficult to change outside of your own home - especially if you have a heavy flow. I'm so envious of those who only fill up one cup per day.
I'm so envious that women have access to menstrual cups. In my country I've only started seeing them since about 2021. I knew they were available in other European countries but not here.
I haven't tried menstrual cups because I fear I will fill up fast and leak. The public bathrooms in the U.S. are not very private or good for sanity needs. No sinks in the stalls, I usually have to pee really bad so washing hands before hand is difficult or impossible. Stalls typically are really small so any maneuvering, I have to use the disability stall. Plus, I have such a heavy flow I know changing it will cause a mess which will be difficult to deal with. Idk, maybe I have exaggerated fears about it but I find the world idea of it extremely stressful. Considering tampons yeild some of the same issues even though I can usually dispose of them within the stall (if I'm leaking, the tampon is dripping), I don't see how a cup is going to be different. Pads for me.
This makes me wonder how many other women's products they're testing stupidly. Do they test bras using potatoes?
😂 haha I can't stop laughing, thank you
Fruit, actually. There's even charts to figure out what size you are.
Thank you for mentioning that last bit about how half the world are women. It should be a no-brainer, but I think people so often forget that these "niche" or "icky" women's issues are...half the world's issues. So many things in the world are designed or researched with only the male body in mind, from the small (pressing machines at the dry cleaners that are designed for men's dress shirt sizes so the average woman would have to pay more due to the extra labor) to the large (crash test dummies requiring testing on male dummies only and not female).
He said half the population have a certain organ- trans men and some nonbinary people have a uterus after all, and we're also left out in the cold medically because of misogyny.
Need to completely redo all the research on every medical condition with just women population.
Exactly. Most studies don't include women because of our hormones. When that's exactly why we should be included. If you're giving something to the whole population but don't test it on 50% with different hormones etc... how will it even work properly on them?
This!
Every other 'general' health condition and not just specially women health conditions to be researched and redone with a women only population, is what is needed.
Even 'general' drugs react differently in different genders.
Men are on a daily cycle and women on a monthly.
Can we please start saying it more?
@@Firebolt7Star agreed. Just like you would redose meds if you had kidney or liver problems.
@@Firebolt7Star daily cycle?
Wife went to ER for severe pain and extreme flow. Mid-30’s, PCOS, filling Depends (not pads) with blood every 3-4 hours for 3 days. ER said it was a normal period and sent us home without diagnostics. Later we learned one ovary had a cyst which caused ovarian torsion, killing the ovary.
that is not normal... 😬 I hope she got proper care later
Did they do an ultrasound?
GD it, that pisses me off on your behalves.
The question of how many tampons or pads you use in one hour also doesn't factor in that there are a lot of different sizes and absorbency levels. So if you have heavy bleeding in the first place, you'll use the highest level of absorbency, while someone with a much smaller flow will use a smaller tampon / pad, resulting in the same number of products being used, but very different levels of blood coming out. The only reliable measure until testing is done properly is a menstrual cup, which doesn't work for everyone.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004 for sure. But you're more likely to size up than keep the same absorbency levels if they no longer suit you, until none of them work. Telling your OBGYN you only use 1 tampon per hour without specifying it's the maxi++ because you assume it's normal (particularly if you don't know much about endo) could delay diagnosis pretty badly.
I used a menstrual cup ONCE, and had to have a doctor remove it. Short stem + fat woman + t-rex arms is not good for a cup.
@@andreacook7431 I mean that's a little pathetic. I hope you try and lose weight then.
@@seg1912 Yeah this is me. I was literally bleeding so hard that I had to use a towel instead of a pad (bled through the nighttime maxi "12 hour" extra long extra thick pad so much that I woke up from the wetness in less than two hours) and because my mom said it happened to her too, I thought it was just a little heavier than normal. NO!!! We just have a genetic issue so of course it happens to all our female relatives... I didn't ever get help for that issue, it was only once I ran out of other options for treating depression that I even tried birth control. It didn't even stop me from bleeding either, just caused me to bleed a small amount every day forever instead of a ton for a week. It's better than nothing but BARELY, and it's insane to me that this is the best option. I wish there was more research so we could actually fix these problems instead of slapping towels on them. I don't want to bleed a teaspoon into my panties every day for the rest of my life just to avoid literally bleeding out.
@@andreacook7431I am also fat, but I can use a cup. I think you just have to find one that works for you. I have had success with the Diva cup, which has ridges on the stem and base of the cup to make it easier to grab. There are some that come with longer "tails" that you can shorten to suit you. Best of luck!
Well I'm off to scream into a void
Amen to that. Me too.
More funding and research on women’s health ✊
That last sentence...damn. Thank you for advocating on womens health. It's such a shame how we're failed for such normal things.
Yup, I believe it! I was diagnosed in my 50's with Adenomyosis and a retroverted uterus....4 months before menopause. Unreal!
I’m curious about the retroverted uterus - me too, I believe…? I’ve been told that I have a “tilted” uterus. But other than potential fertility issues I know of no other consequences. Thanks to you I’ll be doing more research. I am almost 55 and still having periods (FFS!) and, well, anyway, off I go to do research. I’m curious what you learned about your diagnoses. I’ve never even heard of Adenomyosis.
As far as I am concerned, women's medicine is only 30 years old max, as it wasn't until the 90s that women were required to be in medical studies.
Even branches of science that are 100 years old (like psychology) still have tons of gaps and outdated and overturned theories. DNA (only imaged in the 50s and only sequenced in the 90s) seems to uncover new information every few months.
There are an awful ot of gaps for the sake of patriarchy.
Thabk yoh for shedding light on then.
No joke autism was considered a male only condition until the last few years. It's like trying to get to the moon, to get officially diagnosed as an adult let alone a female adult.
Doctor, if you haven’t, would you consider speaking on the issues surrounding pain management/expectations with IUD insertion? I have seen *dozens* of women with stories that mirror what I went through, where we are either misled or not warned at all about the potentially debilitating pain of getting an IUD in. My first time I wasn’t even told there would be discomfort until the gyno said “you’re about to feel a bit of pressure”. I was in her office for over half an hour after the procedure, on the floor of the bathroom vomiting with the lights off, before my mom helped me to my feet and got me to the car. My second time the (different) gyno still didn’t warn me but when I told her my story she said “some” women experience “discomfort” and I could take ibuprofen beforehand if I was worried. Most troubling is the fact that a lot of women request a woman or gynecologist for the procedure, so it’s often women putting other women through this cruel ritual. It breaks my heart every time I see a new post online asking “why didn’t my doctor warn me?” yet it’s been almost ten years since my first procedure and it continues to happen.
What makes me even angrier is how women have been saying for years how painful IUDs are, but no one cared enough to give pain meds. Meanwhile male IUDs aren’t even fully on the market yet and already got approval for pain meds. Women are literally being told to undergo a medical procedure without any pain management or anesthesia out of sheer sexism, because our pain’s never real I guess
Ohhhh this makes me mad. And here I thought I was in the wrong for not taking ibuprofen beforehand
@@lilyawoodburn Nah, women who take ibuprofen often say it basically does jack shit. You wanna know why? *Because they’re opening up your motherfucking cervix. You know, the thing that usually only opens up during childbirth*
Wait, male intrauterine devices? I'm confused... Men don't have uteruses. Do you mean like the male equivalent of an IUD, like a form of contraception that goes in the testes or somewhere in the male reproductive organs?
@@cinnamoslut Yes, by “male IUD” I mean a device that works and is implanted in a similar way, but with male reproductive organs instead. They’ve been working on developing different versions, but afaik none of them are ready yet
The other thing about doctors asking how many pads someone gets through is that I imagine most people do what I do which is to immediately go to the toilet after sitting or lying down so that most of the blood goes down the toilet not on the pad.
Also washing a bit with water while on the toilet, which greatly reduces the amount out blood that comes out for a little while.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004 If you're laying flat, it's like having a disposible bottle of water on its side. The bottle is being "filled" from the back end (the interior of the woman is still releasing blood) but the bottle can be filled a lot more befor any sloshes out (the cavity can hold a lot of blood as long as its kept horizontal). Because the "opening" is pretty tight and all, the blood is mostly dripping out slowly rather than gushing. These factors all combine to keep the blood mostly inside for a little longer if your laying position is just right. So if you lay in that sort of position, you'll collect blood without much of it getting out of the body and onto the pad. When you get up, a little blood might drip out but if you go right to the toilet as many people do after waking up, you're likely to get there before the big rush of blood comes. This means a drier pad than if you had been standing for the same time, and a lot more blood going into the toilet.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004 Yes, I'm aware that when blood comes out, it's from muscles moving. When blood doesn't come out, it's a combination of that happening less from being relaxed and the position stuff I described before. I actually regularly have periods so bad that I bleed through the thickest pads I can find in two hours (yes, I have now received birth control, yes, it reduced bleeding) so believe me I know cramps. I assumed I was explaining the situation to a man so didn't even bother adding cramps/muscles into the explanation because I didn't want to risk causing confusion. I just wanted to get across "yes this happens, even though you think it doesn't, presumably because you can't experience it as you don't menstruate".
@kinseylise8595 until about 2 months ago when my GP prescribed medication that decreases menstrual bleeding, I had to change overnight/ maternity pads (the most absorbent pads available where I live) every 45 mins on my heaviest days. I can assure you that I bled heavily when lying and sitting as well as standing. Lying down might decrease the flow to a certain extent. Not to the extent that you're claiming for someone with very heavy flow though.
@@foolishlyfoolhardy6004your comments made sense to me and fit with my experience. Lying down does not decrease the flow to the extent that the other person was claiming. I was using overnight or maternity pads and changing them every 45 - 60 mins before I started medication to decrease my menstrual bleeding. That included when I was lying or sitting. I'm not sure why they assumed you are a man 🤷♀️
Well and define “heavy” I swear I remember some very low amount like 2 tbs per period being tossed out as “average” in the worthless “maturation” lecture we had in school. They also tried to tell us that “average” periods are only 3-4 days long. Let’s try 2 tbs a day on a heavy day more like 4-6 days. No one in my family and none of my friends have any of these mythical ez mode periods.
I have uterine fibroids. Prior to being prescribed medication to decrease my menstrual bleeding I was needing to empty my cup, which has a 30mL capacity, every 1.5 - 2 hours on my heaviest days. 2 Tsp is 30mL. My heaviest days would be 120mL or more (8 Tsp). Each period would be over 300mL (20 Tsp). Obviously that isn't typical though.
Even before I developed fibroids I would've bled at least 3 Tsp on my heaviest days. I'd say at least 10 Tsp each period. That was with no known gynecological conditions. I'm not sure where they get the 2 Tsp per period number from.
Exactly. Not sure where they got that number. Clearly not from talking to anyone who actually menstruates.
Yeah, water dyed blue just isn't the same, LoL. For women to know how much blood they're losing, doctors could say to weigh their menstral products before use and after, then subtract the first weight. That isn't going to be 100 percent accurate if there's leakage and the amount that ends up in the toilet can't be weighed, but it gives some idea.
I will say some days it wasn't worth leaving my house because of the time I had to spend changing out my products. It was a source of anxiety plus it was like I had IBS during menstruation.
Most public washrooms aren't set up to be able to use something like a reusable silicone mentral cup because access to a sink isn't in most stalls. It would be good because it might encourage more use of them, be cost effective for women, and cause fewer plumbing blockages.
Those toilets with sinks on the lids would be amazing for use with cups/disks, fr.
I carry baby wipes. It's not perfect, but it works, and I can wash the cup at home. Baby wipes are also good for cleaning up if you use pads, too.
Newer office buildings seem to be more likely to have a sink in every stall.
I'm very happy with that change: makes it far easier to deal with menstruation at work.
Try using immodium for the period poops. It reduces cramping of your bowels and might help to reduce cramping of your uterus. I had horrible cramping when my menses started and passed blood clots. Found out my cramps were like late early labor pains. If this works for you, please spread the word.
I think women collectively should sue. The lack of testing and experiments to figure out how to treat women properly should be considered malpractice, because it is. An unwillingness to learn how women’s bodies function normally and abnormally means an unwillingness to properly treat women which falls under the definition of malpractice.
Yeah the only way to messure it is with a menstral cup and only if you manage to not spill any while getting it out. If you can even stand inserting one. I certainly described having to use a towel folded up at night. But still getting iron tablets that make you sick. In the end i got an ambulance to hospital after testing at home showed a 2,9HB to get me a couple of bags of blood.
You don't usually survive that low number unless like many other women in the world you have been aneamic for so long your body is used to it. The doctor in the ambulance who was hooking me upto the machine said my heart was running a marathon. Using those 8 baby bloodcels to keeo me going. Good thing I stayed home and didn't catch Covid.
It was due to a fibroid going through various layers of my uterus stopping the normal systems that stops you from bleeding too much. But many women walk around like that and just say it "heavy bleeding".
That was me for years. It got solved only surgically, through hysterectomy.
@@nulnemo4214 Yeah when they found out I got the next available slot for surgery. It was during Covid so it took a few weeks but the bags of blood at least made me feel miles better. The hysterectomy didn't even hurt.
Waiting for the menstrual cup worshippers to come in and tell you you're wrong
@@ghostratsarah😂 but tbf it does take a little getting used to and then it is AMAZING! 😅
@@ghostratsarah That would be interesting, I've seen a girl show how to messure with the cups but I think you have to be able to comfortable inseert and extract them and I couldn't even use a tampon.
Women’s health is also severely under researched on vulvovaginal disorders that you haven’t mentioned. Women’s health is all of these things including maternal health. We need to change how we think about women’s health as only important when you get pregnant or want to become pregnant. There’s so much to women’s health than just that.
Amen to that! It’s wild the lack of research related to women’s specific challenges (peri menopause and menopause), period discomfort etc…. Hopefully the new founded awareness will jump start the process
Wanna bet? At least not in the US! We test mostly on middle-aged men and then expect it to work the same on women!
In the US, they weren't even ALLOWED to test on women until 1993. They were barred from clinical trials, because everyone was worried their fertility would be damaged.
That's not a typo. 1993. 31 years ago.
The ban was lifted in the UK sometime in the 1990's. Didn't find the exact date.
@@mtnmagic1998 yes... They say it's because of our hormones 😒 there's too much variations that can effect results
Dr. Karan, please keep advocating for women!!! 🙏
Honestly, it's crazy. I was a HEAVY bleeder through my teens and 20s, definitely anaemic with it and there was always this "it's only a thimble full of blood" mentality following me around. I switched to a cup in my late 30s, when it had already gone down to 'absolute dream' levels as far as i was concerned (fasting did that) but on my first day i fill that cup every 4-6 hours and that cup is bigger than a thimble. Don't let anyone tell you what's happening with your body, when they cannot possibly know themselves. And get a cup.
I remember 5th grade, where they started explaining periods. They explained that "you only bleed a teaspoon of blood". What bullshit that was lmaoooo. 😂😂😂
Yeah, I only found out that my period was abnormally heavy in my twenties. I didn’t know other people didn’t bleed for 7-10 days, have clots >1” or use as many tampons as I did.
Wait bleeding for 7-10 isn't normal??? Pls reply!! I thought it was normal? Everyone around me has been telling me that it is normal ??!!
Thank you.
Women’s bodies are so different to men’s in so many ways - so ALL MEDICAL RESEARCH on EVERYTHING should be mirrored for women’s bodies so that only women’s research is being used to dictate women’s care.
Even something as seemingly basic and routine as a heart attack can present entirely differently in women.
Treatments need to be tailored for our bodies too. Medicines and care plans made for women based on research of women. Always.
It’s not hard, guys. Just try - for one bloody second - to think of us as equal to you.
Imho
I've read that it's due to how varying our hormones are. I feel like that should be why we are tested on more but apparently it makes the testing and results harder to pinpoint 😒
Yes, what @onlyfacts said. Also, most of the advancements in our understanding of women's anatomy came at great cost. Most of the best research we have came from horrific "studies" and surgeries done by the Nazi's during WW2. There is also the fact that certain medications can affect a developing baby and sometimes a woman may not be aware that she is pregnant. This makes research harder as there is the risk that she might be or get pregnant and the baby be adversely affected in that case. Men don't have as many variables to factor in ethically, so research tends to use them more.
LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK 📣 👏 👏
I slapped my (clean) moon cup on the table along with my notes and said "right, i now have some data for us to discuss my menstrual losses."
Got sent for an endometrial ablation. They discovered my bicornuate uterus and couldnt treat me. No further care offered
Went to my previous GP who went "right, two problema here the losses and the PMDD, lets just go baxk and woek out which oral contraceptive woeked when you were young and run with it continuously until you hit menopause.
We had a bit of a rough transition onto HRT but again he treated me as actually being the person who best knew my body.
Oh❤ that last sentence 🥲 Thank you so so much!!!! I'm really nearly crying now. Thinking about the fact that I never heard it from any doctor ever. Thank you! The entire video is superb! But that last part...it means something to me and sure to many other woman as well.
I am one of the lucky ones who don't have much issues in that department. Well, other than that I wouldn't be able to function during my period without birth control pills. My pain and PMS was way to heavy. Last time I "paused" it for a months was 2012?! I think. I always take them, for pain management basically and for my acne. It's still hard some days to stand straight during the first 3 days of the cycle. But I don't walk around anymore afraid to bleed my pants through
I didn’t realize just exactly how bad my flow was every month until I studied g a menstrual cup. Life-changing!!
THANK YOU, Doctor Karan!
The way you use your platform to inform about the conditions and medical struggles people with uteruses go through, as well as advocating for us is fantastic! Keep at it!
Thank you for your guts to expose and put such things to light! It is crazy how women have been mistreated in the medical field! You are by far the best influencer ❤
Thank you for spreading awareness about of women's issues and those of ppl with uterus
how is "# of pads" even an accurate measure when you have various sizes? what's the measure? and then you have variation in menstrual blood thickness as well
That’s what bothers me too!!!! Wildly different sizes
So yeah, a few weeks ago I almost bled to death to my own surprise. My hemoglobin got down to 7.1…that’s an emergency. I ended up requiring a transfusion for severe anemia and bonus…I also managed to get cellulitis and phlebitis in the arm I had the IV in. I have PCOS and have had it since I hit puberty at 12. I have spent a huge portion of my life bleeding at random. I had become so accustomed to it that I didn’t even realize it nearly killed me until it was almost too late. The ability to reliably measure something like that would definitely be helpful. P.S. I’m going to try an IUD starting next week for the first time so 🤞wish me luck. I’m so tired of all this. I’m 40 and done having kids. The other option is a hysterectomy, but here’s hoping the IUD is good enough.
It took until i was 49 years old to find out that i had endometriosis. I was also told it was so bad that i shouldn't have been able to have children and i had six. The doctor then pronounced his next miracle. He told me that my periods would stop a month after my 50th birthday. Shame i didn’t put a bet on it. I could have made a fortune 😂😂
This is why i just dont trust drs. I know so many women being told they wont have kids and they always end up having them except a few. Then i know at least 6 people who were told to ab*rt their baby or theyll die…both baby and mom came out healthy and it was a “miracle” i thing drs are just super uneducated when it comes to women. Theres multiple comment threads about stories where people had kids or the baby and mom survived. Honestly idk id trust a dr when it comes to kids unless there was an obvious problem like no heartbeat
Your story of having children in spite of endometriosis can give a lot of women hope! Thank you for sharing
Why do so many women have endometriosis? They really should be studying that. It can affect so many other organs too. It's almost a cancer but we just kinda brush it off. Very scary
But the world is run by old men who think women don't count. 💔😢
Did you know most research is made with male subjects? Including the mice?
I just realized something too. As a doctor, I've seen blood tests, sputum tests, wound cultures and gram staining, CSF studies....but I've NEVER seen menstrual flow testing. It's literal free tissue that the body expels regularly but I've NEVER seen any lab tests try to use it for diagnostics.
There could be a grant in there if someone wanted to recruit people with known gynecological problems who still menstruate in order to do a study to find out if there are indicators present... And that would be just for a start.
I started using a menstrual cup during perimenopause. It was really helpful that I could measure my flow. I eas doing 9 to 12 oz on most peak days. Some months I would have as much as 16 oz in a day. I read that 1 to 3 oz is normal. I wish I had tried the menstrual cup a lot sooner.
🌋 I’m no wimp but these comments are bringing tears to my eyes. I think my 40 years of putting up with the dismissive, disrespectful, demoralizing *gaslighting* and basic neglect of a parade of doctors throughout my life has built up a volcano of resentment in me.
If I may, I don't think it's a tampon's job to indicate an underlying issue. I'm in Germany and when I had lower belly pain, they right away did an ultrasound to see if there was an issue.
Also, menstrual loss is not ALL blood and this has to be considered as it's not how they're tested/researched
They also use it as a standard (in the US) to decide if a pregnant person should be admitted or is emergent.
I had no idea I'd a very heavy flow till I was using a cup. Turns out I was losing up to 120 mls in the first 24 hours. Easy to go to GP once I realised it was a problem, I mean I knew it was a problem, but this allowed me to quantify it. Thankfully, not a problems now, GP / medication helped.
Menstral cups are uncomfortable at times but you can use them to measure the blood you loose.
Amen to this. Women: get tested for anemia! I suspect it is wildly under-diagnosed. We must be proactive in taking care of our health. Our doctors - if we even have one - are spread too thin, so we must ask the questions and prompt the conversations because IMHO they just don’t do so enough.
I had my menarch at age 10 and have had menorragia and dysmennorhea since then but no one ever diagnosed until I turned 30 because 1. Cramps are 'normal' and 2. They couldn't quantify the blood flow because the criteria was "you would bleed through your pad overnight" But since I used xxl+ overnight pads from 12 pm to 6pm I never bled through.
I started my cycle in 1974 at age 11. Periods routinely lasted 10 days, with at least 6 of those days very heavy flow. To the place I had to put a towel over the mattress in case of leakage! I also had terrible cramps and often a low grade fever. No one took it seriously. My mother's response was, "Well, get used to it." No one seemed to think it cause for concern, let alone medical attention.
I hated that! My periods have been brutal most of my life, and I'd be all clammy, often accompanied by diarrhoea, and vomiting, a migraine, cramping so I couldn't stand up straight, back pain, bloating, and all of the other evils. I was told to "walk through the pain" by all my friends. When I had my second baby (I had an epidural with my first) I remember getting to six cms, and thinking this is starting to hurt like a period, and I turned to my husband and said I didn't want to do it anymore, and got another epidural.
I've had numerous ovarian cysts (that had to be removed) the biggest one was the size of a newborn's head, so I've got a six inch bikini line scar, but no baby, fibroids, endometriosis, scar tissue, and my uterus started growing. In the end I was wearing depends silhouettes several days a month, and then one month I was soaking them really quickly, and I was sure I was hemorrhaging. It was terrifying! I had a period that was worse than having my biggest baby (with a massive placenta) that lasted for ten days, then I had seven days of no bleeding, then I bled like a typical period for another seven, then a few days break, then it started again. I went to my doctor and told him, and he didn't seem that perturbed, then I showed him my period tracker, and his eyes became huge, and he said "I'll schedule the surgery" he looked at my ultrasound again, and he asked to be excused and he went into his office and closed the door, so I listened through the wall 😂 I could hear him speaking, and suddenly his voice became quite tense and he said "You documented 2.4mms on yer chart, but it was 2.4cms!" That explained everything. My uterus had grown (from being enlarged, at 10cms six months before, to 14cms, so I kept feeling like I was in the first trimester, but wasn't pregnant. Absolutely crazy. I had a vaginal hysterectomy, but it was so big, he had to cut it into pieces to remove it. It was awful. I didn't realize that literally a minimum of half my life from age 11, to 47 had been completely dominated by my uterus, until it was removed, and I was suddenly free! No more not being able to swim (even as a teenager I bled through the biggest tampons) or not being able to wear something, or go somewhere where I'd be worried about having massive pads with me, and being able to find a toilet etc... ❤
I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to be a one-up 😳 Your post made me feel so much sympathy ❤❤❤❤
In mu Town you can get results saying what's wrong aka endometriosis and the Dr's say its normal and WILL NOT TREAT
0:09 Oh the truth...the time I put into placing that damn thing the right way, so I don't leak when sitting. And then you turn wrong and feel it move from its place and you walk right back through that door into the bathroom where you just came from🤦♀️🤷♀️
I wasn't aware they didn't use at least someone like blood.
My friend worked for a city maintenance, they called tampons white rats 😊
Well said Dr Karen!!
But is this for real?? Period products were not even tested with period blood? 😰 First I learned from Dr. Karan that pain medication maximum dosages were not tested on women, and now this. What else are women using that haven't been studied on women 🥲
Thank you Doctor from ALL of us women who have suffered needless because we were women.
God bless you and protect you always!✝️
Much love and respect from Southern California. 🙏🏻
In 2017 I switched to a mestrual cup from the company Ruby Cup, and their product comes with little mL markings on the inside. It’s not 100% accurate obviously, but it gives a much better ballpark than “3 tampons” or whatever. But I remember the first time I got asked this by my provider, and I busted out my chart with daily and total blood loss that I’d made for the last few months, she just kind of stared at it and didn’t know how to interpret it.
Lo and behold, 5 years later, I finally get my irregular (but often heavy) bleeding recognized and got diagnosed with PCOS. It took 10 years overall, since I starting pursuing this in my late teens. It would be so rad if we could get more real, useful research done that can inform our providers to help us better 😭
Thank you.
I'm sending love from my heart protect your preciousness. Your efforts to understand the female side of things is so encouraging. It should be part of the required education for MDs. There's so much willfull ignorance out in the world. I'm trying to find the good ones.
I just remember when one of my aunts went in for surgery to remove her ovaries. She had been getting recurring cysts on them for years, there was no benefit in keeping them. When she woke up, they had NOT removed her ovaries. They had merely removed the cysts, which were going to grow back! 🙄
I just got ur book today, can't wait to read it😊
'how many pads' is such a stupid question: i change them every few hours regardless of how bloody they are
It's SO awesome to have male doctors advocating for proper research into gynecological illnesses! It's awful that it's only just been realised that these hygiene products need to be tested with actual blood! It now makes sense to me why my gynecologist asked me if I was passing clots often and what the average size of them was when assessing my heavy bleeding rather than asking how many pads I was using in an hour. I had heavy prolonged bleeding (8 days of bleeding) and a lot of uncontrolled pain but no POCS or endo.
i used to bleed every second week or had it to the point if having to wear diapers bc i bled that much. gonna remove it for a different reason, but it's still the same result in the end.
#morefundingforafab #morefundingforwomen
Half the people in the world have an organ that bleeds every month for 40 years…. What a concise, blunt, and honest way of phrasing it! From a person who menstruates, thanks for being so objective when you educate about these kinds of things!
I went to emergency, twice, with a bleeding so heavy I was passing out. They askee how many pads I went through and sent me home. The message was clear - _we don't give a rat's ass if you die._
Thank you for caring about women's health❤
So what about all the other menstrual products that are currently available? There are lots of options but do any of them actually have a proper standard for how much blood they can hold?
And there was I thinking that the blue water they used in all those 1990s ads for period products was just to get around TV guidance on depicting blood. Goodness me.
Wait, just 40 years? Well, I'm overdoing it. Thanks, body. 😂
It really is a "mans" world that women have to live in and deal with, from medical to getting your car fixed!
You're the most important doctor on UA-cam
A medical doctor told me that women lost about half an ounce of blood each period. Once I started using a Diva cup, I realized I lost about 4 to 5 ounces per day for the two heaviest days.
Thank you so much for working to overcome this stigma.
Can we talk about how the pain meds stop working. Is it just me? They help a bit but they dont work.
Used to get in trouble in middle school a lot for bleeding through my triple stacked maxi pads every class period. Back then, they didn't give students those items, they gave out detention instead... got on BC and that helped a lot.
If men were the ones bleeding, the testing would have happened long ago!!
Wait so all those ads I see using blue coloured watery water is not just for ads purpose but also how they test it??
The trick I was taught is to weigh the pads and tampons before and after use. Smack them in a plastic bag, and on to the kitchen scale it goes. Not a particularly delicate approach to it, but probably the most precise there is at the moment.
What do doctors do with this information? I doubt my doctors would care. Still looking for a good gyn
@@tracy3418 For me? I did it to get a baseline in case my bleeding ever felt different. But yeah, most doctors don't particularly care about menstrual issues.
@@goingslowlynowhere that makes sense. Having quantitative data seems helpful
Oh my God. I haven't even bled since 1996, but I just love you so much!!!!
Menstrual cups, if you can stand to use them, are great for this as you get a really accurate measurement of your bleeding.
Preach!!!!
I already knew that question was flawed, but damn. I've often wondered about this. Doctors would ask how many pads I go through, and it's like, do you mean the pads most people use, the ultra-thin comfortable ones, or the ones I use, which are the thickest overnight pads I can find? Because the amount of time each of those last are DRAMATICALLY different. Once again thanking the gynecologist who finally, actually listened to me after 15 years of suffering and approved a hysterectomy. She says I was a horrible mess inside and repeatedly told me how much better I would feel. Within 24 hours of the operation, the pain felt like regular period cramps. Four days after the surgery, I didn't even need ibuprofen anymore. It literally was life-changing. Folks, please talk to a doctor if your periods are long, heavy, or more painful than over-the-counter medication can handle. I promise that's not normal.
Possibly tmi, but does anyone else find they soak one particular spot on the pad instead of having it spread out?
Its refreshing to see a doctor who takes women seriously.
❤
Out of sigh ,out of mind in the medical world.
I've been dealing with fibroids/polyps and abnormal uterine bleeding (bad) for 10 years now and the amount of doctors that don't take it or me seriously is nothing short of mind blowing. According to my last gyn I'm not dead enough to even run a test on. ( paraphrasing ) ((She clearly didn't read my extensive chart ) ) so frustrating.
So, the blue liquid they show in the commercials isn't accurate?🤔
Sadly this doesn't surprise me.
I woke up this morning... I thought it was the 21st century...
Found out when I was I think 26 that I had PCOS that was actually causing a lot of my issues that my parents thought were "in my head" it also contributed to my anger problems as a teenager fast forward to me being 31 and I have a coworker wo was talking to me about some symptoms her youngest daughter was having and I told her it sounded like my PCOS and suggested she go see my doctor and turns out I was right and she's now getting treatment and is doing better with her symptoms now and is so happy her mom started working with me
As a woman who's seen a lot of doctors, write down all symptoms, etc. write down how many of each product, & what size they are etc. Giving them every symptom you have, & can tell them about.
For anyone who is wanting to keep a more accurate track of how much they're bleeding during their periods, I would strongly recommend a menstrual cup. They come with measurement marks on the side and give you a much better idea of what is actually going on. As well as giving you a clear picture of other things such as how many clots you have or what colour it is. Fun fact, if your period blood has a blueish or purplish tint that is a pretty good indication of heavier than normal bleeding and something you should see your doctor about.
I went to my doctor for excessive pain and bleeding during my cycle and they asked the 'how many tampons' questions. I said, 'I'm sorry I don't use tampons but I do know I'm bleeding more than 60ml in a 12 hour period so there's that.'
when i was small and noticed these sexist issues, i had a thought in mind that i wanna become a boy when i grow up because i want to dodge these neglect coming from society, because i thought i am the problem
turns out, its them that is the problem
I used to be a medical device tester, there are many industrial standards which tampons etc have to conform to in order to be able to enter the market.
We made synthetic blood to simulate flows and uptake.
You can search the ISO standards yourselves!
Disgusting. I always thought there was something wrong with me, too.
Oh, they don't need to ask me for that.
The number of times I've turned up at the Emergency Department pale as a vampire, with elevated heartrate and when they've drawb my blood my iron levels are through the floor and heading for hell, they know my periods are way too heavy.
I was supposed to be getting surgery this week. But I'm sick so I have to postpone it.
I recently went to a gynaecologist about having problems with my periods and he just said “just go back taking the pill” 😡😅