• ChexMax@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Saying cis women can just stop their periods if they feel like it is a vast over simplification. Birth control fucks with your hormones often in very unpredictable ways. My friend had a light period for like 3 months straight due to her birth control and the doctors said that was fine and normal. In me, birth control triggered treatment resistant suicidal depression that I deal with to this day. In my sister, it gave wild mood swings and general emotional instability. My other sister was just plain allergic to it.

    It’s dangerous for women to go on hormonal birth control even though it’s so common and normalized. Women’s Healthcare in the USA is so hit or miss, and doctors are often uninformed or dismissive. Maybe you live elsewhere where it’s better?

    Please understand that periods are absolutely not optional. Even a complete hysterectomy (not that many of us could be granted one anyway) would trigger early menopause which is its own host of issues.

        • LemmyThinkAboutIt@lemmy.zip
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          2 days ago

          Menopause or perimenopause? Menopause is just the day that a woman hasn’t had a period for 365 days. After that day, they’re post menopause. Leading up to menopause is called perimenopause and it can last up to 10 years and start for some women in their late 30s. I hope I’m not coming off as rude, I just like to try and educate people about this sort of thing because for much too long women have not openly talked about perimenopause/menopause and us elder millennials and Gen xers currently going through it are no longer staying silent about it as our mothers and grandmother’s did.

          • ChexMax@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Damn thank you for sharing that. I can’t believe how little we all know about menopause considering almost half of humanity will eventually go through it!

            • LemmyThinkAboutIt@lemmy.zip
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              13 hours ago

              As far as I know, it’s also barely taught in medical school. So doctor’s aren’t even that educated about it. Luckily there are more and more female doctors that are pushing for more education about perimenopause/menopause. If your interested, I highly recommend reading The Menopause Brain by Dr. Lisa Mosconi. She’s a neurosurgeon who is currently researching the effects of menopause on the brain and also Alzheimer’s. It’s a very informative read. :-)

          • dkppunk@piefed.social
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            1 day ago

            I appreciate your explanation! My mother and her generation never spoke of perimenopause, menopause, or even periods and their issues in general. I’m an elder millennial with a Gen X friend and we talk about it pretty often. My older colleagues have also started being open about their experiences, we pass info along to each other via email.

            It’s so nice to see the information becoming more talked about, especially since I’m getting into the perimenopause phase of life.

            • LemmyThinkAboutIt@lemmy.zip
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              13 hours ago

              Yes! I think it’s great that it’s getting talked about now more amongst women. The generations before us seemed more ashamed to talk about things women go through as we age. It’s great that we’re breaking down that barrier and that taboo that was assigned to aging.