I don’t think we should normalize extreme period symptoms.

For a lot of women, that is normal.

I get fairly bad periods. I usually throw up several times on day one. I’m often doubled over with cramps, or sometimes they come on and stop me dead in my tracks. Sometimes I take the day off work, or go in late or leave early. I get tired and cranky and my boobs get so sore that just walking hurts, and no one better dare try to give me a hug. I’ve heard from women who have it a lot worse than me though.

Hormonal birth control didn’t work for me. It made my periods a little lighter and lessened the cramping. But it also made me feel fucking crazy and I had symptoms like nausea, sore breasts, crankiness, and uncontrolled emotions every single day instead of five.

So I live with the period because that’s what my body does, and there’s nothing weird or wrong or unnatural about it. That is a regular aspect of my life.