As a 30-year-old woman, it’s safe to say that I’m always learning (or should I say Googling) the changes that continue to happen in my body. Fortunately, I’m not alone here. women of BuzzFeed Community recently shared things their bodies have experienced that they didn’t even know were possible. Here’s what some shared:
Note: Some answers have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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1.“For the first time, I started to gain a little weight. I was super underweight, so I thought it was my body adapting to my illness, but I actually wasn’t losing weight despite being EXTREMELY active. Then my sex a movement went from 100 to 0, practically overnight. No one was listening to me. A gynecologist (female, no less) said, ‘Maybe you don’t want to have sex anymore because you’ve gained weight.’
“Finally, I started having really, really bad hot flashes at night and I told my PCP, ‘Okay, I KNOW this isn’t normal anymore,’ and she agreed and ordered more blood work. It took a long time for her to get back to me and then called, which isn’t a great sign that SHE called instead of a nurse, but she told me, ‘WELL, this is the first time…yeah. menopause.’ I asked other people to look too, because I couldn’t believe it; they couldn’t believe it.
‘You’re not the only person in the world, but you’re definitely my first patient and some other doctors’ first time seeing this!’ It was like being hit by a ton of bricks. No, I don’t want any more children. I have a son and I’m very happy with him, but the choice was taken away, the total change, my body changing so much, my metabolism doing a complete 180? I turn 35 in July.”
two.“Heavy bleeding: it is very likely that you anemic. Don’t take iron (you may vomit or never poop again). To try ferrous gluconate. It has improved my life a lot. I took it daily.”
“I had periods lasting seven days, with one day being so heavy that I couldn’t leave the house because I had to change cotton every 20-30 minutes. Doctors didn’t believe me for years. Additionally, I was told the pain was normal and that heating pads and a walk would help. Self-adhesive muscle cramp pads helped during work. As soon as I started using a menstrual cup, it was suggested that I should have an endometrial ablation.”
3.“No one told me that women go crazy nose hair close to menopause. I knew about chin and upper lip hair from my mother, but she NEVER told me about nose hair until she died. It was very important for her to be private about it.”
“Also, I’m sure this has been mentioned, but you can get hyperemesis during pregnancy like I did and threw up 20 times a day all the time. I even broke a rib in my third trimester. I remember crying my eyes out over a bucket, thinking there was no way she was going to survive this, and feeling overwhelming guilt that my body wasn’t up to the challenge.”
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4.“carpal tunnel. I had a horrible time with both arms during my twin pregnancy. I had to wear braces almost 24/7. The week after my babies were born, he disappeared. It’s the same with morning sickness. I had to take diclegis (a medication for morning sickness) just so I could eat more than biscuits, ginger ale, and lightly seasoned chicken. These two things disappeared almost immediately after birth. I remember going to orthopedic doctors to make appointments after giving birth because I thought I would never get better and I was terrified of losing feeling in my arms.”
–too many kids not enough time
5.“While breastfeeding my second child, I developed an aversion to fish. It was as if I had an allergy to seafood. If I ate fish or seafood, I would vomit. I did several allergy tests. No allergy. I stopped breastfeeding and can eat seafood and fish again. The doctor said there’s so much we don’t know about women’s bodies.”
6.“I have sensory problems related to menstruation, so I only use disposable gloves when I have to deal with it. I know it’s not the most environmentally friendly, but it’s done wonders for my mental health.”
7.“One of my two daughters is hormonal migraines. We didn’t notice this for the first two years because she wasn’t on a regular cycle yet. But when she was about 13, we finally found out. Her wonderful gynecologist tested a few birth control pills with lower hormone doses until we found one that worked for her.”
–pahz
8.“While in college, I had severe lower right abdominal pain, which sent me to the emergency room. The doctors did an ultrasound of my appendix and said it was fine, so they sent me home. I was still in a lot of pain, so I went back to the emergency room. The ER surgeon insisted it wasn’t my appendix and told me about her Stanford education, but she said she would take it out to be sure. , I came out of anesthesia with even more pain. The doctor started giving me more morphine and told my mother that I must have a low pain threshold.”
“My mom mentioned to them that I blew out my kneecap and felt less pain than after surgery. My blood pressure was so low from the morphine that I passed out. Finally, a nurse had the idea to ask the doctor to check my ovaries. I I had a HUGE cyst measuring almost 10 cm and suffered ovarian torsion. I had to go under the knife to have it drained. More than ten years later, I am having fertility problems, all because a surgeon decided he knew everything.
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9.“I had an abnormal Pap smear a few years ago, despite having had the HPV vaccine and never having been sexually active. colposcopy, and of course, the doctor didn’t believe me when I said I was a virgin. My next pap was normal and I never found out what happened.”
10.“I had gestational diabetes with my second child – pre-eclampsia with both. Almost as soon as I found out I was pregnant with my youngest child, my blood pressure skyrocketed and I took blood pressure pills through three bleeds, which they desperately tried to identify as my period. They never found out why.”
“Dista pubic symphysis, where the cartilage passes between the two front parts of the pelvic girdle, allows the baby to lower his head without physical therapy, support or crutches. It’s a lot of pain, and I didn’t know you were supposed to exercise after birth to repair your muscles. Hyperemesis gravidarum all the way with my first child. Not heard. The theory is that all of these things can happen because pregnancy can make your body’s weakness worse. I suspect I had PCOS, but in the 1980s, around here, nobody really listened.”
11.“I remember my first period when I was 11. I had two-week periods and horrible cramps that got even worse each month. After a year, I was told that this was normal, that I didn’t need to do anything. about it, and if it persisted for more than two years, I should go back. So I went back the following year, and by that time, my cramps had become debilitating to the point that I was missing school frequently.”
“My doctor prescribed me contraceptives, which worked for a few months, but whenever I took a break for a week to get my period, it would come back even worse than before. to try the shot, deposit, after a while since I was having abnormally heavy periods. When I got the shot, I stopped having my period for a few days before bleeding constantly for four full months. I menstruated for all 120 days.”
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12.“I’ve had post-concussion syndrome for two and a half years. My neurologist thinks menopause may be my only relief from the headaches at this point. I can’t wait for menopause, and that’s saying something.”
13.“I had four ureteral stents placed during pregnancy. My body would calcify them within a week. After four, my urologist didn’t add any more; he was worried that all the sedation, x-rays and other things were too risky for the baby and me. Plus, they never lasted. The minute he was born, I felt like a new person.”
14.“Nobody told me that large clots are common after cesarean birth. I’m not sure if it’s normal after a vaginal birth because I haven’t had one yet. But a clot the size of my palm came out of my body, and on an emergency visit to the gynecologist later, I discovered that it was just part of the deal and should go in if the clots were bigger than the palm of my hand. Damn, I thought I was dying.”
If you have your own story, share it with me in the comments below!
