Hello hi,
It’s been a short while
but I trust you have been good. My last Bellanaija post can be found here.
Today I’m gonna be
writing about:
PMS
– Pre-Menstrual Syndrome
Okay, so I am obviously
not new to menstruation (given my age) but I have definitely been ignorant
about many things concerning this topic. The good news is that I learn
something new every month. For me, PMS is the latest knowledge that I have acquired
and it happened so because of certain events which I am about to write about that
made me open up my heart to a little research.
For a long time, I had
always noticed a change in my emotions and activities just a few days before my
period would start but all these while, I just did not know that there was a
name for these circles of events. A
specific change for me was fatigue – I would find myself yawning constantly and
sleeping like I were a pregnant woman and no matter how much coffee I
swallowed, it would make no difference. In fact, it would seem as if I had been
drinking warm milk to make me sleep even more. For me, this tired feeling was
not much of a problem because anytime I could not explain why I was so tired
from doing nothing productive, I would check my period calendar. So it was
useful in the sense that it was a reminder of my period and so I could start making
plans ahead such as buying new sanitary towels, reordering my prescriptions,
arranging my underwear (lol) and then shopping for and cooking the food that I
would eat the following week.
Like I said, I kind of
appreciate the fatigue feeling, besides the fact that I get way less work done,
because it helped me prepare. However, around my previous period season, another
event that was quite strange happened. It was on a Monday; as usual I had packed
my lunch, taken a shower and done my makeup before leaving for work. When I got
to work, the first thing I did was head straight to the coffee shop to get my
‘milk’, as that was how it would seem to my body during that season. It was
still early so the queue was short, thankfully! When I got to the counter, the
friendly waitress smiled and took my order. She was as polite as always but I
noticed that there was something different about her that day. You see,
usually, she would make a comment about how she liked my look for the day and
would laugh loudly or smile really broadly, or something along that line. The
point is that she would always try to do something to start a conversation with
me (which I often felt was unnecessary as I am almost never in the mood for
small talks early in the morning), but I would respond nonetheless because she
seemed like a nice person. However, this time she did not say anything and I
just assumed that she had had a long weekend or was really busy although only 2
people were left on the queue.
I had already ignored my
thoughts and was putting a lid over my cup when I saw her take a quick glance
at me. The glance was so fast that I would not have noticed it if I were not a
sharp babe. My heart skipped a bit as I suddenly suspected what had happened. I
slowly raised my hands reaching for my hair and there it was, I had worn my
hairnet to work! I have no idea of how it happened since I had stood in front
of the mirror applying my makeup that morning. I was so embarrassed and tried
to quickly remove the net as covertly as I could but I could not help thinking
about how many people had seen me in that state that morning – the people on
the coffee queue and all the people on the road that I had walked past on my
way to work (yes, yes, I know that they don’t know me but still, they have
eyes!). No wonder the waitress had not said anything about my beautiful African
braids, as she liked to call them.
I took my drink and
headed back to my office with my hairnet in my pocket. I wondered what I would
have done if I had been in her shoes; would I have told her that her hairnet
was on or just ignored it as she did? Nevertheless, I could not blame her for
my own forgetfulness; I could only blame my hormonal changes and womanhood. I
tried to console myself by saying to myself that my hairnet wasn’t as bad
looking; it was one of the usual black knitted ones with spaces in between and
so at least a part of my hair was still showing. I also thought about how it
could have been worse; one of my aunts had once told me that she had mistakenly
worn her wig cap (without the wig) to a big store before. So truly, my case was
not the worst in history but I knew that henceforth I had to be more cautious
during these periods.
So it was this
experience of mine above along with a few others, that made me check my
internet for the cause of my problems and then I came across the word ‘PMS’. From
my research, PMS is caused by hormonal and chemical changes in the body and
brain in preparation for menses during the menstrual cycle. PMS, apparently, can
make you forgetful (just as in my hairnet case), get you emotional and give you
crying spells (I experienced a really bad one that same period. The poor dude
that I was crying to looked confused and helpless. I do not even remember why I
was crying, that’s how petty the reason was but I continued uncontrollably for
an hour). Other symptoms associated with this syndrome include tender breasts,
food cravings, mood swings, poor concentration, and fatigue like I mentioned
earlier. Depression, acne and pain are also common such that some people take medications
for them. So if you are having any of these strange feelings or changes just
before your period begins, fear not; you are not alone! However, do not
hesitate to visit your doctor if you cannot help yourself.
A few personal tips
that might be useful are:
·
Being aware – when you are aware of what
is going on within you, then you may be more relaxed and comfortable and be in
a better place of mind to plan. So take some time out and read about PMS and its
associated symptoms.
·
Staying away from annoying people – so
if you know people that are generally annoying, try to avoid them during this
period since you are more likely to be irritable. You don’t want to find
yourself yelling at someone in the office.
·
Eating healthy – Food cravings are
common and so try to stock yourself and your environment with healthy foods and
drinks like fruits so that once you feel like eating, you would be eating an apple
instead of a chocolate bar which you might regret in the near future.
·
Lastly, enjoy the moment while it lasts –
yup! While menstruation has its snags, remember that menopause is a different
ball game.
I hope I have shared
something useful today and please leave your comments below. Thank you and have
a great week.
Twitter handle:
@vivio_gogo
Instagram: @ugochiukah
