The Diarrhoea is a Bit Much

Dear uterus,

I am sending you this letter as a notification that I will no longer be ashamed of what you tend to do each month. I commend your regularity, but I don't really like the cramps, or the emotional rollercoaster, and the diarrhoea is a bit much. I have lived in shame about my monthly toilet troubles for a while now. I refuse to do so anymore.

Some girls and school nurses told me I got my period earlier than them because I ate more than them, and maybe I should have done more sport and been skinnier and I wouldn't have got it so early. So I skipped my lunch, and pretended that I wasn't bleeding, and never had. Others told me that my painful cramps and IBS symptoms were a result of eating junk food all the time: that I was obviously unhealthy (only doing 3 dance classes a week) and needed a lifestyle change. So I ate rabbit food, took some paracetamol, hated my new womanly curves and vowed to slim down (despite naturally being at an underweight BMI) at the tender age of 13.

Uterus, it wasn't your fault that my relationship with food and my body has become so skewed, so I'm sorry for blaming you. You might have endometriosis, which isn't your fault either (but it's still annoying). So despite your infuriating habits, I will love you just the same, and I will shout about my period flatulence from the rooftops if I have to, so that other girls don't have to go through the shame I did. Because you are wonderful, and I won't let anyone - not even the school nurse - tell me any different.

Love,
Your Proud Owner x

Anonymous, UK

Badly Injured?

Dear periods,

I can't believe you arrived a week before my 10th birthday - when I was too young to understand what on Earth was happening - and I thought I had really badly injured myself. I was the youngest person I knew to be going through this, and most of my friends caught up a long 3-4 years later.

Now I'm 25 and I know you like the back of my hand, though. I know all of your twists which means you're on your way, I know when you'll be late and I know exactly how to handle you.

Thanks for the heads up. x

Esha, UK