Periods suuuuuck. Especially for FTMs.

I have found that eating clean has helped immensely with how heavy/painful it is. Even when I just simply cut out simple sugars and simple carbs out or lower it to the bare min made me go from taking a sick day and heavy bleeds to light bleeds and zero pain. Not even exaggerating. The cleaner I eat, the better things go. And added bonus I feel overall better too. It's just worth it in every way. After a while you don't miss the crap food. That said, everyone's body is different. What works for one might not work for another. Keep in mind it takes time for the body to clear everything out, so it may take a month or two to start seeing effects!
I agree with you, trans FAAB people and periods usually are evil. They suck for everyone to begin with, (I understand transwomen wanting them... sort of! ) but it's just so horrifying for me as a transman.

 

If your friend is using formulations with placebo pills, then during the week that she's using them, she may experience withdrawal bleeding. That's not the same as regular menstrual flow. It's the body's response to not taking the active pills. That could be a reason why it seems like she still has a period, when she actually doesn't.

Birth control pills may help. It suppresses menstrual flow. And since cramps usually occur around the period, suppressing the period may reduce cramps too. I would go to the doc and get that checked out.

Just make sure that if you do use the oral contraceptive, then follow the directions so that the drug works properly. It sounds silly to remind folks, but compliance is known to be a problem with birth control, leading to drug ineffectiveness.

 

I don't even like to talk about it. The pain is nothing compared to the mental anguish of going through something men don't and can't.

 

Not having periods was one of my friend's favourite aspects to transitioning, I don't blame him or any of you.

Yeah, I'd like to experience it a few times, or even have them because it would mean I could have children; but pain is pain.

 

I rather enjoy my period. I was on testosterone-injections a few years but I decided to stop for whatever reasons, I still see myself 100% male mentally, I just don't feel I need testosterone to be comfortable with my body and I like the irreversible changes it has provided me. The only downside to stop, I thought, was getting my period back. Still I decided to stop. But oh, how I dreaded it!

Two years later (which is one year ago)... it came back! It felt surprisingly natural. I had never used tampons before, I had never put anything inside my vagina at all, because of my dysphoria, I didn't want to admit to myself that I had a hole there because I was not supposed to have one, being a man and all. But at that time my period came back I was very comfortable with my body and had even started to enjoy my female parts. So my fourth period, in may, I tried tampons and it was a new experience and made my periods so much fresher, comfortable and easier. I also plan to try a menstrual cup but haven't got that far yet.

I know sanitary protection commercials and "welcome to your puberty"-folders and stuff make periods appear so "flowerly", "womanly" and all lovey-dovey. But hey, it's a damn body function. It's nothing especially girly with bleeding once a month, that is just something people have made up because MOST people who have periods are women and everything that has with women to do has to be ~*prettified*~. But it's not a lovey-dovey flowerly gift which makes you bloom in all your womanly magic. It's a slightly unpractical, painful and messy body function. Thinking about it that way made me embrace my period and now I kind of like it. I fell like and pass 100% as male so it doesn't make me questioning my gender identity. I like the feeling of being unique. I always feel sexier when having my period.

 

I think I must be a very lucky person, because I've never felt any pain or discomford during my periods, sometimes I don't even notice when it comes until I go to pee and see it. I just feel nothing. xD

 

I want to get rid of that thing ASAP. I have considered starving myself to make it stop, as well as working out like crazy. My lifestyle, unfortunately, does not allow either of that to happen. And as a man I shall never take estrogen pills.
That said, tampons actually make me less dysphoric, because they let me forget about the fact that something is going on in an organ I'm not even supposed to have.

I do not get pain during shark week, and I am glad about that. However, if any of you girls want to trade bodies, here's mine TAKE IT.

 

Man I feel like an outsider in this thread. You're all complaining and here I am wishing I had it.

Or well, not like that--I mean who in their right mind would want to have a period--but if it meant being able to carry children, I would suffer it.

It's funny how one transgender's unwanted trait is another transgender's envy.

Tell you what, I'll trade you your period for my night erections. I swear, it's like sleeping wih a fucking kickstand. Can't even roll over.

 

Throw hair loss onto that.

That is causing me a lot of mental anguish I can't grow my own hair out and would equally bother me if I were cis.

Also, fuck shaving.

 

I haven't had mine for a while now, I've been using the pill to skip my periods. Oh the glory.

But that wasn't the only reason I went on it, I used to vomit, have really bad acne and have major mood swings before my period.

 

Fuck. Shaving.

Like, I'm not especially hairy and I find it really annoying and time consuming. I weep for those cursed with more body hair.

 

Why does that give you mental anguish exactly?

 

My guess is because the periods remind him that he's not physically male I don't feel extreme anguish because of my periods, mostly because I'm curled up in a ball, slowly dying inside from the horrible pain. I have irregular, HOLYSHITREALLYPAINFUL periods, and they suck. They would suck even if I was a girl.

Sometimes, I almost forget that I'm biologically female. Then Shark Week hits :help:

 

Just know it's not the pain we want. I don't want pain. It's that we're women, and should have them...

At least when I shave my body hair, it stays gone for a few days. From a shaving perspective, my face it worst. It's terrible that I shave first thing in the morning, have sandpaper at lunch, a full shadow by mid-afternoon, and full blown whiskers by the time I get home from work...

 

Luckily my facial hair isn't very fast. Takes me days to get whiskers.

My legs is another story and holy shit is the hair on my legs determined no to go. Takes me more than two hours to shave them.

 

Thanks for that suggestion, I will try that. I have very painful very heavy periods. Ugh. But I won't take contraceptives. I don't want to fuck with my hormones. Haven't had them checked but my guess is that they're already fucked up enough.

I can see why trans women would want a period if it means they could get pregnant and give birth but...aside from that, you really wouldn't want periods. Trust me. It's messy, it hurts, it makes you sick or have diarrhea, it gives you headaches and while it is much more discreet these days thanks to sanitary products, it's still much more obvious to people than I would like and I bet even cis women feel that way too sometimes.

 

One thing that helped me was to avoid blood-thinning pain meds and to not drink as much caffeine. I would drink more water instead.

 

I don't drink caffeine so it's not that. Blood-thinning pain meds? Such as what? Paracetamol? Ibuprofen?

 

Periods suck! First off, I get nauseous around blood and almost faint... Second, I'm obviously a trans guy. Thirdly, I have very heavy periods, and the linings of my womb sheds everytime I have one. X_X Lucky I only get like three a year, but at the amount I bleed it's ridiculous. I don't have any sickness of anything that makes me bleed more, I just end up doing so! But lastly, nothing is worse then sitting around your guy friends and feeling... different. Or looking at your girl friends and realizing they have them even though you guys are different genders, so you shouldn't even have them. I feel it was a major mistake I was assigned female at birth, and I want to finally show people I'm a guy. People think I'm being sexist, but I just feel male, not female. Is it sexist to expect to be called by your actual gender, and not your genitals?