I’ve always had painful periods. I remember screaming in agony and throwing up from the force of my cramps as a young teenager, terrified at the thought of the excruciating pain returning month after month.
Luckily, my period pain subsided considerably over the years, thanks in part to hormonal birth control, but in the last five years since ditching synthetic hormones, the stabbing aches are back with a vengeance.
© Getty ImagesAfter months of enduring debilitating pain (so bad that I once had to call in sick from work because I physically couldn’t stand up) I decided enough was enough and that I needed to take action.
But with stories rife of medical professionals dismissing women’s period pains as “normal” and conditions like endometriosis taking 7.5 years on average to diagnose, it felt like a daunting task.
Enter the Period Symptom Checker, a virtual quiz aimed at helping women take control of their menstrual health, understand their symptoms and empower them to book an appointment with their GP to investigate any concerns.
The quiz
Wellbeing of Women‘s new initiative has been completed by 6,500 women and counting since it launched last month.
© Getty ImagesIt is designed to help those whose period pain or heavy bleeding is negatively impacting their life. Sounds familiar.
The quiz took me about four minutes to complete and couldn’t have been simpler. It ran through general questions such as whether I’d had a period in the last three months and what age I started menstruating.
The Period Symptom Checker asked me to tick off what symptoms I suffer from monthly, from blood clots to pain, and what pain management methods I have tried to alleviate them.
“It sounds like your periods might be painful,” the virtual checker told me, before asking follow-up questions, prompting me to realise that being forced to stay at home and writhe around in bed with a hot water bottle every month might not be normal.
The Checker is part of Wellbeing of Women’s award-winning Just a Period campaign, which calls for nobody to have to suffer from period symptoms holding them back in life.
© Getty ImagesInstead of being dismissed and told it’s “just a period,” women are being encouraged to have the confidence to advocate for better care.
The verdict
The Period Checker immediately flashed up with a warning to “see your GP about your heavy bleeding and period pain”.
I was impressed by how thorough the results were, providing a wealth of information about the underlying gynaecological conditions that could be causing my issues.
Fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis, pelvic inflammatory disease all came up as red flags I should raise with my GP.
The quiz also provided me with a printable letter to take to my GP; a huge benefit given it’s been a constant battle with the ever-grumpy receptionist to secure an appointment since moving to a new area.
I’ll be booking in with my doctor ASAP to get to the root cause of the problem, armed with Wellbeing of Women’s advice to advocate for myself. Because it’s never “just a period”– women shouldn’t have to put up with pain that impacts their quality of life.
Take the Period Symptom Checker quiz for yourself.
