Now the worst days of the cycle start. I already have a slight pain in my belly like something’s pulling down and the headaches. I have to take the max dosage of my painmeds to function.
If I could I would call in sick for one week, but I can’t.
If I have too many sick days in a short time period I have to go to the boss of my boss. He then starts digging why you’re sick so often.
Yeah, not going to want that, it’s extremely uncomfortable.
So I do what many women do, I just try to function 
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I feel with you. I sometimes had to call in sick. Are you really forced to tell the workplace the reason for calling in sick? In Austria it’s against the law to ask your staff why. You only need a doctor’s confirmation that you are sick and for how long approximately. It feels false that you have to justify yourself for being a woman and in pain. But yes, that’s life, women have to function … Sending you good vibes 
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It’s not allowed in Germany to ask why you’re sick too. They wnat to know if the sickness is caused by the job and if they can / should change something for you. So in the end it’s a good idea, but still it’s very uncomfortable sitting there being asked such questions.
And if you have too many sick days they can fire you, I think it’s 30.
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Wow, I didn’t know that you can be fired for being sick in Germany. In Austria you would risk a lawsuit as firm when you try it.
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Yup. This happened to some coworkers who are chronically ill. We call this “Arschlochmove”.
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At my job you get a point for each day you call in and after 7 points you are fired. Points fall off 6months after they are received. We have one lady who is waiting to find out if she still has a job. She was in the ER and has doctors notes for a few other days but she just hit 7 points. 
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Wow 
Only 7 days? What if you catch Covid and you miss 14 days or longer? Bham, fired?
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Na bumm, it also happens in Austria but it is not easy to fire someone who is ill. I think we live on a sacred island here when I read your stories @Sabrina80 @Runningfree
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Since I work in healthcare and we are remote (my job is data entry) they allow 5 days but really they expect you to come in even if you have Covid. I currently have 3.5 points. Next month one will fall off and then I think I have to wait till September for the rest. Basically, they want you to work sick or not. And you still get points for having Covid 
Edit- the only helping thing with their point system is that if you are sick three days in a row it’s only one point. The system is really weird. One day is a point but so is three days so if you gotta call in might as well go for the three days lol
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OMG - this is appalling and seems inhumane. so scary… 
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I do get really bad cramps and i would get my period every 3 weeks on the dot. They would only last 5 days with the first 3 being the worst. Would drink and pop meds to keep me pain free. I had some health issues arise in nov of 21 and all the meds they gave me trying to figure out what I had/ have caused my body to go into whack and then the drinking became worse and it really screwed with my menstrual cycle. I almost thought that I was pre menopausal and had to get some tests done but that is not the case. Now I am all over the place with the cycle and can’t keep to any kind of calendar. Mostly I have 3.5 weeks between cycles but the last to last one was 6 weeks and now I started today only after 2 weeks since my last cycle.
I am grateful to have periods even with the pain rather than my body going into menopause. My pain is also weird - have some severe hours but not days like before but they come and go throughout the cycle.
I’ve only been sober from alcohol for 4 months and I stopped all my medications about 3 months ago as well - trying to give my body a brand new start. Hoping that once I heal properly, my body will get back to a good rhythm.
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It’s scary for sure and makes for a toxic workplace imo. I don’t call in much so I’m not worried about me so much but it sucks for the people who lose their job because of something so trivial. I mean they expect people to work 6 months with only calling out 7 days. People with kids are basically screwed by the system. And upper management wonders why we can’t people 
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I am so sorry to hear about these working conditions. It makes me very sad to hear about and even more so for those who are in dire need for work and also need more than 7 days every 6 months
really makes me think - what’s wrong with humanity… 
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I am on Effexor also, for it’s crazy to think15 maybe 20 yrs. anyways several months ago I switched from taking them AM to taking them in the PM. Of course please please talk to your medical people before changing it up but i am really happy with the decision. I’m not as tired during the day 
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Recently had my first hot flash a couple of months before my 39th bday. The husband was like “Aren’t you a little young?” No sir, not in my family.
Mom had a full hysterectomy by the time she hit my age, so I’m at least glad I didn’t have as many problems as she did. Her mother also had a full hysterectomy by my age.
I have been on hormonal BC since I was 13 due to extreme periods that would make me collapse in pain and send me to the hospital for bleeding so much. I got off of BC for a short time in my early 20s because I was scared that the hormones were messing with me. A couple months after getting off the shot I had a period for 32 days. I tried to stay off a little longer and ended up having another 20+ day period the next month and decided it wasn’t worth it to go au naturel. I’m on my 4th IUD and am so grateful for it.
Doc even said it may help my transition be a little easier. We will see I guess 
.
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If I take these bits out then I’m like the nipple show! So they have dual purpose
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Ooh good shout to try taking at a different time of day. I have a blood test next week to see where my ferritin levels are and hopefully chat to a doctor at some point. Once I know that I will know whether that is likely to be the main cause of tiredness. If not then thinking about switching to taking meds in the evening is a good idea!
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35 days.
Last month at this time, I was drinking heavily during my period (AND all the other days, if I’m honest 
). This is my first time in a long ass time being sober during this time of the month. It’s a mixed bag. In some ways, it’s better…like the pms before it started wasn’t as bad. But now that I’m bleeding, I’m crying more than ever over nothing. The urge to numb the feelings with booze has popped up today, but luckily just giving myself permission to be lazy and take a rest has helped.
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That’s a huge step:
It feels like a huge relief when I can do this.
And congratulations to your month of sobriety 
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It’s that time of the month again where I badly want someone to be with me. But I know there won’t be anybody because I’m mostly a loner.
Usually I would start to use a Dating App now but my latest experiences with those Apps (and the men) have been a confirmation to stay Single.
Maybe the guy I’m looking for doesn’t exist.
Today I hate being alone 
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