The moon called to me today...

[kitsune-rei.livejournal.com]

Hi. I just had a couple questions, hopefully I'm not asking anything a whole lot of other people have ^_^;

One is possibly kinda gross. Do many people have a wide variety in consistencies and color in their menstrual blood? Mine seems to be that way. Some days its like blood and some days its more clumpy and even gets really dark and kind of gross, not like blood at all. Does it have to do with diet or anything? I know some of it has to do with what part of my cycle I'm in but its different every time.


The other involves and experience I had. I'd heard of stories of how some women, when put together, affect each other's period times, but I'd never seen it really happen so I didn't really believe it too much. Then finally one summer I roomed with a friend of mine for part of the summer. Shortly after living with her I all of a sudden started bleeding when it totally wasn't time for my period! This had me really worried since I was on birth control to help regulate and ease cramps, so I had been used to getting it pretty much on the same day every month. It took me a little to realize my friend was also on her period and she had somehow made my body get it too! So I had a pretty normal period for a week, and then a couple weeks later got mine again as usual, so I had 2 in one month! That really sucked >.> She later told me that she commonly has that effect on other women, like with her sisters and such. Has anyone else had that experience? I was just confounded that somehow she affected my body so much just from being around- its the only time that ever happened to me, even when I was living in an all-female dorm. Is there any scientific theories or anything on why this happens?


My final question involves diet. I always here there's such and such food you're not supposed to eat before your period to reduce cramping and other foods that are supposed to be helpful, but its always different. Is there a fairly definitive dos and don'ts list of pre-period foods/drinks? Or is it not that big of a deal?


Thanks very much for your time and input ^_^.

Comments

[tome.livejournal.com]

1) Yep, my menstral blood goes from red & blood-like to dark & clumpy. I find it facinating... but I'm weird like that.

2) Yes, my period has been in sync with other women. For about six months my roommate, who I also worked with, another woman I worked closly with and I were all in sync. We worked in a college dinning hall and we all liked to eat when we were PMSing. It was really amazing how much the three of us could eat and we weren't very picky about what we ate, every thing that didn't run away was fair game. But the best was when we catered fancy dinners together and we got to eat fancy left overs like huge chunks of beef and potatoes drowning in horseradish sour cream or gravy. We frightened other people during the week that we were all PMSing... I think it has to do with pheromones, but I'm not sure about scientific studies.

3) I don't know much about the food's you should or shouldn't eat to prevent cramps. Calcium is suppose to be good... beyond that I find it easier to just give into my cravings. I'm pretty sure my beef craving is for the extra iron.

:)

[kitsune-rei.livejournal.com]

Heh, thanks for the input ^_^. Its just so weird when you sync withonly certain people... or maybe certain people are more susceptible to it. I guess the best things to eat are whatever replentishes the stuff you're losing, and hopefully your body knows enough to crave the right stuff ^_^.

[tyrsalvia.livejournal.com]

I also have a variety of textures to my blood. That's normal.

As for the rest of it, not sure.

[emptysolace.livejournal.com]

I have heard that the more water you drink, the less you retain. Everyone's body is different, and what may be good for some isn't good for others. Like if I give in and eat chocolate, I break out in pimples and I cramp up and get the clotted clumps that look more like grape jelly than blood. I usually succumb to my cravings for salty stuff, but it's much healthier to have miso soup or olives on my salad than pretzels, (and miso soup is less likely to give me cellulite). Irom rich foods that aren't too hard to digest and fruits are supposed to be good for that time of the month, but that was my midwife's advice to me, and like I said, every woman is different and has different dietary needs, bleeding or not. I know that many women get yeast infections before or after their periods, and a cup or two of mild yogurt for a few days is very good for clearing this up.
I usually work with all women, and it wreaks havock with my cycle! One month I was 2 1/2 weeks late, and one month I had it 2 times in one month, like you did. It sucked! It's so weird! I have heard that the "dominant" woman's cycle starts to mess with the other womens' cycles, but I don't know how scientificlly valid that theory is. It is fascinating. I can't believe that someone hasn't conducted a study on this. There has to be some research out there.

[kitsune-rei.livejournal.com]

I didn't know about the yogurt bit, that's interesting.
Yeah, you'd think they'd do more research on such stuff! I think I remember hearing vaguely about it somewhere, possibly even as part of a TV thing, but I don't know if they said anything conclusive. It does seem like certain people are "dominant", cause I think if my roomie had other females living there too we'd all go on her cycle.

[thevargasgirl.livejournal.com]

the clumps of jelly thing and the changes in blood color have to do with the fact that youre not just shedding blood, youre shedding uterine lining as well. no worry about what the color or consistency is (unless youre getting huge clots or something)
i live in a house full of women. so far i havent noticed it, but ive got girl friends that i sync up to. just depends on who im around for how long. we usually tend to throw each other off track as opposed to one throwing off all the rest.
i dunno about a *list* of foods but in order to be healthy during your period its best to get some regular excersize, stay hydrated (water!), up your calcium intake, and take an iron supplement or eat something rich in iron.
herbal remedies (http://www.bodyandfitness.com/Information/Womenhealth/cramps.htm)
to help defuse PMS (http://www.bodyandfitness.com/Information/Womenhealth/pms.htm)
really all i find i have to do is drink lots of water, run, and take my vitamins and im just fine when my moon drops by.
*t*

[kitsune-rei.livejournal.com]

OH, I see.
Thanks for the info and great websites! Yeah, it does seem to make a difference if you try to take care of yourself a bit more around then, I've had bad months and okay months.

[anne-jumps.livejournal.com]

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_306.html

[kitsune-rei.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That was really interesting. I also think the bit about most males not even having the faintest inkling about it is also true ^_^.
I had no idea about the bit about men affecting it as well! I think it is true though, I've found my periods to be shorter and less bloody lately and I work closely with mostly men, and got to spend some extra time with my boyfriend, whereas I hadn't a couple months ago. So I don't know if its coincidence or what was described. Hmm, adds to the benefits of sex!

[anne-jumps.livejournal.com]

There's a link at the bottom of the page to an update on the issue, and basically they're not sure if it's a real thing or not... too many variances.

[kitsune-rei.livejournal.com]

I imagine stuff like that is really hard to prove...