I thought at first I was just weak. No one else struggled as badly with their periods. Clearly, everyone could handle these debilitating symptoms just fine. Therefore I was weak for struggling with something so natural. Then I realized there was something very wrong with my body. I would say something completely normal to me and people would react with confusion. At this point, I switched to feeling like a freak. It sounds egotistical, but at the time I had zero information about menstrual cycles. That’s sadly not an exaggeration. Oh, sure public health classes gave those deemed female basic biology information. But any useful information that could help people like me was never given. Like what are reproductive diseases? Or plenty of women struggle with periods its ok. Here are some ways to get help if you need it. Or heck, a simple don’t be ashamed to go to the doctors if you need help!
So I had nothing to guide me. In fact, I was in early college when the internet told me about endometriosis. That was when I finally had a lightbulb go off. “Hey, there are people like me!” Let that sink in for a minute. To top off the list of problems periods were considered a socially taboo topic. In some brutal irony, I have a great family. Had I said I needed help they would have moved mountains. And yet I had all these negative feelings and emotions saying I could never talk about this. So I shut down hard. I hide behind a mask and lied about anything I could not cover. “I’m fine” became my go-to response to anyone who expressed concern.
And I stayed like that for years. It took me hitting rock bottom before I could finally say those difficult three words.
Now here is the depressing part. My story is actually pretty common. I am not unique at all. In fact, I was extremely lucky. When I finally did open up I had lots of help. For example in college there were fellow students in similar or worse situations who shared their experiences, let me ask questions, and gave helpful advice. I will be forever grateful to those people. And is because of those people I am sharing my story. So many problems that are thought of as stereotypical female issues are taboo topics. Pregnancy problems, miscarriages, menstrual cycles, issues with conceiving and so many other problems are all off-limits to our society. And that is completely and utterly wrong. To complicate things even more a lot of these problems are linked together and often wreak havoc on lives. By making these subjects taboo our society is now causing long-lasting problems. And that needs to stop. Our society needs to destigmatize these topics. I am only one of the many human cost of taboo. I paid and continue to pay the cost for our silence. And I am far from the only one who does so.
Unruly Bodies 
I completely agree. I remember how frustrated I was when I got a UTI for the first time, learned that almost half of people with vaginas with get them, and yet I was never taught about it in school. I feel like there should be a vulva handbook with all the risks and cautions to take when owning a vulva. I wish I knew what a UTI or yeast infection or PMDD was way earlier.
Most of what I learned was from puberty books I got at the public library. That’s how I learned “If your period pain is so intense it’s causing you to skip school, you should see a doctor” but even then, I’m sure people would still go to school because they might expect that’s the norm- like you did. I wish these diseases were talked about more so there’d be more normalized and nobody else would have to feel weak.