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[bina]

hey, i still use pads but only the light, day weight types... so in case i sneeze or something; and i never wear white, even got married not in white (second time anyway)... so white was never an issue. what i really dont understand, is those houtine  style panties with houtine style pads?!!?  

i rarely get cramping; just varicose veins hurting more, and bad headaches premenstrual; chocolate or potatoe chip urges; and twinging when ovulating...and achey breasts...

and i love advil; nothing works like advil gel caps for headaches and cramping etc... but exercise also helps a lot...

yeah... pretty tight...

next, i'll start practicing with cola bottles or peeling bananas??  if my present job doesnt work out.. just kidding...

yeah, the mikva thing is a riot. i had a hair stuck on my shoulder so had to resubmerge all over again since it wasnt 'kosher'... and the spot checking... the rabbinitzer tried to sell me the idea by saying that thats how women can find out if they have cancers and things: spotting not regularly, as in after menses, or wierd colour... thats the religious way of selling their ideas to secular people: as health issues... or as in, the halacha says that a man must respect and give pleasure to his wife; not just 'take' from her.... yeah right..  after the woman removes her wig for the night....

never mind... try to explain all that in thai to thai men... yeah right...

bina

[Patsycat]

Can i send you, bina, a cyber kiss all the way from Switzerland for you open hearted and open bodied way of being a woman enjoying that even over everthing that you have endured.

Lodsa clapps and wows. my head bows - but not as low as a goats wawa!!!!

[cathyy]

An option nobody has mentioned yet is re-useable cloth menstrual pads. I have a relative who swears by them; commercial pads and tampons caused her to have nasty cramps which went away when she switched. Also the odor associated with menstruation is caused by the chemicals they treat the cotton in pads and tampons with; there is no odor with cloth pads. It's much better for the environment as well.

A number of companies make and sell them, and there are also a number of patterns available for making your own. Just Google menstrual pads cloth.

[RueFang]

I've actually used cloth pads for a few years now. One of my friends made them for me and they last forever! I can't use them on my super heavy days as the blood goes through the fabric too fast, but on other days they are fab, really comfortable and the night ones are extra long, so get a comfy sleep. Can't wear them in rainy season in Thailand either because they never dry properly!! And you definitely can't be squeamish about blood since you have to wash all the blood out...makes for good fertilizer though   I wouldn't use them if I had to go out to work or anything though as the thought of carrying around bloody pads is quite gross, but since I work at home, I can wash them out immediately. They don't make any difference whatsoever with my cramps either unfortunately.

[seonai]

It reminded me Bina, when you talked of your marriage day, that when I married my husband in Krabi the Immam read out all the things I must do and say before/during/after menstruation at the wedding!!! The men all sat nodding and the women were hiding in the kitchen.

For a while I tried it (newly married and all that) and recited the Arabic when I had a period but I soon tired of it (sorry if that offends anyone out there) and never really accept any rituals in religion so I stopped doing it.

It would make a good book wouldn't it... marriage/religion and menstruation.

Is it true they used lemons Bina?

[greenmember]

My mother dropped her reusable pad at work . She said people who walked with her might have not noticed as it was turning dark in early evening.

I'm the only dinosaur here I swear. My grand mother & mother used the washable cloths which were made from cotton mosquito nets. They bought a few meters from the market, go home, cut into the sizes they need (40cm x 40cm for instance) and sewed the rears. We washed by hand so I have to admit it was a terrible feeling washing them. I felt the love and care from mom when she bought material and made the pieces for me. I used these about 2 years until they imported and manufactured the sanitary napkins.

Needed to hang them out under the sun but my father was very strict not to go under the strings where we hung the things . He said his sisters dried their undies inside their pants or blouses and no one ever see their undies.

During my mother's time, there was only the huge "pillow" with the brand Bach Tuyet (Snow White). It was really huge.

During that time, there was no good detergent or soap, so when washing, we had to sink them for a day with soap before rinsing. Not a good practice then. Very grateful we have sanitary napkins.

[bina]

hey green member, i take it you are a thai woman? so that clues us in on some of the less discussed things here... cotton moquito nets? so what and how were they sewn to become pads?? were u country or city thai? i'm sure there are still lots of differences....

as for lemons, well , so they say they were used in biblical times... nowadays, not sure... i had a good aquintaince (a client who would come to the park with her kids) who was of the 'black' (super orthodox) religious group but surprisingly free about discussing women's things with me, so many things i did learn, but forgot to ask her about that one... and  now i dont work in same place as before... she did tell me that she got a 'pass' from her rabbi not to get pregant for a while based on her psychological frame of mind so she did use the pill... it not talked about much but can be done with a rabbi's permission so i'm sure there are ways around the 'menstruation on wedding day' issue as well... for every rule there is a loophole that a rabbi can use for a specific purpose...

bina

[suegha]

BTW, my wife swears by the 'Moon cup'.

[greenmember]

bina, on 2008-02-23 23:39:59, said:

hey green member, i take it you are a thai woman? so that clues us in on some of the less discussed things here... cotton moquito nets? so what and how were they sewn to become pads?? were u country or city thai? i'm sure there are still lots of differences....
bina

Hey bina, that net was left open like a handkerchief so it took no time to dry. When we used, we wrapped it up to the preferred shape and used a pin to stick it with the underwear. Sometimes the pin was opened by chance and "theng" out body Mom said some people used strings to keep it not fall but I can't know how they did it.

Thailand is developed waaaaaaay too far compared with us. I'm from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam but am living in Thailand now. This self made napkins story happened 22 years ago.

[bina]

thanx greenmember,

actually i've always had an anthropological interest in  women's ways of dealing with intimate things that arent usually discussed and its a shame that most 'modern' women dont really know what their mothers and grandmothers did for menstruation or childbirth...

cotton mosquito net pads seem actually very healthy, breathable , can be cleaned, light weight, perfect for tropical climate use...

probably in rural thailand women did the same... its funny, 22 years seems light years away for some things; when i came to kibbutz 22 yrs ago, we didnt have disposable diapers for the babies, they still used cloth diapers, and i thought that was uncivilized. after three children who were allergic to 'pampers' type diapers, i see that cloth diapers were a good thing, if a bit difficult for washing....

the same with baby forumlas and canned baby foods. we did all the food ourselves and it was probably much healthier if more time consuming.... now everyone is going back to making their own foods and breast feeding more...

bina
israel

[greenmember]

Yeah Bina. Funny isn't it? We go back to what we thought outdated. Things are much easier now with good detergents and washing machine.

When we were in school back then, we brought home those used cloths to wash. If a poor boy happened to open our schoolbag---------ah har

I just re-read what RueFang said and she's so right. The cloth I talked about let go immediately so I had to ask the Vice School Master to let me go home until he remembered my full name (with 2 middle names ). Wet all over. Nowadays girls have to wear white long dress and white long pants ("ao dai" in Vietnamese language). Thanks to modern napkins, no blood is to be seen by other people, no more red chairs and those having wings keep your underwear clean whole day.

[greenmember]

Correction: no more red turning to brown marks on chairs

[bina]

blech.....!!!!!!!!   ))  

yes jeans are much better with pads;

[leisurely]

Fascinating thread. I would like to add my experience with a mooncup. Kudos to anyone who can use them. I ordered mine off the net, the website is all glowy and soft and alternative. It arrived in a lovely little bag with drawstrings and an inspiring message on it. Putting it in was OK, getting it out  All I can say is that I thought my pelvic bones were being dragged out of my vag. Ouch. I did persevere and it did get better, but still removal. Ouch

[bina]

liesurely,

that reminds me of the first time i used a diaphragm in college. talk about vaccuum; i couldnt get it out so had to go to the uni nurse practitioner for some help.  probably not the wierdest thing she had to pull out of a vagina in my very bohemian, leftover sixties university )  
........ but funnier yet was trying to get it in the first few times when i was unexperienced. and also not very experienced in the 'sleeping with your date' scene either (late bloomer for american standards). while on this date, i slipped into something comfortable and then tried to slip the diaphragm  in while my partner went out to get some munchies or some such thing and of course i wanted it in before he came back, not to be caught with legs spread and shoving some thing in )not very romantic huh.? ... it kept slithering out of my hands and bouncing out, flying across the room like a frisbee... and of course all the spermicide stuff i had used (a hypoallergenic gel that was really expensive too) kept blurping out...

in the end it went in, and i get better at putting it in, and learned that squatting and yes, kegeling outwardly works wonders... after breaking the vacuum of course.

and yes, my kids have heard this story also  with the point to make about not being embarrassed to use birth control of any sort (my son has heard the stories of first time using condoms with inexperienced first boyfriend, what a night mare that was also.. why cant condoms come with an easy opening envelope?...)  not that ive had many men in bed but the one that i did have, i remember the incidents that occurred for the most part...

completely off the subject of periods but a little bit on....a great book for teenage girls : are u there god, its me, margaret... (i went to college with the writer's son and that was wierd to see him after reading his mom's book, meant for teenage girls but a brilliant book )... also dealing with periods, birth control, its hysterically funny also...

bina
israel

[suegha]

leisurely, on 2008-02-26 16:45:51, said:

Fascinating thread. I would like to add my experience with a mooncup. Kudos to anyone who can use them. I ordered mine off the net, the website is all glowy and soft and alternative. It arrived in a lovely little bag with drawstrings and an inspiring message on it. Putting it in was OK, getting it out  All I can say is that I thought my pelvic bones were being dragged out of my vag. Ouch. I did persevere and it did get better, but still removal. Ouch

Again speaking on behalf of my wife, she just loves her mooncup with no problems getting it in or out, and no problems ever with leakage.  She says it's the best thing she has ever used.