During a woman’s reproductive life, her body constantly prepares itself for the probability of getting pregnant via a series of processes involving the reproductive organs.

On average, this series is repeated after every twenty-eight days and for this reason, it is called menstrual cycle.

If the male sperm in between this period does not fertilize the ovum, it breaks up along with the uterine lining (healthy tissue built up to nourish the ovum should it be fertilized).

These are shed off, traveling through the vagina and out of the body through a process called menstruation.

With the exemption of the ripening girls, the rest of the young and older women know that this cycle differs from one person to another.

Some women have a very regular cycle that comes once after every twenty-eight days, others irregular coming after twenty one days, thirty six days and still others like me forty three days.

When a girl gets her first periods, medical experts call this menarche while menopause marks the end of her reproductive live.

Just like a woman fertility levels differs with age, the same way, young girls will receive their first menstrual period.

I remember during teenage, some girls would start worrying that they are already old enough to have periods yet nothing was happening yet.

As well, going without the periods for a few months in a row is something that happened to me in teenage and my doctor said it was okay.

During those days, grown up women would warn us about staining our dresses and showed us how to calculate days to know when to expect the next period, but today, we are used to the process.

As we grow up, and the body changes, the menstruation process is affected by so many things including lifestyle, environment, diet and so on.

This is how women learn to be strong it delays or become irregular, painful, heavy as long as they are not sexually active, pregnancy cannot be a possibility.

Probably the biggest problem about my own menstrual experience is the discomfort during the flow and irregularity.

For the last six years, the saying that the flow cannot be felt as it leaves the body have not worked for me, what is commonly called cramps is what describes my periods.

First I cannot approximate exactly when the next period will come because they always come a few days earlier or goes up to forty-three days and when they finally come, my body really ache.

Tender or painful breasts, slight swelling of the belly, irritability, headaches, mood swings are some of the premenstrual signs many women go through.

Though we are encouraged to consult a doctor for such discomforts and unbearable pain, this is good, but at times does not cure an individual problem.

As for me, the nurse who treated me told me that if I do not get better, then I should know I belong to the group of women who are naturally this way until they give birth for the first time and so, I always use strong painkillers.

Placing a hot water bottle on my abdomen and lower back has never worked for me but perhaps it can work for other women because we are all different.

These days I am using herbal cure for gynecological complications and I have noticed that my periods last for only two to three days while before; I endured six to seven days of pain.

Do not ignore a visit to your doctor for any abnormalities with your menstrual cycle just to be sure it is not other serious growths like fibroid or cancers inside you!