May was a fun one. I was curious if I’d skip yet another period. OR if having skipped my April period would lead to a hellish May visit from Aunt Flow.

As you can see, I was pleasantly surprised! My period cramps never got above a 2 out of 10! My lower back pain was intermittent on my period at a low 1 out of 10. And I did receive a twinge of pain when I coughed on my period, toward the lower right abdomen area. I only took two over-the-counter Ibuprofen for my mild period cramps and back discomfort on the first day of my period. I had to remind myself, “Why suffer with this pain?” And they killed the remaining discomfort and cramps. TWO IBUPROFEN!

My other pain during May while NOT on my period?

• May 8th: I woke up at 6:30am with mild lower abdomen cramps, a 1 out of 10. Nothing to be concerned about, but something to note. It only lasted a few minutes; and I wondered if it was gas or poo-related.
• May 9th: I did it again; I ate too much. A buffalo bacon cheeseburger AND onion rings? I mean, I didn’t finish them…but I most certainly should have stopped eating sooner. This led to discomfort at my staples, 2 out of 10.
• May 10th: an odd, burning type of discomfort near my staples that lasted a few minutes, 3 out of 10. About an hour later, it was a quick series of diarrhea and poops; so I figure that discomfort was most certainly poo-related.
• May 12th: I woke up with mild discomfort at my staples; likely related to the night before’s angry bowels…
• May 13th: this was a new one: a weird discomfort in the area between my belly button and my lower ribs. Similar to the location of my pre-surgery pain, so of course I quirked an eyebrow and monitored this one with extra vigilance. The discomfort was only a 2/10. And didn’t lead to a big poo or anything horrible. It didn’t last long, either.
• May 14th: a repeat of that throbbing discomfort between my belly button and lower right ribs; it was a 3 out of 10 and lasted several minutes when I woke up. It occurred again that afternoon. It happened again twice more that afternoon…and I found the trigger. CHERRIES! By going through my food journal and timestamps, I realized it MIGHT be cherries causing me some type of gas pain. So…I stopped eating cherries…
• May 22nd: I, again, ate too much. It was yellow curry with chicken; I mean, how can you NOT eat to much? Well, I haven’t learned my lesson and received my usual staple discomfort, 3/10.

And my May poos? ZERO PAIN the entire month. No glass being dragged through my guts. No cramps while I poo. No need to bend over in two and cry while sitting on the porcelain throne.

May 7th holds the record for the most poos in a day: seven and two bouts of diarrhea! SEVEN!?! I hadn’t poo’d well the day before…and this was just my body’s way of suddenly purging all the leftover crap that was still in my guts! Seven…I was exhausted that day. LOL

What were the lessons I learned in May? 1) STOP EATING TOO MUCH! Just take your time, eat slowly, give your body time to adjust to the volume of food, and STOP EATING. Push the plate away, drop the fork, get a doggy bag. 2) My body’s not ready for two drinks a day. It may not lead to that agonizing pain I had in January…but it leads to some poopy issues. 😉 Just leave it to one drink…

If you’d like to read my day-by-day play-by-play May pain and food journal, please check it out below:

If you’d like to see my Poo Chart, please check it out below: