PMS is a touchy subject for guys, and most probably don’t want to know a lot about it. I completely understand this, and I’m not trying to say that guys should be experts on it. In fact, I’d be really weirded out if any guy was an expert. However, there are some things that I wish guys would take into consideration. To put them simply: how many symptoms we actually deal with and how much we resent guys for not dealing with anything remotely similar.
First of all, I don’t think guys know what PMS actually stands for because if they did, they wouldn’t have so many misconceptions about when we actually have it. It means, PREmenstrual syndrome. So for those of you who still don’t get it, that means we get to enjoy all the wonderful symptoms before we even get our period. How great is that?!
So when exactly does this fun little preview begin? Well, if you’re lucky, it starts about the week before you get your period. If you’re not (a lot of us aren’t), PMS can start as early as two weeks before. So if you do the math, we have about one normal, completely symptom-free week out of an entire month. How many normal weeks do guys have? Oh that’s right, all of them.
So what happens during these fun-filled weeks? Well, a lot more than guys know about. Guys just think we get irrationally angry and cry all the time. And I’m not going to lie, that does happen. However, it definitely does not stop there. In addition, we’re extremely tired, we can’t eat anything without feeling like we’re eight-months pregnant, our uterus is attempting to kill us via cramps, we break out, we feel nauseous, and we want to eat everything on the planet, which makes the whole feeling pregnant/nauseous thing a problem. Wouldn’t you get angry and cry all the time too, guys?
This brings me to my last point. We find it completely unfair that guys don’t go through anything like this! I can’t even imagine how much some guys would complain if they had to deal with something similar. So when you guys make comments about us PMS-ing and use it against us, as if they’re being affected, we don’t take it well. It makes it seem like it’s an inconvenience to them, not us. I think the symptoms I’ve listed above make it pretty clear who is actually being inconvenienced. So please, boys, don’t act like our PMS effects you in any real way, just get over it. It’s a lot worse for us.
Wish you could’ve seen YOUR name in this article? Join our listserv so our writers can occassionally contact you for quotes or interviews on upcoming articles!