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If you happen to find yourself on the relatable side of TikTok, there's a common saying in the comments: "I've never had an original experience." Whether it's a bodily function, a strange habit, or an unusual experience, that comment section is where many people find out they're not that special after all.
Recently, one netizen started a similar discussion on Reddit, but focused on women. "What's something you thought 'only happened to you'… until you talked to other women?", they wrote.
Turns out, we gals are really in it together: there are tons of things many of us experience but are either too shy or too uncomfortable to talk about! So, here are some of the most interesting and relatable answers from that thread.
Check them out and let us know your "unique" female experience in the comments! Who knows, maybe it's not so unique after all!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
It's more something I do and was surprised to learn my girlfriends do, as well: when walking in the city, headphones are in, but the sound is off. We also watch shadows to figure out how quickly someone walking behind us is going. No one told us to do any of this. We all just kind of figured it out independently.
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#2
Period diarrhea
Seriously, I received a pretty good education on reproductive health and puberty, but no one told me about period diarrhea and I thought I was the only one who would s**t so much when menstruating until I was like 21 and got a gf.
Family's_disappointment 3 days ago (edited)
I have this. This is worse than diarrhea itself...
#3
Difficulty with word finding now that I’m in perimenopause.
AtMostAFabulist 3 days ago
Oh lord, I thought i was losing it. I do that all the time. I can never remember the word mowing when I need to say it. So I say I have to vacuum my lawn. 🙄
#4
I thought it was just me, but my girlfriends all agreed we used to get cat called more when we were 13-17 than we do now in our 20s.
#5
Feeling like I had to shrink myself to make others comfortable, at work, in relationships, even around friends. I used to think it was just a “me” problem, like I was too much or too intense. But once I started talking to other women, I realized so many of us were taught to dim our light to keep the peace. Never again.
Joe Reaves 3 days ago
You're being dramatic/hysterical/emotional. Is it that time of the month? You're a b***h/crazy/a drama queen. Be more ladylike. All things that women and girls get told when they try to stand up for themselves and set reasonable boundaries.
#6
Being unable to make friends with other women.
#7
Postpartum OCD. It's super common to have intrusive thoughts of your baby dying for the first year or two after birth. NOBODY TALKS ABOUT IT.
Katie White 3 days ago
After my preemie was born, and in NICU for five weeks I would have nightmares about babies dying almost every single night. The most memorable one was when I was doing laundry and found one dead baby in the washer and another in the dryer. It felt so real
#8
I never realised how common emotional abuse was.
Little Bit 3 days ago
I honestly thought it was normal growing up with a narcissist mother and then having a narcissistic husband.
#9
A sore vulva during my period. Not cramps, but my labia feels... extremely tired? like I was using them to lift weights the day before? The first time a friend told me it also happened to her I was so grateful knowing that I wasn't crazy!
#10
Really heavy and sudden bleeding during periods. Not to be gross but just suddenly like a tap turning on. I'd have to a tampon and wear multiple pads because it would come on suddenly and I could soak through a single pad or tampon in a minute or two. It didn't alwasy happen- but often happened - usually on day 2 or 3 of a period.
I met another woman who had this when she was visiting my home. I found out only because she had an episode and she had to ask me for paper towels to clean up the bathroom. It's really not something we talk about much- like periods com up with close friends form time to time - but it's hardly water cooler talk. I wonder how common this is.
#11
Having a miscarriage. I thought they were super rare, and then when I had one and told other women, I was shocked at how many of them told me they’d had one too. I don’t know why women aren’t more open about it and don’t talk about it more. Somehow, learning how common it was made my second miscarriage easier.
Kim Kermes 3 days ago
I understand that 1 in 4 pregnancies are lost, many so early it's not recognized as miscarriage. We need a better word that doesn't seem to lay blame.
#13
Having a difficult relationship with my mom. I see her and feel so annoyed around her presence.
Little Bit 3 days ago
And me. No matter what I do I will never be good enough for her. I am incredibly close to my daughters and I would never dream of treating them the way she has treated me.
#15
My anxiety meds/adhd meds/and anti-depressants not working as well when Im on my period.
I thought that my meds were just not consistent, turns out the inconsistency was my hormone levels affecting how efficiently my body absorbed medication.
Friggin medicine was only tested as men's hormone levels as the default so they're not built with a woman's cycle causing hormone fluctuations in mind. I just take a way higher dose now than I probably need in the hope that it helps keep me level enough during the dips. Doesn't always work though.
Jill Rhodry 3 days ago
Sorta🤷🏻♀️need to speak to doc about adjusting meds during your cycle - hormone levels afeect dopamine so adhd symptoms as well - that's why a lot of women become more aware of their symptoms after menopause
#16
Having issues orgasming and hardly having one...
I was convinced for so long my body was broken.
KC T. 3 days ago
I used to have this issue, but discovered being in love, feeling loved and feeling close makes such a huge difference. Before I married my husband, we waited for awhile and I was already in love with him our first time and it was confusing at first because I've never orgasmed the first time with anyone and I consistently have 2 or 3 each time with him. The only times I haven't been able to with him are when I feel distant and not as close.
#17
Realizing that “getting randomly scared you’re pregnant even when you haven’t had s*x” is a universal experience 😂
Also: the deep, irrational guilt after saying “no” to plans just because you’re tired and need time alone. I really thought I was just being weird or antisocial until I heard other women say the same thing.
Turns out, a lot of us are walking around with shared experiences we never even talk about. The power of women opening up is wild. We’re all out here thinking we’re the only ones quietly spiraling but we’re actually on the same rollercoaster. 🌀💕.
Rahb in Oz 3 days ago
“the deep, irrational guilt after saying “no” to plans just because you’re tired and need time alone.“ Male here; same problem! I think this affects many people.
#18
Thinking I was the only one who’d pretend to text someone while walking alone because I felt unsafe… until I found out so many girls do the same.
Family's_disappointment 3 days ago (edited)
It makes them think that you're to busy to notice them in reality you can understand, see and hear everything and can make a run for it. And also if they try to even get close to you can immediately call someone.
#19
Before my period/on my period or when I'm getting a cold, my skin hurts. All of it. My whole body skin hurts.
My old boss said she experienced the same thing!
#20
Before my period, my legs start to really hurt and have this “pulling” sensation by the thigh area. it’s so uncomfortable.
#21
Not knowing how to take care of yourself as a woman does, because you weren’t taught.
#23
....creeps who approach young girls nearby schools.
#24
Wanting to end it all the week before my period (diagnosed PMDD lol).
Little Bit 3 days ago
I had PMDD since day 1 of my periods when I was 13. Back in the 90s it wasn't a recognised condition. In the run up to my period I would sit and sob uncontrollably for days. My mood swings were so extreme that I would have to shut myself in my room away from everybody. My periods were heavy and so painful that i couldn't even stand up.My mother told me it was normal and not to make such a fuss so I suffered in silence for years. I was 18 or 19 when I went to my doctor and begged for a hysterectomy because I couldn't live with it any more. I was given medication which helped. My mother later admitted that she'd never had any problems with her periods and had never seen anyone suffer in the way I had and she didn't know how to handle it.
#25
I told a story on a separate social media platform about a man who asked if he could buy me at my job when I was a teenager. Almost every single comments was “omg me too!!!”.
#26
A*****e cramps on my period. One of THE most uncomfortable feelings but would at least only last a couple of seconds. Luckily I stopped getting these cramps once I got my IUD.
#27
My hair has changed as I've gotten older. I always had thick curly, like natural spiral curls, hair. Had to use thinning shears when I'd get it cut, that kinda "thick". Noticed my hair wasn't as floofy and mentioned it to a stylist during a cut and color and she said I still have thick hair, I just have fine hair. And my curls? *Sigh* Oh how I miss my curls. Once my hair is dry, I barely have a wave anymore. It's almost stick straight. How am I supposed to style this c**p?! Lmao!
#29
The way that tampons don't actually properly soak up period blood.
Period blood does not have the right consistency to really be absorbed by a tampon. A little bit is absorbed, but mostly the tampon is just physically blocking the blood from coming out.
I always thought everyone else's tampons came out being soaked through in blood until I saw a reddit post about it.
Jill Rhodry 3 days ago (edited)
we were taught that if it's not soaked through within 4-6 hours you're using the wrong size tampon for that day of bleeding - problem being TSS especially as you can graze inside trying to remove a dry/ish tampon
#30
Puking and food aversions due to period.
Kristy Marion 3 days ago
Oh yes. Sometimes such intense cramping that it triggers both ends from the sheer intensity. Good times
What do you think ?
Little Bit 3 days ago
Inability to control my emotions since being perimenopausal. One minute I'm absolutely fine and then the next my emotions come bubbling up out of nowhere and before I know it I'm crying uncontrollably and i can't stop. It can last for minutes, hours or days and then it goes away as quickly as it came on. It isn't even caused by anything upsetting. It happened to me a few days ago right out ov the blue when I was playing Candy Crush
Mel in Georgia 3 days ago
Thank goodness all my weird symptoms (high emotions, brain fog, irrational thoughts) subsided after going through menopause. Hope it's the same for you!
Load More Replies...
Ellinor 3 days ago
Did anyone else had that really weird dream when you have a baby, and when you wake up you're irrationally sad even if you never want kids or were really young when you had that dream ?
Spocks's Mom 3 days ago
Not about babies, but I'll dream about people that are not here anymore and it always renews my sense of sadness and loss.
Load More Replies...
Tamra 2 days ago
I'd like to find a group of women to talk to about how menopause changed them. It changed everything about me...my hair, skin, the way I feel, the way my body processes medications... everything. I'm no longer the person I was, and I'm having a really hard time dealing with it.
Alex Schneider 2 days ago
I feel this.. brainfog isn't easy for a smarthead like me, out of sudden everything seems to be older,you have to find a new role in this world,fall out of the race for youth and fame.. not in a slow processing way, but in smaller and bigger waves I found out whales have menopause too and the older females keep the peace between the young males... I just thaught wtf..this will be my golden girls/ old h*g time- only one I will teach is young girls to flipfinger and keep a place at my fire for every other witch that want to dance naked cause the heatwave hits or the brainfog left the trousers at home
Load More Replies...
Little Bit 3 days ago
Inability to control my emotions since being perimenopausal. One minute I'm absolutely fine and then the next my emotions come bubbling up out of nowhere and before I know it I'm crying uncontrollably and i can't stop. It can last for minutes, hours or days and then it goes away as quickly as it came on. It isn't even caused by anything upsetting. It happened to me a few days ago right out ov the blue when I was playing Candy Crush
Mel in Georgia 3 days ago
Thank goodness all my weird symptoms (high emotions, brain fog, irrational thoughts) subsided after going through menopause. Hope it's the same for you!
Load More Replies... Ellinor 3 days ago
Did anyone else had that really weird dream when you have a baby, and when you wake up you're irrationally sad even if you never want kids or were really young when you had that dream ?
Spocks's Mom 3 days ago
Not about babies, but I'll dream about people that are not here anymore and it always renews my sense of sadness and loss.
Load More Replies... Tamra 2 days ago
I'd like to find a group of women to talk to about how menopause changed them. It changed everything about me...my hair, skin, the way I feel, the way my body processes medications... everything. I'm no longer the person I was, and I'm having a really hard time dealing with it.
Alex Schneider 2 days ago
I feel this.. brainfog isn't easy for a smarthead like me, out of sudden everything seems to be older,you have to find a new role in this world,fall out of the race for youth and fame.. not in a slow processing way, but in smaller and bigger waves I found out whales have menopause too and the older females keep the peace between the young males... I just thaught wtf..this will be my golden girls/ old h*g time- only one I will teach is young girls to flipfinger and keep a place at my fire for every other witch that want to dance naked cause the heatwave hits or the brainfog left the trousers at home
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