As a young girl, I remember praying earnestly to experience menstruation. This was after my siblings and I relocated to Abuja for schooling. It was there that I first heard about menstruation from my classmates who were already experiencing it. Since I wasn’t, I couldn’t contribute to the discussions then. Thinking about it now, some of my classmates were 2 or 3 years older than I, except for one person. I was 10 years old. This made me sad, and sometimes I avoided my friends.
In JSS 2, the only friend with the same status as me started experiencing hers, and I was left alone. I felt worse when we were taught ‘Puberty’ in Home Economics. Most of my friends could relate more to what the teacher said as she spoke about calculating menstrual cycles, proper use of sanitary pads, and more.
These events generated a desire to pray in me. I started praying seriously for my menstruation to come. I cannot think of anything before then that made me faithful in praying as I was about this. Every time it came to mind, I would pray—everywhere and anywhere—loudly and under my breath, asking God to show me mercy. I worried seriously about the fact that I was the only one among my friends not seeing her period at that time. My friends made matters worse by telling me it meant I would not have kids. I believed them.
By the time we were being taught in class, my friends had already explained the topic to me. It’s funny how it stuck in my mind, especially since the teacher seemed shy to teach the topic properly. So I ended up relying on my friends, who were willing educators.
ANSWERED PRAYER TURNED SOUR
Finally, my prayers were answered when I got to JSS 3. I was happy when I first noticed it one afternoon and rushed to present myself to my aunt for inspection and confirmation. My flow lasted for a day that month.
The next time it occurred was in April. I remember the month because that was when my misery started. It came with severe pains, and its duration was longer than any I had seen or heard. Mine lasted 7 days. I presumed it was so because I had just started menstruating. But it remained so for the longest time, and eventually, I got to accept it as my fate. “It’s normal,” I was later told.
Whenever it was that time of the month, it meant I would be bedridden, restless, and suffering from diarrhoea and nausea, which would eventually lead to vomiting. Severe abdominal pains would weaken my legs, hindering me from standing. I would also experience heavy bleeding, so I made use of extra heavy-flow sanitary pads, often doubling them as a norm.
It also came with fever and a loss of appetite. By loss of appetite, I mean my body would automatically reject food. If I tried eating, no matter how little, to gain strength, I would vomit the first spoonful before even taking the second. As a result, I would sip garri just to have something to throw up instead of the gastric juices, which made me really weak. Usually, I would soak garri in a large plate, let it swell, and then add enough water to it.
During this time, I had a bucket close to me to throw up in. It was more frustrating because the medications were not even working. I tried several of them, and I didn’t even know the names of some of them. I couldn’t cry no matter how painful it was, so I would bite myself to feel pain enough to cry. I would constantly pray for sleep, and whenever I did sleep, it was deep. This was unusual for me since I am normally a light sleeper. My siblings often remarked that I slept like a dead person during my period. Sometimes, the pain would get so intense that I would roll my bare body on the floor from one end of the room to the other. I believed that if only I could cry, things would be much better, but it seemed my tear ducts were usually dried up.
My body temperature would rise so much that I often had to lie on the cold floor to cool down. I would also stay in a room with the air conditioner on and a standing fan positioned close to me to provide extra relief from the heat.
THE COST
This pain would last for 4 days, and sometimes 5 out of the 7 days. In between, the intense pain would relieve the moment it was 3 p.m. on some days. So back then, I would watch out for 3 p.m.—but sometimes the 3 p.m. thing didn’t work.
I stopped consuming extra sweeteners, be it in sugar cubes or honey, because I heard it could contribute to painful periods. Eventually, I stopped taking sweeteners totally, except for some fruits or natural foods. I learned to enjoy and eat meals like ogi, oats, custard without sweeteners.
Sometimes, this pain would cause me to miss classes, practicals, and school exams. And for the ones I struggled to attend, the pain would be so intense that concentrating was futile. I carried over some courses as a result of this. I remember vomiting once throughout an exam of a carryover course—MTH121. I carried over the course again.
Usually, I would pray that my exams or tests were not fixed during period week. I secretly wished the period would go away for a few months and give me relief. I also noticed that the pain reduced a lot in my birth month.
MY HEALING
My healing has been gradual, and I have derived a lot of faith from the testimonies of others and Pastor’s prayers.
When I started attending God’s Lighthouse, the healing didn’t come immediately. Instead, I’ve had the pain reduce over the years. I’ve also been healed from the cessation of my menses in 2021 (story for another day), and I’ve been healed of irregular menses as well.
My body also started responding to medications for pain, until it seemed like I relied more on it than trusting God for healing. I would even make comments like “It’s not for this kind of pain,” referring to trusting God, or “It’s still God that restructured my body to respond to these drugs, so I’ll use it.”
But the healing that was really loud happened in the last 3 months. This happened after Pastor had prayed for healing from dysmenorrhea for the sake of callings. I immediately shouted ‘Amen’ in faith and said, “Lord, this is it.” Before this, I had burdensome thoughts of how I would cope if I were to work for others, maybe being a teacher or any other job that requires working around the clock.
This month makes it 3 months at a stretch, ever in my over 13 years of menstruating, to be free of body weakness, intense pain, mood swings, and nausea. In fact, just plain freedom. I am really grateful to Abba for bringing me this long-awaited deliverance. May God’s name be praised for doing what medications couldn’t do and blessing me with divine healing. Amen.
— Sis E.N
29th May, 2025
© God’s Lighthouse 2025
