Gaza strip – Many Palestinian women have resorted to pills delaying their periods due to the desperate and unsanitary conditions they have found themselves forced into by the continuing Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Faced with displacement, crowded living conditions and lack of access to water and menstrual hygiene products such as sanitary napkins and tampons, women are taking norethisterone tablets – usually prescribed for conditions such as such as severe menstrual bleeding, endometriosis and painful periods – to avoid period discomfort and pain.
According to Dr. Walid Abu Hatab, a medical consultant in obstetrics and gynecology at the Nasser Medical Complex in the southern city of Khan Younis, the tablets keep levels of the hormone progesterone high to prevent the uterus from shedding its lining, thereby delaying births. rules.
The pills can have side effects such as irregular vaginal bleeding, nausea, menstrual cycle changes, dizziness and mood swings, according to health professionals, but some women like Salma Khaled say they don’t have no choice but to take the risk amid relentless Israeli pressure. bombings and blockades of Gaza.
“The hardest days”
Salma fled her home in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City two weeks ago and is staying with a relative in the Deir el-Balah refugee camp in central Gaza. The 41-year-old says she is in a constant state of fear, discomfort and depression, which takes a toll on her menstrual cycle.
“I am experiencing the most difficult days of my life during this war,” says Salma. “So far I’ve had my period twice this month – which is very irregular for me – and I’ve had heavy bleeding. »
Salma says there are not enough sanitary napkins available in the few stores and pharmacies that remain open. Meanwhile, sharing a home with dozens of family members amid water scarcity has made regular hygiene a luxury, if not an impossibility. Toilet use must be rationed and showering is limited to once every few days.
Pharmacies and stores are facing dwindling supplies due to the total siege imposed by Israel following an attack by the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7. Furthermore, Israel’s bombardment of main roads in the Gaza Strip has made transporting medical supplies from warehouses to pharmacies an impossible task, according to Abu Hatab.
Without the means to manage her periods the way she usually would, Salma decided to try to find pills to avoid her periods.
While sanitary napkins are in high demand and difficult to find, period delay tablets are generally more available in some pharmacies because they are not commonly used.
“I asked my daughter to go to the pharmacy and buy pills that delay menstruation,” says Salma. “Maybe this war will end soon and I won’t need to use them more than once,” she added, worried about the possible side effects of the pills on her body.
“Extreme stress”
More than 1.4 million people have been displaced inside the Gaza Strip since October 7, living in cramped and unsanitary conditions in United Nations-run schools and in overcrowded spaces with families of reception or loved ones, leaving no room for privacy.
The effects of the Israeli offensive – now in its 25th day – have been devastating. More than 8,500 Palestinians were killed, the majority of them women and children. Repeated warnings from the Israeli military to residents to leave northern Gaza and Gaza City saw the number of towns in the center and south of the territory increase, but air attacks continued to bombard the south of the Strip. Gaza.
According to Nevin Adnan, a psychologist and social worker based in Gaza City, women can usually experience psychological and physical symptoms in the days before and during their periods, such as mood changes and pain in the lower abdomen and back. back.
These symptoms can worsen during times of stress like the ongoing war, according to Adnan. “Moving causes extreme stress and it affects a woman’s body and her hormones,” she explained.
“There may also be an increase in physical symptoms associated with menstruation, such as abdominal and back pain, constipation and bloating,” she said.
Women may suffer from insomnia, constant nervousness and extreme tension, Adnan added.
Currently, she said more and more women are willing to take period delay pills to avoid embarrassment and shame due to lack of hygiene, privacy and available health products.
Still, while she understands the current difficult situation, Adnan said that under normal circumstances, it is important to consult a doctor before taking these tablets to know the effects that these pills and their prolonged use could have on the physical health of ‘a woman.
“They could affect a woman’s natural hormonal changes, when her period is due for the next month, how much blood she loses and whether or not her period stops,” she told Al Jazeera.
No privacy, no water or sanitary napkins
Samira al-Saadi, displaced with her family in a UN-run school west of Khan Younis, wishes she could do more for her 15-year-old daughter who got her first period a few months ago.
Her daughter is upset both by the fact that she recently started menstruating and by having to manage her period in a crowded shelter, the 55-year-old says. “She needs sanitary napkins and water to wash herself, but these basic needs are not available. »
Samira is concerned about buying her daughter period delay pills because she is worried about how they might affect her child’s health.
“She just doesn’t understand why she has to go through all this,” Samira says. “I try to help her, but what she needs is not at hand. »
Ruba Seif also resides at the shelter with her family.
“There is no privacy, the toilets have no running water and we cannot easily go out to get what we need,” explains the 35-year-old man.
“I can’t stand the menstrual cramps, plus the intense fear we constantly feel, the lack of sleep and the cold because there aren’t enough blankets.”
The idea of having to deal with her period at the shelter is a constant source of stress for Ruba.
Ruba, who cares for her four children, the eldest being 10 and the youngest two, eventually asked her brother to look for period delay pills. After searching several pharmacies, he finally found them.
“Other women around me at school asked me for these pills,” Ruba says. “One of them told me that she had gone through the worst period of her life. I know their negative side effects, but these pills cannot be more harmful than the missiles, death and destruction that surround us.
Back at the Deir el-Balah refugee camp, Salma laments the psychological and physical effects of war on women, as many of them struggle not only with concerns such as menstrual health, but also those to know how to take care of their children who look after them. as a major source of protection, comfort and support.
“In war, we are obliged to do everything we can,” she said, referring to the state of suffering. “There is never a choice.”