Women bitch about menstruating all the time. Never-ending cramps, having to buy overpriced tampons, the annoying feeling of tighter clothes because of uncomfortable bloat. One would think that NOT getting a regular period while NOT being pregnant and NOT having to deal with all those things would be a total jackpot, right?

Wrong. For the last four months, I bitched about being period-free. I would stress over having a bun in the oven when I had absolutely nothing to worry about. I bought a handful of pregnancy tests, which all came back negative, and gave myself a near heart attack every damn time I peed on a stick.

The reality? After trying nearly every damn birth control pill out there since age 16 and having breakthrough bleeding on EACH one -- I was finally on a birth control pill where not getting a regular period was a side effect. And you know what? I was frustrated. Beyond.

Plain and simple: I've been irregular for years, and for the love of god, it's driving me insane.

Any woman who's ... well, any woman who's ever been a woman knows that our wonderful menstrual cycle affects a lot more than most people (men) realize. For example, a recent study found that asthma symptoms get worse around the time of ovulation. (Which, if you have asthma, is probably something you've known for a long time.)

The usual period-related suspects (cramps, bloating, moodiness, breakouts) are bad enough, but those havoc-wreaking hormones are to blame for a slew of other very unpleasant symptoms. The good news? Once you know what those crazy ch-ch-ch-changes are actually doing to your body, you can figure out a way to cope. (Leaders of the asthma study suggest adjusting women's medication during ovulation.) Here are some more ways your menstrual cycle messes with you (and helpful tips to try):

Whether it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month or not, there's almost no end in sight to all the info about early detection and prevention of the disease. It's absolutely astounding and so heartening to see that we seem to be getting more and more well-versed about how we can guard ourselves against breast cancer. And yet, at the same time, we can't forget that there are many breast health issues women experience all the time that actually have nothing to do with cancer.

Board-certified gynecologist and regular women's health expert for The Dr. Oz Show Dr. Jennifer Ashton touched on some of the most common, non-cancerous concerns your breasts might be trying to clue you in on.

Snooki's ex-boyfriend Jeff Miranda is laying some super-gross accusations against her on a popular website. She's dirty and mean, for starters. But worst of all, and deserving of three exclamation points, is the revelation that Snooki has been known to extend the use of a tampon for an extraordinarily long time.

My ex gf the snookster doesnt believe in showers and likes to wear the same cloth for days. While we were together during the filming of jersey shore season 3, she barely changed her underwear. And left the same tampon in for days!!!

Dude. DUDE!!! I do not believe you!!! At all!!! How would he even know this? Was she in the habit of inviting him to watch every time she changed her feminine hygiene products? No, of course not. He's just being a jerk and trying to come up with the most ridiculous, made-up slander his filthy, feeble little mind can come up with. But guess what? Been there, done that! I left a tampon in for days!!! and lived. Let me explain.

Now that the road just got a little bit clearer for women (at least those with private insurance) to obtain preventative health care without a hefty co-pay, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, everyone's raving about how their birth control pills will be free. And that's awesome for the ladies who don't mind hormonal birth control (and all its side effects and potential side effects), but the enactment of the reform actually offers an awesome opportunity to take a second look at a different form of birth control -- one that's totally hormone-free.

As it turns out, use of intrauterine devices (IUDs) has been on the rise over the past few years, as more American women are choosing IUDs and contraceptive implants over the pill and condoms, according to a new national study. That's the good news.

Women have spoken, and we want companies trying to sell us pantyliners and tampons to start speaking more realistically! Enough of this Ana Steele "down there" insanity! How about some "vagina" with a side of "discharge"? Oh, I'm sorry, are those words too much? That's what some viewers are saying after seeing a new commercial for Carefree pantyliners, which just recently aired for the first time in New Zealand.

The ad features a nude spokeswoman, covered up by some lovely floaty white flowers (typical), actually discussing how the discharge we get around the middle of our cycles, or ovulation, is healthy and natural! OMG. And guess what? She even says it comes out of our ... vaginas! Not our "hoo-ha," "lady garden," or other ambiguous or borderline-derogatory term. Whoohoo!

Clearly, venturing into usually hush-hush territory like this was a bold, but also highly orchestrated move ...

Tampon of Terror!Okay, when I find a teensy spot of mold on a loaf of bread, I bring it back to the grocery store and demand a refund. If I opened up a brand-new tampon and found it covered in staggeringly horrific mold splotches, I'd ... I'd ... well, I'd be permanently scarred, I can tell you that much.

Or maybe I'd do what Danielle, the woman who actually had this unfortunate experience, did: She took a picture of the Tampon of Terror and posted it on her blog, then sent a complaint email to Kotex. Because this was a big deal! Especially when you consider what could've happened ...

Most of us ladies at some point have suffered from excruciatingly painful periods (or, in docs' and researchers' lingo, dysmenorrhea). If you've ever gone to your OB/GYN for help, you've probably heard him or her sing the praises of what they consider the #1 "cure" for this problem: The birth control pill. Docs have prescribed it for years off-label as a fix for cramps and heavy bleeding.

Now, there's a new study confirming this long-held belief. The findings, which are published in the journal Human Reproduction, show that women who used a combo estrogen-progestin pill (which is pretty much every mainstream pill these days) suffered less severe pain than women who did not use it. That's fabulous and all, but no one's talking about WHY this is the case?? And that's the most important part!