Voice Pack Archive
Find the Words
“How do I explain what I’m experiencing?”
Knowing how your body works is one thing. Explaining what’s happening in it, clearly enough that someone else understands, is another. This edition is about the words in between.
- Learn
- Notice
- Describe
- Ask
Before we begin
“I just feel off.”
You know something’s not right. But when someone asks what’s wrong, the words don’t come. You say “it hurts” or “I’m just tired”, and it sounds smaller than it feels.
That isn’t because your experience is small. It’s because nobody taught you the words for it. Doctors work with information: where, when, how bad, how often. The clearer the information, the easier it is for them, and for you, to work out what’s going on.
Your experience doesn’t need to be dramatic to be real. It needs to be described.
01 Learn
Health words
The plain meaning of words you’ll hear, and words worth knowing.
02 Notice
Your normal
What’s usual for you, so you can spot a change.
03 Describe
The five questions
What, where, when, how much, and what changes it.
04 Ask
At the GP
Preparing, and the questions you’re allowed to ask.
New here?
This edition builds on Edition 01: Know Your Body, which covers anatomy, puberty and the menstrual cycle. You don’t need to read it first, but it helps.
“We used nicknames for everything. ‘The red days,’ ‘the bad belly,’ ‘the change.’ But no one ever taught me words like ovary or cervix. When I went to the doctor in Australia, I couldn’t even explain what hurt, because I didn’t know the terms.”
33, Hindu mother
“In Somali, we just say ‘caado’ for period. But there’s no separate word for discharge. So when I noticed stuff in my underwear, I thought something was wrong with me. No one told me that sometimes it’s healthy.”
16, Somali high school student
“I was using a translator app to help my mum understand my doctor’s notes about PCOS. But when I typed in ‘ovulation,’ it just spat out something like ‘egg time.’ My mum laughed, and then she brushed it off. How do you explain something serious when the word sounds like a joke?”
21, Pakistani-Australian university student
Shared with Aletheia and first published on our blog in Words we don’t translate. Names removed.
Learn
Health words, without the jargon
Some words come up in almost every appointment. Knowing them means you can follow what’s being said, and use them yourself.
Symptom
- What it is
- Something you notice that isn’t usual for you: pain, tiredness, a change in bleeding, a feeling that won’t shift.
Acute
- What it is
- Came on recently or suddenly. It doesn’t mean severe.
Chronic
- What it is
- Has lasted a long time, usually three months or more, or keeps coming back. It doesn’t mean it’s serious or can’t be helped.
Intermittent
- What it is
- Comes and goes, rather than being there all the time.
Referred pain
- What it is
- Pain you feel in one place that comes from somewhere else. Period pain often spreads to the lower back and thighs.
Fatigue
- What it is
- Exhaustion that doesn’t go away with rest. Different from being tired after a late night.
Dysmenorrhoea
dis-men-or-REE-a- What it is
- The medical word for period pain. Primary means there’s no other condition causing it; secondary means there is.
Heavy menstrual bleeding
- What it is
- Bleeding that’s heavy enough to affect your day: changing a pad or tampon every one to two hours, flooding, or clots bigger than a 50-cent coin.
Irregular
- What it is
- Cycles that change a lot in length from one to the next, or are under 21 or over 45 days.
Words you might hear, and why it helps to know them
You don’t need to diagnose yourself. But knowing that some common conditions exist, and what they tend to look like, helps you recognise when something might be worth asking about.
Endometriosis
en-doh-mee-tree-OH-sis- What it is
- Tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside it, causing inflammation and pain. About 1 in 7 people assigned female at birth in Australia are diagnosed by their late 40s.
- What it can feel like
- Period pain that stops you doing things, pain that gets worse over time, pain with bowel movements or weeing during your period, pain between periods.
You can say
- My period pain stops me going to school.
- It’s getting worse each year.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
pol-ee-SIS-tik- What it is
- A common hormonal condition, affecting about 8–13% of women of reproductive age. Despite the name, it isn’t about cysts.
- What it can feel like
- Irregular or missing periods, acne, extra hair on the face or body, or hair thinning on the head.
- Updated
- Archive note: in 2026 this condition was renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). The current Voice Pack uses the new name.
You can say
- My periods are often months apart.
- I’ve had acne and irregular periods together for a while.
Iron deficiency
- What it is
- Not having enough iron, often because of heavy periods. It can lead to anaemia (low red blood cells).
- What it can feel like
- Tiredness that doesn’t lift, feeling breathless or dizzy, pale skin, finding it hard to concentrate.
You can say
- I’ve been exhausted and my periods are heavy. Could we check my iron?
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
- What it is
- Physical and emotional changes in the days before a period: bloating, sore breasts, irritability, low mood. PMDD is a more severe form.
- What it can feel like
- A predictable dip in mood or energy that lifts once your period starts.
You can say
- The week before my period, my mood drops a lot, every month.
Notice
Know your normal
Doctors often ask “Is this new?” or “Is this different for you?” To answer, you need a sense of your own baseline: what’s usual for your body.
Your baseline includes
- How long your cycle usually is, and how many days you bleed
- How heavy a normal day is for you
- Your usual energy, sleep and appetite
- How you usually feel emotionally across a month
- Any pain you get regularly, and how bad it usually is
Signs of a change worth noticing
- Something new that wasn’t there before
- Something that’s getting worse over time
- Something that’s stopping you doing things you normally do
- Something that keeps coming back in a pattern
- Something that other people have started noticing too
“Common” and “normal for you” aren’t the same thing. Lots of people get period pain. That doesn’t mean yours should stop you living your life.
What’s your normal?
- How long is your cycle usually, roughly?
- On your heaviest day, how often do you change a pad, tampon or cup?
- What does a ‘normal’ energy day feel like for you?
- Is there anything that’s changed in the last few months?
Describe
Describe it: the five questions
Almost any symptom becomes clearer when you answer five questions. You don’t have to answer them perfectly. Even two or three makes a big difference.
| Ask yourself | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. What does it feel like? | The type of feeling | “A dull ache that turns sharp” |
| 2. Where is it? | The exact place, and whether it spreads | “Low tummy, left side, spreads to my back” |
| 3. When is it? | When it started, when it happens, how long it lasts | “Days 1–2 of my period, for about a year” |
| 4. How much? | How strong, and what it stops you doing | “Usually a 6. I miss school on the first day” |
| 5. What changes it? | What makes it better or worse | “Heat helps a bit. Moving makes it worse” |
1 · What does it feel like? Words to try
Cramping
Squeezing or tightening, coming in waves.
Aching / dull
A heavy, constant, low-level pain.
Sharp / stabbing
Sudden, intense, in one spot.
Burning
Hot or stinging, like a burn.
Throbbing
Pulsing, like a heartbeat.
Pressure
Heavy, pushing or dragging down.
Shooting
Travels quickly down a leg or into your back.
Tender
Sore when touched or pressed.
2 · Where is it? Use the map
4 · How much? Rate what it stops you doing
Words for how you’re feeling inside
Mental and emotional symptoms need words too. “Stressed” and “sad” cover a lot. Try being more specific.
Instead of “stressed”
- On edge, can’t switch off
- Overwhelmed by small things
- Heart racing, can’t catch my breath
- Worrying most of the day
Instead of “sad”
- Flat, like nothing matters
- Numb, or disconnected
- Crying more than usual
- Not enjoying things I used to
Instead of “tired”
- Exhausted even after sleeping
- Brain fog, can’t concentrate
- Everything takes more effort
- Sleeping much more, or much less
And to say how long
- Most days for the last two months.
- Every month, in the week before my period.
- It started after [something that happened] and hasn’t gone away.
Track it: patterns are information
Ask
Prepare, then ask
A GP appointment is often 10 to 15 minutes. Five minutes of preparing beforehand means you use that time well.
Before the appointment
- Write your main concern in one sentence
- Answer the five questions for it
- Bring your tracker, or a few notes on your phone
- List any medicines or supplements you take
- Write down 2–3 questions
- Ask for a longer appointment if you have more than one thing
Questions you’re allowed to ask
- What could be causing this?
- Is this something I should keep an eye on?
- Are there tests that could help?
- What can I do to feel better in the meantime?
- What should make me come back sooner?
- Can you write that down for me?
- Could you explain that another way?
Booking the appointment
You don’t have to give the receptionist details. “A private health concern” is enough.
Opening the appointment
That’s thirty seconds, and it answers most of the questions the GP would otherwise need to ask.
From “it hurts” to a clear description
Maya’s cramps have got worse. Last time she told a school nurse “my stomach hurts on my period”, she was given a heat pack and sent back to class.
This time she tracks two cycles. She notes where the pain is (low, mostly left, into her back), how long it lasts (the first two days), how strong it is (usually a 6, an 8 on day one) and what it stops (she’s missed four school days this term).
At the GP she reads from her notes. The GP asks more questions, suggests a plan to try for three months, and asks her to come back with her tracker if it doesn’t help.
Maya is fictional. Her story continues in Edition 03.Ask
Your words
The best words are the ones you’ll actually say. Use this space to find yours.
Write it in your words
- Something I’ve been noticing is…
- It feels like…
- It’s been happening since…
- It stops me from…
- What I’d like to find out is…
If the words still won’t come
It’s fine to hand your notes to the GP, or to say “I’ve written it down, can I read it to you?” Writing it first is not a weakness. It’s preparation.
Where this idea went next
From finding words to the tools we use now
Language became central to Aletheia. It shaped the Self-Advocacy Journal (with its symptom tracker) and our workshops, and it’s why we build resources in more than one language.