How painful is your period pain?

[greenjelly]

Mine seems to have gotten worse over the last couple of years. Im 39. I was wondering if it really is as bad as I think it is. It might be nothing compared to what other women go through. This month I'm having a very heavy bleed (mooncup after mooncup) and agonising back ache. I rate the pain a 7/10.
Since reading that Ibruprofen can be bad for a might be baby, I only take paracetemol and I dont think it really helps at all.

Moan over.
June TTC for me now...

 

[Mrs_Nesbit]

Mine seem to have gotten worse as I've gotten older, but they can vary from month to month. Last one was like the bucket of blood scene from Carrie and painful for the first three days. Really drains the life out of you.

 

[Honeybee73]

Mine has always been bad but some months are worse than others. I always use hot water bottles to help with the cramp and back pain and couldn't be without them

 

[PositiveUs]

My period pain is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad 7/10 for sure. Extra strength tylenol does not cut it. I was prescribed 500mg Naproxen which is the same as Aleeve but stronger than over the counter stuff. It works but I take it more often than every 4 hrs on the first day. The pain only lasts for the first 24 hrs of real heavy flow and the rest of the period is totally pain free. I have adenomyosis.
My acupuncturist prescribed Jia Wei Xiao Yao San and I can't believe the difference. Its a chinese herb you take 3 times a day. I had relatively little pain for a shorter time and no clots the month I took it regularly.

 

[Gingersnaps]

I very rarely felt anything. Despite that it turns out I have advanced endo. I just wanted to mention that, if your periods changed and are heavier ( for a couple months at least) it may be a thyroid issue and or endo. I have both and they can develop early or later in your reproductive years. Endo is likelier if you have never had a child. Don't want to scare you but if the pain and increased flow continue it is better to get checked out.

 

[greenjelly]

I very rarely felt anything. Despite that it turns out I have advanced endo. I just wanted to mention that, if your periods changed and are heavier ( for a couple months at least) it may be a thyroid issue and or endo. I have both and they can develop early or later in your reproductive years. Endo is likelier if you have never had a child. Don't want to scare you but if the pain and increased flow continue it is better to get checked out.

Thank you Gingersnaps. Endometriosis has crossed my mind. My sister was diagnosed earlier this year and tells me it can be heriditary. Would that massively affect my (already seemingly lazy) fertility? My bleed was really heavy this month and as I say, back ache was pretty darn awful. Perhaps I should chat to my GP...

 

[Gingersnaps]

I very rarely felt anything. Despite that it turns out I have advanced endo. I just wanted to mention that, if your periods changed and are heavier ( for a couple months at least) it may be a thyroid issue and or endo. I have both and they can develop early or later in your reproductive years. Endo is likelier if you have never had a child. Don't want to scare you but if the pain and increased flow continue it is better to get checked out.

Thank you Gingersnaps. Endometriosis has crossed my mind. My sister was diagnosed earlier this year and tells me it can be heriditary. Would that massively affect my (already seemingly lazy) fertility? My bleed was really heavy this month and as I say, back ache was pretty darn awful. Perhaps I should chat to my GP...

Yes and no. It can cause infertility but it varies. It depends where the endo is located. For example, on the tubes or ovaries can cause obvious issues. I had to have a partial removal of one ovary and one tube is attached to my stomach So placement is a factor. Many people conceive with endo and many struggle. There are stages (severity) and the earlier caught the better. I think my endo developed from my undiagnosed hypothyroidism. My periods were very heavy and that can be a factor in development of endo. Women who bleed less ( on the pill or pregnant) are less likely to develop endo.
There is debate but some seem to think having endo alters the uterine environment making it less hospitable. This is regardless of the locaion of the endo. Sort of an autoimmune response.
Good news is, if you do turn out to have endo, there are things you can do to minimize it. I found going gluten free, red raspberry leaf tea and low dose aspirin all have improved my menstruation. My periods are much lighter. Even lighter than after treating my thyroid -They were still bad then.
Definitely, go see your GP. Try not to worry in the meantime but being proactive is best

 

[greenjelly]

Thanks again Gingersnaps. How will they diagnose me then? I had a tummy scan (internal) earlier this year and nothing showed up on there. Could endometriosis have occured since then? Surely they would have seen something.
Would endometriosis cause more pain in the back than tummy? Ive had weird back ache this month.

 

[Gingersnaps]

I was diagnosed during a lap. I think they do need to go internal to diagnose. I think pain and location of pain varies widely in endo. I had almost zero period pain. Just the odd month or during a miscarriage. I did though, tend to occasionaly get pain on urination or a BM. The BM pain was very sharp and I would almost pass out at times. I never thought I had endo, as I did not have period pain.
I had surgery for what they thought was a pos appendicitis , I had gone in with extreme pain from what I thought was a pos burst cyst.
I was home alone. I think I went into shock, as I could not stop shaking and was freezing. Then I passed out. After waking in a few hours, I called my partner. Went to the hospital. Turns out it was a burst cyst and I had extensive endo. My uterus was covered on the outside, and as said half of one ovary was removed. Apparently, the endo affected my bladder and I was told 'it is in the wrong place'. Where that place is, I do not know but it explains the pain I sometimes get. My intestines were covered as well. All that and I never knew. I should say though, a few months before the surgery, I had begun to have pain around O time, which I had not before. I think must have been from the endometrial cyst.
I think if you look up endo pain, you will get as many variations as people. Also as said, endo has stages but I have learned the stages do not necessarily correlate with the amount of pain.

 

[Mrs_Nesbit]

I've started drinking raspberry leaf, one cup a day. Can't hurt to try.
I know it's an acquired taste, but I rather enjoy it.

Hate taking prescription drugs anyway, and I swallow enough tablets because of suppliments, so it's usually the trusty hot water bottle for me too.