Men try A period cramp simulation

[Heather MC]

If men just believe women when we say we're in pain.
These type of inventions wouldn't be necessary.



But at least they made a really funny segment enjoy

[Karadeniz]

1. Hilarious! I wonder if labor could be safely similated....

[KarenS]

2. I have seen labor simulators,,,, with very simular reactions,,,,, n/t

[karin_sj]

3. That was great

I had horrible cramps and pain every month for over 30 years and back then, you just lived with it. I did have to go home from school sometimes and when I started working, I had to lay down in the break room where I worked at times. It really was horribly painful. Luckily, I discovered a new prescription medicine that really helped (anaprox, now called naproxen and over the counter).

When I was in my 40s, I finally found a specialist who listened and found out that I had endometriosis and adenomyosis (when endometrial tissue grows into the muscular wall of the uterus). Had a hysterectomy when I was 48 and finally got total relief. I wish I would have done it much sooner.

[Scrivener7]

8. Anaprox was a life changer.

[pnwmom]

4. When I was in my teens my periods were so painful, especially in my back,

that the idea of labor terrified me. As it turned out, labor was easier because there was space between contractions, and it only lasted hours, not days.

(The reason my periods were so painful was my tipped uterus. The woman on the TV show was wrong when she said normal periods are uncomfortable but not painful. A tipped uterus isn't abnormal, but can result in very painful periods and labor.)

[Genki Hikari]

6. Have a tipped uterus as well

And it's true about the higher pain level.

I can remember being in so much pain that I would lie down on the floor at school. I didn't care about dirt or what anyone thought--I couldn't be upright for one second longer.

Got sent to the nurse quite a few times. Aspirin made me throw up, and Tylenol did nothing. My mother took me to the best gynecologist at her hospital. He wanted to put me on the pill (I had even more problems than the pain), but my mother was reluctant to do that. Until the GYN said his next step was Valium or Tylenol 3, since aspirin and Tylenol did zero for my pain.

I got on the pill, and that solved a lot of problems. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone I was on it, and my mother filled the prescription in another town. She was scared I'd "get a reputation" if people knew I was on the pill, even for medical reasons.

Good grief, fine, whatever. Do it that way. I didn't care how I got relief, as long as I did. I would have crawled to the nearest town to get those pills.

[pnwmom]

7. Good for you. I was too embarrassed to talk to my male doctor about my periods.

So I just suffered, often missing a couple days of school in the beginning of them.

And then I read someone describe labor thusly: imagine the worst pain you've ever had and multiply it by 10.

What a crock! Labor wasn't any worse than my periods, which I suffered through with aspirin.

I don't miss those days!

[Scrivener7]

9. I never knew a tipped uterus was associated with greater pain. I have one too.

[pnwmom]

11. Because it's tilted toward the spine, a woman can feel

more period pain or labor pain in her back.

[Scrivener7]

12. You've just blown my mind.

Of COURSE!!!!

[pnwmom]

13. So you know how, in Lamaze, they have the woman's partner

press balls into her back?

I spent most of my labor on my hands and knees, which helped take the weight of the baby off my back. I also felt better when my husband pressed a ball into my back. As time went on, I'd have him press it lower and lower on my spine. "LOWER! LOWER!"

Till finally he said, "BUT THERE ISN'T ANY LOWER!"

And soon after that, I had the baby!

[LudwigPastorius]

5. This is why I can't stand these chatty morning "news" show types.

It's all about the schtick.

I'd like to see a PBS or NPR show do a story about this.

[Scrivener7]

10. I thought it was a great segment.