Menstrual cramps ow ow ow I hate them

[Ellen Forradalom]

I'm too old for this! Damn!

[Maddy McCall]

1. Excedrin Migraine

works everytime for me.

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. I am older than you!

And know the feeling. Sympathies.

[Ellen Forradalom]

3. Whose idea was it

to have a giant invisible hand tie my innards in knots once a month? Brilliant!

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. The gods,

male, one presumes.

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. Sick mo-fos, they are.

x(

[flamingyouth]

5. I feel for you

Earlier this year I had a period that lasted for almost three months before they could finally put me on something to stop it. I found, of all the over-the-counter meds, that Motrin works the best for me.

Sympathies to you!

[prolesunited]

23. Do you have fibroids?

I do. That happened to me and I became really anemic. Why would they wait three months?

I later became a vegetarian and with all of the soy in my diet, it improved quite a bit.

Hope you're feeling better now.

[stanwyck]

6. Have you tried

one of those little patches that heat up and stay warm for 8+ hours? They have adhesive which you attach to your underwear...they're thin so they don't show. You can wear at work and no one will know. The heat really helps. Usually they're next to the tampons in the drugstore or grocery store. I use those, and, believe it or not, Pamprin. The extra-strength. It really works. Good luck. (a sun-warmed cat on your belly is also good...but not always easy to find).

[Amaya]

7. I feel ya

:)

[Misinformed01]

8. advil migraine liquigel caps

and either a husband lower back rub, or a cat pressed up against your stomach like a furry heating pad.

[Ellen Forradalom]

11. Oh I could really use a cat right now

but husband's allergic to them and hates them besides.

[Misinformed01]

15. My husband is allergic to Stinky the Wonder Cat

too...I am going to drug him up. He's not thrilled.

[JanMichael]

17. *choo*

<scratches neck>

Alavert?

Love you baby, good night!

[Misinformed01]

18. Honey, get off the cramp thread

I think you are the only man here.

On edit: I love you too...

[dmr]

19. You two are way too cute

[Misinformed01]

20. Out of the two of us,

Michael is the cute one tonight; I am already in favorite pajamas, and just slopped down two creme filled Krispy Kreme donuts.

[Booberdawg]

9. Best of both worlds here

I had a partial hyster 10 years ago so don't have cramps anymore but still ovulate and have yet to go through the change.

But I remember it well. At least one day of pure misery, wretching abdominal cramps, lower back and leg pain every 30 - 31 days. Ugh.

[flamingyouth]

14. I'm considering that

Would you recommend it? Right now I'm taking progesterone for endometriosis and fibroids, and I had surgery for fibroids earlier this year.

[Booberdawg]

22. I didn't have a choice

I was 36 at the time and early stage of cervical cancer found on a routine pap. I would not have chosen to eliminate any possibility of having another child had I any choice in the matter. I was a single parent with a 13 year old at the time.

Having said that, if you have the option of a partial hyster as opposed to a complete hyster - OF COURSE I would recommend a partial. In a partial they only remove your uterus and leave your ovaries, thus you still ovulate and are not thrown into immediate menopause after the surgery.

I had some wild hormonal fluctuations for a couple months after the surgery and hot flashes with that, which is normal, but was only hospitalized a couple days and the recovery time was only a couple weeks. No lifting or hugging or kissing for 6 weeks but I didn't have any problems at all. I have not started menopause yet or premenopause symptoms.

As always, I would discuss it with your physician. I am by no means an expert and can only give you my personal experience.

[flamingyouth]

24. Wow - I'm glad it turned out okay for you

How scary that you had to go through all of that.

The partial is but one of my options. As you can imagine, I'm trying to delay any decision as long as I can. I tend to like my organs. My doctor thinks I am in perimenopause - I'm going to be 35 next month! I'm not ready for this yet!

[Booberdawg]

27. My half sister was in her early 30's when she started

perimenopause, as was her mother (my step mother). I've had no symptoms yet, and I'm 47!!! Life isn't fair...

[flamingyouth]

30. I'm just glad you're okay

And that they caught the cancer in its early stages like that.

[mcar]

34. Are you using natural progesterone cream?

Progesterone pills aren't the same, chemically, so they don't work the same way.

I had fibroids and all the attendant symptoms: heavy menstrual bleeding, cramping, long periods. I had the largest one embolized (Uterine Fibroid Embolization) and after six months, it had completely disappeared. However, two more fibroids had started.

My gyno wanted me to go back on birth control pills to control my periods. However, taking BC pills causes me to have unbelievable insomnia and didn't control the heavy bleeding.

I got the book "What your doctor may not tell you about pre-menopause," by Dr. John Lee. Based on the book, I started using natural progesterone cream. When I had an ultrasound six months later, the fibroids were gone!

My periods are normal, my cycles are normal for the first time in 20 years.

Please get the book and think about natural progesterone cream before you consider surgery.

[peekaloo]

12. try some B-12 supplement

take one a day starting the week before Aunt Flo's arrival. It may help.

[populistmom]

13. Ibuprofin and a heating pad

I don't have a major problem with this stuff (thank goodness), but some months are worse than others, so I can empathize. Hope you feel better soon!

[MuseRider]

16. Me too and I am too old for it as well.

Make it stop! I really thought this would be over by now. Damn. Heating pad helps sometimes. I have also found that my cramps are now almost worse when I ovulate. I keep hoping that means this is almost over. I'd rather shave a moustache!

[pansypoo53219]

21. one aspirin a day 4 or so days

before the train arrives and say hasta la vista to cramps.

[Interrobang]

25. Naprosyn sodium, aka Alieve, prescription strength if you can get it.

I get my fiance to buy me Alieve (called Anaprox when in prescription form) in the States (I can get OTC Tylenol with codeine, but not OTC Anaprox, how screwed up is that?), and I take them two or three at a time. This is emphatically NOT recommended for most people, but I used to take prescription Anaprox, the 800 mg ones, and those little 220s don't do much for me unless I take 'em in job lots. I'd recommend Tylenol with codeine and caffeine -- extra-strength, not Tylenol IIIs -- but you probably can't get them, and I've never had much luck with codeine anyway. To me the cure is worse than the ailment.

I have *horrible* cramps, and sometimes periods that last for 8 or 9 days. Still, they say there's nothing really wrong with me. (Personally, I blame it on the spasticity. Everything cramps worse anyway!)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. Assuming no fibroids etc., I have just one word for you

Orgasm

:-)

[Interrobang]

32. I wish...

I always found that orgasm made my cramps *worse*. Granted, for the first few minutes, I didn't *care* that they were worse, but after the initial endorphin rush wore off.

So, complainant poster, remember: Your Mileage May Vary. :)

[WindRavenX]

28. Drink lots of water

cuddle up with a hot water bottle or take a hot bath. Exercising helps too :)
Try to feel better :hi:

[TXlib]

29. 250 ml of vodka

works like a charm.

[Ellen Forradalom]

31. Oh to be in Hungary again

They sell a nifty little medicine there called Meristin. The first ingredient is phenobarbitol. I got some on the advice of a professor in 1990 and ran back to my dorm, saying, "I just got beans over the counter for 65 cents! This is a great country!" One tablet on the first day and you feel just fine. I took them home and hoarded them jealously for the next two years.

[wickerwoman]

33. It won't help right now,

but I find if I take a calcium supplement every day that time of the month is shorter and sucks a little bit less.
There's some kind of research on it- one of the antacids with calcium was advertising that it helped with cramps.
Most women should probably take one anyway to help prevent osteoperosis.

-bezdomny who used to work in a pharmacy and had nothing better to do than read manufacturer's pamphlets in the break room