Painful periods?

[ThatFatGirl]

If this continues tomorrow, I will see a doctor, but since it's Sunday and my pain isn't enough to send me to an ER, I'll ask y'all here if you have any thoughts about this.. and thank you if you do.

Friday night/Saturday morning at 2:00 a.m. I was getting ready to go to bed when I experienced a very sharp pain in my lower right abdomen. The pain was very intense and in a very specific spot. My period had started just a few hours earlier. I thought perhaps this was incredibly bad menstrual cramping, but then I also have PCOS and imagined that perhaps a cyst burst or something... The pain was very bad and for a moment I thought about driving myself to the ER, but my insurance has changed, I'm now on my new husband's plan in OH, I have no card yet, and know nothing about my new plan, I just feared it would be incredibly complicated and potentially expensive, so I took a muscle relaxer (Flexeril) leftover from a previous bad back experience and two Advils and went to bed. I fell right asleep and thanks to the muscle relaxer, actually slept until noon, so obviously the pain lessened (thank goodness).. when I finally got up, the pain was still there, but the intensity much, much lessened. It didn't change much through the day and this morning, I would say it is probably even less painful than yesterday, but it is definitely still there. I feel it when I lean into it or get up from a seated position.

I've never really had painful periods and my PMS has been limited to an afternoon of cramping and one day of weepiness. What is kind of odd is that I never really had PMS symptoms until this past year, I assume because of age - I'm now 38 - and suppose I could be creeping into a menopausal stage?

I'm on birth control pills and started my new pack for the month this morning. I'm hoping that the hormones will begin to regulate and my cycle will quickly end and perhaps the pain will go away with it.

Anyone with a little time to spare have any thoughts on what could be going on? Thanks!

[ThatFatGirl]

Originally Posted by missaf

I usually have cysts rupture around the time I start bleeding, and it's horribly painful. I usually spend three days in severe pain. The only medicine that worked for me was Vioxx, and since it's off the market, I take Ibuprofen and use heating pads, and sleep alot on those days.

Also, though, there are foods and drinks that you can eat that can both help and aggravate painful periods. Avoid caffeine, orange juice, sodas and salt. Do try and eat foods high in magnesium (or even take magnesium supplements the week before your period), like barley, almonds, black beans, and spinach.

Also keep an eye on your flowing, as with painful periods, it may slow down while cramping and in pain, then flow heavily when you're more relaxed. In that pattern, I find myself ebbing and flowing, sometimes even stopping for a day or more before it kicks back in!

Thanks for the response, Missa. I did in fact have a salsa and chips "fiesta" Friday night and finished a Diet Dr. Pepper 2 liter, so I loaded up on the salt and caffeine for sure. I appreciate all of your advice. I think you may be right on with the magnesium suggestion. I think I will start off with getting back on track with taking a daily multi-vitamin.. I am so bad about keeping up with taking them regularly. Considering how lousy I eat on most days, I think this may help me a lot. Also, adding fresh spinach to my salads is something I can do pretty easily as well.

I'm definitely curious what the source of this pain is - a ruptured cyst seems very possible. I can't pinpoint where my ovaries are exactly, but the pain does seem to me to be about where my right ovary might be.

Oh and thanks for the heads-up about the ebbing and flowing.. I was just thinking thank goodness with all this discomfort I'm having a lighter flow. Sounds like the flood gates may break yet.

[Jes]

is it possible that the timing is a coincidence? that it's not about your period at all but is, instead, a bladder infection? i get all sorts of aches and pains that aren't related to cysts or my period, that i know of.

there are OTC bladder infection pills that I hear are good. one shouldn't self medicate of course, but in a pinch, you might TRY one. My mom gets frequent infections. Having been to Docs and knowing the symptoms, she now keeps thsoe pills int he house all the time and swears by them. The brand has branched out and sells pills for a bunch of different things and they're nice to know about. Again, they stress that you should know if you have that condition before you take them, but there you go.

also, and i should make a thread, but: when getting the annual (or, as i've been doing it, the every 3 months version) pelvic, is the pressing-from-the-outside painful for any of you? It always hurts me. Not the act of pressing per se, but whatever is being pressed upon hurts. No matter what time of the month, no matter anything else. It's not af ull bladder as I usually pee 15 times before i see the doctor. I've always wondered.

[SamanthaNY]

I understand the insurance issue, but severe pain really should be investigated. I'd just hate for this to turn into something serious, like a ruptured ovary; or a kidney, appendix or intestinal issue and your treatment gets delayed, ya know? I trust your instincts that you think it's menstrual-related, but there's an awful lot of stuff that can go wrong in the lower abdomen.

If you're covered by husband's insurance, you should be able to call the company, explain your situation and get their instructions for how to get immediate treatment. Most companies even have emergency numbers to call on weekends.

Feel better!

[ThatFatGirl]

A wee update... I had resolved to find a doctor in MO under my new OH plan today if I still had pain, but oddly enough it is gone this morning. I am moving to OH on Friday and will plan on finding a doctor there pretty quickly. I really appreciate the responses here. Thanks again, Missa and thank you too, Jes and Sam!!

[Sandie_Zitkus]

I'm no doc but having PCOS those damn cysts can be pretty painful. It may not have popped. They can hurt pretty bad when they form too.

But I would see a doctor just to be sure. Was there any fever or did you vomit?? That could indicate something more serious. good luck. feel better.

[Rowan]

Thankfully I dont have periods (thank you GOD thank you!) but i definitely feel for you and hope that you're okay!

[ThatFatGirl]

I had no fever, no loss of appetite, nothing at all unusual other than the pain. It was a very odd couple of days.

I already have a fat-friendly doctor lined up in OH who's on our medical plan. I just need to call her and make an appointment now.

Sandie and Rowan, thank you for the posts and good thoughts!

[Scrumptious_voluptuous]

In this day and age, painful periods are just so unnecessary! When I had mine, I'd go into severe man-hater mode and blame medicine history for not concentrating their efforts into being able to stop/ease the oldest Pain In The Arse in history; repeating the mantra 'We can put a man on the moon, but we can't find an easier way to stop periods.'

I get incredible pains during mine, but my doctors just wouldnt even listen to my PCOS theory, or even investigate whether it's endymetriosis. Instead, I got the depo injection. Whilst it's THANKFULLY stopped them, it took 6 months, and one hell of an emotional rollercoaster. Oh yeah, and about 4 stone weight gain. But by god it's been worth it not to have a period for the last 2 years!

Having girly plumbing sucks

[Olga_NYC]

I'm sorry you've been in so much pain It really sucks.

I used to have horrible pains during my teens, then they got better. But I still get them once in a while. It just doubles you up.

You should probably have an Ultrasound to check for Endometriosis. I don't know too much about PCOS but that may be to blame.

I heard Dong Quai is really good for hormone balancing.