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General health

Period pains

5 replies

Phalenopsisgirl · 28/02/2016 18:34

Dss' s gf (20) suffers with really debilitating period pain every month. She is popping 2 paracetamol and 3 ibuprofen every 4 hours for 3 days at a time just to take the edge off and it really limits her ability to carry on with normal life, can't sleep, work effected etc. She went on a pill, not sure which, in an attempt to manage it but found she was bleeding sporadically all month with bad Pms symptoms to boot! My experience of period pain is very limited as mine settled of its own accord in my late teens, was never this severe and I can't remember if this coincided with contraception use or not so turning to mn for a wider knowledge base. Her (male) doctor seems a bit useless as this has been causing major life issues for a long long time and only one type of pill ever seems to have been suggested, no offer of anything for pain management. We wouldn't rule out private treatments if anyone has any really great recommendation of practitioners in the south east/London area, including alternative therapists.

OP posts:
JiltedJohnsJulie · 29/02/2016 08:13

She needs to insist on a referral to a Gynaecologist, just to rule out any medical issues. If she does feel that she can insist, maybe she could take someone along to the appointment with her?

AttilaTheMeerkat · 29/02/2016 12:31

My initial thought upon reading your post about this young lady was endometriosis. It is the most common cause of cyclical severe period pain and I note this is also a long standing problem. Severe period pain like described is not at all normal and she will need to see a gynaecologist asap. Her GP should refer her; no ifs or buts here. Many GPs are not at all up to speed when it comes to such issues; this is also partly why these go unresolved for so long. If her GP remains unhelpful then she should see another GP or change GP practice. She cannot be fobbed off and will need to be persistent in order to get answers.

In the meantime she should keep a daily pain and symptom diary (noting pain on a scale from 1-10). This will give the gynae clues.

//www.endometriosis-uk.org/ is a useful website.

Let us know how she gets on.

Phalenopsisgirl · 29/02/2016 12:45

Thanks, this is really my thoughts too. I'm no expert but she shouldn't be suffering like this surely

OP posts:
Whycantweallgetalong · 29/02/2016 12:55

Oh poor thing! i suffered this for years, with vomiting and diarrhoea. I Had a laparoscopy done, no endometriosis; didn't know wether to be sad or joyful at that. It finally started to settle down after i had ds1 and one day i screamed that i was going to take my own life God must have heard me!

I tried Feminax, pons tan, pills etc none worked, the pills made me sick.
Some years ago i saw a very senior female GP who advised to take paracetamol and Ibrupofen in advance of starting your period, so like a week in advance. I did notice a change when i did this and even though i don't suffer debilitating pain anymore, i always use pain killers the day before, whenever i don't the pain is intense. So she could try this it might help. Its awful.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 29/02/2016 13:10

No she should not be suffering such pain; its not normal and not something that should be at all put up with.

I winced in recognition at all her symptoms and in my case endometriosis was the underlying cause of all the pain.

She needs to see a GP within her practice asap and she needs a gynaecologist referral urgently.

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