Period pain management - any tips?

[itsgettingwierd]

I have menstrual issues and have been referred to gynae after failed attempt at mini pill and 2 expelled coils.

I'm on northisterone long term but have to take a break when I have breakthrough bleeding - which I waited 2 weeks for as mentally have to prepare myself and half term so won't be off work as off anyway!

The pain is unbearable. It's akin to labour pains.

I'm using Mefanamic acid, 30/500mg co codamol and 500mg of paracetamol. It makes it just about bearable but makes me feel like I'm floating around space!

Anyone else had such severe pain and had a better combination of pain management?

I'm facing a 32 week wait for initial appointment and so need something to help me get through the next 8 months as the pain is really affecting my MH.

Sorry no additional advice on the pain relief front but I second the idea that if you can afford it to go for a private consultation assuming the next step is diagnostic. I would check beforehand with the private doctor’s secretary that they will be able to give you a reference that gets you back into the nhs system, but this way you may be able to leapfrog the queue. Another thing that my doctor friend told me (about my dad’s I’ll health; not mine) is to continue bugging your doctor - with limited resources, the people who shout the loudest are the ones who get the best service. I’m sorry it is this way especially at the moment when so many people are suffering but I hope this helps.xx

@4PawsGood

My daughter takes tranexamic acid for heavy periods, it works really well. I wonder if it would help with pain too. Might be worth talking to your dr about it.

I have that. I start taking it day 3 when the heavy bleeding starts. It lightens it to manageable levels but as soon as the 4 days are over the flood gates open.

[quote SometimesALime]@itsgettingwierd how are you getting on with the TENs machine? I have endo, diagnosed 20 years ago. I use a 4 pad 2 channel TENs for period pain. So 2 pads on the back and one on each ovary. I can link the 2 on my back or front together or have one pad on the front link through to one on my back which also helps.

I have used a TENs machine for years and often for 18 hours to take the pain level down. Like you on one 30/500 co-codamol I am a space cadet and only ever take 2 if it is out of control and I need to sleep but I do have a Dh and my children are now teenagers. I probably only take some once a year. My go to is actually a Migralieve Pink, low dose co-codamol and because it contains anti-sickness too.

For back pain a massage gun that sort of pummels you really helps and I will suggest two things that may or may not help you. One is meditation daily, just 20 minutes every day to "centre" yourself, breathe and relax your body. Stress makes endo worse and from the sounds of it your life is pretty full on as a lone parent with a child with additional needs.

The other is attitude to the pain. With endo some level of pain will probably always be there. Like when you are in labour you know why you are in pain and you accept it. You know that for x number of days your body will be in a high level of pain but you know it will be over at some point. For me it is 24-36 hours or 48 at the absolute most.[/quote]
I'm using tens machine on my right back as that's where I get the pain.

I haven't tried lower back yet (that is pain on day 6!) or my stomach as it says use with caution on menstruating uterus? It also says just to use for 20 minutes twice a day.

Currently have my wheat bag on my right hand lower abdomen which is easing that pain.

Today I have awful diarreoah and feel very hot and sweaty.

3 more days of this and I have had a week off northisterone and I'm really hoping I can take it despite the daily spotting back to back to avoid this in future.

Done some tens this morning and wheat bag on my stomach.

Then stood up and filled a pad and had a huge clot. That has eased pain alongside a mef acid.

It's still background but much better.

Still seems quite a lot of blood loss as I'm on trans acid?

Have a telephone apt with a GP this afternoon. It's one I really like but she hasn't been dealing with this. But I'm hoping someone not familiar will be horrified rather than just sympathetic as they know I've been suffering for 18 months.

I wouldn’t worry about putting the TENs machine on your front if you need to. That’s the only way I’ve ever used mine as I don’t really get period pain at the back.

There’s also a company that tried to market a tens machine specifically for periods (you absolutely don’t need it if you already have one, they’re all the same anyway) but all their marketing stuff shows it being used on the lower abdomen it’s in their how it works on the page below and maybe in the FAQs as well.

uk.mylivia.com/pages/about

That’s not how my daughter takes her traxenamic acid. She’s told to take it as soon, or before her period starts and then take it until it’s finished. Might be worth investigating a different regimen.

Nsaids work better for me. So ibruprofen or naproxen.

Have you tried Buscopan? It's for IBS stomach cramps but was originally made for period pains apparently. Might be worth a try

Ask for naproxen 250mg to be taken 4 times a day. You cannot take this with ibuprofen or mefenamic acid as they are all in the same family.

Start taking the naproxen a full 24hrs before your period is due to start. Once your period starts, commence the co-codamol/paracetamol combo as well. You can also take that 4 times a day.

So that is 8 opportunities within 24hrs for pain relief. Space it out evenly. So start with naproxen, then co-codamol a few hours later, then naproxen again etc. The important thing is to try and prevent the pain from coming through in the 1st place.

@4PawsGood

That’s not how my daughter takes her traxenamic acid. She’s told to take it as soon, or before her period starts and then take it until it’s finished. Might be worth investigating a different regimen.

I was taking it from day 1 when it lighter but you can only take it for 4 days.

So we discussed waiting until it gets heavier and using it to lighten those heavier days for a few days.

Whatever my regime it just keeps it under control for the 4 days I'm on it. It doesn't stop the flooding for the following 11.

So I had a tans acid at 6.30am. Still managed to flood 3 pads and loose 4 huge clots in that time.

Can take another at lunchtime.

@itsgettingwierd re the TENs machine, from the NHS website "You can use TENS throughout the day for as long as you like"

www.nhs.uk/conditions/transcutaneous-electrical-nerve-stimulation-tens/

20 minutes is ridiculous, can you imagine telling a woman in labour she can only use it for 20 minutes twice a day?

As Pink says they make a specific period TENs machine which I used to have before upgrading to a manual dial one and now a rechargeable one where instead of turning the dial I push buttons so it is easier to control. There are several different programs on a TENs machine from tapping to constant vibration, ramping up, cycling etc you just have to find what works best for you. Mine is a Medifit tensmachineuk.com/premier-tens-machine-and-muscle-stimulator-fully-rechargeable.html

My SIL has Interstitial cystitis and wears a 4 channel TENs machine daily under the advice of her consultant.

The thing is what you are describing isn't a "normal" period in terms of blood loss and the pain is not normal either. You are possibly treating a chronic health condition if it is endo which affects the auto-immune system of your body. It can cause (and does for me) chronic fatigue as your body is constantly trying to rid itself of the diseased material that the endo deposits cause.

I hope your telephone call goes well, tell them how much it is affecting your life. I had 8 years of this shit with male doctors telling me lots of women have periods and basically to suck it up. I finally saw a female GP who said this could be endo and referred me to a gynae. He was amazing and a laparoscopy confirmed endo which was 20 years ago now. Meaning I was finally not a "wuss" when it came to pain. I liken it to late labour pain having now experienced that.

I tried combinations of everything mentioned on this thread.

What I didn't realise was the NSAID use can cause chronic gastritis. I was prescribed these for eight years straight without question until I collapsed with stomach pains and was taken to hospital. (Mefanamic acid.). Was told never to take anti inflammatories again.

I am now on proton pump inhibitor drugs permanently because of the damage done to my stomach.

Funnily enough after a couple of
collapses my period problems were 'listened to' and I eventually got sorted out.

One of the attempts to sort me out was some sort of ablation to 'cook' the womb lining. That didn't actually achieve anything as I 'gave birth' to my womb lining in screaming agony whilst is was supposed to be teaching my class. Another trip to hospital - I was losing huge chunks of what appeared to be 'cooked liver'. The headteacher was reluctant to take me to hospital (was told it would be quicker than an ambulance ) in her car and made me sit on a mountain of thick towels.

I could not cope with the extent of my blood loss and would often wake up in large puddles of standing blood during the night. I ruined lots of pairs of shoes as blood would gush down my legs and into my footwear, staining the insides.

I would lose complete weekends as I daren't go out because of the sheer amount of blood loss (thank goodness my periods started on Friday or I would have missed lots of work).

My life was miserable for 10 years because of these problems. I think that the many doctors I consulted thought I was exaggerating.

Ended up with hysterectomy when I was 40 yrs old. When the pathology came back - I'd had fibroids.

It's not good to be expected to manage life on cocktails of drugs long term - these just mask the symptoms of problems instead of curing the problem.

My stomach is 'buggered' because of all the drugs.

Fairy having had gastritis many years ago that is my fear. I'm also keeping the makers if Gaviscon in business too

So GP rang. Make GP and I actually always find them much more sympathetic.

Start northisterone again straight away. Keep taking it even with breakthrough bleeds. Also prescribing me buscopan. Giving me 6 months worth of each.

Agreed that taking trans acid and going through maternity pads every 2 hours with added clots shows how much blood there is. He did make me laugh when I said I actually cannot face the idea of northisterone for another 8 months as it makes me feel shite and he asked "but as shite as having a period makes you feel?" 🤣🤣

He's also writing to hospital. He said it's absolutely ridiculous that they've referred as urgent as they've tried everything and they've deemed it urgent for a consultant to decide its routine having never even spoken to me and that that haven't even informed the GP surgery of that decision.

So hopefully I'll hear something soon from GP or hospital but I have to now get my head around the fact I'll spend gawd knows how long feeling love, piling on the lbs and with awful acne on my chest with northisterone.

Fairy cooked liver very much describes the clots I lose now on my period.

And also I work in a school. I get what you mean. It's the constant knowing if anything happens you could be flooding in front of a class of kids and can do nothing. I "joked" to the GP I feel like I'm taking out a toddler again when I go out. Nappies, wipes and spare clothes

My periods weren't as bad as yours, but I was taking several doses of paracetamol/ibuprofen over the 2 or 3 days at the start of my period, and they didn't really touch the sides, or didn't kick in for a couple of hours. I'd be doubled up in pain, sometimes with the cramps radiating into the top of my thighs. I had some co-codamol left over from a small op, which is the only thing that worked for me.

Back then I was vegan and eating a typical high-carb plant based diet, albeit homecooked. When I switched to a low carb, unprocessed, more animal based diet (meat/fish, eggs, full fat dairy, non starchy vegetables, and berries), the difference in my periods was remarkable. Virtually painless, slight dull ache, but not even worth hunting out the pack of painkillers. I probably take around one single paracetamol tablet per year now. Clots almost vanished as well.