Not wanting to visit Dr...

[bubblebubblebob]

NC'd for this.

I'm 37 F. I have had painful periods since the very beginning, however in the last 10 years or so it's been increasing in severity.

I've gone from being bed bound with pains and blacking out occasionally for the first 1-2 days (remaining duration pain free) to now being bed bound and blacking out if at all upright for most days and sharp pain throughout the duration of the period. I've also been feeling nauseous and heavy headed during the crippling first days.

I used to manage this fine with OTC pain killers but they don't seem to offer much help anymore.

I've been advised by friends that I should seek medical counsel as it could be endo.

I don't want to be dramatic and bother the GP with what I think is just regular period pains and possibly the response of an ageing body?

AIBU?

If it’s making you black out you need to see someone sooner rather than later. That’s not normal op.

If you had this amount of pain anywhere else in your body, you'd be straight to the surgery. You do not have to put up with this because it is your period. Please make an appointment as soon as you are able - you shouldn't have to suffer.

You need to know blacking out isn't normal, and you shouldn't have to live with this. This is why we have GPs, you need medical help.

That's an abnormal amount of pain and discomfort so you need to get yourself properly checked out.

It's not normal, your GP should refer you to a specialist ASAP.

Took me years to get taken seriously but my pain was not as awful as yours (did sometimes have to lie down though and often felt sick - and regular painkillers didn't touch the sides). Turns out I'm riddled with endometriosis.

Am now on hormonal treatment and no longer bleed!

You need and deserve help with this x

You're still young!

This needs addressing quite urgently. I would not sit on an NHS waiting list if there was the option to pay for a private consultation with an gyne. specialising in endometriosis. It's something that you want to catch sooner rather than later.

Thank you all for your responses. I honestly didn't think that it was more than just severe period pains. I will call the GP first thing on Tuesday.

Severe period pains aren't actually normal. It's normalised by many, including drs. But to be so severely impacted is absolutely not normal.

None of that is normal

Good to hear you've seen sense.

I think is just regular period pains and possibly the response of an ageing body?
I’m sorry you’re suffering so badly OP, it sounds horrific!
You’ve been having pain for 10 years which is progressively getting worse. So it started when you were 27? A 27 or in fact a 37 year olds body is not ‘ageing’ and this is something you need to address.
Do you have a fear of doctors?

It’s not normal at all. In fact it’s not ‘normal’ to have painful periods, though it’s common and therefore some drs seem to think it’s part and parcel of being female. Anything more than mild discomfort indicates a problem. Please seek help.

Have you experienced been dismissed or not taken seriously by HCPs in the past?

It’s not normal to be bed bound and black out for 5 days every month.

I’ve had some painful periods but I’ve never had to take a sick day.
Get to a gp.

Those are not regular period pains by any stretch of the imagination.

I don't want to be dramatic and bother the GP with what I think is just regular period pains and possibly the response of an ageing body?

Surely you know that what you are experiencing is not regular period pains?

Do you really think all menstruating woman spend 3/4 days per months bedridden with blackouts ?

I’m a bit aghast that a young woman would think they would be wasting their GPs time by presenting with these symptoms.

I apologise if I seem abrupt but you have a duty of care to yourself. Go see a Doctor.

Oh give your head a shake, it's not normal, why wouldn't you seek advice?

idon't

Catch yourself on. Plenty of people have been made to feel like they're wasting doctors' precious time and it's not a pleasant feeling. Being in pain can cloud logic too. No need to add to that with a shaming pretend helpful response when others have managed to say exactly the same thing kindly and directly.

I have this exact same thing OP. Blacking out during periods and also extremely heavy bleeding and immense pain. Turns out I have endometriosis and PCOS. I've had a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy to remove the endo (for fertility reasons) which helped for about 6 months but now I'm back to square one. Doctors fobbed me off for years until I found a brilliant gyno who took me seriously and figured out the problem. Please go see a gynecologist. I hope you get things sorted, it's a horrible thing to go through.

Yabu to have not contacted your GP much sooner! There are medications to help with pain/excessive bleeding.

@figuresomethingout totally agree

I’m a bit aghast that a young woman would think they would be wasting their GPs time by presenting with these symptoms

Because GPs tell women they are wasting their time. And you've got to get past the rottweiler receptionists first too.

Good luck OP, but you may be better off investing in a private GP appointment with someone with an interest in womens' issues.

OP please go see a doctor - you shouldn't be in so much pain or suffer so

My DD has horrible cramp pains - vomiting and in pain. She's tried various painkillers in the past and currently on the pill to try and stop the pain. Codeine isn't touching it and she's spending days in bed - she'll need to go back to the doctor because she can't live her life like this. Recently had an ultrasound which showed nothing.

What other hormonal treatments can she ask for? Her GP was pretty crap, saying that pain management was the only way to treat endo.

Because GPs tell women they are wasting their time. And you've got to get past the rottweiler receptionists first too.

What a ridiculous thing to say.
This simply does not happen.

@BackforGood

Because GPs tell women they are wasting their time. And you've got to get past the rottweiler receptionists first too.

What a ridiculous thing to say.
This simply does not happen.

I have had a female doctor be very disinterested in my issues. When I said that I was struggling to get out of bed as my periods were so heavy and painful she said ‘Well yes, we all feel like that but some of us have patients relying on us so we have to get on with it’. I then had to go back when my cycle had changed and I was having a heavy period every third week with no sign of it abating and she told me that it was normal range. When I became pregnant with dc1 it was discovered that I was severely anaemic and my levels were so low the midwife said that she couldn’t believe that I managed to get out of bed in the morning.

I have met some wonderful female gp’s but the particular one very much made me feel as though I was wasting her time.

Sorry to hear that LuaDipa.
It was the pp's mass generalisation I am objecting to.
I accept I didn't word it well, and apologise.
I'm sure there are individuals that are poor in all professions, but it doesn't mean all GPs do that.

My doctor, who had specialised in reproductive issues, said if period pain/symptoms interfered with my normal life that was not normal and intervention was required. This definitely crosses that threshold.