Doctor said period pains likely due to bad takeaway

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AIBU to be a bit miffed?

My period started this morning. After a few hours I start getting the most horrendous pain which comes in waves and feels like I'm in labour, accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea. This is the third time this has happened (previous time was a few years ago) on the first day of my period, and this time was the worst out of the three. DH and DM both wanted me to get checked out so I used the 111 website after the pain had subsided a bit, and they arranged a call back as the website said it needed investigating.

Call came back from a male doctor about an hour later. After I described the issue, his first question is whether I'd had any takeaways recently, and he then proceeds to tell me that I probably just have a stomach bug, and that my being on my period is a coincidence. I was a bit baffled by that assessment, so just accepted the pain meds he prescribed and hung up. I told him that this isn't the first time this has happened and described how painful it was (couldn't walk, talk etc), but he wasn't taking me seriously at all. I know I don't have a stomach bug, but I wonder whether I'm unreasonable to be a bit angry about my experience or whether I'm just being dramatic.

Nobody should have to live with that type of pain. Get thee to a female GP and don’t accept being fobbed off.

I had similar experience of being fobbed off with the advice to take paracetamol and try a hot water bottle. Similar experiences of projectile vomiting with the pain.

One time when my period started I was due to get on a flight (UK internal flight). I took every OTC pain killer I safely could. When we landed I was taken off the plane in an ambulance with acute appendicitis. Hospital doctors asked why I got on the plane "I thought it was just period pain" One lovely doc wrote a letter to my GP saying that if I didn't know the difference between appendicitis and period pain then it was a priority to get it sorted.

Oh my God, I'm sorry that you are faced with this. I'm sure he was an incompetent. And that's really awful that there are still people like that in hospitals. Maybe this video can help you I trust this channel, but I didn't have such problems so i'm not sure that it helps

To be fair, it's happened 3 times in your life and hasn't happened for years. It's just as likely to be a tummy bug as it is anything else.

I'm surprised he even prescribed anything and didn't just say rest and drink plenty of water.

@girlmom21

I agree!

It’s different if this was happening every month, I’d be seeing your regular GP and asking for a gynae referral.

However tbh vomiting & diarrhoea & pain sounds like gastroenteritis with no other background. Given it’s Been associated with a period just three times in a lifetime sounds like coincidence.

I don’t think the out of hours doctor has fobbed you off- common things are common and they are effectively and emergency service.
If you want to be ‘checked out’ more throughly I’d see your usual GP in the week and discuss it.

I had endometriosis from 16 and it was only diagnosed when I was 23! Up until the age of 19, I had to have lots of sti tests (even though I had only one partner for the whole duration) and had taken tests. When I turned 20, I was told they were just period pains. One night I had such terrible pain I went to a&e and saw such a lovely doctor (who was a man!) who did a full assessment. I had a laproscopy a month later and had 3 cysts removed. It's such a shame women have to go through this.

My mum said a few weeks ago how the medical room at her school is always full of girls complaining about period pain and how they should just get on with it 😳

Oh shut up woman.

(Said with deep irony)

That's disgusting OP, the GP was wrong to dismiss you. before I gave birth to my DS my periods were exactly like this and I'd have to take dihydrocodeine just to get out of bed.

@girlmom21

To be fair, it's happened 3 times in your life and hasn't happened for years. It's just as likely to be a tummy bug as it is anything else.

I'm surprised he even prescribed anything and didn't just say rest and drink plenty of water.

I think people are missing this, someone even said after another couple of bad periods see your gp, which based on history would take her to menopause or beyond 😂

It’s completely logical if you’ve only got ill three times round your period in your life the doctor would look for another coincidental cause.

OP was prescribed pain meds for presumed gastrointestinal infection?
I'm not following.

My period pains gave me hot flashes which made me vomit. Fun memories - not.

@lljkk

OP was prescribed pain meds for presumed gastrointestinal infection? I'm not following.

My period pains gave me hot flashes which made me vomit. Fun memories - not.

Becayse she isn’t like this normally,,she’s only been ill twice before in her life.

I did not know GPs prescribed painkillers for D&V.

Novo virus is rampant at the moment. So I can understand why he may have thought this

I had something similar to this and it was an ovarian cyst twisting and cutting off blood supply to my ovary. I would be asking for an ultrasound .

@Bluntness100 I have really painful periods every period, but I don't normally vomit or get rendered completely immobile. I've had plenty of stomach bugs including norovirus, that's not what this is. I'm not expecting an out of hours doctor to do an investigation or whatever, I just wanted him to confirm I didn't need to see someone right this instant. Being patronised and told it's nothing to do with my period and I probably just ate a bad takeaway when I was in a lot of pain doesn't exactly make me feel I can count on the NHS to take me seriously.

I saw an OOH doctor last month with similar thing. Nausea, fainting etc on my period is not normal for m and I was convinced the period was a coincidence. He told me codeine and paracetamol were no good for pain and I needed blood pressure medication (my BP was 130/90 and I was in agony)

When my period stopped and the pain was still there I went to my own GP who said my blood pressure was absolutely fine, and it turned out I had a bad UTI and kidney infection. Given I'm neutropenic I'm glad I went back to my own GP!

Ok op but that was a drip feed and not for anyone else to know.

I had this most periods till I had kids- so 15 years. No idea what it was but I would vomit and black out due to the paib. Had to hurry home wherever I was- eg once ordered a meal in a pub when period started and had to rush home and leave it. Always labour like cramps- no position made comfortable, I'd lie and close me eyes. Fine the next day and bleeding wasnt heavy. I beeezed labour-walked in 10cm-as the contractions were so familar.
Not happened after kids.

Sounds like typical medical misogyny, so often women’s pain is just dismissed or ignored, especially when it’s anything specifically ‘female’. The amount of time it takes women to get diagnosed with endo is staggering.

You’ve said you’ve had painful periods pretty much since the get go? And a few times for the vomiting? Are you 100% sure they are related?

Recently I had your symptoms down to a T (I’m pregnant so definitely not perilous related) turned out to be an appendicitis. I can honestly say the pain was worse than labour. They were worried I was miscarrying or had an ectopic, but I knew it a different kind of pain.

Ultimately you know your body, it does seem like an awfully big coincidence for this pain to coincide with your period, but for your painful periods alone I’d be pushing for a gynae referral. They might try and placate you with birth control but if I were in your shoes, I’d push for investigation.

This happened to me..excruciating pain when having a period - normally on day 1 or 2. I was diagnosed with 'chocolate cysts bursting' after a vaginal ultrasound - check it out on google. Basically it's endometriosis, where the womb lining grows outside the womb eg fallopian tubes, bladder and has the normal monthly cycle but with excruciating consequences. They were removed under GA and I have had no problems since. Good luck

I've thrown up, almost fainted and had awful cramps on the first day of my period that felt as bad as labour a handful of times in my life (and I'm now 32). I realised that wearing tighter clothes the day before and day of my period caused it. No idea why it made my period so bad but it's been almost 5 years since the last time.

I get this too! It only happens every 6 months or so but it is awful. I’ve found that it’s if I go to the toilet for a number 2 (apologies for TMI!) within the first few hours of my period starting. I get sweats, my blood pressure goes through the floor then diarrhoea and vomiting, like my body wants rid of everything. I end up sleeping on the bathroom floor until it goes away. Doctors aren’t interested and just keep trying to put me back on the pill.

So many of these sound like endometriosis! Periods that are crippling with pain are not normal!

@spaceghetto

So many of these sound like endometriosis! Periods that are crippling with pain are not normal!

I don't think I've ever managed to get a doctor to take me seriously about any kind of pain complaint. It's why I never bother with them.

You have my sympathy OP! I’ve had painful periods all my life (it runs in the family) and the symptoms you describe started in my late 30s - vomiting/diarrhoea as well as awful pain. For me it’s also on day one and I can’t function at all, sometimes spend hours just lying on the bathroom floor unable to move. It’s awful. My doctor did a fallopian scan but it came back normal. He diagnosed it as down to period pains and has offered variously over the counter painkillers, the Pill and the coil.

In the short term, what helps me the most is doubling up normal painkillers (you can take paracetamol and ibuprofen at once), a hot water bottle and/or stick on heat patches, and bed rest. I also try not to eat much because I find emptying my stomach does help - a bit TMI but I agree it’s as though your body wants to expel everything!

Weirdly, I’ve also found that if you can somehow ‘get ahead’ of the pain and take painkillers at the first sign then you can stop them from really taking hold in a savage way. If you’re very regular this can work well.

Wishing you better, it’s a rubbish feeling