Extreme period pain

[IAmCrazyMostOfTheTime]

Hi just after some advice. I’m 39, have regular periods and in the last 12 months the pain has got worse with each month. I came on yesterday morning and at 8pm went to bed to try and sleep through the pain. Had to get up at 2am in absolute agony - bent over, can’t walk, can’t think straight - feels like labour pains - or what I remember of it 16 years ago. Paracetamol and ibuprofen aren’t even touching it. DH got me some co-codamol from the pharmacy which has taken the edge off but I’ve had 4 major pain sessions over the course of the day which have left me completely debilitated and in tears. Luckily today was my day off but there is absolutely no way I could have made it to work if it hadn’t been. I’m supposed to back at work tomorrow but can’t imagine standing and teaching feeling like this. I’m also dreading having to phone in with the reason ‘period pain’ - I can just imagine the response that will get. I’ve made the mistake of googling and have now scared my self that I’ve got ovarian cysts or fibroids. My doctors is absolutely useless and aren’t classing it as an emergency so I can’t get an appointment. Has anyone experienced similar? Is it worth pushing for a referral to hospital for a scan/ investigation? Thanks

I'm not going to be able to help but I've experienced the same just prior to my last period. I'm 44 years old and have never experienced painful periods like this. It felt like the extreme contractions in the depths of labour and was so painful I felt really nauseous. I'm not sure if this could be the start of perimenopause for me?

@mum2jakie yes I felt nauseous too. DH was so concerned he wanted to take me to a&e or the walk in centre but I didn’t want to make a fuss. I’d considered peri menopause too but had blood tests a few months back which didn’t show anything.

@IAmCrazyMostOfTheTime I suffer like this also there's a couple of things that help mine . As soon as I get the first twinges of pain I take ibuprofen paracetamol don't help me at all . I know it sounds old fashioned but a hot water bottle does help with the pain I'll lie down with the bottle on my stomach to help ease it . If I let the pain get hold first I'll vomit and the pain just won't go away , I hope some of what I do can be of help x

Could you have endometriosis? Or adenomyosis? It gets worse with age In my experience… Endo diagnosed by laparoscopic surgery or mri if really severe. Adeno can be diagnosed via mri or sometimes on ultrasound. Good luck

Speak to your GP. I suffered from appalling pain and it was down to ovarian cysts and endometriosis - I wouldn’t have known unless i’d got pregnant and it showed up on the scans. In hindsight I can’t believe what I tolerated as ‘just’ period pain.

These sound like my periods. Agony, up to 3 weeks long sometimes, and they control my life. They got worse after third dc, in my late 30s. My GP actually took me seriously 😮 and referred me to specialist who said it is adenomyosis. We tried ablation, which didn't really make much difference after a while, and am now waiting for a hysterectomy.

You need to see a gynaecologist ASAP because this sounds like endometriosis. It’s a common cause of severe period pain. If your GP practice is unhelpful do register with another practice. Do not be fobbed off just with things like pills, you need to find the cause as well as treating the symptoms.

Thank you everyone, you’ve all helped confirm that this isn’t normal and I need to push the GP for investigation. @AttilaTheMeerkat that’s exactly what I don’t want - to be pressured into going on the pill or having a coil fitted.

Push your GP for investigation from a gynaecologist and do not take no for an answer. Do not readily go for pills or the mirena because although it could help with symptoms neither will not address why this is happening in the first place. The cause has to be determined.

If this is endometriosis be aware it’s not always detected on internal ultrasound scans. It’s usually diagnosed through a keyhole surgery op called a laparoscopy.

I am going to sound off here .....if a man were in that degree of debilitating pain it would be treated very seriously - even if it were a one-off. But many women suffer like this month after month, and have to fight for it to be taken seriously.

I hope you can persuade your doctor to refer you for investigations.

I suffered like this for decades - and, as some previous PP said, for 3 weeks out of every 4. The only cure for me was hysterectomy - what a blessing that was. It gave me my life back.

How did I hold down a job and bring up 3 children whilst all this was happening? God knows.

Yes absolutely push for referral . Coco Damol or neurofen / codeine works - mefenamic acid on prescription too . Also bizarrely for me drinking lots of water and avoiding booze helps . Mine thankfully so far only last a week but I regularly lose 2-3 days a month with debilitating persistent pain . Agree with heat pads and raking max painkillers straight away and regular. Much easier to stay out of pain than get out of it once it takes hold

I had this all through my 20s and 30s, had various investigations but nothing wrong. It was completely debilitating, I couldn’t walk and felt sick and faint. Normal painkillers didn’t touch it although I got something hardcore prescribed, can’t remember what. Being on the depot and then implant stopped my periods and my life is so much better.

I have often complained that if this was happening to men things would be very different.

Do ask for a referral in case there is something. You have my sympathy

@Mischance you’re absolutely right, a man would not put up with being told it’s ‘just’ period pain. My DH was visibly shocked at how bad I was throughout the night and this morning. He took the morning off work to make sure I was ok to be left and as I previously said he wanted to take me to A&E at one point during the night. I am going to ring the GP first thing tomorrow morning and get the ball rolling.

Glad you’re going to push for them to do something.., you really need to push, despite breaking down in tears at one appointment (after 25 years of GP visits etc) I was sent away. Went private as was unable to function for 3 weeks a month and severe stage 4 endo found…

@Namechange600

Could you have endometriosis? Or adenomyosis? It gets worse with age In my experience… Endo diagnosed by laparoscopic surgery or mri if really severe. Adeno can be diagnosed via mri or sometimes on ultrasound. Good luck

100% agree and agree to push and push. I'm.going through endo investigations at the moment my first long overdue lap is in a few weeks. I put my foot down and demanded a referral to endo specialist. He agreed it def sounds like endo and no hesitation putting me on the list (in may) for lap.

Sending hugs, its awful nothing touches my pain even solphadiene max. It goes into my thighs its horrendous xx

Well it took 3 days of ringing the GP surgery to get through but I spoke to a lovely (female) GP who agrees that something isn’t right. I am going in for a face to face appointment next Friday and she has already sent off a scan request to the hospital. Fingers crossed this is the start of finding out what’s going on.

Do not be at all surprised if the scan comes back as clear. You will need to be persistent in order to get answers and you also need a gynae referral.

Endometriosis is not normally detected on internal ultrasound scans (and I've had more of those than I care to mention as part of fertility treatment. None of them showed the endometriosis present in my uterine cavity).

I would also suggest you keep a daily pain and symptom diary noting everything, particularly if you do not already do this.

That's great.

In the meantime, I find the pink migralieve good. It's just cocodamol, but with an antisickness drug too, so helps with the nausea too.

Quick update. I had my GP appointment today and she couldn’t see any visible issues when examining me. The scan request went off last week but not sure how long it will be until an appointment comes through. In the meantime I’ve been told to get another smear - no idea why it couldn’t be done today seeing as she was down there anyway. I’ve also been prescribed something additional for pain relief and something else to reduce blood loss - tranxenamic (sp?) acid. And have also been encouraged to try the pill again in the hope that stopping ovulation will stop the pain. I’m reluctant to do this as it feels like ignoring the root of the problem. Fingers crossed the appointment doesn’t take too long to come through.

As silly as it sounds, when I had severe period pains years ago, my gp at the time recommended drinking extra orange juice ( maybe the vit c?) it did actually help a small bit.