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G/F uterus is [cramp]ing our style
ctrlALTdel
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M g/f gets really bad cramps completely randomly. She's 22. One random day a few months ago she just doubled over in pain and has been getting them intermittently ever since.
- Been to the gyno for all sorts of tests. No cysts, tears, clogged tubes or anything physically wrong with her
- Not stress/exercise/temperature induced
- Not corresponding to her period
- No drug/alcohol/food interactions
She also has completely random periods. They tried to put her on BC but it just messed with her more. All she has now are Rx muscle relaxers for when it kicks up. Heating pads, OTC pain killers, hot showers, etc don't help.
I suppose since there's really nothing that the doctors could do then there's not much help to be had, I'm more asking to see if anyone else has this sort of problem, just so she knows that she's not alone.
- Been to the gyno for all sorts of tests. No cysts, tears, clogged tubes or anything physically wrong with her
- Not stress/exercise/temperature induced
- Not corresponding to her period
- No drug/alcohol/food interactions
She also has completely random periods. They tried to put her on BC but it just messed with her more. All she has now are Rx muscle relaxers for when it kicks up. Heating pads, OTC pain killers, hot showers, etc don't help.
I suppose since there's really nothing that the doctors could do then there's not much help to be had, I'm more asking to see if anyone else has this sort of problem, just so she knows that she's not alone.
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I have no idea if they actually work, it's a similar idea to accupuncture I think, with pressure points. I'm interested in seeing if they work, my fiance has bad cramps but brushed this idea off as nonsense.
I cannot for the life of me find the websites or the actual product online anymore. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
I'll save you the effort
it's crap, just like acupuncture
Trial and error was exactly what they had her do. BC and her don't get along. I don't know if they tried IUDs or the Depo shot, I think they just gave up on that method on controlling it.
A) In my limited experience, it unfortunately seems like with most of the diseases presenting those symptoms, even once they figure out what's going on, the "solution" is to pop some pills and take the day off of work/school if you need it. There's not a whole lot to do besides be aware of it.
She's definitely not alone though. If you can believe Wikipedia, approx 5% of women have endometriosis and anywhere from 35-64% of women in various studies have dysmenorrhea (severe menstrual cramps).
Well the Depo shot pretty much makes your period go bye-bye and I think it's once every three months. As for the pill, some wackiness isn't unusual when you start a new type. I just recently switched to a low-dose monophasic from using a triphasic for several years and was a bit off hormonally for a couple of months, but with nothing at all I'm a complete blithering wreck.
* how physically active is she? Does she work out at all? Weight and shape aren't really super-relevant, but getting some lean muscle tissue built up can help normalise one's body chemistry.
* Similarly, sleeping pattern? Lack of sleep just sends everything straight to hell.
* Diet - how much refined sugar? Soft-drinks, bread, stuff like that. Less is more. Same goes for canned foods and fast foods; most people take in way too much sodium via these pathways. There's no reason to get too paranoid about this stuff, but cutting down on processed foods and excess carbs never hurts.
Other than that, just about all you can do is be supportive and not freak out. As seasleepy notes, this stuff is pretty common. At some point we have to accept that our bodies aren't perfect, and most of us will have at least one chronic low-level health issue during our lives.
(that said, anecdotally a lot of this stuff clears up after the first pregnancy... but I don't think "have a kid" is sound advice, especially since pregnancy introduces other health risks :P )
1) Active, tall, skinny.
2) Normal sleep pattern
3)Doesn't drink soda, OK diet. Nothing in her diet seems to trigger it.
4) Pregnancy: I think both she and I would rather deal with the cramps
Yeah this is pretty much sounding exactly like what I've been telling her. I just hate when shit like this happens without explanation it just makes me worry more sometimes. Thanks for all the advice/anecdotes
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If her periods are random, then it would make sense that the bad cramping is somewhat random too, as it occurs "roughly midway" through the menstrual cycle. And considering she's been checked out for other stuff, Mittelschmerz seems even more likely.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelschmertz
And as for birth control, you might want to have her try a method that eliminates periods all together.
Secret Satan
EDIT: I just mention this because they sound like the symptoms that my mom had around her college years, and it turned out to be Crohn's Disease.
Birth control takes awhile to regulate a woman's period so how long did they have her try things? I know that when my wife went off of the pill she had some crazy periods for a while before things got predictable again. One thing my wife does is mark on our calendar the days she's on her period, so maybe you could notice a pattern that way or be able to figure out if there's something that triggers the cramps.
This may displease some other folks but my wife has mentioned that one thing that helps her with her cramps (which I doubt are as severe) was sex/orgasm. But that's just personal experience.
I will say, I always get cramps quite a bit before my period actually happens, like a week to a week and a half before. My period then has very little discomfort while it happens. trying to mark down her period may help her see trends.
I know this example is for an unrelated medical condition, but it gets my point about a second opinion across. A while ago my mother suddenly began losing weight extremely rapidly and her doctor (which she had trusted for years and years) spent almost a year telling her it was just nerves and would go away if she'd just calm down. Finally she went to a new doctor for a second opinion and literally within a few minutes the new doctor had a hunch and went through the motions to have a few tests done to determine that she had Grave's disease - which, once diagnosed, is easily treatable but would have killed her if it had gone untreated much longer.
So don't feel that you have to be loyal to your doctor.
With this disease, lesions form on your uterus (on the outside), ovaries, and bowels and can be extremely painful. Sometimes just a cough or sneeze will double you over, because these lesions will adhere bowel to your uterus, ovaries or to other parts of the bowel or the abdominal wall. And as your bowels, ovaries and uterus move (and they do move) it can get really uncomfortable with cramping. Then once a month when you have a period things can really be painful.
There is medication to help 'dry up' the lesions so they can be lasered off or if the lesions are not too severe birth control pills can be given to lower a woman's estrogen (which is what the endometriosis sort of feeds on). I know you said she couldn't take birth control pills, but it could be she just hasn't discovered the type she can take. There were many I couldn't take, but they finally found one I could.
Birth control pills would be her best and least expensive option. Otherwise, there is not much which can be done.
a friend of mine has endometriosis and the symptoms match the ones you described. There's not much else that can be done about it past pain killers, heating pads, etc., but she goes in once a year (or so) for some kind of outpatient surgical procedure where they basically scrape out the insides of her uterus -- she says that helps the symptoms for a little while.
In any case, your gf may want to get a second opinion from another doctor, or have her ask directly about endometriosis to get his opinion.
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Is this your personal belief (like, I tried acupuncture and it didn't work ergo it's crap?) or is there something you can provide (besides anecdotal evidence) to back this up?
Curious...
http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=362
http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=535
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/01/can_we_finally_just_say_that_acupuncture.php
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/04/sham_acupuncture_is_better_than_true_acu.php
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1897636,00.html?cnn=yes
http://www.nih.gov/news/research_matters/may2009/05182009backpain.htm