Dealing with bad cramps?

analogcobra13 said:It’s my first time jumping into this thread. I’ve been lurking and reading through everyone else’s experiences, and honestly... there are just so many...

Here is what my pain actually looks like:
About three or four days before everything hits, my lower back starts aching. It’s a constant dull throb, but nothing I can't handle without reaching for the medicine cabinet.
Then, things start to shift... slowly at first. For those first two or three days, while I am 🙂 praying to God to spare me from the absolute agony that's coming.
Then, on day three or four, I’ll wake up feeling totally fine. I eat breakfast, life seems normal. Then, out of nowhere, I have to sprint to the bathroom because this brutal diarrhea kicks in. And while I’m sitting there—sorry for the TMI, but this is the reality of it😍—I get these unbearable back spasms so intense they actually make me vomit. At some point in the middle of that chaos, I’ll swallow two Advil, but of course, once the vomiting starts, they don't even stand a chance of kicking in.
At the same time, I’m sweating buckets, looking pale as a ghost like I’m literally dying, and shaking because I’m hit with these massive chills all at once.

And then, quite literally, I am dying from the pain. It’s hitting me from every angle, but the agony is so soul-crushing that I would gladly let them strip me naked and rush me to the ER just to get a shot of something for the pain. But I can’t go anywhere because I can't stop vomiting and running to the bathroom. In those moments, you lose every ounce of dignity. Nothing matters except someone, somewhere, helping me.
The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing it’ll pass in an hour or two.
But even then, it drags on. I can't even begin to describe it or do it justice here. It is pure, unadulterated torture. I start mumbling nonsense from the pain, I’m twisting and turning, I can’t even sit on the toilet... It is a total NIGHTMARE!
Last time, I was actually negotiating with my husband (after one of these episodes, which, by the way, happen every month or two) about just buying a heavy-duty inflatable lounger so I could suffer lying down. Honestly, it sounds easier.

After that, the whole ordeal drags on for another five or six days, and that’s if I’m having a "good" one!
I even get similar pains around ovulation. No vomiting then, but everything else is exactly the same.
I have seen every gynecologist in the state, and they all tell me everything is perfectly normal. I’m at a healthy weight, and nobody in my family has ever dealt with pain this extreme...
I usually start popping Advil every single morning during those days...

So, yeah... that's my life.

Oh man. That sounds awful. I am seriously sorry you're going through that.

How do you even deal with it? Like... does your job give you a break when this happens?

Have you found any way to manage it yet?

They say masturbation helps.

I’m dealing with the exact same thing as Megan Reed... honestly, I’m practically hugging the toilet bowl every single month 🤮. I pop two or three pills—doesn't matter which brand, I've tried everything—but by evening or late at night, I end up passing out 😵 because the pain is just relentless. It feels like my blood sugar crashes, and before I know it, I'm being rushed to the ER for an injection in the butt 🙂. A few minutes later, the pain vanishes. It’s like nothing happened. The next day, you'd think I never even had a period. Doctors tell me this is "normal," but since when is it normal to spend every 28 days in the emergency room, losing my mind from the agony and feeling completely helpless 🙂? ...I hope I'm not the only one going through this. Peace, ladies!!! Cheers to hell 🙂

🙂 🙂

It doesn't sound that bad to me, honestly. I really feel for you having to go through that. 😘
I think I'll try taking some magnesium and then I'll check back in to see if it actually helps. 😉

I guess I can just say that I got my first period when I was 13, and back then, everything was pretty painless... but after a few years passed, the cramps really started kicking in. Now, my cycle usually lasts about 7 or 8 days, and for about 3 of those days, the pain is just absolutely awful...
I used to rely on Voltaren Rapid—though I’ve actually given up on that now, since it feels like it's way too harsh on the system—so lately I’ve mostly been sticking to Baralgin, because it’s really the only thing that provides even a little bit of relief. Standard over-the-counter stuff like Tylenol doesn't do anything for me at all, honestly.
Lately, I’ve realized that going for a light walk actually helps quite a bit, so I’ve been trying to make that a habit.
Anyway, that’s just my experience, I suppose.

Maybe there’s actually a cure—I only started dealing with this pain in my early 20s. I tried just about everything before finally settling into a routine: I buy a yearly supply of Neofen (back when it was Voltaren) and take one every month. Without it, things are a disaster—everything described here hits me: ten hours of intense cramping, nausea, shaking... then last month, for unrelated reasons, I cut my carbs to an absolute minimum five days beforehand—I even put Natren in my coffee. That was the only change from previous months—usually, in those days leading up to it, I’d basically binge—you know, half a loaf of homemade bread, 100–200 grams of chocolate, stuff like that.
The big day arrived—and I felt nothing. I spent half the day walking around in a daze (with the Neofen tucked in my bag just in case)—and absolutely nothing. No pain.
Waiting for next month. Fingers crossed.🤣

Feeling a bit down—and after reading through these posts about magnesium, maybe there's another reason for it: I downed half a liter of magnesium water (500 mg)—plus I’ve been eating eggs, fish, meat, and leafy greens. Basically, a magnesium buffet?

Here’s the recipe for soothing period pains and cramps right here.

You can also try drinking borage oil or evening primrose.

Chris Parker3 said:I guess I can just say that I got my first period when I was 13, and back then, everything was pretty painless... but after a few years passed, the cramps really started kicking in. Now, my cycle usually lasts about 7 or 8 days, and for about 3 of those days, the pain is just absolutely awful...
I used to rely on Voltaren Rapid—though I’ve actually given up on that now, since it feels like it's way too harsh on the system—so lately I’ve mostly been sticking to Baralgin, because it’s really the only thing that provides even a little bit of relief. Standard over-the-counter stuff like Tylenol doesn't do anything for me at all, honestly.
Lately, I’ve realized that going for a light walk actually helps quite a bit, so I’ve been trying to make that a habit.
Anyway, that’s just my experience, I suppose.

It's the exact same story for me—except I'm at the point where I don't even know what else to try...
nothing seems to work.

I actually started getting my period when I was just 14, but it wasn't until I hit 20 that I experienced my first truly painful cycle (I remember the exact date, too).
That’s still pretty much how it goes for me today... the first day feels like I'm literally dying, and then once that initial wave passes, everything settles down. I always reach for Advil—I usually take just one, maybe two if the pain doesn't start to let up by the evening. There were a few months during that time where I actually managed to tough it out without any medication, but honestly, pushing through like that used to wear me down so much that I genuinely felt like I wasn't going to make it. Once I finally do take the pill, though, the pain usually subsides after a couple of hours. My only real fear is that one day, the Advil just won't work anymore.

casualfox0 said:I actually started getting my period when I was just 14, but it wasn't until I hit 20 that I experienced my first truly painful cycle (I remember the exact date, too).
That’s still pretty much how it goes for me today... the first day feels like I'm literally dying, and then once that initial wave passes, everything settles down. I always reach for Advil—I usually take just one, maybe two if the pain doesn't start to let up by the evening. There were a few months during that time where I actually managed to tough it out without any medication, but honestly, pushing through like that used to wear me down so much that I genuinely felt like I wasn't going to make it. Once I finally do take the pill, though, the pain usually subsides after a couple of hours. My only real fear is that one day, the Advil just won't work anymore.

Honestly, I’ve cycled through so many different meds—it feels like my body just gets used to everything eventually. Now, I don't even know what to take anymore... 😕

analogcobra13 said:It’s my first time jumping into this thread. I’ve been lurking and reading through everyone else’s experiences, and honestly... there are just so many...

Here is what my pain actually looks like:
About three or four days before everything hits, my lower back starts aching. It’s a constant dull throb, but nothing I can't handle without reaching for the medicine cabinet.
Then, things start to shift... slowly at first. For those first two or three days, while I am 🙂 praying to God to spare me from the absolute agony that's coming.
Then, on day three or four, I’ll wake up feeling totally fine. I eat breakfast, life seems normal. Then, out of nowhere, I have to sprint to the bathroom because this brutal diarrhea kicks in. And while I’m sitting there—sorry for the TMI, but this is the reality of it😍—I get these unbearable back spasms so intense they actually make me vomit. At some point in the middle of that chaos, I’ll swallow two Advil, but of course, once the vomiting starts, they don't even stand a chance of kicking in.
At the same time, I’m sweating buckets, looking pale as a ghost like I’m literally dying, and shaking because I’m hit with these massive chills all at once.

And then, quite literally, I am dying from the pain. It’s hitting me from every angle, but the agony is so soul-crushing that I would gladly let them strip me naked and rush me to the ER just to get a shot of something for the pain. But I can’t go anywhere because I can't stop vomiting and running to the bathroom. In those moments, you lose every ounce of dignity. Nothing matters except someone, somewhere, helping me.
The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing it’ll pass in an hour or two.
But even then, it drags on. I can't even begin to describe it or do it justice here. It is pure, unadulterated torture. I start mumbling nonsense from the pain, I’m twisting and turning, I can’t even sit on the toilet... It is a total NIGHTMARE!
Last time, I was actually negotiating with my husband (after one of these episodes, which, by the way, happen every month or two) about just buying a heavy-duty inflatable lounger so I could suffer lying down. Honestly, it sounds easier.

After that, the whole ordeal drags on for another five or six days, and that’s if I’m having a "good" one!
I even get similar pains around ovulation. No vomiting then, but everything else is exactly the same.
I have seen every gynecologist in the state, and they all tell me everything is perfectly normal. I’m at a healthy weight, and nobody in my family has ever dealt with pain this extreme...
I usually start popping Advil every single morning during those days...

So, yeah... that's my life.

Oh man, if you only knew how much I relate to you...
Every single month is a struggle for me. Every single one. I'm 25 now, and I finally realized that the era of popping pills every hour was over, so I decided to finally grab that magnesium today. Why? Because I’m finally starting to listen to the signals my body is sending me. My cycle has always been irregular, too. This month, it showed up about 15 days late. Total nightmare! I never know when it’s going to knock on my door. Sometimes I used to take pills a week early just in case, but it was useless. Now, I can just *feel* it. I know exactly when it's coming, so I know exactly when to take my meds so they actually work.
There were times when my parents literally had to dress me in the middle of the night and drive me to the ER, where they basically had to clean up after me because I couldn't stop throwing up. God, it was awful. You just want to die. You're sitting in the waiting room on those hard plastic chairs looking like a war casualty, and people are staring at you like you're crazy, but you're just having your period.
Personally, I love it when someone stays with me during that first day, no matter how gross it looks to them. It makes everything so much easier, and honestly, it hurts a little less (it's all mental).

You aren't going to develop a resistance to Naproxen or Ketorolac, regardless of what anyone tells you. Take it from someone who treats Voltaren like nothing more than a Tic Tac. I have been relying on Naproxen and Ketorolac for nearly a decade now—though I did take a brief hiatus once when things improved enough for me to switch over to Neofen—and they have never once failed me, provided I stay ahead of the curve. The absolute key is to take the pill the very second the pain starts to flare; if I hesitate even slightly, I am looking at a downward spiral of screaming and vomiting that inevitably ends with an injection in the ER, so there is no room for error. And yes, before you ask, I wasn't just taking one pill a day; I was crushing twenty tablets every four days.
Furthermore, I’ve heard that those patches are incredibly effective, though I haven't had the pleasure of testing them myself.

I'm a bit late to this conversation, but analogcobra13, I know exactly how miserable you feel; those pills were a total lifesaver for me.

Hmm, I am fairly certain I have already shared my thoughts on this matter here....

God, it hurts....😢

Nicole Baker said:So, here I am again, hunched over my computer and twisting around trying to find some relief from this pain... this damn menstrual cycle is relentless... 😢 The pills tend to work pretty quickly and help settle things down, though I suppose the longer I rely on them, the more resistant my body becomes to the Ketoral. It’s probably not the most ideal long-term strategy either, given how heavy they are and the potential side effects they might carry... so... if anyone happens to have a suggestion for dealing with these absolutely BRUTAL and DEVASTATING pains in a somewhat healthier way, please feel free to leave it here... thanks.....

Luckily for me, it only lasts for a few hours on the first day, but man, when it hits, it's like a total freeze... brrrrrrrr.... Lately, some Advil tablets have been doing the trick; I just pop one the second I feel it coming on, and then there's just a tiny bit of ache and nothing else...

Or if the pain already has me in its grip and I don't get to the Advil until later—it takes about 20 minutes to kick in—then cigarettes actually help, I guess, maybe they just distract me enough that my muscles finally relax. 😛 It mellows me out and everything's cool.

Basically, I cycle through Advil, Motrin, Aspirin, Bayer, or Rapaten K, though that last one is more for bone or tooth pain, etc.

Honestly though, I have to admit that a little booze still works best; I mix it with a Coke and it's pure bliss, totally relaxes me and the pain vanishes👍

I actually just mixed some Metaxa with a Coke for a friend the other day and the pain vanished like it was never even there... Obviously, I don't drink if I've already taken pills...😛

But most of the time, it's honestly just psychological; once a girl knows where it's going to hurt, the sensation of the pain just amplifies itself...

restlessfox34 said:Oh man, if you only knew how much I relate to you...
Every single month is a struggle for me. Every single one. I'm 25 now, and I finally realized that the era of popping pills every hour was over, so I decided to finally grab that magnesium today. Why? Because I’m finally starting to listen to the signals my body is sending me. My cycle has always been irregular, too. This month, it showed up about 15 days late. Total nightmare! I never know when it’s going to knock on my door. Sometimes I used to take pills a week early just in case, but it was useless. Now, I can just *feel* it. I know exactly when it's coming, so I know exactly when to take my meds so they actually work.
There were times when my parents literally had to dress me in the middle of the night and drive me to the ER, where they basically had to clean up after me because I couldn't stop throwing up. God, it was awful. You just want to die. You're sitting in the waiting room on those hard plastic chairs looking like a war casualty, and people are staring at you like you're crazy, but you're just having your period.
Personally, I love it when someone stays with me during that first day, no matter how gross it looks to them. It makes everything so much easier, and honestly, it hurts a little less (it's all mental).

Magnesium is honestly great, and sometimes it clears up that brain fog and makes me feel awesome. I figured out the trick: magnesium levels drop during PMS—makes sense, right?—and when it's low, the cramps hit hard. It’s like nature designed muscle spasms to ensure the whole process happens. When you take magnesium, it might even push the period back a day or two, which is logical since you're boosting your levels.
That's why a standard aspirin or the magnesium with Vitamin C works wonders for me; it dilates the vessels and relaxes the muscles. I usually use it when my muscles are sore after dance practice, and it works just as well for periods, so I don't end up in that "war victim" state.👍

redsailor11 said:Honestly, I’ve cycled through so many different meds—it feels like my body just gets used to everything eventually. Now, I don't even know what to take anymore... 😕

Honestly, I’ve been exactly where you are, dealing with that same heavy weight on my chest. It feels like you're stuck in a loop, right? But if there's one thing I can tell you from experience, it's this: once you have a kid, everything shifts. Suddenly, all those problems that felt like mountains start looking like molehills. You stop sweating the small stuff because your whole world gets refocused on that little human. It's like when you finally get a clear signal on a radio that's been nothing but static—everything just clicks into place. Hang in there.
I’ve tried just about everything under the sun to get some relief, and honestly? The only thing that actually moved the needle for me were those liquid ampoule injections. I’m talking about the stuff you have to drink. Look, I know—they are absolutely disgusting. Like, genuinely revolting. And a word of warning if you're going to try them: do NOT take them on an empty stomach unless you want a miserable time. You’ve got to have something in your system first, otherwise, they hit you like a freight train. But despite how nasty they are, they’re the only things that actually worked for me.
I’m honestly just gonna head down to the CVS and grab them there. It’s not like they’re breaking the bank or anything; prices are actually pretty reasonable. $1.75 I basically just laid them out flat...
I really hope I was able to help you guys out with that...
Hey there. What's up?

I just wanted to share some good news. I’ve started taking Vitamin C because I was dealing with some iron issues—they really work best as a pair.
For the third day in a row, I haven't needed my usual medication during my period, and I'm completely pain-free.
It turns out there are definitely ways to feel better without relying solely on pills. Some of the girls mentioned magnesium as an option, following their doctor's advice.
It is much more effective to start those supplements ten days before your cycle begins rather than depending entirely on you.
Keep up the great work!

So where the hell were you while I was sitting here dealing with a massive stomach ache? ...But hey, good on you if it means we can finally stop relying on Advil and Pepto-Bismol to get through the day.😍

Knavon Forte — my latest obsession 👍

I never really stick to just one type of pill, you know? I usually find that taking a 400 mg Advil alongside a standard Tylenol works wonders for me... it’s a combination that just seems to hit the spot perfectly. A doctor once mentioned that it actually works better than taking them separately since they each tackle things in their own unique way, which makes sense if you think about it... And to top it all off, I’ll have some peppermint tea to help me unwind, and if I can manage to drift off for about an hour, I honestly feel like a completely different person when I wake up...
However, we’re all such different individuals, and it’s funny how we don't all react to the same medication in quite the same way... I’m truly counting down the days until I finally get pregnant and don't have to deal with my period anymore!😍