Dealing with bad cramps?

Baralgin. Termofor. Chamomile. Lavender oil. Some other oil. Abdominal massage. Reiki. Calendula ointment.

Since we're already hanging out at REI... does anyone actually know where that acupressure point for reproductive organs is located on the feet?

A total disaster, right in the palm of my hand.

Look, reiki isn't even about acupressure points. That's reflexology. I don't know.

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:Not even close.

Oh, hell no. It’s somewhere in the bottom half of the foot, I just can't pinpoint it. That's where it hits me every single time. 😁

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:Absolute garbage. Total nonsense.

You seriously think I give a single damn about that? 👍

Edward Green said:Look, Reiki isn't actually about acupressure points. That’s reflexology. I don't know.

So, what do you think? Why did I give her an answer like that?

You know I'm extremely polite. 😁

I think I know why you snapped at her like that. Part of me is acting tough about it, but honestly? It’s half because I don't even know for sure. 😁

Oh, shut it, you bunch of jokers! This is serious business for us veterans...

Walter Myers4 said:You think I give a damn about your little problems.👍

If you go killing someone over nothing, you won't have any sense of decency left to save you.😈

And a foot massage actually helps me.

Diane? No. Not on that subject.

Someone actually had the nerve to tell me I could handle a heavy workload, but the second things get intense, my whole body starts aching.😁

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:Someone told me they know how to handle a fight, and suddenly my whole body just started aching.😁

But first you gotta ask: "Are we talking about actual action, or are you just all TALK?"🙂 " 😉

I don't know, girls... I spent my entire elementary school years and a good chunk of high school dealing with pain so intense I couldn't even sit through a TV show, let alone try to read a book. Plus the vomiting...

So, I started focusing on strengthening my core. And I mean really working at it. Not just my abs, but my whole body. I don't take any birth control (even though back when I was on the Pill for a little while, it helped ease things just a bit), but honestly, I can't even explain what those pains were before...

Here’s the thing—this year, I haven't had a painful period at all. Like, zero. I was actually doing heavy physical activity during the first day of my cycle—climbing out of a 100-meter pit, which is exhausting enough on its own—and I didn't feel a thing.

Now, maybe once a year I still get a painful period, but it's nothing that a single Voltaren wouldn't knock right out. I almost never take painkillers, maybe once or twice a year at most.

I'm telling you... I used to be throwing up at least four times a day on that first day, and the rest of the days felt just as miserable. But those pains? Gone!

I truly hope you all find a solution that works as well for you as it did for me—or at least something that won't wreck your kidneys, liver, and the rest of the crew you definitely don't want to mess with...

God, when I read these stories, I honestly start praying for strength.
Even back when I was dealing with my period, I didn't have much pain—maybe once or twice a year at most.

And now? Not a single ache.🎉

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:For the vast majority of women dealing with dysmenorrhea, there isn't any actual physical evidence to explain why it hurts so much. It’s more like looking for a broken wire in a house where nothing is actually short-circuiting. Most experts suggest the real issue is psychological—basically, these girls and women are struggling with a fundamental inability to embrace their own femininity. It's less about biology and more about an internal disconnect.

Even if this theory looks like a total reach at first glance, I honestly think it holds water in a ton of situations—pretty much exactly like you were saying.
It’s funny how we work. So many women don't actually see menstruation as just... part of being alive. You know, like breathing or needing to eat? Instead of seeing it as a basic sign of health—a literal cycle of life—it gets treated like some kind of internal glitch or a disease state that needs to be fought off. It's like if people treated having a heartbeat like an autoimmune disorder they had to manage with aggressive intervention. We've turned a fundamental biological rhythm into this constant, negative battleground.

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:I’m only going to say this once, Josh—the absolute first and most important step is to rule out whatever physical cause is actually triggering the pain. Seriously. Go see a gynecologist.

I'm with you on that.
There’s nothing quite like blindly swallowing pills. It’s just the worst. Honestly, it feels less like taking medicine and more like playing Russian roulette with your digestive tract, only without the thrill of the gamble. You’re just standing there in your kitchen, staring at a little white disc, wondering if it’s actually going to fix your headache or if it's just going to give you heartburn for the next six hours. It’s such a mindless, clunky way to deal with health. Just gulping down chemicals like you're trying to win a speed-eating contest. Total drag.

It doesn't really hurt that much, honestly. I've probably only dealt with it a handful of times in my nearly ten-year career😁 when I catch a cold. It just gets under my skin, I guess. Knowing it's going to hit me five days before it actually does... it's frustrating. Just waiting for it to happen, even now.😠

bluewalker36 said:It doesn’t hurt too much, really—maybe just a handful of times in nearly a ten-year span😁 whenever I catch a cold. But honestly, the anticipation gets to my nerves. That five-day countdown before the actual thing arrives? It drives me crazy. I'm sitting here waiting right now.😠

Hehe, you can tell it hurts because if you knew when it was coming, you wouldn't be so stressed. 😬
For me, the pain starts about an hour before the actual onset...

I don't know if it's linked to my general struggle with embracing femininity, but this has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was actually much worse back in the day—roughly from age 12 to 15. I remember the pain would just paralyze me; I’d be curled up on the floor, just sobbing. I never once threw up, though. My mother used to look at me with such confusion and pity, because she never dealt with anything like this and had no idea how to help.

Back then, I relied on herbal supplements. They helped a little, I suppose—not enough to kill the pain entirely, but enough to make it bearable. Nowadays? Not a chance. They don't touch it. I'm on Advil Forte now, and usually, just one pill on the first day does the trick. But if I happen to be out and about without any meds and I miss that initial window? Within an hour or two, the pain ramps up so high I can barely walk, let alone dance 🙂. Aside from the abdominal stuff (the ovaries or whatever it is that’s cramping), my back kills me too due to scoliosis, and my hip is a nightmare because of a congenital deformity. Honestly, I have no clue why my period would have anything to do with a structural issue in my hip, but it's maddening.

I haven't noticed any real relief from regular exercise—running, aerobics, all that. The only time things felt even remotely manageable was when I was on Loestrin. The pain didn't vanish—especially not the bone pain—but it became tolerable.

My OB-GYN tells me she’s perfectly happy with everything. She says I’m healthy, "lovely and pink," that my uterus looks beautiful, that I’m fertile, that my ovaries are great... all that good stuff. She insists the first-day pain is totally normal and there's nothing to worry about. And frankly, I haven't even worried about getting pregnant in a very, very long time. 😉

I guess if I knock on wood, my periods are totally painless—and honestly, they always have been. If I didn't realize I’d finished my last birth control pill for the month, I probably wouldn't even notice it was that time. No bloating, no cramps, nothing. Maybe the only thing that changed since starting the pill is that the bleeding is way lighter and just doesn't last as long.
Not trying to brag or anything, I promise, but someone mentioned earlier that there isn't a single woman out there who doesn't deal with period pain, and I just think that's not really true.

But, I totally get what you guys are going through because for a year, I was basically the designated roommate on standby with heating pads, hot water bottles, and Advil. My friend went to the ER twice in that one year because the pain was just that brutal. She could sense it coming a day early and would start taking painkillers immediately, because if the cramps actually hit, she couldn't even keep a pill down without throwing up. I ended up driving her to the emergency room just so she could get a shot for the pain. Those two times, she had to stay home, take sick days, and just lie motionless in a dark room with warm compresses.
Her gynecologist didn't find any underlying issues or disorders, so the doctor didn't really offer any solutions besides more painkillers.

To’s basically my take on how rejecting femininity acts as the catalyst for pain, right at the edge of some sci-fi novel.
Then our "creator" just kind of threw us together during the process.

I mean, I get having aches and pains here and there, but on days like that, I’m definitely killing myself with activities. Just so I don't let the pain win...