Dealing with bad cramps?

Melissa Cruz2 said:To explanation regarding how the rejection of femininity supposedly causes pain at the edge of sci-fi novels just doesn't sit right with me.

Personally, I find it all feels far too much like that pervasive Oprah-meets-Dr. Phil style of psychologizing absolutely everything we see in modern American society, don't you think?

Melissa Cruz2 said:So, here’s my take on that whole explanation regarding how refusing to accept femininity acts as the catalyst for pain at the edge of a sci-fi novel. It’s a lot to unpack, really. It’s like when you’re trying to fix a vintage Mustang but you keep ignoring the fact that the fuel pump is shot because you’re too busy polishing the chrome—you're focusing on the surface while the actual engine of the story is seizing up. You can talk about space travel and laser beams all you want, but if the core tension is this fundamental rejection of what it means to be feminine, that’s where the friction starts. That’s where the heat comes from. It’s that specific kind of ache that happens when a character—or even the narrative itself—tries to bypass a core truth just to stay "efficient" or "logical." It doesn't work. It just creates this jagged, uncomfortable edge that cuts right through the plot.
Then we basically just let the "creator" go completely off the rails during the whole process. It was a total mess.

Psychosomatic issues aren't some sci-fi plot point. It’s not like you're watching a movie where someone suddenly turns into a robot or starts floating. It's real life. You're stressed out about your mortgage or that nightmare boss at your office in Chicago, and suddenly your stomach is doing backflips or your head feels like it's being squeezed by a hydraulic press. It's just the brain playing tricks on the body. Not fiction. Just biology being annoying.

Terry Ramos60 said:I feel like I’m getting way too close to that whole Oprah-meets-Dr. Phil vibe—you know, that constant urge to over-analyze and "psychologize" absolutely everything in modern society. It's everywhere now.

Just because you can pinpoint the psychological root of something doesn't mean you're making light of it. It’s not the same thing as trivializing the issue. Understanding why someone acts like a total wreck—say, because they grew up in a house that felt more like a high-stakes courtroom than a home—isn't an excuse for them to be a jerk to everyone at the local Starbucks. You're just explaining the mechanics of the breakdown, not saying the damage isn't real.

Terry Hernandez6 said:Identifying a psychological root cause doesn't inherently mean we are trivializing the experience.

What I meant was the act of searching for and ultimately settling upon a psychological explanation for absolutely everything.

Is it not rather absurd when someone says, "I cut my finger and it hurts," only to be met with, "Oh, that isn't what it seems; you surely cut yourself because you have a complicated relationship with your mother, or perhaps you lack self-acceptance, or maybe you are secretly infatuated with your father"?🙄

Well, fine... by that logic, we might as well just classify every woman who complains about pain without a physical cause as some sort of medical phenomenon.

Terry Hernandez6 said:Psychosomatic issues aren't science fiction.

Just because there’s a psychological root doesn't mean we're trivializing the pain.

Personally, I find it pretty reductive to go hunting for mental causes behind what is essentially just the most natural, vulnerable processes our bodies go through.
Every woman is different, right? Every body reacts uniquely to things.
Does that mean every single physical or even physiological discomfort—even if it feels way more intense than what the neighbor is dealing with—requires me to book an appointment with a shrink?...😲

Honestly, I’m thinking along those exact same lines 🙂

But you have these women who end up in the ER, demanding admission because their menstrual cramps are absolutely unbearable. Then, after running every test under the sun, they come up with nothing. NOTHING. No physical cause found. So what does that imply—that they’re just lying?

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:Oh, I’m thinking along those lines too... 🙂

But then you have these women who end up in the ER, demanding they be admitted because their period cramps are just unbearable. And after a mountain of tests, the doctors find absolutely nothing. NOTHING. No physical cause whatsoever. So what does that mean... that they're lying?

Not even close.
Pain isn't just "uterine muscle spasms," okay? For me, it's nothing special, but for her, it's intense. I've got blonde hair, she's a brunette. I don't really grow much hair, she does. My stool is... soft, hers is hard and painful. I struggle with cavities, she doesn't. It's just one thing after another...

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:For those who haven't heard about psychological factors being a trigger for dysmenorrhea, here’s a little clarification.

Roughly 70% of women deal with moderate to severe pain during their cycle.

In LESS THAN 10% of cases where women suffer this way, an organic cause is identified—things like infections, endometriosis, uterine polyps, fibroids, cervical stenosis, malformations, adhesions, and so on. When there's an organic cause, treatment depends on the diagnosis, but it’s usually effective.

As for everyone else, 🙄it all comes down to how persistent and interested a woman is in actually "healing." The worst approach is simply labeling it a "medical condition" and prescribing pills.

I'll say it again—the absolute first step is ruling out physical causes. See a gynecologist.

I sign off on every single word of this... go to the gynecologist first. Regardless of whether you're a virgin, there's a massive chance it could be chronic ovarian inflammation.

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:Fine then... why not just classify every woman's pain as a psychological phenomenon if there’s no physical cause found?

Then I guess I'm that "phenomenon" 😁 .
Let's be honest: most gynecologists around here are just amateurs guessing at why our periods hurt.
I don't usually deal with painful cycles, but when it does happen, I know it's inflammation. It doesn't have to be anything major... just walking barefoot on cold kitchen tiles—my ovaries feel it immediately.

I’ll never forget visiting my friend out on the coast during her summer vacation with four other girls.

We were just sitting there having coffee on the patio when, one by one, they’d climb out of bed to start discussing their cycles. It was a constant stream of chatter about who was due for their period, always accompanied by this overly dramatic, "princess on a pea" kind of complaining.😱 😱

It really made me think about something someone once said: mothers who turned their periods into huge productions often ended up passing that exact same sense of drama down to their daughters.😁

So, she mentioned being a virgin... Isn't it possible that the pain she’s experiencing is actually due to an unusually narrow hymenal opening? Look, I’m certainly no doctor—so if there are any medical professionals lurking in this thread, please, do correct me if I'm wrong—but I recall reading somewhere that blood flow can be quite painful if the passage is too constricted.

Anyway, for all of us fellow sufferers dealing with these monthly aches, I did a little digging online and pulled together some links... Honestly, most of the advice is pretty standard stuff (think over-the-counter painkillers plus staying active), but for those who actually feel like reading through things, here you go:

Harni Clinic: Dysmenorrhea
Pliva Health: Menstrual Disorders
How to soothe menstrual pain - just scroll down to the third article on the page
Mom, I Have a Uterus - I'm not entirely sure whose blog this is, but it holds a few decent links
Treating Menstrual Disorders
Using Physical Activity Against Cramps

Take this link from that Harni Clinic over in Vrapčic. Look at the last sentence: "From a psychological standpoint, the general internal conflict regarding growing up—and specifically the onset of a first period as a sign of maturing into a young woman—are precisely the factors that increase stress during the already high-pressure puberty phase, which is blamed for the development of functional dysmenorrhea."

I have to say, it feels a bit bizarre how everyone is so quick to swallow every other possible cause—even the idea that there might not be a cause at all—yet they treat anything psychological like it’s some sci-fi trope or an Oprah-meets-Dr. Phil invention. It’s like people act as if mental functions aren't actually a part of who we are.

Because psychosomatic illnesses and pains aren't even real. It’s all in your head. I used to tell my teachers at school that I had a headache just so they'd let me go home, and then I’d get back to my house with an absolute killer of a headache. Joke's on me, right? There's zero mental connection there. 😛

You know what, ladies? I honestly think we need to put a cap on all this academic rambling about the "psychosomatic causes" of period pain... I mean, obviously, we’re all just totally refusing to accept that we’re women and our one true purpose in life is just walking around the world flaunting our boobs... Sure, fine, let's pretend it's perfectly reasonable that our stomachs are cramping because of some deep, dramatic trauma, like a massive conflict with our mother's image buried in our overblown superego, or some terrifying inability to face our feminine roles...
BUT, believe it or not, your period can actually hurt because of: a tilted uterus, various infections, fibroids, cysts, endometriosis, or even just the most mindless hormonal imbalance imaginable...
So, go ahead, tell me all about it... I'm gonna go have a heart-to-heart with my vagina now... 👍 😁

Listen up 😢

It'll all pass by while you're busy getting married 🙂

I mean, I don't really know... does rejecting femininity and all that psychological stress during puberty mean I’m basically just carrying a thirty-year-old version of puberty on my back??? 😬 God, I wish I actually was fifteen 😁

And I just don't get why something like an ovarian cyst or a fibroid would be the *only* thing used to justify painful periods—I mean, isn't there also a physical cause with uterine cramping? Or is it just, I don't know, some kind of psychological tension? 😕

rowdylynx38 said:I started my period when I was 12, and now I’m 25. There hasn’t been a single month where I haven't spent the first day totally sidelined. Ever since I started taking Triquilar, though, the pain is gone. If I do feel anything, it's actually manageable, and I can easily head into work without an issue. Before that, there was absolutely no way I was leaving the house.
Before I actually saw him myself, my gynecologist told my mom—who had asked about me—that this is super common and usually just runs in the family. He also mentioned it’s very likely things will settle down after I have kids.

Anyway, I started on Triquilar in the meantime, and it’s made a huge difference.
As far as painkillers go, I’ve tried pretty much everything under the sun, both American brands and some imports. I often reached for Ketoral because I knew, especially during the winter, I’d get those nasty combinations of stomach cramps and lower back pain that nothing else seemed to touch.

Oh, and one more thing... sometimes putting a warm cloth—either heated on a radiator or just warmed up in a pan—low on my abdomen really helped ease the discomfort.

So, what exactly is Triquilar? What are the ingredients and how does it work?

Anthony Miller13 said:I recently stopped by the drugstore to pick up some fast-acting pain relief and ended up grabbing Ketoral, but the pharmacist actually suggested I look into these herbal supplements you can take regularly—like a preventative measure before your period starts to help ease the cramps. You should definitely give those a shot.
Another way to look at it is to start taking birth control; it’s basically killing two birds with one stone.🙂

Do you happen to remember what those herbal pills were called or which brand they were?

driftingbison5 said:So what's the deal with this Triquilar? Ingredients? How does it actually work?

It's an oral contraceptive.

Composition: levonorgestrel & etinil-estradiol. Though I doubt that's really what you're looking for right now. 😬

I used to be completely wiped out by the pain, honestly, until I started taking Triquilar. Since then, the discomfort has pretty much vanished... 🙂 Before that, I was popping these massive pills—you know, things like Ibuprofen or Advil—and trying stuff like Buscopan, too. For me, they were basically useless; it felt like swallowing Tic Tacs. Nothing happened at all. 😢