<p>Gee I hope so. Me and many of my friends use it almost daily for the aches and pains of growing old without giving up sports.</p>
<p>Motrin - being ibuprophen - has been the med of choice for menstral cramping for many - and I mean MANY years. Many years ago it was by script only - and now is OTC (except in script doses - anything over 200mg tab/caps) - but very effective if taken as per directions - and yes - usually started the day before the expected menstral cycle.</p>
<p>In order to take it at school - one needs a written order from the doctor - usually on a special form - that is kept on record at the school- and the bottle must be kept in the nurses office with the script. One should be able to get a written script from a doctor very easily - and usually no charge when the reason is explained to the MD office.</p>
<p>JeepMOM,
The physician note for OTC drugs is dependent on the school district policies.
At my kids’ schools, the MD portion of the form was for prescription drugs only. OTC drugs required specified appropriate dosing and parent signature. That is why I told Kashira to read her forms carefully.</p>
<p>I personally have awful cramps every day during my period. I tend to take Midol Teen Formula and it works WONDERS. </p>
<p>No offense meant at all, but I really don’t understand the “medicine is evil” approach. If it’s going to help you get better and it’s not going to harm you in the long run (which most medicine doesn’t unless you take excessive amounts for lonnnnng periods of time), I don’t see the problem. But I digress. :)</p>
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<p>This might not be a popular suggestion, but if money is an issue, then you can always go to Planned Parenthood. Frankly, if your cramps are that bad, it is a wise idea (although not a popular one with you, I suspect), to get a pelvic exam to rule out a couple of other things. They don’t even have to do a pap smear if you’re not sexually active, or are under 21 years of age. But a good pelvic exam can make sure nothing else is brewing in your uterus. </p>
<p>And they can also write any necessary notes for OTC or prescription pain meds for your school, although at this point, I’d give the OTC meds a shot before even talking about prescription pain meds. When I was in college and visited Planned Parenthood, there was no charge at all for the exam.</p>
<p>No medicine is completely safe. There is always a balance between risks and benefits to be considered.</p>
<p>You have a definite problem if you are having menstrual cramps so severe that you are missing parts of school days. This is a problem worthy of medical attention. If a drug can relieve the pain and allow you to function, that is a clear benefit. It is probably worthwhile to incur some degree of risk in exchange for that benefit, and the risks associated with the occasional use of Advil are relatively mild or uncommon in most instances. </p>
<p>In fact, Advil, in the usual over-the-counter dose, is the most likely thing your doctor will tell you to try first. If it were not for the need to have a medication authorization for school, it is something you could have tried on your own – provided that you do not have any medical conditions incompatible with Advil or take any other medications that might interact with it.</p>
<p>The use of Advil for menstrual cramps is so common that lots of men know that if they need a painkiller for a headache, they simply need to go to the nearest woman of reproductive age in their office because she will almost certainly have Advil in her purse.</p>
<p>When my daughter was in high school, she didn’t bother with the school nurse. She just took Advil at home before leaving for school on the first couple of days of her period, when she was most likely to have cramps. This is abusing the drug slightly, but it was easier than fussing around with medication authorizations, the need to get a pass to the nurse, and the line in the nurse’s office. (Also, the people in the nurse’s office would laugh at her because she used chewable children’s Advil – in an adult dosage – since she has trouble swallowing pills. I see nothing wrong with this, but the people at the school health office thought it was ridiculous and teased her about it.) Now that she’s in college, she can take the drug only when she needs it, like a normal human being. She can even carry it around with her! And nobody knows or cares that she uses chewables. I mention this because public school rules about medications tend to cause situations where people don’t use drugs in ideal ways. You will need to unlearn those bad habits in college.</p>
<p>Every medication has risks and possible side effects. The important thing to do is weigh how much you need the medication against the risks. Advil is a very low-risk drug for most of the population. For some people with pre-existing conditions, Advil is a high-risk drug. In general, though, low and occasional doses of Advil are perfectly safe, and people experience no side effects. In your case, the pain is severe enough that you can’t just “suck it up” and go without pain meds. The benefits of taking the medication so that you can continue learning at school outweigh the low, potential risks of taking the medication. Remember as well that being in severe pain comes with its own health effects (racing pulse, high blood pressure, etc.). </p>
<p>You probably don’t need a doctor’s prescription to take Advil while at school. You may need a parent’s permission, and a nurse’s note would certainly suffice. The thing is, it’s not usual for menstrual cramps to be so painful. Some women do have very painful periods, but there are also a variety of other reasons why you could be experiencing more pain than most women. You should see a doctor (your doctor or one at a free clinic) in order to rule out other possible causes of your pain.</p>
<p>In case this is any consolation, I had very painful periods when I was young, for the first 5 or so years. My mother even ended taking me to the ER once or twice because she feared it was something more serious than cramps because of how much pain I was in. Advil didn’t help me. I’m in college now, I have much less pain during my cycles, and taking a couple low doses of painkillers greatly increases my comfort. So, this may fade with age.</p>
<p>Heh. A lot of the people at my high school just carry the meds they need around with them (if it’s OTC). People at my school never check. If it’s perscription, though, most people go through the nurse.</p>
<p>Runners call ibupropen Vitamin I.</p>
<p>HGFM: You’re not alone there. At my school (though this was in Canada, where anti-drug zealotry is less rampant), we didn’t need a note to carry around any types of pills - OTC, prescription, narcotics, whatever you want. If a student were caught with someone else’s Vicodin prescription or something, I’m sure there would’ve been hell to pay, but there was no preemptive policy in that regard.</p>
<p>I suffered horribly with cramps for years. Sometimes I would vomit from the pain, and be completely incapacitated. I bless the day that ibuprofen (the generic name for Advil) became generally available and someone mentioned to me that it worked for cramps, because it is the ONLY thing that ever worked, besides being on the pill. Aspirin does nothing. Tylenol does nothing. Various prescription meds do nothing.</p>
<p>The only reason NOT to take it, as far as I know, is if you are allergic to aspirin. The idea of suffering in that way when a simple over-the-counter, non-addictive pill will fix it is…well, medieval!</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, ibuprofen (Advil) works by blocking the prostoglandins which cause the cramps. Definitely take them before the onset of cramps; when your period first comes on, or when you feel it will be coming on very soon. Then you won’t just be masking the pain of the cramps (which aspirin, tylenol does not-so-well), but actually getting at the root cause of the cramps.
p.s. I had awful cramps as a teenager, back in the days when doctors thought the cause was mostly psychological. Don’t get too worried that your cramps are caused by a major problem. Try the Advil/ibuprofen first. If that doesn’t help, then seek medical attention.</p>
<p>Yes, anxiousmom, ibuprofen has prostoglandin inhibitor and anti-inflammatory effects which help ease cramping. Tylenol and aspirin work on the pain receptors.</p>
<p>Although Advil is “the drug everybody takes for cramps,” if you’re seeing a doctor, you might ask whether Aleve could be used as an alternative.</p>
<p>The advantage of Aleve is that it lasts longer. You take it fewer times per day – an important advantage for high school students who have to deal with medication permissions, school nurse rigamarole, and the fact that it is often against the rules for a student with an after-school activity to carry an extra dose of medicine to be taken after the end of the school day, during the EC. (The nurse’s office may not be open then, either.)</p>
<p>I discovered Advil when my OB gave it to me for post child birth cramps (Rx Motrin back then) and wondered why no one had ever given me that for my intense nasty lifelong cramps- Advil is a life saver- quality of life!</p>
<p>Ibuprofen is considered to be one of the most dangerous OTC drugs in the U.S. In most countries it is a behind the counter drug or the number of pills per package is regulated. There is a movement to add a third class of drugs in the U.S., a behind the counter class. One of the OTC drugs suggested to move back behind the counter is Ibuprofen 200mg.
Ibuprofen and Naproxen are the best drugs for cramps due to periods.</p>
<p>It’s one of the most dangerous over the counter drugs? I thought everyone else was saying it was safe…?</p>
<p>When used as directed, it is very safe.</p>
<p>Saying “one of the most dangerous OTC drugs” is sort of like saying tallest midget, since OTC drugs by definition are incredibly safe.</p>
<p>Also, Advil/generic ibuprofen/Motrin (all the same) will work better if you take your next dose before the pain is bad again. If you know you are going to have two days of bad cramps and that for you the ibuprofen will wear off after about 3.5 hours, take the next dose at 3.25 hours or something like that. Check with your doctor on this so you are not taking advice from a stranger over the internet. Our doctors have told us this is very helpful for relief of bad cramps or a major muscle pull type injuries - keeping the anti inflammatory from wearing off and then having to start over again. If you can, you want to keep it kind of steady for the 2 or 3 days that you are in misery.</p>