<p>Our Dr also recommended the Aleve for several days before the period to lessen the cramps. My family member used Aleve but still had cramps and periods that severely limited her life several days a month. She recently started taking the pill. At her gyn suggestion she takes the pill continuously for 3 cycles without having a period. She skips the sugar pills and after 21 days starts a new packet. She has a period only every 3 months.</p>
<p>Thanks for the post, sunnyflorida. I have secondary dysmenorrhea, I guess, as I never had cramps until dh had a vasectomy and I got off the pill. I’ve gotten a vaginal ultrasound and all is well, but, wow, now I am sympathetic toward my sister, who always has had issues.</p>
<p>NSAIDS (ibuprofen, naproxen sodium etc), before the pain, if you know the signals, and every 8 or 12 hours as the bottle says,for mabye 72 hours, is like a miracle. I remember when it wasn’t OTC, waiting hours in the emergency room for it in college. Without it, I had been known to stumble into stores I was passing by, looking for help. My high school nurse seemed to think I was a heroin addict in withdrawal. (and this is from someone who’s husband didn’t take my labor to be labor because I was “stoic”).Yeah… good times… After times like that, I was afraid to leave home for the first 72 hours or so. And then there was Motrin! Yeah!! Changed my life.</p>
<p>Ooops! Sunnyflorida said it all…</p>
<p>Like others have said, finally having kids eliminated the problem–I wouldn’t have waited until I was 37 if I’d known that!</p>
<p>I discovered, after many years of terrible cramps, vomiting, and fainting, that eating relatively little for the first couple of days helped a lot–not starvation, but being careful not to eat a lot at one time.</p>
<p>At that time, Midol and heating pad were absolute necessities, but medicine has moved on since then, so thanks to sunnyflorida for her post.</p>
<p>Back in the stone age, ginger was the treatment of choice from my mom and grandmother. No capsules, but fresh ginger steeped as a hot tea/tisane, with a little sugar. Always helped my uncomfortable cramps. As others have mentioned, the cramps really almost vanished after childbirth. My D on the other hand, has severe, incapacitating cramps, and she is currently considering the birth control pill option suggested by her doc. In the meantime, she makes sure to have naproxen with her and starts taking it a couple of days before her period is due. Getting a few days’ head start seems to make all the difference; if she waits till her period starts, it’s fairly intolerable.</p>
<p>My mom gave me a heating pad and hot tea laced with a shot of vodka. It was always a day off from school. If nothing else, I slept the cramps away. Wow, I just recall being absolutely miserable. Powering through the cramps to take a mid-term : (</p>
<p>And yes, after the birth of the kid, no more cramps.</p>
<p>I used to have cramps so badly that it was like the “transition” part of labor, doubled up in pain, vomiting, the whole thing. The minute the MD’s office opened they would call in Codeine. That’s NOT how they do it today! Of course, back then, the male OB/GYNs would always tell you that " once you have a baby, you won’t get cramps like this anymore"! Yeah, right…he’s male, so it’s all hearsay to him anyway. I have flown more miles than I care to count, but would he get in a 767 with me in the front at the controls? I think not! So, three kids later, cramps were still terrible,although Anaprox was slightly helpful, but eventually I had to be “spayed” anyway so no more worries there.
But, my D, ever the stoic, didn’t tell me that she was going through the exact same thing, but one day it came up in conversation. I took her in to see the doctor, and since she also had PMS which came close to turning her into a creature from one of those grade D horror flicks, the decision was made to put her on YAZ, one of the new family of oral contreceptives. It works great!! No more cramps, wild woman has dissapeared, along with any break-outs on her face or back. This stuff really works! So now, I have to pick up the pills here and send them, posthaste, to her at school, because it isn’t one of the brands the school’s heath service stocks (the ones they give out at their cost…), but it has made such a difference to her that it’s really worth it. She’d never go back to trying to manage it with Advil or a non-steroidal med ever again.</p>
<p>OP: I share your daughter’s pain, having suffered for more than 30 years now with severe cramps. I have spent many hours lying on the bathroom floor in the fetal position, wishing I were a male. I’m not at all able to predict the onset of my period, so taking meds before just isn’t an option. Tylenol, aspirin and ibuprofen don’t do anything for my cramps, but naproxen sodium and a heating pad usually eases my cramps enough within an hour of their onset that I can function. The good news, if there is any, is that her suffering does make labor seem like little more than a bad month. I delivered four children, all over 8 hours of labor, and didn’t need meds for any since I was so used to that form of pain. I don’t like the idea of birth control pills for myself, but I have heard that it can make a huge difference as well. I hope she can find relief!</p>
<p>i’ve also suffered from very very severe cramps the first day or two of my period. i’ve found that several methods help (but never totally cure) the pain: </p>
<p>1) i’m on YAZ birth control, which is a really low dose hormonal pill. i’d recommend it although i’m not totally sure if that makes it better so much as i’ve been on birth control for so long that i really have no idea what it would be like without it. </p>
<p>2) my doctor prescribed this extra strength (not over the counter) motrin for me that really does work - i think it is 600 mg (the usual is like 200 mg). sometimes i even take two of them, and i’ve never had any problems, even though i’m a very small (5 ft 105 lb) person. </p>
<p>3) i would really recommend exercising a bunch when you get the cramps, as crazy as that sounds. i used to always get my period right before soccer pre-season started at my school and i really would NOT want to go running or anything else. but as soon as you start exercising the pain subsides. i noticed this again this summer when i was backpacking in europe with a friend and since we were walking ALL day long i really had almost no pain. </p>
<p>***4) this isn’t exactly about managing the cramps, but you might want to consult your D’s doctor about the possibility of endometriosis. my mom had the same cramps that i do now and she has that condition, so although i’ve never been tested (it would involve an internal exam that i don’t feel comfortable with), it’s likely that’s the cause of my cramps. that being said, being on birth control can actually reduce the severity of endometriosis (which is why i’ve been on it for so long), so that’s just something to think about. </p>
<p>hope this helps!</p>
<p>See your MD first. All of the above advice is good but an exam and questioning with her physician should come first. D2 had horrible cramps - complete with diarrhea, vomiting, doubled up in pain. Tried a few things and finally BCP and prescription strength ibuprofen worked miracles. Cramps and her whole period are much much lighter and its predictable, so she starts the ibu the day prior. However treatment for endometriosis is different and thats why your MD should be consulted. Good luck.</p>
<p>Sunnyflorida, that’s exactly what I was told years ago and naproxen sodium/Aleve really worked for me. It works for D as well. The important thing is to start right away and keep taking it for a couple days, don’t wait until the cramps return.</p>
<p>My D eventually ended up on Yaz (mild birth control pill), which helped with cramps and bleeding, and cleared up her cyclical acne. There are a lot of girls at her school taking it. It even helps with PMS, which the rest of us in the family appreciate, lol!</p>
<p>Naproxen/sodium helps my daughter. It doesn’t eliminate her cramps, but it helps - she has to take right at onset. She tried Lo-Estrol & Yaz, but neither eliminated her cramps (although her acne cleared up). However, she had far too many side effects - including anxiety, depression, and hair loss. She went to a naturopath & is taking supplements & a homeopathic remedy (sepia). She says her cramps aren’t as bad now, although they are still an issue. She’s started running in hopes that may help.</p>
<p>I also had terrible cramps - the last period before I got pregnant with my oldest was so bad that I almost went to the hospital. Having a baby really helped. I did still have some cramping, but not too awful. D says she’ll stick with the cramps for now, if having a kid is the only way to make them go away! :)</p>
<p>I had a terrible time in my teens, improved some during my twenties and thirties, but progressively through my forties, cramps returned with a vengeance. Did anyone else experience that?</p>
<p>Haven’t experienced it but am a nurse so know its possible. Its another premenopausal thing…as if there isn’t enough going on/about to go on as it is. </p>
<p>kelsmom- BC is often used to help with acne. A side benefit, I guess. She might try ortho tricycline low (I think its different from lo estrol) for cramps. Tends to work well. </p>
<p>Also - when I ran a health center at a boarding school a few girls were put on Seasonal, the pill that limits your cycle to 4 or so times a year with success. Sounds appealing to me!!</p>
<p>^^^ D tried Seasonale - she had breakthrough bleeding. Instead of hemmoraging for 4 days per month, she had moderate bleeding EVERY SINGLE DAY for 6 weeks. It started after she missed one pill. She had been told that breakthru bleeding was very common with Seasonale, and it was important to take Seasonale at the exact same time every day, so she even set her alarm on her phone so that she would take it at the exact same time, but the bleeding never stopped. Also, she had the worst acne she’s ever had in her life while taking Seasonale.</p>
<p>Yaz and it’s generic equivalent, on the other hand, have been a godsend for her. D’s skin looks like a model, her periods are predictable and reasonable. And she has had zero weight gain.</p>
<p>However, as always, YMMV. Different people have different luck with different prescriptions. I think the secret is not to give up until you find something that works for you, because there are so many options out there that do work - Aleve, Ibuprofen, or BC pills.</p>
<p>Acetaminophen does not help with cramps. It is not that helpful.
There are two major treatment strategies with cramps: NSAIDs and birth control pills.
Any birth control pill is equally effective. Yaz is still on patent, but its cousin Yasmin is off patent. Yaz won’t have a generic until 2011. Teva will have the first generic and it will actually be made by Yaz’s manufacturer, Bayer.
With NSAIDs, there are prescription and OTC strength. Out of the normal OTC NSAID pills, naproxen is the strongest. For best effect, start 1-2 days before start of menstruation. If OTC does not work, move on to Rx NSAIDs. Rx NSAIDs include high strength ibuprofen and naproxen and also some Rx only NSAIDs like salsalate. If normal Rx NSAIDs do not work, it is time to try Celebrex. If Celebrex does not do the trick, then you move on to the opiates.
Some will use both birth control pills and NSAIDs.</p>
<p>Yaz has helped my daughter and also really cleared up her skin. But she put on lot of weight when she started to take it. I don’t know if it is from the Yaz or not, but suspect it may be as it was very rapid. Not something I can discuss with her unfortunately.</p>
<p>For my D Naproxin took the edge off for my D meaning she was able to at least function. My D also has serious mood swings and depression that we have determined follow her hormone cycle. For her it was serious enough that her quality of life was suffering that she needed to do something. For my D from the time of ovulation to onset of her period she was easily agitated, depressed and just extremely unpleasant to be around. She reached a point she tried to avoid being around people since she knew she said things she would later regret. Added to that once her period began she had intense cramps. She went to the Dr with the intent on trying Yaz. Her Dr instead prescribed a generic BC pill and Sarafem. Sarafem is an antidepressant that is basically a low dose of prozac. Her Dr and the psychiatrist we consulted that Yaz alone is often not enough to help with the depression that some women experience. She has had some weight gain but she had room to gain a few pounds.
Her problems have not all gone away but between the pill and the serafem and taking the pill in such a way to only have a period every 3 months she is much better.</p>
<p>Another advantage to Aleve and/or BC pills (over ibuprofen) for hs students is that today’s students are not allowed to carry OTC medicines on them, at least not at our h.s. They have to be kept at the nurse’s office, with a parent’s note AND a doctor’s note. Seems a bit overboard to me, back in my day we all had Tylenol and Pamprin in our purses (ibuprofen wasn’t OTC yet). At least with Aleve the relief lasts for 8 hours, enough to get thru the school day. And BC pills are taken daily.</p>
<p>Excellent point, Lafalum! That has not occurred to me. I will remember that in my conversations with teen age girls.</p>