Menstrual like pain (not pregnant) after period

Last night and early this morning I had such pain I was doubled over. It was strange. I've never had menstrual pain like that before, though it's similar. The thing is, my period ended 3 days ago. I still feel a heaviness and the feeling of menstrual cramping today. I know for a fact that I'm not pregnant and again, my period ended just a few days ago. Yet this pain is worse than any menstrual pain I've experienced during a period. I have no bleeding or spotting going on.

I don't know if this is related or not but I've also had the urge to urinate more often. Every store I go to anymore when I'm out running errands I have to go. I have to go at least once or twice at night. Last night I got up 3 times to go to the bathroom, the last time mainly because I was feeling such pain and was so restless that I tried to go to the bathroom but didn't go much.
Any clue what's going on? I'm 44, could this be a sign of perimenopause? I'm not sure what to expect with that. Or is this something else? It's better now but it hurt so bad this morning! What could this be?

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
If you were my patient, I would want to do an ultrasound to check you for an ovarian cyst or a uterine fibroid.  All of your symptoms are consistent with that.  The other thing I would want to check for is a simple urinary tract infection--these can cause similar symptoms too. I ALWAYS think its best to get checked out, so I definitely recommend making an appointment with your MD!
Good luck!
Dr B  

[April2]

If it were any of those would I have the symptoms more often or could they just be once in awhile? I haven't had that pain since I wrote this but something I've noticed is I'm needing to go to the bathroom more often (I have to go in every store when I'm out) and if I try to wait it gets more urgent and then it feels almost like menstrual pain or my bladder hurts. What could this be?
I didn't want to go to the doctor unless things got worse or more often. I was going to just wait and see how things went.

[April2]

Just to clarify, there's no burning or pain when urinating, just an urgent need to go and uncomfortable feeling if I try to wait that turns into an almost crampy menstrual like feeling. That's why I wasn't sure it was necessarily a uti. What else could cause this?