painful peiod

hi i m 21 yrs old..i started my period at the early age of 10...since then i ve had painful cramps for first two days of my period..sometimes they go away early and sometimes my whole day is wasted i cant do anything else but to lie in bed..i take combiflam twice on the first day..my flow also varies from heavy to light ,from 2 days to 5 days..i m  overweight... and my periods are regular.  do you think i would have fertility problems?

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
Usually ovulatory (or in other words FERTILE) cycles are more painful than non-ovulatory or infertile cycles.  Also PMS tends to be worse.  FERTILE cycles are regular.

If you were my patient, I would predict that you would NOT have fertility problems.
If you did, I might have a low threshhold to look for endometriosis as the culprit because of the pain you are having.

By the way, if you are not wanting fertility at the moment, oral contraceptive pills would work well to reduce that discomfort you are  having on the first 1-2 days,

Good luck!
Dr B