Natural Slution for Menstrual Pain

[spicypumpkin]

I am 18 years old and have been menstruating since the age of 11. At about the age of 13, I began to have very painful periods. Sometimes it was so painful I had to leave class and often times the pain would keep me up at night or wake me up while I was asleep. I hoped I would grow out of it, but I'm still experiencing this pain. It starts right when my flow starts; I have never had pre-menstrual pain. It usually lasts for the first 48 hours, when the flow is heaviest.

I went to the gynecologist at 16 and got a physical examination done. Everything is in the right place, and I show no signs of ovarian cysts. The doctor's first instinct was endometriosis, but the only sure way to diagnose it is through exploratory surgery which I do not want to put myself through. She recommended hormones, but I do not want to be on any kind of birth control for a variety of reasons.

The last option was pain medication which seemed like the lesser of the two evils. I'm supposed to take 3-4 ibuprofen tablets every 8 hours two days before my period starts and when needed when it does start, but sometimes even that doesn't work and it's difficult to predict exactly when it's going to start. I also don't want to be on any strong prescription medications. I know those have their side effects and carry risk of dependency.

I'm worried about all of the Advil I have to take. I know if this continues throughout my fertile life, my stomach won't be able to handle this much ibuprofen. It just doesn't feel good or healthy to have to rely on these chemicals.

I was wondering if there were any good natural methods to help with severe menstrual pain. I already exercise and I try to eat a well balanced diet.

Thanks

[MissKika007]

Hey, Raspberry Leaf Tea can help regulate periods, heat, and acupuncture (though in my experience it didn't help the pain completely and it was ridiculously expensive). No magical herb at this point! (That I know of, and believe me, I've really looked into this stuff!) I have endometriosis, and suffered from many of the symptoms you describe since my period began at age 11. When I was 23, I seriously couldn't deal with it anymore (ended up in the hospital due to excruciating pain & my stomach had a hole in it from all the ibuprofen/vicodin/ponstel I had taken.) I finally had the surgery for it and they removed a lot of endometriosis. Afterward I went on birth control (even though I didn't want to) and I literally had no pain. It's been a year since then and I've had to switch my method of birth control due to adenomyosis (endo of the uterus muscle) from the pill to the shot, and the shot has brought me much more relief (though not for everyone). Bottom line- if you have endometriosis, it's better to get it treated sooner than later. The surgery isn't that bad. It's outpatient (in and out) and I was only down for 3-4 days. To me it was worth it to live pain free. Good luck and hope you feel better.

[iloveranger88]

You might try warm/hot heating pads on your abdomen to relieve cramps.
I have painful periods--not nearly as bad as yours, but the first few days are always terrible until I take alleve. I used to take ibuprofen but it is no longer effective, i had to take five ibuprofen and now it only takes one alleve every 12 hours. but it is damaging to take that much. I would suggest you reconsider hormonal birth control--my periods were very manageable while on it.