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I had painful periods too and ended up having laparoscopic surgery to find out why. The doctor suspected endometriosis which he indeed found during the lap. I'm sorry I don't have a remedy for you, but if you have insurance that will cover a laparoscopy if the doc codes it as "medically necessary", than I would have it done. We had been TTC for two years before having the lap done, and I got PG the second month after the lap. With as much pain as you are in during AF, I'm surprised noone has ever suspected endometriosis or anything else for that matter. Good luck.

i have also suffered for years with period pains and also have endometriosis. I gave up wheat 3 years ago and this has dramatically reduced the pain, you could try this even if not endo. It is hard work at first but now its really easy and i dont mind because the pain was so bad before, hope this helps.

i would suggest giving the lap a try as well. i just had one in October, so i haven't experienced my first full real period since the lap (i had one, but it was 2 days after, so i wasn't all healed yet). but i am hoping it makes a difference. i've been off BC for 5 years now and have painful and irregular periods. on BC i was fine. i've had to call in sick often cuz it is so bad. diarhea, migraines a week before, horrible ab cramping, painful backaches....the works. i've used heating pads, OTC like midol and pamprin and even had a prescription from the doc too. i've tried some of the herbal remedies too, but they didn't help much. but maybe consider the lap, it could help maybe. good luck

cdmrose-the first thing that i thought when i read your post was endometriosis. has your doctor suggested this as why you are having painful periods. i have a friend that has it so i know what you are going through. she is now trying to get pregnant and had to have a lap because the endo had her tubes scarred up. i think that she is going straight to ivf instead of trying anything else. good luck. if your doc hasnt suggested a lap then maybe you should suggest it to him/her. it would be worth a shot.

Thank you all for your posts. I have an appt with my doc next week for a pap so maybe I will ask her then. She came through and gave me a Rx for darvocet. It helped a lot, even though it sure was hard to stay awake at work yesterday. That, plus the heating pad, plus chamomile tea seemed to make things bearable enough that I only missed work on Monday. I had a vaginal ultrasound recently due to a cyst and the doc didn't say anything about endo, although before I started the pill my obgyn did mention the possibility. And my mother had it, although she was a "Fertile Myrtle". Anyway Tracy88 that's great news that your lap was successful! Honey, I used to be allergic to wheat as a kid - I wonder if that would have anything to do with it. Maybe I'll do some research on that and give it a try. Tink - have you tried darvocet? (Now I sound like a pusher). I hope your lap proves successful for you. Thank you all again for your advice - I really appreciate it. Best of luck to you all...

Hi. Can anyone help me? I too have had ridiculous periods from I started at 12. This year alone i've missed 1 to 1 1/2 weeks of work each month for this thing with no hope in sight. Had a lap >4 yrs ago- nothing just fine. Had HSG last year- perfect they say. Had 3 uss already with nothing sig. My ob-gyn told me she couldn't do anything for me right now. I wonder when it will be convenient for her. It's been 16 years now. I'm kinda tired. I didn't know there were others who had the whole gamut of bad things when AF showed up. For the last several years i've used narcotics i.e. percocet, pethidine. It's so bad now that they don't even take the edge off. I don't eat, am constipated or have diarrhea(it changes from month to month), vomit like a dog, don't sleep until my body just can't stay awake anymore, feel very cold and painful all over especially in my lower back and legs that feel like lead. Hey whine and complain all you like. I do it and i'm a nurse. I did the pill too for a couple of years. It was regular all right. Regularly painful. I've even resorted to cocktails of meds. A little midol, some tylenol XS, maybe some voltarenSR, sometimes i'll get crazy and add some motrin. I know it sounds foolish but you get desperate for some relief especially after you start to pull your hair out. Please help it's really depressing.

Hi Gia Shahnaz, I'm sorry to hear you have the same fun that I do every month. The pill actually did work for me, but since I quit each month has gotten progressively worse, like it was before I started the pill. I found that heat helped somewhat, if you have two heating pads you can do front and back, but sometimes I'll go overboard and end up with slight burns from always using the high settings. The heat made me more nauseous, so I lived on Pepto Bismol, Jello, and 7up - it made vomiting easier on the stomach and the tastebuds. I also found that sometimes a cold wet cloth on the back of neck and the face helped mitigate nausea. When I was younger I also tried sprays of cramp bark under the tongue, and acupressure, but these weren't very effective for me. When I was on the pill I found that exercising (during the rest of the month) made my periods light and short. Also, it seemed that eating seafood over the course of the month made my cramps (and acne) noticeably worse. Not sure if there really is a correlation there - maybe I'm crazy! While these things might not remedy the problem, maybe some of them will help you. Best of luck to you!

One thing that I remember helping me some was a calcium supplement every single day. I did that for like three months straight then ran out and my periods were noticably different.

Eveningprimrose oil helped me alot.....should try that..i have a hitory of high prolectin and irragular periods ...luckly i am regular for a year now.....

Hi, I too used to suffer from horrendous menstrual cramps. I have tried all kinds of prescription drugs and I now have one that actually works. Naproxen. If you are in the USA (which I am not) you can get it over the counter as Alleve. I found that if I take it as soon as I get a twinge of cramps coming on it works, and they don't get that bad. If I wait till it's full blown out doubled over in pain cramps, it's too late and it doesnt' do anything. My Doc said that is how anti-inflammatories work. You gotta take it right away.

So Gia are you the only one on here that does not have endo? I too have very painful periods and my doc thinks it might be endo, but doesn't want to result to lap just yet. He believes surgery should be last on the list. My periods are very regular 28-30 day cycles. Never earlier, never later. Are irregular periods a big symptom of endo? I might be crazy, but it seems that when I wear a tampon my cramps are worse....anybody else feel that way?

This is just a thought for those of you with painful periods and no diagnosis. My friend's sister had extreme cramping during af and went to her gyn about it. He sent her to a colon specialist saying he thought she had irritable bowel syndrome. She did not understand this as it only hurt during her period. He told her it was connected somehow. Anyway, i've been told I probably have IBS, but have not been diagnosed with it yet. The more I have read about this syndrome, it talks about how some women with it have most of their pain during PMS. The nerves in your colon get very irritated with bloated/gassy symptoms from PMS causing extreme cramping and stabbing pain. This feels a lot like gas pains times 30. You apparently can have these pains anytime or only around your time of period. It can cause you to have diarrhea or constipation during your menstrual cycle. I can tell my stool changes when my period starts. After I go to the bathroom I can see a slight ease in the pain. I would say to check into this as being a possibility.

Hi fatboy, thank you for your post. I'm reasonably suspicious that I have IBS, as both of my sisters were recently diagnosed with it, and I frequently have the pain you mentioned outside of my periods. I've managed to minimize this by avoiding some of my favorite foods (cantaloupe, garlic) as well as carbonated beverages. Also, yes - wearing a tampon definitely makes my menstrual cramps worse!

cdmrose, I am glad I could be some help to you. I have pretty much decided this is my problem. I have researched a lot on IBS just since last post and they have found that IBS causes diarrhea, nausea and cramps more severely in women during their menstrual cycle. I wonder how that zelnorm works? Have you heard any reviews on it? BTW, you can call me Dawn.....fatboy is my dog. LOL

if u hav pains see a doctor if they r really bad but if they are ok just rub ur tummy or use a hot water bottle

Hehe, sorry Dawn. I've seen the commercials for Zelnorm, but most of the time is spent listing the side effects - "If you experience ....., ....., ....., see your doctor" or whatever. So I've been nervous about going to the doctor. I will ask my sisters what they're taking, although they never had the kind of af that I do. If/when you go to your doc, can you please keep us posted?