Should my cramps be this bad during my period?

It was very normal for me at your age, 14. Once I got to about 15–16, my cramps were less bad.

A nice warm bath helped, as did Ibuprofen taken a few days prior to my period. If you begin taking Ibuprofen doses two-three days prior, the pain is less sharp.

Unfortunately, it probably is normal. When we were younger my sister’s would be so bad she would throw up. She couldn’t even keep pain medicine down.

It wouldn’t hurt to go to the doctor and rule out endometriosis. Your doctor might also suggest that you take birth control pills, which can make periods lighter and less painful.

In the mean time, you might want to try a stronger painkiller than Midol, like naproxen (Aleve). Regular exercise can also reduce the severity of cramps.

For the fatigue problems, it might help to make sure you have a lot of iron in your diet. Here are some iron-rich foods.

Feel better, kiddo.

Until and unless your not dead, they are fine.

You know some women go through the first day like any other day, others feel slightly uncomfortable and then there are some who wish they were dead. It depends on thickness of a woman’s uterine lining.

If you can get it buscopan can be very good for treating this.

Try Cinflex, it’s the best

I used to get cramps that radiated down into my knees and I’d be doubled up on my desk at school. Yours sound the same. Tough luck kiddo :/

I some months get really really bad cramps so when my back was out once I noticed that if I took a muscle relaxer it will take away the cramps and if you think about what the uterus is all it is doing is contractng a muscle so when they are really unbearable I take one of my muscle relaxers and it take them either totally away or makes them managable.

So if you have any in the house .05 mg does wonders for mine.

Are you taking 3 ibuprofens (600mg)? if you are only taking two, up the dose, and make sure you take the pills with some food and a full glass of water, it takes about 50 minutes for ibuprofen to kick in. So you cannot decide it isn’t working until you have waited an hour. Even though I said up the dose, there is a such thing as taking too much, so do not feel like you can take 5 and 6 at once. 600 mg is commonly prescribed by doctors. If you weight over 150 you might even consider 800mg during the worst cramps.

If you regularly get cramps like this now, start taking the ibuprofen as soon as you have an inkling your period is coming. Take every 6 hours the first day or two, depending how long your cramps are severe.

Are your cramps more than 48 hours?

Some people find relief putting a warm compress over their lower abdomen.

@creative1 Are you talking about benzo’s like xanax or klonopin?

@JLeslie My cramps last about 2 days, so yes.

You might have endometriosis. Unfortunately, I believe the only real test for endo is exploratory surgery. Once in there, they can burn or scrape some of it off, but this is about a million times more painful than the cramps. When I had my surgery, it ended up making my cramps much worse for about 2 years. The surgery is really only good for when you’re at an advanced stage, or are looking to get pregnant, not when your concerns are about pain. Luckily, the everyday treatment and prevention of endometriosis is birth control pills, which are easy and non-invasive. Even if you don’t have endo, they still might help a lot with the pain (and other things). So get thee some birth control pills.

@blueberry_kid Have you tried the ibuprofen at the higher dose?

Not yet, but my period is almost over. I think I might have about a day left. But I’ll keep note of that. But, should I toss the Teen Midol?

@blueberry_kid Midol isn’t as effective as Ibuprofen for cramps.

@blueberry_kid I just looked up Teen Midol and it is acetomenophine, no wonder it doesn’t work. That is the same drug as Tylenol. Tylenol is a pain blocker, works on the pain signal throught the nervous system, but ibuprofen is an antinflamatory, muscle relaxer. It will actually work on relieving the cramps, and cut down on pain transmittion. Ibuprofen is far superior. The midol also has a diuretic, and girls your age typically do not hold a lot of water, I see no need to take that drug, unless you really swell up significantly during your period.

@blueberry_kid Midol is also an expensive scam. Get the cheaper and more effective stuff.

Sounds much worse than mine. I always crack out the hot water bottle when mine are in any way bad.

But if they are that bad, on second thought, maybe you should go to the doctor. Women are able to carry out life as normal and go to work/school etc during their period, so if you aren’t able to do that it is unusual, so you should go to the doctor and get it checked out.

Despite what others are saying, it’s NOT always normal. I thought I was normal when my pains got so bad NOTHING worked. It continued to worsen and it got to the point where I couldn’t move. Went to a gynie and found out I have a tumor in my uterus. It could be so many other things though. So go get checked by a gynie!

@Glow You had a tumor and it only gave you pain two days a month? Was it just a fibroid?