painful periods

[babybop6379]

my daughter is just 12 she has been having periods for the last 6 mths and she has been totally regular and had no problems but they seem to be getting gradually more painful for her and she was crying her eyes out this morning and is now still in bed as she was awake last night with them!!!!! I remember this well as i was the same when younger and once fainted the pain was that bad!!!! is there any natural suppliments she could take as she is very young to be filling up with powerful painkillers!!!!! shes of medium build and is very fit :) any advice would be great xxx

[Sqad]

I am sure there are loads of "natural supplements" whether or not they are efficacious is quite another matter.

I would suggest that she tried Ibuprofen 400mgms for the pain.

[craft1948]

I used to have dreadful periods but noticed that when I was on anti-inflammatories for tennis elbow both the flow and the pain was reduced. I mentioned this to the doctor who said this was a side effect of the medication. If things are so bad with your daughter perhaps you could ask your doctor about this.

[LoftyLottie]

I remember being just like this when I was young - dreadful, dreadful pains. I would literally go green. I can't think of any natural suppliment that would help with such pain. Ibuprufen + paracetamol plus a soothing hot water bottle and try to walk about rather than stay in bed. Exercise definitely helps even though it's the last thing you want to do.

I also found that eating plenty of roughage and fruit helped. Sometimes the pain would ease a great deal after going to the loo.

[rowanwitch]

Yoga helps especially the 'cat' both variants a yoga teacher will be able to recommend others.
you might also find a tens machine helps.
Do they still sell feminax my sister and I swore by it when we were younger.

[DEN53]

babybops - I totally sympathise with what your daughter is going through - I was exactly the same at this age and all through my life. It was normally a hot water bottle and bed. I had to arrange my life around the cycle of 28 days, (I was always regular aswell).

I know she is only 12, but if this continues into her middle teen years, get her checked out for endometriosis - this is what had caused mine and wasn't disovered until I was 39 and went for a private laporoscopy.

I hope this has helped a little.
Den xx

In the meantime try Femanix Tablets (I think they also do extra strength ones now aswell). I found these to be helpful.

Den xx

[DEN53]

Feminax (correct spelling like rowanwitch has said).

[mccfluff]

the raglex heat pads are good and she can wear then under her clothers, slightly easier than walking around with a hot water bottle strapped to you. but i would also take ibro

[LoftyLottie]

DEN. I had endometriosis too, which was discovered when I was 30. I hadn't linked this before, Interesting.

[mazie]

I worked with a young woman who got addicted to feminax. A long time ago mind.

[foodluva]

I too had terrible period pains in my teens. I was diagnosed with endometriosis a couple of months ago (I'm 39). My symptoms were masked for years by the pill but now that I no longer take the pill, my symptoms are exactly the same as when I was a teenager. i.e I've probably had endometriosis since my early teens. I am not saying your daughter has endo but it's just something to keep in mind. I would doubt that natural remedies will do much for her (i've tried a few) but I would highly recommend Feminax Ultra (Naproxen) or Feminax Express (Ibuprofen). Both can be bought from a pharmacy.

[DEN53]

I think sometimes painful periods are dismissed by the GPs as just that. When I had my laporoscopy, the surgeon told me I had scarring on the gut wall that had been there for many years, which could have started back as far as my teens. One of my ovaries was completed covered.

The only rest was after my son was born at the age of 35, I was period pain free for around 2 years - I thought, great, that has cracked it, but then the pain started to come back worse.

[Robinia]

I understand your concern about painkillers but I remember fainting & being sick with pain & it's awful. It would be a good idea to see your doctor or nurse but if she's taken them before & is ok your daughter could start taking ibuprofen 24 hours before the period is due & then maybe for the first day or two. Doing it that way helped my sister but she did have to have hormone treatment as she got older.

[LoftyLottie]

DEN. I was lucky. I had my son at 35 and, as predicted by the gynae man my endometriosis never recurred. I had to take hormones (clomid) to get pregnant because of endometriosis though.

[DEN53]

Same as me Lottie - I had my son at 35, but still never realised I had endometriosis - they did offer me drugs when it was diagnosed, but I also had a large fibroid, so I opted for a hysterectomy when I was 42.

[rowanwitch]

The other thing to consider is ovulatory cycles tend to be accompanied by pain and cycles where an egg is not released tend not to be,or if they are may be far less its to do with one of the hormones produced as the egg ripens, it may just be an indication that things are happening properly at the moment..... especially if she gets a short sharp pain around mid cycle.

[ooh-la-la]

ow, i'm really sorry to hear that, and so young as well. oil of primrose (from any good heath food shop such as Holland and barrett) is good for helping with period pains, you do have to take it every day for about a month before you start seeing results. i don't know how you'd feel about this but going on the contraceptive pill also really helps make them, lighter, shorter a a little less painful.

[babybop6379]

hiya all just a quick post to say i took her to the docs and he was excellent gave her all the info she needed hes told her to keep a diary of how painful , how much and any changes she has, he also said for her to take nurofen, trouble there is that it gives my daughter constipation which is adding to the period pains!!!! (vicious circle!!!) so he said to try some paracetamol extras which we will be doing. Bless her she is also getting into doing wii fit with the harder yoga stretches as she had read it on the internet!!! The doc also suggested the pill!!!! but i am quite opposed to this as young as she is!!! can i just say thanks for everyones comments they were really appreciated from us both xxxxx

[DEN53]

Thanks for the update babybop - still try some Feminax, it does have paracetamol in it as one of the ingredients.

[babybop6379]

will do den it never worked for me when i was younger but i suppose it might work with her!!! ill get some whilst out shopping today thanks x

[supersuezy24]

Babybop, I suffered very very bad with period pains when I was a teenager and like you my doctor advised me to go on the pill as it would relieve pain substantially, I didn't want to so was prescribed Difene and told to take it for 4 days before my period was due (which was so fudging stupid as they were crazy irregular) to help ease the pain, I never noticed any change in the pain, I found the only thing that eased the pain ever so slightly was Solpadiene as disgusting as they tasted!!

As I got older the pain did ease off but was still not a nice thing to go through every month so I sympathise with your daughter. I went on the pill at 21 when I start getting horrible pain again and babybop, it worked, the most pain I get now is lower back pain or a dull ache in my stomach which goes after some exercise or after a hot water bottle is applied.

Hope your daughters pain eases soon. x

(Sorry for such a long post)