Women on the forum:
Hello! I'm new to the forum and have been browsing for a while. I have noticed people sometimes provide advice for medical situations with no cure and want to give it a shot. I'm 18F and have had practically unbearable period pains since I started my cycle around age thirteen.
Symptoms of these periods include:
- moderate to extreme abdominal pain and cramping
- vomiting multiple times within 30 minutes of starting the cycle
- stomach trouble i.e. constipation, diarrhea, severe food sensitivity
- numbness from the waist down
- muscle spasms and physical shaking from pain
- headaches and/or migraines following vertigo spells
- stiffness and swelling in arms and legs after medication
Symptoms I don't experience:
- irregular or unpredictable period cycles
- heavy or uncontrollable bleeding
- periods that last longer than seven days
- no clotting or random spotting outside of the cycle
For more background info, yes, I have talked to a doctor and seen a gynecologist. Both suggested FIVE different forms of birth control as the only solution, otherwise toughing it out of course. I am unvaxxed (no vax since 1st grade) and don't take any other medication for my cramps besides Midol. In general, I practice healthy habits in my eating and exercise frequently and nothing seems to make my periods any different.
Almost every month is terrible, with the occasional month of peace where my period is "normal" and no extreme symptoms are present. No family history other than my grandma who also had terrible periods, but she passed away and I wasn't able to ask questions.
When I start my cycle, it can be so debilitating to the point of being bedridden all day. I've had to miss work and school for my periods and am desperate for some kind of aid to put a stop to these symptoms before I begin a long-term career. Sometimes during my cycle, I've been known to throw up blood as a result of the vomiting and stomach acid build-up solely because of cramps.
Friends and family are familiar with my issue but no one I know can come up with or recommend any diagnosis or possible solutions. No other medication I've tried besides Midol will subside the cramping, but now the Midol is giving me adverse reactions.
Though this post is aimed at women who menstruate, I ask that anyone with any possible answers, advice, or recommendations comment and leave their two cents. I'd love to read and research anything left below. Thank you for reading!
I feel for you, I've been there. All through my teens my period was debilitating. The only thing I could do was sit in a hot bath tub all day, filled up as full as I could. The heat and pressure was the best pain relief I could find. I don't believe taking Midol or birth control is the best thing for you right now. You may treat the symptoms but you aren't fixing the issue and over time could end up with even more problems caused by these things. I know endometriosis can cause horrid pain, but I never had a diagnosis for my issue. This terrible experience went away from me shortly after 18. I don't remember exactly when it stopped as I'm almost 50 now, but I don't really remember it being too disruptive in my early adulthood. It was the absolute worst all thorough high school. There were days I couldn't even stand on my legs. And I also was always regular, no heavy or long periods, everything seemed normal, just this terrible sickness and extraordinary pain upon starting my period. No one else in my family experienced it, which made it very hard to get anyone to understand or sympathize, and my own daughter now doesn't seem to have any issues either. I'm sorry I have no revelations for you, just wanted to say hang in there. With that said, throwing up blood is never normal. If it happens again please tell your doctor.
Let me add one more thing, this may be helpful but please research before jumping in. Look into iodine deficiency, you won't need testing, we are all deficient because the gov recommendations are deliberately kept low enough to keep us ill. But iodine is very very important for our hormone production and our lady parts, as well as thyroid function. I'm on an iodine protocol right now along with my whole family and after a few days of taking iodine my daughter's period started a week early, and she's always been very regular. So iodine is very strong and effects us immediately. Something to look into. I don't know if it will help with this problem but worth taking a look. Just please be careful and make sure you know exactly what to do before you start taking it. It's very strong and I don't want you to hurt yourself. Most doctors will treat you at surface level with a pill to mask your symptoms. I believe in finding the root cause and treating that instead.
Hello!
Thank you so much for leaving these replies. I appreciate you sharing your story and your personal experience with our similar situation.
I can relate completely to your entire first comment where you describe your side of the symptoms. All I can do besides MIDOL is a heated pad or blanket with pillows. I agree with your opinion on my current solution too. My current medication is just a band-aid on a bullet hole; it won't fix and could further damage what is already not right. Not being able to stand and the intense sickness is an indescribable experience too, but I am glad no one else but my grandma who passed had to go through this as well.
I learned in high school anatomy that iodine deficiency can help with an underactive thyroid, but applying it to our situation seems like a really great try. It seems by research iodine is easy to overdo however, so if I try it I will probably have a parent help me with the dosage and will for sure seek medical advice before doing so. I know it's very important for us though, so maybe I can find some vitamins that could supplement me in a slower dosage and see how I feel afterwards.
Thank you again for sharing so much of your own experiences. I will do my best to be careful and do enough searching before I try anything serious too.
We pee out excess iodine, so it's not that we overdo iodine (so much misleading crap out there about it) but that it needs to have cofactors with it or it can cause some problems. Read the book, Iodine Crisis and you'll be on the path. Look up Dr Brownstien on youtube, watch his interviews, there are several.
Every cell in our body needs iodine. All of our glands need it, not just thyroid but it's the most thought of when the topic of iodine is brought up. There is a specific iodine protocol that involves taking the right cofactors like selenium, magnesium, vitamin C, etc in pretty high doses. People who jump into iodine and don't take these supplements end up with severe problems because when the iodine starts doing it's work it uses up these nutrients in the body rapidly and if you get depleted you'll start getting worse.
Also there is a detox element involved. Iodine is a halide, like bromine and fluoride. Fluoride and Bromine are toxins found in our food and water supply, and bromine in is everything else from your clothing to mattress, car seats, and other cushions and so on. We are saturated with these toxins. When your body builds up with these two toxins they push out what little iodine we have in our bodies, but when we put iodine it, it will push out those two toxins. This is a very good thing. Toxic bodies are the root of so much disease. But the detox process can make you sick so you need to go slow.
So some people taking iodine think their symptoms were caused by the iodine but that's not quite true, it's either the lack or cofactors causing issues or the detox and in 90% of the cases it's both. Now there is a small portion of the population who are sensitive to iodine, and this could be a problem which is why it's best to start very slow. You'll need to find an iodine literate doctor to guide you (iodine literate is an actual qualification to look for, they would say it on their website), or if you do it yourself or with a parent, read that book, watch dr Brownstein's videos, join the facebook groups, read dr Brownstein's book too. And take it slow. I'm on this particular protocol right now too and I'm struggling with it at the moment but I have so many health conditions, starting since my teens, I've been fighting my health all my life. I'm really hoping iodine will give me my quality of life back.