I was inspired to write this series by a lovely young lady in one of my Fibromyalgia support groups. She is going through much more than a teenager should have to and I don’t think she realises quite how strong and brave she is. So for Beth, I am starting my series on the fibro-troll’s friends (co-morbid conditions of fibromyalgia) with dysmenorrhoea.
Dysmenorrhoea is the medical term for painful periods. I have heard that some women have regular 28 days cycles and barely miss a beat when they have their period. Maybe they feel a little uncomfortable, but can pretty much live their lives normally other than having to deal with a little bit of blood. If you are one of these women – I hate you. No, I don’t really, but I will admit to being very jealous.
For most of my life I have suffered painful periods. I think the first year or two wasn’t too terrible, but pretty soon I was curled up in a ball, taking very strong pain killers and missing days at school. I was always academically inclined – I didn’t particularly like or hate school, but I wanted to be a vet more than anything, so it was important that I do well. When I was fifteen I was put on the Oral Contraceptive Pill (OCP or “the pill”).
One thing many people don’t realise is that the bleeding you have when you are on the pill is not a real period. It is simply withdrawal bleeding. The pill causes your body to think it is pregnant so that you do not ovulate and the lining of your uterus is not stimulated to grow as much. When you take the sugar pills, your body responds in a similar way to an early stage miscarriage and you have a withdrawal bleed. For some women this causes no obvious problems and the OCP has been amazing for some.
There is no doubt in my mind that this fairly reliable form of contraception has improved the lives of millions of women. Much of the progress towards equality would not have been possible without the invention of the OCP. But I also think the potential side effects are very much downplayed.
For me, the pill turned out to be a disaster. For the first few months it was wonderful. I revelled in being able to postpone my “period” if I had a function or wanted to go to the beach. I had very little pain and my teenage pimples cleared up almost completely. My boobs grew very quickly which I didn’t like so much, but I learned to deal with that. (And I’m pretty sure my knight doesn’t mind that they did!) I stopped growing taller, so I’m a bit of a shorty, but that might have been my fate anyway. But pretty soon it stopped helping and my dysmenorrhoea returned.
So I headed back to the doctor. For the next few years I was on one different pill after another. I had no idea there were so many different formulations! Some of them helped the pain for a little while, some of them didn’t. But they all gave me one side effect or another. From constant nausea and stomach cramps, to weight gain, to extreme moodiness. Eventually I found one that seemed to be ok. My periods were manageable and I didn’t have any obvious side effects. Until I ended up in hospital with blood clots in my lungs. In the middle of university exams of all times! So that was the end of any type of systemic artificial hormone for me.
Since then I have been on quite a journey trying to deal with dysmenorrhoea. I have ended up in hospital a couple of times getting jabbed in the butt because I was in so much pain I was vomiting constantly. I have been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome – which means that not only are my periods painful, they are unpredictable too.
I also have endometriosis. This does explain my level of pain somewhat, but doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. I had an exploratory laparoscopy a few years ago to have the endometriosis confirmed and removed. It helped the heaviness of my periods, but didn’t make a significant difference to the pain.
Prior to the laparoscopy, I had a dilation and curette and had a Mirena IUD placed under a general anaesthetic. For a little while it seemed that this was the answer. It secretes a low dose of progesterone which is supposed to have little to no increase in blood clotting risk. Within a few months, my periods were almost non-existent. Everything seemed great. Then I noticed that I had very little libido and suffered from vaginal dryness. I was newly engaged, so this was a bit of an issue. Luckily my poor long-suffering knight married me anyway!
Unfortunately this was the least of my problems with the Mirena. I started growing haemorrhagic cysts on my right ovary. When these burst, the pain was horrendous. Pretty soon I learned to recognise the intermittent stabbing pain that signalled that another one was growing. It got to the stage where my doctor was willing to write a referral for an ultrasound without me coming in.
I started having Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) therapy to treat the cysts. Currently in Australia FSM is considered to be kind of like a tens machine and are only supposed to treat pain conditions. However I can tell you that over a period of about 16 months, when I had the FSM, the cysts would go away (confirmed on ultrasound), if I didn’t they would burst (confirmed by pain!).
As soon as I had the Mirena removed, the cysts stopped. My right ovary still feels the need to make a song and dance about it whenever it decides to ovulate, but I can deal with that level of pain.
So where does that leave me?
No OCP, no implanon, no depo provera injection, no Mirena IUD. Surgery didn’t help. So modern medicine has nothing left to offer me other than pain relief. Opioids mess with my head and make me constipated, so I take them very rarely. The only NSAID (Non-Steriodal Anti-Inflammatory Drug) that completely removed the pain for me was taken off the market.
It’s taken many years, and it is still a work in progress. But here’s what my naturopath and I have come up with:
- A diet that is low in sugar and grains, but high in vegetables, healthy fats, grass-fed meat, chicken and wild caught fish, and loads of fermented foods. Since April I have been doing GAPS and this is working wonders for my IBS, which in turn helps reduce the amount of cramping I have during my period.
- Chaste tree (Vitex angus-castus) in a liquid herb form every day, this helps regulate my cycles and reduces PMS.
- A supplement called bioflam – This contains turmeric extract
Bioflam supplement plus a blend of vitamins and mineral that help reduce pain and inflammation.
- Magnesium – Epsom salts in the bath, magnesium oil spray and an oral powdered supplement.
- FSM to help my ovaries to actually ovulate. If I have a relatively normal cycle (for me that is 35 days) then the PMS is not as bad and the cramps usually aren’t either. If I just let it go and I have a 40,50,60,70 day cycle, the PMS and cramps get progressively worse. I stopped doing this for a while and the pain has been progressively getting worse, so I’m headed back for a treatment this week.
- Turmeric drinks – I have these as well as the bioflam. They taste good and reduce my need for other anti-inflammatory drugs.
- Heat packs – I have a few of these in various forms. I have wheat and silicone bead bags that can be heated in the microwave. I also have some gel packs that have a disc in them that when you snap it causes a chemical reaction that produces heat. These can be boiled to be reset. These are nice and small and can be slipped under a pair of jeans if I have to leave the house.
- Essential oil massage blend – I make this myself using the book “Like chocolate for women” as a guide. Some people argue that essential oils are just a placebo – I don’t really care. Even if it is only a placebo, they help a little and they smell nice.
- Acupressure. I am not a trained reflexologist, but there is a point below the ankle either side of the Achilles tendon that when pushed firmly can help reduce cramping. I find it is most effective if I get my knight to do it as I struggle to keep a sustained pressure with my fibro hands.
- Pain relief. Despite all this, I still need pain relief. I have tried lots of things over the years. Ponstan does next to nothing, Tramadol makes me completely loopy and significantly impairs my ability to function. There used to be an awesome arthritis NSAID called Vioxx, but it was taken off the market and the similar drugs Mobic and Celebrex just aren’t as good. I have found that Naproxen/Naprogesic (an NSAID marketed for period pain) and Buscopan (an intestinal antispasmodic) in combination to work quite well. I discovered buscopan for period pain at one of my trips to hospital – incidentally it really stings as an injection! If I take these two drugs when I first start getting cramps, then I can usually avoid taking anything else. If I have to, I will take a paracetamol/codeine combination, but I try to avoid it as codeine is not my friend.
If you have made it this far – congratulations on your effort! And commiserations, as you probably suffer as I do. I hope you have found something that helps you and I send you virtual chocolate or ice-cream, heat packs, and lots of sympathy.
