[Moelissa]

Hello -

I'd say for the past eight or nine years now, my pms has progressively gotten worse to the point there I'm suicidal, hopeless, I get so mean and nasty with my boyfriend, my face blows up with acne, and I always get stabbing pain on the right side of my abdomen. Always the right side, I don't ever recall it hurting on the left. I don't have children, so I wouldn't know what contractions are, but occasionally it feels like my uterus is going into a charliehorse. It could be triggered from me standing up too fast, or bending down, or sometimes it just happens on its own. It hurts so bad that I have to stop whatever I'm doing and let it ride itself out because I can't function otherwise. That mainly happens when I'm ovulating or just getting ready to have my period, but sometimes it just happens randomly throughout the month. When it comes to sex, it hurts a lot when we first engage in it, but then it gets better. The pain never goes away, it just becomes more tolerable.

Another thing that is alarming to me is the fact that we've never managed to get pregnant. It's not that we really have tried much with the actual intend to get pregnant, but we don't use birth control or condoms or the like. I just find it odd that in seven years of an active, unprotected sexlife, there hasn't been any kind of scare in that department.

Also, from about twenty-one to about twenty-three, I was in and out of psychiatric hospitals for a mental condition that has since gotten very under control - without the use of meds... I'm so glad for that now. I hated taking those pills - but I think back, and everytime I had an episode that required me to either seek medical attention or be admitted to the psych hospital, I was on my period. All three of my suicide attempts were done when I was on my period. I've often wondered if there is a connection to it, but my doctors never looked that far I don't think. I had to tell them what I thought my "official" diagnosis could be, and they agreed and proceeded from there with treatment.

I turn over all these details in my head and try to make some kind of connection, but I can't quite figure it out. Like right now, I have INSANE cramps, but I'm not due for another two-ish weeks. I just don't understand. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Any and all suggestions and/or replies are incredibly appreciated. I'm at my wit's end, and I don't have insurance to see another doc about this anymore. Thank you for your time.

[WildChild]

Let me start by saying I do not have a medical background at all but am pretty intuitive with health stuff. Check out Dr Leo Galland's work, I especially like his book. The Four Pillars of Healing. But take a look at some of his newer material too.

How clean is your diet? What kind of toxins are you exposed to? Do you eat non-organic beef and dairy?
I have a personal theory and am increasingly convinced of it's validity. We are baraged with chemicals daily. Some of them, such as BGH, act as artificial hormone receptors. It's been established that these are a significant factor in the much earlier onset of menstration in little girls. That can't be the Only affect they are having.

Just on this site we get daily posts about young women on BC having all sorts of problems, many of which sound like early menopause. I'm in my early 50s and it seems the women I know are either sailing through menopause with minimal concerns or are complete basket cases - there seem to be too many extremes.

Do some research, take a good look at Omega 3s (Dr Galland has a lot to say about those) look at diet. All foods are chemicals and go through our bodies as a series of chemical reactions. Give serious consideration to eliminating any and all dairy or meat products which could contain BGH (if it came from a cow and doesn't say BGH free and you are in the US - it's in there. At the very least more Omega 3s and less BGH won't hurt you and it very well might help.

[ItsASecret]

What you are describing could literally be anything. I also do not have a medical background but I am getting my BSc so I am familiar with a ton of anatomy, physiology, molecular cell biology, and pharmacology and therefore have been taught plenty of medically relevant material. It is hard to tell even with broad speculation as to what could be going on with your body, clearly its hormonal since things seem to coincide with your period but its up in the air as to whether it is a a pituitary, hypothalamic, or thyroid issue, a cyst, endometriosis, ovarian issues, even something as crazy as cancer (the odds of that are beyond slim so I wouldn't worry about it). General psychological conditioning happening in addition to the extreme physical problems is also a possibility, but then again a lot of women expect their moods to change, for better or worse, when their period rolls around. I highly doubt a complete overhaul of diet is necessary, your doctor would have advised it already. You can add or remove certain things just for the heck of it but there is no guarantee that any positive or negative effects will occur.

Going off topic a bit, if you want to research BGH you can but just know that BGH is not a problem in dairy cows because it is naturally occurring. The genetically engineered synthetic version rBST or rBGH are what certain people are worried about. The rBST or rBGH is technically not recognized as a human growth hormone and is broken down quite rapidly in the body so I would have to side with the FDA in their approval of the chemical in dairy cattle. Though there is another chemical called IGF-1 that is present in higher levels when dairy cattle are given synthetic BGH, this is the chemical that I am a bit leery about because there are some slight connections between it's levels and breast/colon cancer rates.

Anyway back on topic, I have to ask...what are you currently doing to manage the pain and other side effects? Are you taking muscle relaxants? Popping midol like candy?-even if you do not want simple pain medication a nice hot water bottle or heating pad on your stomach will ease the cramps. If you are not trying to get pregnant you can talk to your doctor about birth control in regards to acne management.

[Moelissa]

Thanks for the quick responses. I really do appreciate it. In regards to my diet, I mainly eat vegetarian. I eat meat maybe once a week, otherwise it's rabbit food for me. Because I am lactose-intolerant, I only eat soy-based "dairy" products: yogurt, ice cream, soy milk, cheeses, etc. I hardly ever eat any red meat as it gives me wicked heartburn, and I just don't like the taste and texture of it. As far as pain management, if it's really bad I'll take some otc pain killers, but most of the time I just deal with it. I had a bad addiction to prescription pain killers for awhile, and now my body doesn't really respond to tylenol and things like that. Plus, they make my kidneys and liver hurt if I take them for prolonged periods of time, like if I'm sick or have a really bad headache. I could eat better I guess, but I don't think I eat all that bad. I take multivitamins, b12, calcium supplements, and vitamin E nearly daily (sometimes I forget to take them lol... you know how it goes). I kinda figured that the bulk of my issues was hormone-related, I just don't know why my uterus is doing that. It hurts so fargin bad when it happens. I can't imagine birthing contractions hurting anymore than this does. The women on my mom's side of the family have a history of screwed up cycles and my mom recently had to have a complete hysterectomy because she would have periods for weeks at a time and it would wipe her out so much that she couldn't get out of bed. The thing with the pain on my right side is very concerning too, as it just gets worse and worse, year after year. It feels like it's coming from the ovary, but the pain stays there from the pms all the way through the period. Again, I don't have health insurance, and the county health department here is nearly useless. They insisted I was an alcoholic when I don't even drink. I just don't know anymore. I was just really hoping to see if anyone else out there has experienced anything like the bad uterine cramping or experiencing bad cramps on only once side of their abdomen. It sucks. It's frustrating. Grrrr!!!!!

[WildChild]

Why would they think you are an alcoholic? Are there some symptoms that lead to that - it may give you some clues.

[ItsASecret]

Why would they think you are an alcoholic? Are there some symptoms that lead to that - it may give you some clues.

My thought exactly. As far as I know if there are liver issues a doctor will ask about how much alcohol a person is consuming but if it is just a drink here and there or not at all there is no reason to think of alcoholism.

Moelissa I think your diet is fine, you seem to watch what you eat and take all precautions with vitamins that anyone else would do so in that regards it likely would not be any cause for pain. If it is an increasing pain over the years an ultrasound, at the very least, should be ordered. Pain does not pop up unless something is actually going on...well maybe I shouldn't say that because psychosomatic pain does happen. You should find someway to get in to see a doctor, increasing pain especially in a localized area for so long is not something that should be ignored. I do not think there is anything else you can do.