pain relievers and periods
Sherry Marts
On occasion (once every three or four cycles) I suffer from
uterine cramps so intense m leg muscles cramp, I have diarrhea and
vomiting, and I faint. I used to try to use aspirin to control the
cramping, but I had to take eight at once for any significant relief,
and my stomach didn't like that. Four years ago a nurse practioner
(who now does all my routine gyn exams) prescribed Motrin (ibuprofen,
now available over the counter as Advil), which is basically super-
potent aspirin (it is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, like aspirin
in that it inhibits prostaglandin synthesis). I call them my "miracle
pills". They aren't psychoactive - they don't leave me "blissed out".
They work, with no apparent side effects, and I only take 3 or 4
over a couple of days at the start of my period. I highly recommend
this drug to anyone who suffers from cramps. I'm not ashamed to admit
that I get cramps and that I take pain relievers for them.
(Perhaps I should mention that I do not take any other drugs and
prefer to deal with minor health problems using a combination
of massage therapy and herbal medicine.)
I think the attitude that menstrual pain is imaginary or that it is
not significant enough to warrant medical attention
is part of the mythology of fear and disgust surrounding menstruation
perpetuated by the male medical establishment.
Women are supposed to suffer, remember? It's our punishment for
having committed Original Sin. When anesthesia was new, a lengthy
debate took place within the (male) medical profession as to the moral
implications of using it during childbirth. After all, the Bible
commands that women bring forth children with suffering and tears
(or something to that effect). Therefore, to use anesthesia during
childbirth would be unChristian, immoral, unethical. What changed
this attitude? Queen Victoria demanded she be given anesthesia
when giving birth to her umpteenth child (her 8th or 9th, I think).
Of course, the medical profession then acted like it was their
idea all along, and in the past 20 years we've had to fight like
mad to convince them NOT to anesthetize during childbirth when it
isn't necessary.
Enough flaming. I think ibuprofen is one of the best things the
pharmaceutical industry has done for women in 50 years.
Now if they can just develop a safe, reliable contraceptive...
Sherry Marts
N.ANDREWS
the necessary pain relief for periods. The added bonus is that supposedly most
women should be taking calcium supplements anyway when they are younger so as
to avoid calcium-loss-related diseases (such as osteo-porosis) when they are
older...
-Norm Andrews, whose opinions are not his employer's...
sue brunkow
>
> On occasion (once every three or four cycles) I suffer from
>uterine cramps so intense m leg muscles cramp, I have diarrhea and
>vomiting, and I faint.
Me, too.
In the last ten years, I think I must have tried almost every
prescription drug that anyone recommended for cramps.
Here are some of the best non-prescription cures I've found:
1) Eat (protein and carbohydrates) every few hours to keep
your blood sugar steady. (This is very difficult for me, because
I often feel sick enough that the last thing I want to do is eat.)
2) Hot tea. (Tea's a diuretic, and just having something warm in
your stomach also seems to help.)
3) If you get bad leg cramps, get someone to massage your legs.
4) Several friends of mine have recommended calcium. For me,
it caused the worst cramps I've EVER had!
I hope this helps somebody.
Does anybody have some others that I haven't tried?
Sue Brunkow
Univ. of Wisconsin
{seismo,allegra,ihnp4}!uwvax!uwmacc!susie
Jonathan Shapiro
This one is asked largely out of ignorance: Is it true that the male
medical practitioners have been perpetrating the myth of the horrors of
menstruation? Or is it rather the case that until recently the studies on
pain killers were not far enough advanced to produce things like Motrin?
Perhaps I am naive, or perhaps I simply find the accusations against
the medical profession incredible because I can't conceive of people being
so stupid (people == the medical professionals), but if such accusations
are baseless perhaps they should be reconsidered.
I am attending Haverford College, which has a room/course exchange with
Bryn Mawr College (in some cases major departments are split between the
two). For those of you who may not know Bryn Mawr, it is a good, small, all
female school. In any case, I spent a year living at BMC, many of my
friends are there, and I have had a chance to observe some of the goings on
there in a way I believe most of my peers have not.
One of the things which has troubled me about womens groups there (and
elsewhere) is that they are devided into at least two distinguishable
groups: One which is comfortable with itself, whose members do things
because they want to, and another which is simply hung up about the world
in general, and reacts by trying to strike back. There are those who have
referred to BMC's women (some of the speakers from BMC), as "Castrating
Bitches." As much as I find the term distasteful, it is in some individual
cases applicable.
What I am getting at is that the people who are striking out out of
insecurity jeopardize what the Women's Lib groups stand for - equality, not
dominance. Maybe we all need to be careful about the line between
vituperation and criticism.
I am curious what others out there feel about this, and this seems an
appropriate place for the question.
Jon Shapiro
Parsons
when, in reality, men have psychologically castrated women for centuries
and yet one seldom hears of "castrating dogs." Sure says a lot about male
dominance of the culture, doesn't it.
Nancy Parsons
Laurinda Rohn
so. Frankly, I think they're just dumb. "..so you too can feel
just-washed fresh all day..." Gag. More like "..so you too can
smell like a medicine cabinet all day..."
But what I find much more offensive is the attitude of some (not all,
not even most :-) ) men, and some women, toward PMS (pre-menstrual
symdrome). In particular, an all-too-prevalent attitude is that if a
woman is irritated about something, then it must be "that time of the
month." Ack!
Lauri
"Well, I think you were out of line today. Please don't ever
do that again."
"Geez, what's wrong with you? That time of the month again?"
"AAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!!"
"Yeah, I knew it. Can't you take something for that?"
Sunny Kirsten
> insecurity jeopardize what the Women's Lib groups stand for - equality, not
> dominance.
than with counter dominance? (sounds like US vs USSR, no?)
Freedom (equality) is NEVER given, only taken. That's what revolutions are
about. How long do you expect women to sit quietly and passively by, waiting
for their equality? What alternative can YOU offer?
Sunny
--
{ucbvax,decvax,ihnp4}!sun!sunny
P.CARSTENSEN
may have the middle word wrong--I was too busy giggling to listen
well...) P.