diagnose me - periods and pms

God that sounds bloody awful. ('scuse the pun.) Can't help diagnose you, but I have painful periods and take Buscopan - double the dose on the box along with cocodamol - it's the only thing that helps me. Worth a try? (if you haven't already.)

Poor you. That doesn't sound very pleasant and must be very frustrating for you. I'm no medic but the fact you have breastmilk would suggest that you have high prolactin levels, I think. Though whether that would be responsible for the other problems I have no idea.

Have you tried any herbal remedies if you react badly to chemical ones?

You could try agnus castus, evening primrose or vitamin b6. I've been taking agnus castus and vitamin b6 to regulate my cycles, but they're meant to help with PMS and menopausal symptoms too. The agnus castus I take is a standardised form and just one tablet a day and the vitamin b6 I take is one 50mg tablet a day. I don't know about evening primrose, but it's meant to help too.

I hope you manage to get somethng sorted. It doesn't sound much fun to me.?

So you have had a laparoscopy to determine that it's not endometriosis? It sounds very similar to the problems I was getting...long & painful periods & a lot of time in pain when I wasn't bleeding. They didn't even mention endometriosis before the lap & my gynae actually said he didn't expect to find anything...but he did...endometriosis...so he lasered away the problem there & then. I got it back a few months later & read a book called 'Endometriosis - a guide to healing through nutrition' by Dian Mills. Which was excellent & I took a lot of advice from it (no wheat, dairy, cut down on red meat & added a few supplements to my diet) that worked for ages...then I got pregnant & haven't really had any endo problems in nearly 4 years. If I did then I would definately get back into the no wheat & dairy thing again, as it's worth it to be pain-free.

I don't eat wheat or dairy anyway as i have a delicate stomach. i have tried vitamins, evening primrose oil etc with no luck. my hormone levels are well within the normal range and the gynocologist just dismissed the breastmilk as unimportant.

i haven't had a laparoscopy but the painful, clotty, long periods have been going on since i was 12 and i'm now 39 so it's unlikely i had it then. there are no obvious masses or lumps, so i've been told.

The only way to diagnose endometriosis is through an investigatory laparoscopy...it doesn't show up on any type of scans. I'd be asking for one if I were you.

Considering how dismissive the gynae has been my hopes aren't high. what would be the treatment if i did have it?

I refused the treatments, as they are synthetic hormone based & I would swear blind that it was the pill that messed me up in the first place. Mostly it involves a strong does of the pill taken continuously for several months without a break (pseudo pregnancy). The immediate treatment though is that they will laser it away, which, as I said, gave me a few months of no pain at all & wonderful periods.

You can request a second opinion if you think you need it

Thanks all.

Ah I feel for you - it's bloomin awful. I had pretty much the same, so dibilitating I didn't want to get out of bed with my lovely 3 hot water bottles! Plus I was scared to leave the house incase of leakages! ☹️

The doctors are a bit rubbish - they weren't too much help in diagnosing me either.

I was also given Mefanemic acid (that's Ponstan isn't it?) - but the last doc gave me another tablet along with it: Tranexamic Acid, which reduces the bleeding. When I took them both together the pain and bleeding halved and made it a lot better. I know it's not a solution, but it might help untill you can get properly diagnosed.

They always offered me the pill, but after trying 10 different ones I finally got one that worked: Cerazette (sp?). Not had a period in 9 months - i'm lovin it. My friend who has endemitriosis also takes Cerazette and is liking it too.
Once again it's not a long term solution, but it gives me a nice break from all that pain.

I hope you manage to get something sorted xxx

I tried different pills for nigh on 20 years before giving up. tried cerazette and it just made me feel like i was going to vomit.

Have you tried posting this on BT? Some of the girls over there don't come on OT, but might have some ideas for you to try.

Ah thats a shame - well with pills what works for someone doesn't always work for the next. I never thought I'd find one that didn't have awful side effects. Have you tried that Tranexamic Acid too? just wondered if it was just me that it helped.

I think you've got the right idea that you want and answer to your prob rather than just covering it up with pills. Why do doctors seem so insensitive to things like this? It can really effect your life. Yours seems very bad, I can't see that it's within normal levels, there's no way it should be that awful.

A few bits I've been reading say:

- Reduce: Sugar, Salt, Caffeine, Alcohol, Red meat, dairy and high-fat foods
- Increase: Fruit, Vegetables, Water
- Include: Three hourly carbohydrate snack (rice cakes, crackers, bread sticks...)
- herbal remedies: include Agnus Castus, St John's wort, Cramp bark, Lemon balm and Dong quai.
- Nutrients most likely to be lacking are magnesium, iron, zinc and vitamins E and B.
- Massage has proved beneficial in relieving pain and disturbances in hormone balance.

(it's kinda the same ol things really - but it sounds like you've tried most of em already!)

I was finally dagnosed with PCOS (polycistic ovary) - but I'm assuming you've been checked for that too.

My ovaries are functioning normally.

Bar really bad period pains (I get them but I can function with them) this is exactly how my period is. I also get ridiculously warm night sweats at certain times of the month. I've only been for blood tests, and found its not early menopause, and everything else is working normally, and was also told just to go on the pill, if I wasn't trying. It would be nice to know what it is though. I've only been like this since I came off the pill after about 7 years - before that I was as regular as clockwork, with one normal bleed a month! (although I always had the PMT)

I may go back eventually to the doctors, but because I can still function, bar annoyance it doesnt affect my daily life I keep putting it off