The whole of my life I’ve had painful periods. The real issue at the core of this is just how much it affects one’s quality of life. Periods are a natural occurrence every month for up to a week in duration. That’s a substantial period of time to lose in a lifetime by any standards.
First I had irregular, unpredictable periods – I had to carry sanitary towels everywhere – just in case. Then the pain started – horrible debilitating pain that left me unable to stand or think clearly. I couldn’t keep anything down not even the pain-killers. I struggled through O’levels, A’levels and a degree. Always losing time and momentum in my studies, sometimes unable to perform in exams.
I went through the full suite of pain alleviation methods. Hot water bottles,, warm baths, just sitting on the toilet for hours, hot muscle pain patches, Ova electrical pulse patches. exercise, fasting, paracetamol, ibuprofen, Ponstan. We visited numerous doctors eventually going private in order to find a solution.
Eventually the one thing that worked was a low Estrogen and Progestin birth control pill.
