Menstrual Cramps

Your pain may be crampy or sharp

The pain may reach from your lower belly to your lower back and down the backs of your legs

Getting enough sleep, exercising, and taking NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen, may help lessen your discomfort

Primary

Secondary

Don’t have a specific cause

Usually start when you're a teenager

Often run in families

Usually become less severe as you get older or after having a baby

Are caused by another health problem, such as fibroids Uterine Fibroids A uterine fibroid is a tumor in a woman's uterus (womb). The uterus is the organ where babies grow before they are born. Fibroids aren't cancer, but they can be painful and cause bleeding and... read more

Usually start when you're an adult

High levels of prostaglandins

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium is the tissue that lines the inside of your uterus (womb). That tissue grows every month during your menstrual cycle because it's getting ready to support a baby. If you don't become... read more : tissue (endometrium) that normally belongs inside your uterus grows outside your uterus

Fibroids Uterine Fibroids A uterine fibroid is a tumor in a woman's uterus (womb). The uterus is the organ where babies grow before they are born. Fibroids aren't cancer, but they can be painful and cause bleeding and... read more : tumors (that are not cancer) in your uterus

Adenomyosis Uterine Adenomyosis In adenomyosis, tissue from glands in the lining of the uterus (endometrium) grows into the muscular wall of the uterus. The uterus becomes enlarged, sometimes doubling or tripling in size.... read more : the tissue in the lining of your uterus grows into the wall of your uterus, causing it to get bigger and swell during your periods

A crampy or sharp pain in your lower belly—the pain may come and go, or be a dull, constant ache

Headache

Feeling sick to your stomach or throwing up

Constipation

Diarrhea (frequent, loose watery stool)

Your menstrual periods started at an early age

You have long, heavy periods

You smoke

You have family members with severe menstrual cramps

Severe pain that began suddenly

Constant pain

Pain that gets much worse when you touch your belly or when you walk

Fever or chills

A thick, white or yellow discharge (fluid) from your vagina

Pregnancy test

Ultrasound of your lower belly to see your ovaries, uterus, and cervix

If your doctor thinks you may have pelvic inflammatory disease Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) Pelvic inflammatory disease may affect the lining of the uterus, the fallopian tubes, and sometimes the ovaries. Pelvic inflammatory disease is usually caused by bacteria from the vagina. The... read more , they’ll take a sample from your cervix with a cotton swab and test it for infections

Get enough sleep

Exercise

Put a heating pad on your lower belly

Take NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), such as ibuprofen a day or 2 before your period starts and the first 2 days of your period

Sometimes, take nutritional supplements such as omega-3 fatty acids, flaxseed, magnesium, vitamin E, zinc, and vitamin B1

Give you birth control pills—these pills keep your ovaries from releasing an egg

Give you other hormone treatments

Try nerve pain medicines such as gabapentin

Suggest alternative treatments such as acupuncture Acupuncture Acupuncture, a therapy within traditional Chinese medicine, is one of the most widely accepted CAM therapies in the Western world. Licensed practitioners do not necessarily have a medical degree... read more

Do surgery to cut the nerves that send pain signals from your uterus to your brain