Severe Period Pain - Try Naproxen

[taniaaust1]

Naproxen

I cant believe I've actually found a drug seems to work on the severe period pain I sometimes get (I've only tested it on two of my periods so far but it certainly seems to help as the pain soon after completely went (once it took 45mins after taking it, the other time 3 hrs before pain went).

I previously was taking high strength doses of both asprin and panadol combined, which usually wasn't enough.

Then my dr put me onto Postan (mefenamic acid) for the severe period pain which I was taking with another pain killer but still had severe pain at times to the point I was still having to sleep in hot bath to try to get pain levels down enough to even be able to sleep. The Ponstan I don't think even worked as well as high strength asprin.

Next drs suggestion was either some of those addictive pain killers or Naproxen.. of cause I opted to try the Naproxen first. To my amazement after those other things failed, this worked and I've been so far able to take it "alone" and it completely relieves my period pain!

"Naproxen is in a class of drugs called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which work by blocking the production of prostaglandins, substances in the body that play a role in pain and inflammation."

"
Prescription-strength naproxen is often used to treat joint pain, menstrual pain, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, ankylosing spondylitis, juvenile arthritis, tendonitis, and bursitis.
Nonprescription naproxen is commonly used to relieve pain, swelling, fever, cold and flu symptoms, and headaches."


http://www.everydayhealth.com/drugs/naproxen


The Naproxen in Australia is called Inza (I take a 250mg dose when needed.. actually two of these the first time I take it).

Anyway, I just wanted to share this as period pain is horrid and I suspect there must be others here who have tried various other things for this without success.

 

[Sasha]

Glad you've found something that works, @taniaaust1. Period pain can be awful - untreated, mine would have me poleaxed in bed in too much pain to even moan, and throwing up.

I used to take mefanamic acid plus paracetomol and that did it for me, but one thing it took me years to be told by a doctor was that they (I think all painkillers?) work best if you take them when you know the pain is going to be coming, rather than waiting for the pain to develop. I switched my timing and had much better results.

So with period pain, sometimes you get symptoms that tell you it's coming - you might get some preliminary bleeding before the pain starts, for example, if that's so, you've got a chance to get ahead of it.

My 'heads up' symptom was always clumsiness. If I started dropping stuff or knocking stuff over, I'd start on the painkillers.

 

[taniaaust1]

Glad you've found something that works, @taniaaust1. Period pain can be awful - untreated, mine would have me poleaxed in bed in too much pain to even moan, and throwing up.

nods.. It was causing me moaning and making me near throw up due to it. One time I actually passed out cause the period pain was so bad.

I used to take mefanamic acid plus paracetomol and that did it for me, but one thing it took me years to be told by a doctor was that they (I think all painkillers?) work best if you take them when you know the pain is going to be coming, rather than waiting for the pain to develop. I switched my timing and had much better results.

Fortunately my dr did give me very good instructions on how mefanamic acid is supposed to be taken. She said it should be taken from 3 days before your period for best result (not just from like the day before). That was a bit hard for me as I have polycystic ovary syndrome so Im not always regular but even when I did get the guessing right of when it would happen and took it in advance, it still didn't touch the pain.

So with period pain, sometimes you get symptoms that tell you it's coming - you might get some preliminary bleeding before the pain starts, for example, if that's so, you've got a chance to get ahead of it.

My 'heads up' symptom was always clumsiness. If I started dropping stuff or knocking stuff over, I'd start on the painkillers.

I've never heard of clumsiness as a before symptom so that's interesting.. I wouldnt notice that as Im shockingly clumbsy anyway with the ME/CFS (I've got a new phone and dropped it two times in the first week I've had it on the hard floor.. I need to buy a protective cover for it before I break it).

Talking of before symptoms.. I have sometimes a breast swelling warning a few days leading up to an oncoming period. Last time was weird as one breast was reacting to my hormones and did its usual swell while the other didn't at all (so now Im wondering why a person who's body reacts and other side did would get one breast suddenly not reacting to hormones... if anyone reading this knows, please share.. could this at all be a bad omen breast change thing? My grandma died of two different kinds of breast cancer).

 

[Sasha]

Wow - I wasn't told the three day thing. Just 'a few hours'. Shows the quality of advice that's being handed out - it was about fifteen years of taking painkillers before I had any advice on timing at all.

 

[brenda]

http://www.webmd.com/heart/news/20150710/fda-warning-nsaids-heart_risks

https://www.justraisethebar.com/the-dangers-of-non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory-drugs-nsaids/

Plenty of warnings against this class of drugs.

 

[Valentijn]

My doctor prescribed naproxen when I had suspected pericarditis a couple years pre-ME. I was having a ton of back pain from it, and the naproxen took care of it quite quickly.

But it needs to be taken with a fair amount of water, and might result in some fluid loss, so that's something to watch out for with OI.