Question for the Ladies...

[karlyg]

i have a question specifically for the women in this forum -
do your symptoms get worse or aggrevated when you have your period? i was on depo provera for a while, which made my period go away for a couple years, so i haven't had a menstrual cycle in a while. i just switched back to the pill, and with my period came awful pain (GI and cramps), lots of D, and lost of nausea. i think i am gonna go back to the depo! just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences with their cycles...thanks!

 

[Crohniac]

Yes ma'am. I can say that there is a definite worsening of symptoms during that time for me. Mostly worse right before. Being a girl does have its downside!!

 

[Kev]

Can't comment on this, but my curiousity is arroused. Can a member of the distaff side pose a question of the women? comparing menstrual cramping and cramping from crohn's/IBD... which would you say from your experience is worse? My reason for asking is that number of people (including a lot of women) have asked me what my 'typical' pain feels like.. I'd like to use the cramping as an analogy, but I've never experienced same.. Am I in the ballpark here, or totally out in left field on analogy??

the other comment I'd make is that I've heard nothing but horror stories about the depo provera.. Wondering if that is why you came off of it, or was it your doctors suggestion? I understand that a new form of birth control pill (called Lybreum??) is in trial stage now.. It eliminates menstrual cycle, but the jury is still out on the total benefits Vs detriments of same.. some feel women are now having too many cycles (fewer pregnancies, less breast feeding, longer reproductive lifestyle, etc..) so some think eliminating menstruation would be a health benefit. Others aren't convinced yet.. One of the benefits from menstruation is that women typically are able to recover sooner from accidents where there is significant blood loss due to the cycle conditioning there body to replace blood more efficiently.. at least thats' what the proverbial 'they' say. Anyway, if this new product isnt' available to the general public yet, then the whole point is moot. But the depo provera drug HAS a litany of health related issues.. you might want to see what alternatives you have access to... OK, that's all from me. sorry in advance for horning in on this topic..

 

[Dekar]

i used to say to my sisters when im flaring that im on a period thats worse than theirs and they absolutely rejected the possibility! which hurts more? what kev said, i need to know!

 

[karlyg]

i don't know which hurts more as a "general rule," and for me it is really difficult to tell which pain is which, since everything is so close together in terms of what's hurting. i can usually tell cramps from IBD pain because the cramps tend to come and go in waves (since they are caused by muscle cramping/contracting) whereas the IBD pain is more continuous.
and, as far as i'm concerned, you don't need to apologize for getting in on this or any topic! sorry if my title made it seem that you were not welcome to discuss!
as for the depo - i have a random and relatively harmless condition with my liver that means i can't take products that contain estrogen, so most regular birth control pills are off the list for me. right now i'm taking a progesterone-only pill, and i'm experiencing loads of gross menstrual symptoms, even while on it (not on the placebo ones). i didn't have any problems with depo while i was on it, but my doc was concerned about prolonged use and risk of osteoperosis, so i switched off of it. but, if that's the main risk, i am certainly willing to take a calcium supplement and get the depo shot (one shot every 3 months and don't have to worry about a thing!). as with everything, to each his or her own

 

[Kev]

Hey, thanks for the open welcome and the feedback.. My curiousity on this subject stemmed from my first 'kidney' stone attack... As a young wildfellow, I'd got myself into more than my share of scrapes and scraps.. broken kneecap, crushed leg, some stab wounds, even a minor bullet wound. I thought I knew what pain was, and was pretty secure in my capacity to handle it.. stoically. that changed with a kidney stone
That made me curl up in a ball.. like some 6' 3", 240 lb baby nonetheless. The nurses at the ER told me that kidney stone pain is the closest a man can come to experience the pain of childbirth.. In that case, here is a tip of the hat in respect to the women who have gone thru natural childbirth once, and my deepest respect for those who repeated the process... Anyway, that was pre crohns/IBD..
At my lowest point with this illness, the pain was literally 24x7, and kidney stones paled in comparison. I have since come to learn my condition at the time was not typical, as I had pancreatitis, ulcers, and IBD all hitting me at the same time. since those dark days, I've come to terms with my residual crohns pains, and they get more or less intense dpending on my condition at the time.. But the periods of very intense cramping that are routine.. make me wonder.. Is that typical of what an average woman experiences with her cycle... I know, everything works in cycles, some are worse than others.. But, if any woman on here can relate, I for one would welcome the input.. esp if she can recall what typical menses cramps were like pre crohns.. I can't imagine/relate to having them both hit at the same time.. Just thought that this info might help the sexes relate their respective pain AND either confirm/deny whether using menstrual cramps as an analogy is valid.. Not just for the guys on here with crohns cramping.. but for others who never had crohns.. Like, if a woman approached you, and wanted to know what crohns pain is like, would you use menstrual cramping as a typical example (for clarification)??

 

[ruthymg]

I too used to take Depo and thought it was fantastic. It stopped me menstruating but didn't affect my fertility, it stopped period pains and also stopped pre menstrual tension as well as preventing me from getting pregnant. The only reason I stopped taking it was because I have bone thinning and Depo can cause problems with bone thinning. Since I have stopped taking it, I have had my daughter, who's now almost 3 and I have terrible period pains and PMT again, just like I was before I took the Depo. I'm also extremely tired before my period, like to the point of sitting down and not being able to keep my eyes open. The difference I find with cramps from periods and cramps from the crohns is the location. Cramps from my period are definately lower in my abdomen and come with lowere back ache. Cramps from the crohns are anywhere in my abdomen and are usually followed by high back ache.


Ruth

 

[Kev]

So, other than location, the intensity of one Vs the other is relatively comparable???
Well, that is an eye opener. Another tip of the hat to the female of the species. My experience with IBD related pain is relatively new.. didn't really get symptomatic till late in life (relatively speaking).. Dealing with periodic (NO PUN INTENDED) menses pain from puberty on shows categorically which of the genders is truly 'stoic'. It is no wonder that options such as depo which can make this go away are welcomed, even if they carry a risk. I think ANY guy with IBD pain would jump at a chance to make it go away, regardless of any potential longterm effects.
And, if what you're telling me is typical, then using the analogy is fairly accurate...

 

[ReeRee]

Well, to answer Kev, while period cramps do hurt, my "other" cramping feels totally different. It's like having the stomach flu/virus. That usually satisfies people when they ask me what it feels like.

In answer to the main question....YES it's worse! I will even run FEVER. My daughter says that I have the (pardon the language here) "period sh!ts".

It makes me mad when women who don't havd CD or UC has the audacity to claim her cramps are as bad as mine. I want to clock them once upside da head and scream "NO IT'S NOT YOU BOOPID STITCH!". I'd trade CD cramps for period cramps ANY day.

 

[Dekar]

BOOPID STICH lOL!!
thanks for the info, now i feel good knowing when my sister moans all the time about her period that my pain is worse and i dont complain!

 

[Kev]

Welll, I have had stomach flu... even once so bad that years later I got kidney stones from the dehydration it caused.. which my doctor at the time warned me could occur. But I never related those pains to my IBD.. My IBD pains were alway much worse. At least I never related it to IBD before I was diagnosed. Since my diagnosis, and they say hindsight is 20/20, some of what I thought were funny episodes of the flu were probably early mild outbreaks of my IBD. So, I guess there is really no easy answer to someone who asks what IBD pain feels like...

As for Dekar's comments.. I'm not sure what was meant by it. So I'm going to just assume that it was in fun.. I wouldn't want to think that anyone would make light of cramping of any kind... People who live with pain as part of our ongoing lives should be the last to dismiss it in others. Especially after the ladies of the forum were so nice as to let us males participate. I'm sure it must have been meant as a joke, and that I am just too old to get it..

Anyway, thanks again for the courtesy and the feedback..

 

[Dekar]

lol im not serious, just a little sister vs brother rivalry

 

[milesrlv]

I have been using a book as somewhat of a reference and the woman who wrote the book described her CD pain as worse than the infamous "Ring of Fire" described during child birth. My personal experience with CD pain is it the most intense pain I have ever experienced and I have some similar experiences with pain as Kevin with regard to bar room brawls and a stabbing in the face among other assorted injuries and they all pale in comparison. My pain usually leaves me in a ball laying on the ground feverish and with a continuous pain punctuated by waves of ungodly cramps. On a side note congratulations to ReeRee on becoming a grandmother, I just became a grandfather in February, at the ripe old age of 44.

 

[Kev]

So, summing it all up.. There is no short answer as to how/whether comparing IBD & menstrual cramping is fairly accurate. And knowing how differently each case of IBD is, and how differently everyones own tolerance for pain is, maybe in hindsight it was not such a great question to ask. My personal t.y. to everyone who chimed in, okay?