Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site phs.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!duke!phs!sam From: sam@phs.UUCP (Sherry Marts) Newsgroups: net.women.only Subject: pain relievers and periods Message-ID: <978@phs.UUCP> Date: Wed, 5-Dec-84 09:19:10 EST Article-I.D.: phs.978 Posted: Wed Dec 5 09:19:10 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 7-Dec-84 02:10:22 EST Organization: Duke Physiology Lines: 41 On occasion (once every three or four cycles) I suffer from uterine cramps so intense m leg muscles cramp, I have diarrhea and vomiting, and I faint. I used to try to use aspirin to control the cramping, but I had to take eight at once for any significant relief, and my stomach didn't like that. Four years ago a nurse practioner (who now does all my routine gyn exams) prescribed Motrin (ibuprofen, now available over the counter as Advil), which is basically super- potent aspirin (it is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, like aspirin in that it inhibits prostaglandin synthesis). I call them my "miracle pills". They aren't psychoactive - they don't leave me "blissed out". They work, with no apparent side effects, and I only take 3 or 4 over a couple of days at the start of my period. I highly recommend this drug to anyone who suffers from cramps. I'm not ashamed to admit that I get cramps and that I take pain relievers for them. (Perhaps I should mention that I do not take any other drugs and prefer to deal with minor health problems using a combination of massage therapy and herbal medicine.) I think the attitude that menstrual pain is imaginary or that it is not significant enough to warrant medical attention is part of the mythology of fear and disgust surrounding menstruation perpetuated by the male medical establishment. Women are supposed to suffer, remember? It's our punishment for having committed Original Sin. When anesthesia was new, a lengthy debate took place within the (male) medical profession as to the moral implications of using it during childbirth. After all, the Bible commands that women bring forth children with suffering and tears (or something to that effect). Therefore, to use anesthesia during childbirth would be unChristian, immoral, unethical. What changed this attitude? Queen Victoria demanded she be given anesthesia when giving birth to her umpteenth child (her 8th or 9th, I think). Of course, the medical profession then acted like it was their idea all along, and in the past 20 years we've had to fight like mad to convince them NOT to anesthetize during childbirth when it isn't necessary. Enough flaming. I think ibuprofen is one of the best things the pharmaceutical industry has done for women in 50 years. Now if they can just develop a safe, reliable contraceptive... Sherry Marts