Lower Abdominal Cramping
August 11, 2008 - 9:54am
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9 comments
For about 3 or 4 weeks now I have had this cramping pain in my lower abdomen. I finally went to the gyn about a week and a 1/2 and she said that my uterus is slightly enlarged and to come back in 3 weeks for a sonogram. Well in the mean time my period has started and the pain is worse than ever. Yesterday I doubled over in pain and took some tylenol which dulled it enough to make it through the day. My period is really heavy and I have even had to start taking iron because I was anemic for a while. I just keep taking tylenol to help me through the day but that is getting old. What could be causing all of this? Why do you think they are waiting so long to help me?
Any advice would be helpful :)
Thanks,
Conditions:
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stllalr, Sorry to hear you're in pain. Usually, lower abdominal pain is common for women especially before or during menstruation. It's often difficult to pin down the cause, but common causes include a reproductive issue related to the uterus, Fallopian tubes or ovaries or urinary disorders such as a bladder or kidney issues.
Pain originating from the reproductive area is usually felt in the middle of the lower abdomen, above the line of pubic hair and up thru the navel. Is that where you’re experiencing your pain? Is the pain worse around your period? Or has your pain been constant? Do you feel any pain during intercourse?
The pain may be attributed to a number of issues including endometriosis, ovarian cysts, fibroids and pelvic inflammatory disease.
If you have sudden severe pain, you should contact your doctor.
You can also find more information related to abdominal pain at the below link. We will also forward your question to one of our experts.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/MEDLINEPLUS/ency/article/003120.htm
Is that helpful?
That is exaclty where the pain is. Yes it is worse during my period but still hurts even when I am not on my period. The pain during my period just gets so bad sometimes that I have to try to lie down to help relieve the pain and since I have 3 kids that isn't an easy task :) Yes sometimes it really hurts during intercourse and sometimes it is just really uncomfortable.
yes this helps Thank you.
Hi Stllalr
Thank you for your question and I'm sorry to read that you have experiencing such discomfort.
I would assume your doctor did not order an immediate sonogram because she did not feel it was an emergency situation and 'routine' testing often has a waiting period of several weeks. Of course, this doesn't help when you are in pain.
As Tina mentioned, there can be many reasons for abdominal pain, including fibroids, menstrual cramps, scarred or blocked fallopian tubes or it may even be a gastric issue.
Stllalr, since your uterus is slightly swollen, is there any possibility that you could have been pregnant and that you are suffering a miscarriage at this time? Cramping in early pregnancy is common. And women have often mistaken a miscarriage for a heavy, painful period. Did your doctor discuss this with you? Could this be at all possible?
Please update us!
I have and IUD for birth control and so I am pretty sure I am not/wasn't pregnant. I have had it in place for over 2 years now. I got it after my youngest was born because she was a surprise and I didn't want another surprise :) I had a vaginal delivery with my oldest 2 kids (10 & 4) and then a c-section with my 2 1/2 year old.
I have been having really heavy periods on and off for over a year now but this is the first time the pain will not really go away. I have had some cramping before with my periods only but this started a couple of weeks before my period and got worse with my period. I usually have a high pain tolerance so when I hurt so bad I got a little worried.
that makes sense about the testing so that make me feel better too. I was worried they just were not taking me serious.
Thanks for all of your help.
Thank you for the update, I was wondering how it had gone.
I'm sorry you are still in pain. Please give the pills time to work but if you are still in pain you need to contact your doctor again. If the pain worsens, you should contact your doctor straight away for further testing.
I hope this pain stops, no-one should live with that. You are not doomed to be in pain, just give it some time (is there something you can take to make the pain tolerable?) and get back to your doctor if the pain does not subside.