When does cramping become something you should see your gyn about?

The last several months, I have cramping like I'm on my period but I'm not. (I've always been a crampy one during my period.) I have regular periods because I'm on the pill and always have been. No changes there. No pain during sex or really anywhere else.

It's not like it's terrible, and I don't need to take a pain killer for it, it's just there. How do I know if there's a problem there I don't know about? I just had a yearly exam about 4 months ago and everything was fine.

Sometimes, hormones go along with it. For instance, the last 4 days I've just been on the verge of tears or very irritable, cramping, a typical period headache, and one breast is tender just today. Other than the breast tenderness, those are all things I experience during my period. Last month I had one week with all of the above and both breasts were so tender..but not during period week. Period week has actually been more of a normal week lately. The cramping is the most noticeable on a day-to-day basis, but the other things have happened also.

Does anyone else experience this? Could it just be hormones from my pill? (Although I NEVER had this problem before Natalie was born.) Could it be c-section related?
Any experiences would be appreciated!

By Tripletmom on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 08:45 pm:

I've had some cramping since my c section and that was 9 mhts ago. The cramps can be very sharp and just underneath my incision.I'm not sure what it is.Sometimes I've had to hold my breath b/c of the pain. It doesnt happen alot but I'm going to pay closer attention on my calender and see what days in the month it falls on. I'm not on the pill(md took care of fertility at the c-section)A c-section is a major surgery so I'm not sure how long it takes to heal.Other than the cramps I'm sure everything is fine.I wish I could be of more help

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 09:13 pm:

I'd go and ask to be checked out for endometriosis. I get HORRIBLE back pain and cramps with my period, and endo runs in my family, as well as a tilted uterus (which is why I get the back pain). It's one of those things that you can have and never have problems with, or can become a huge problem at any time, and it IS hormone related, because a common treatments for it is BC pills. ((((((Hugs))))))

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 09:15 pm:

Oh, and I didn't have any problems until after I had the kids, so in my early 20s, although I've had my period since I was 11. I also had a c-section, but at 4 months I was fully healed, and it wasn't until quite a bit later that the bad cramping starts. My mom didn't start having problems with it until she was about 30. Either way, when in doubt, go in... it'll at least rest your mind at ease.

By Feona on Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 07:21 am:

I vaguely remember my friend needed a d and c, I thought she got it because of pain during period. The lining needs to be d&c out. (cleaned out)

By Crystal915 on Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 10:27 am:

Feona, I think that is done in severe cases of endo... maybe that's what your friend had?

By Reds9298 on Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 08:51 pm:

How do they diagnose endo and what causes it?

By Crystal915 on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 01:53 pm:

It's overgrowth of uterine tissue, and can grow on the outside of the uterus, on the ovaries, even in the bowels, pretty much anywhere in the abdomen. I *think* most of the time it's dxed by ultrasound, but they don't check unless you have symptoms.

By Reds9298 on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 01:58 pm:

Thanks for the info Crystal

By Crystal915 on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 04:04 pm:

No problem, I'm going in to get examined for it soon, because of the problems I've been having, so I have been researching it, and talking to my mom. For example, she has her tubes tied, but still takes a low dose BC to help with it, but it's getting worse, so she may need to have some tissue removed. It's a progressive disease, but can be controlled. Good luck, hon!

By Karen~moderator on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 04:46 pm:

I had endometriosis. I also had primary dysmenorrhea and adenomyosis. The only *real* way to definitively comfirm that it's endometriosis is by having a laparoscopy.

I had awful periods from the very beginning, and after I had my kids they were just unbearable. It is believed that you have a higher chance of having it if your mother, or another close family member did. My mom had it, my sister has it, and Jen's GYN believes she has it but she has chickened out of having the lap twice. It's painful. Jen seems to be following my time line of symptoms exactly. From the time she was 14, she would miss one or two days of school each month due to the heavy bleeding and cramps. The tissue can grow anywhere in your abdominal cavity and attach to other organs. Left untreated, it can permanently damage the other organs. That tissue bleeds monthly, the swelling, etc., going on inside you due to that is what causes the pain.

More links:

Diagnosing Endometriosis

Symptoms & Diagnosis of Endometriosis

Endometriosis

Crystal, my GYN told me that estrogen actually encourages the growth of the tissue. After my hysterectomy, I still had endometriosis. The doctor who performed my hysterectomy was either lazy or incompetent, and I switched doctors, when several months afterwards, I was still bleeding vaginally, and I had NO ovaries, NO cervix and NO uterus. He put me on a *reverse* hormone therapy to kill the tissue. It was an awful experience, but it worked! But, by contrast, when I took Jen to a GYN for the first time at age 15, she immediately put her on a low-estrogen birth control pill to help with the symptoms, so that's very confusing to me.

I would definitely go to the doctor and at discuss the possibility of endo with her/him.

By Crystal915 on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 06:27 pm:

Wow, Karen! My grandmom had endo and didn't even know until her hysterectomy. I know my mom takes a low dose pill, might be estrogen-free, I'll have to ask. I know she recently said it has started growing in her bowels, which is why it's becoming a bigger problem. All in all, I know it's been horrible for her, and I'm worried that I've got years of misery ahead, since it runs in my family and I am having classic symptoms. Of course, military healthcare will probably do a crappy job treating it, so I'll probably ask for an off post referral, after hearing all you went through!!

By Karen~moderator on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 06:46 pm:

Oh - I should mention this: I had a couple of previous surgeries for endometriosis, and then it was discovered I had a football sized tumor on one ovary. I had to have emergency surgery because I started hemorrhaging. The tumor had sort of taken over my ovary and tube, and had grown to my colon. Kind of tricky surgery, plus they lasered out all the endometriosis (again).

Then 14 months later I had to have a total hysterectomy due to uncontrolled bleeding. I had bled for almost 8 weeks straight. They put me on THREE birth control pills daily in an effort to regulate it. All it did was give me the worst yeast infection in the universe. The doctor that did *this* surgery didn't do anything about the endometriosis that was everywhere else. My regular GYN had retired due to health reasons and this guy had taken over his patients. If I had known then what I know now about this guy, I would have shopped around, but that's another story. And a reason you should ALWAYS get a second opinion! LOL

And when I said I was bleeding months after, above, it was because I had a growth on the stitch line where my cervix had once been and it had never healed. After going back and forth to this doctor's office for 3 months, and having it alternately frozen and cauterized, I changed doctors again. I was just too miserable. I still *felt* like I had endometriosis, and sure enough I did. So he put me on a *male* hormone for 3 months, and the side effects were just horrible. But once I made it through that period I felt great and have ever since. It's been 12 years.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 06:51 pm:

Oh yeah, and if you read in the 2nd link I posted near the end of my first post, it states that estrogen replacement therapy can cause it to grow back during menopause. The doctor that finally got rid of mine said that the doctor who did my hysterectomy made a huge mistake by putting me on estrogen the day after surgery. He gave me a Delestrogen injection plus put me on oral estrogen. It must have caused the endometriosis that was left in my abdominal cavity to grow like crazy. LOL

Hope all this isn't too much information. Maybe someone else can benefit from what I went through.

By Cocoabutter on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 10:58 pm:

Wow. I got scared reading all that! Let's not scare poor Deanna!

To be on the safe side, you should ask to see your dr. It could be just the ovulation causing the discomfort, since it only happens during that time before the period like when you have PMS symptoms. But he can examine you to be sure.

By Karen~moderator on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 08:57 am:

Lisa, I don't mean to scare anyone. It could be as simple as ovulation, it could be an ovarian cyst, or it could be something more serious.

I realize this was not the original direction of this thread, but if I had not put things off, and had taken the time to check out doctors and get second opinions, I wouldn't have had to go through what I did.

Sorry if it was TMI. Any time you have ANY *female* problems you should always see your doctor.

By Reds9298 on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 01:40 pm:

Not to worry...I appreciate all of the info Karen!! If I was scared I would have already been to the doc. You've got me thinking though, so I might give this a month or two more, see how it goes, and then make an appt. Thanks for the info from everyone!!

By Karen~admin on Friday, August 4, 2006 - 07:23 pm:

Thread spammed 08-04-06