SEVERE lower abdominal pain one week before period after def

For anyone who has pain that is sudden, excruciating, but relatively short-lived, and is sometimes brought on by orgasm,  you may have proactalgia fugax. It's a muscle cramp in the lower bowel region.  It feels like someone is twisting a baseball bat in your rectum/lower GI.  I get this pain really bad sometimes!  I have found that it helps to chew two baby aspirin and let the powder dissolve under your tongue (fastest absorption) and then to lie on the bed in a fetal position and try to use biofeedback to cause the muscles to relax. It's supposedly a very common pain but even my ob/gyn did not mention it when I told him about my symptoms...he sent me for a transvaginal ultrasound (normal) and I discovered the diagnosis on my own. 

even mi am facing the problem but i don't know the medicine.sorry about that.

I have the same problem but mine is EVERY month and starts about a week or more before my period and lasts up to a week or longer after... Its been going on now for about 2 years or more and I also having a HEAVY HEAVY period. I cant work out during this time with out being in severe pain and then bleeding following... Ive been off my period for 4 days now but because i worked out it all started back. Im so sick of this pain and i know if i go to the er and they tell me its nothing i may go crazy!!

I'm 23 yrs and I have a same problem where my pain starts before 10 days of periods and the pain comes with the urge of passing urine or motion and vanishes within 20mins and it happens 4 to 5 times a day before periods and during this time. I used to be person who feel asleep within 2mins once on bed and get up only in morning no matter in what enviornment I sleep but during this time I often get up in night due to pain, this problem has being persists from past 4 years and I feel much frustrated. Finally I have planned to get treated and last week I had undergone all test as My Dr said it may be endometriosis but my MRI and ultrasound shows no such sysmtoms. But still she insists that she may be the starting stage of endo and also I they have found a cyst for which she has given me no proper details and I'm going to meet her again tomorrow for more details.

After reading this forum I found many people are suffering with us but taking it casually. My mom is much tensed as she wants me to get married now. I need to really know what is exactly happening inside me as I'm really frustrated of this problem now. Once you people have more problem please do let me know.

This is exactly what happens to me. I have spent months reading and researching online and no one ever has the exact same problem as me. My pain starts about a week before my period does, comes on at spartatic times of the day, lasts for about 20-30 mins each time. This happens all day, for about a week, when I start my period. the pain even wakes me up at night. Not every month though, sometimes it skips a month. I have had 2 trans-vaginal ultra sounds, nothing found but small fibroids. I have had blood work, endoscopy and sigmoidoscopy. Nothing. The GI doc says it's not GI related, and the GYN says it's not GYN related. Except that it might be the fibroids swelling. But on a scale form one to ten, when the pain is at it's worse, it's a 9! It is so unbearable. But once that spell is gone, I am fine, just tired from the pain. I mean, there has to be an explanation for this. Espcially since I finally found someone else who has the same problem. Nothing helps the pain for me either, there has been no pain meds to make it go away. I too go to the bathroom and try to pee or number 2, just because it seems to help a little. But then I find myself just sitting on the toilet for 20 mins, and nothing happening. It really sounds GI related, but also linked to our periods. I just really wished I could find relief. I even had an trans-vaginal ultra sound done one time while I was having these pains, so the doc could see if anything was swelling. She saw nothing but the fibroids, which she said could cause pain, but not like I am describing. My pain sometimes goes around the my back and down to my knees. I hope someone can figure it out.

Hope wrote:

Quote:

I too have something similar but haven't been able to completely identify with what I've been reading here.  I get extreme lower abdominal cramping about 7 days before I start my period.  The pain never lasts longer than 20 minutes but it comes at different intervals throughout the day.  I have found that an orgasm alone during this time of the month will bring on the pain without intercourse.  That brings on the most severe of the cramping.  Regular OTC meds do not help whatsoever and Lortab doesn't help much either.  Doctor originally thought it may be Endo but most recent doctor says it doesn't add up.  When the pain comes on, I usually feel the urge to just push while sitting on the toilet.  I don't have the urge to go to the bathroom but just to push.  I had an ultrasound at one point with nothing found a few years back.  Recent Dr thinks it could be some type of cyst that is swelling during those 7 days before my period that then deflates once it starts.  Once my period starts, I'm pain free.  This happens every single month.

This is exactly what happens to me. I have spent months reading and researching online and no one ever has the exact same problem as me. My pain starts about a week before my period does, comes on at spartatic times of the day, lasts for about 20-30 mins each time. This happens all day, for about a week, when I start my period. the pain even wakes me up at night. Not every month though, sometimes it skips a month. I have had 2 trans-vaginal ultra sounds, nothing found but small fibroids. I have had blood work, endoscopy and sigmoidoscopy. Nothing. The GI doc says it's not GI related, and the GYN says it's not GYN related. Except that it might be the fibroids swelling. But on a scale form one to ten, when the pain is at it's worse, it's a 9! It is so unbearable. But once that spell is gone, I am fine, just tired from the pain. I mean, there has to be an explanation for this. Espcially since I finally found someone else who has the same problem. Nothing helps the pain for me either, there has been no pain meds to make it go away. I too go to the bathroom and try to pee or number 2, just because it seems to help a little. But then I find myself just sitting on the toilet for 20 mins, and nothing happening. It really sounds GI related, but also linked to our periods. I just really wished I could find relief. I even had an trans-vaginal ultra sound done one time while I was having these pains, so the doc could see if anything was swelling. She saw nothing but the fibroids, which she said could cause pain, but not like I am describing. My pain sometimes goes around the my back and down to my knees. I hope someone can figure it out.

It is definitely annoying that so many women seem to have the same or similar problems and there's no definitive answer. I just recently had a laparascopy to which I was identified with endometriosis on my left ovary. It was too entwined to remove without having to remove whole ovary. Dr didn't want to remove it because I'm still wanting to have children and he wanted to discuss it first to give me all my options. My pain never skips a month unfortunately. I don't know that I'm convinced that it's the ovary thing just because the pain is all over in the lower abdomen and that it comes on after orgasm. I'll be seeing a specialist soon and hopefully will have more answers. I'm not wanting to try Lupron and I'm skeptical that it would even work for me.

I am 49, same problem. Never, Never had pain before nor during cycle. In 2005, I had an ectopic pregnancy/left tube ruptured. After cycle started back, it has been nothing but excrutating, sharp, stabbing, and totally intolerable pain on the lower left side for about 1 hour or longer. No pain medication helps. It has to run its course. After the pain stops, I fall asleep due to the severity of the pain and its toll on my body. The pressure makes my hemorroids flare-up, my uterus feels very full, and I have to empty my bladder/urinate constantly. I have been tested, ultra-sound, exploratory surgery, nothing. I have appt. 8-30-12. Let you know. MGL

Hi, it's been a long time since the first person posted but maybe someone else will find this useful... I have had various probs with periods and my GI tract - not really 100% sure what's what, but I was diagnosed with endo (and had it lasered off at the same time) in January 2012. I wonder if it has grown back since then. I have been getting stabbing pains all week in the run up to my period. It feels a bit like there is loose glass floating around my whole abdomen. Anyway, that's why I googled 'gastric pains before period'.

However, when I read some of the descriptions of the previous posters' pain, it made me wonder if any of you might have something like 'proctalgia fugax' or 'levator ani syndrome'. I have sort of self-diagnosed myself with something like this (ie crampy blood-starved tissue deep inside my abdomen or spasming of those massive tendons inside the abdomen) as they fit what has been happening to me over the last ?15 years, and which i recenlty found that my mum also gets. I thought it was some horrible GI-tract illness, or something to do with my repro-system (I have some cysts and a fibroid too, so I know that they can cause pressure and pain). Anyway, after mentioning it to various Dr.s over the years, and getting blank looks, I eventually found the descriptions online and thought - Bingo! Luckily, they are both benign conditions, but it's not something that any doc has even mentioned (instead they sent me for scans and colonoscopies that came back ok). I'm not trying to diagnose anyone, but I thought it might be worth reading descriptions of the characteristic pain/symptoms of those conditions (on Wiki or something) and seeing if they ring any bells. What happens to me is this: I get a really horrible pain that feels like someone has kicked me in the ovaries (i say that because it feels like how i imagine being kicked in the balls must feel like). These pains usually come on in the middle of the night, and wake me up, but occasionally they come on in the day. I have occasionally almost passed out or thrown up with the pain and I try to crouch on my knees as i imagine this helps. The pain lasts half an hour maybe, but then just evaporates - as fast as it comes on. It's hard to tell quite where the pain is coming from - somewhere deep inside the abdomen. I have also noticed that a similar sort of pain can start after I orgasm (which is why i thought it might be a sort of spasming or cramping, like when you get a 'stitch' from running because there's not enough oxygen in that area...? Or it might be something pinching tissue by pressing on it (eg the fibroid) and therefore cutting off the oxygen supply??). These pains come at any time of the month, as far as I can tell, not just at PMT time or around ovulation. Does this chime with anyone else's experiences?

... Just to follow on from my last post: I got so sick of it all a few months ago after a sleepless painful night that I went and spoke to the pharmacist. I wanted an anti-cramping type medicine and ended up choosing "Buscopan Cramps" (I'm in the UK). She told me that this used to be given to women for period pains too. I'm not sure if it really worked, but it might have done a bit. The problem is that the pain just comes on when you're not quite expecting it, or you're asleep (though i do think it's worse or more likely to come if I am very dehydrated), so it's hard to get the medicine IN to your system before it's too late. But if any of you are suffering from something like what I described above, it might be worth trying something like that. I don't really want to take a lot of medicines at the moment because we're trying to get pregnant and I don't like the idea of those chemicals floating around if there's a tiny pip in there. Sometimes really early pregnancy can also produce PMT-like cramps, so ... Anyway! I hope you all find some way of coping with the pain. I really feel like NOBODY in the med profession is listening to women like us. I hate going to the docs now because they obviously look at my file (which I am sure is incomplete) and see that GI investigations came back clear and just think, well she's obviously a hypochondriac because those tests revealed nothing!

I have started to notice a similar pattern - only because i started using LH test strips and basal body temps to identify when I am ovulating to try to get preg (with no success yet)! So... I noticed that actually I often get crippling pain on the right side (always, i think, never on the left) around where I think the ovary would be but also around where the appendix would be. I thought for ages it was a grumbling appendix, and it might be, but this month I googled "GI symptoms ovulation" as I was really bloated and gassy, and found that actually a lot of people get pain in the abdomen after they ovulate. It made me wonder - is it the actual act of ovulation that causes the pain (ie "pop"-as the egg is released!), or is it (as one website seemed to suggest) an irritation inside & around the abdomen caused by the liquid from the follicle spilling out (after the egg's released) into the abdo. Or,... is it the change in hormones that happens around the same time as ovulation, some of which also might have an effect on the bowel and other soft muscle tissue. The pain around this time is so bad, like a stitch, that I don't want to have sex.

Thank god i have found this! im only 15 years old, and about 3 months ago, 3 or 4 days before my period starts i get unberable pain in my lower abdomen, which is made worse by moving, sitting, rolling over, or walking. I get this every month now and going to the toilet puts a really painful pressure sort of pain on my lower abdomen, about where my uterus is. the pain, even when i am lying down flat is very painful, but when i move it hurts so much, i passed out once, and it makes me cry when ever i have to move when this pain is there. i get really heavy periods, and occasionally i  get quite sore stomach cramps, but they are nothing compared to this pain. I take regular co-codamol (400mg) and it doesnt really help at all, ive not had it checked out yet,  but next time it happens i will! the pain lasts about 30 hours and im already sick of it. can anyone tell  me what they think this might be?

i am 42 yrs and have the same problem since i was 17yrs..i also notice it 2 weeks before my period some times it may skip a month..when it happens i cant stand i get naucious, it is like someone is squeezing my left side ovary and intestine ...ask dr they have no clue except for one who told me she has the same thing she explained to me that when a woman ovulates her intestine relaxes and gas build up..well i dont know how true that was but all i know is that when i start feeling that dreadful pain i drink a cup of tea with crackers it works i just pass gas like crazy and i get relieve...i have an east indian co-worker told me abt corriander seed which one can boil and drink i tried it with ginger it helps too ...the best result is drinking it before the pain reaches maximum i always take a vaccuum flask with tea  to my room just in case it happens in my sleep and i am awake... i stay away from milk,cheeze, beans and any foods that will make me gassy during that time. ladies i know what u all are talking about that pain i thought i was the only one suffering with it until i started researching on the web some of these Doctors dont know a thing doing all manner of test spending alot of money only to hear "we dont know what it is."

wow, i have had this exact same thing for the past five years. It just started all of a sudden one cycle it was there and hasnt left. Every month from about 2-10 days before my period i will get sharp, quick pain right in the center of my uterus. I have has PAPS since and nothing seems to be wrong. I have had blood work too. Some times these pains can seriously take my breath away or make me yelp! But they are so quick.

I get severe lower abdominal pain , 10 days before my periods start. It somewhere near the ovary or appendix.

The pain is so severe that i cant sit or stand or walk. It last for around 1 hr and comes frequently throughout the day , probably 5-6 times. So atleast 1/3 or half of the day i am in pain. Its very severe during the nights that i cannot even sleep.Its like someone is pinching with a needle or a knife and the pain radiates to my lower back and till the right foot.

Sometimes have breathing problem too when pain is very severe. This continues for 7-10 days and after 3-4 days my periods starts. This goes on for every month. I had ,many ultrasound scannings , blood tests but nothing is diagnosed and all organs seems to be normal. No abnormality found. The doctors told they dont know about this as all reports are normal. I have been suffering from past 9 years and its seriously affecting my work life. I am frustrated now I am seriously looking out for a solution.

I am facing the same problem, and the doctor says there's no problem.. I feel frustrated its reduces my efficiency to wrk...!