help with primary dysmenorrhea

[Guest guest]

Hi All;

I have had primary dysmenorrhea since I started menstruating. Has

anybody found an effective way of reducing the pain, apart from OTC

painkillers and hot water bottles? I need to take naproxen at double

the label dose in order to function on the worst day or two. I would

like to reduce my reliance on painkillers.

The latter part of this paragraph is me:

" Most women describe their menstrual cramps as a dull aching or a

pressure low in the abdomen. *The pains may wax and wane, remain

constant, or be so severe that they cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,

backache, sweating, and an achiness that spreads to the hips, lower

back, and thighs.* "

(taken from: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON00004.html)

Add to the above spending 8 hours or more in bed curled up almost

fainting from waves of pain, which are much stronger than dull or

aching, that occur with cyclical cramps. Naproxen at double the

recommended dose makes it bearable, but again, I don't want to

continue to abuse it by taking more than the recommended dosage.

I should add that I am on an NT diet, no sugar, no caffeine, for

grains only homemade whole grain bread or brown rice (not much of

either anyway), and supplement with cod liver oil. I have been on many

diets in my life, and none have had an effect on this. I have had my

diet analysed by a nutritionalist, and passed with flying colors. My

gyns through the years have found no abnormalities of my uterus, no

fibroids, it is not endometriosis.

If anybody has had any success in reducing this type and severity of

pain please do let me know.

Thank you,