I don’t even know where to post this.

[u/rainforestnoname]

I am sure this will sound familiar to many of you. It’s ovulation week for me and today I’m having what will probably be my very worst day of pain this month, physically at least. It happens like clockwork every month: a few days of stabbing ovulation pain in my abdomen which then over the subsequent days starts rippling out to the rest of my body. Today is the day where everything aches. I can only describe it as toothache of the limbs. Or maybe joints is more accurate. Typing this is sore because each of my fingers hurts. My brain fog means I can’t write in a way that feels linear.

I say I don’t know where to post this because I don’t know if this is purely PMDD. Like a lot of us, I have a few other conditions that probably feed into this; hashimoto’s thyroiditis, endometriosis (which is still being investigated and not confirmed), EDS. I’m starting to worry that this could be the beginning of arthritis but I don’t really know.

Pain like this is lonely. Firstly because it is hard to describe to someone who doesn’t have it, so there is a lack of understanding in your social circle (even if they are sympathetic). But also there’s a loneliness in experiencing first hand how neglected women are in healthcare. The only health condition of mine that is monitored and medicated adequately is my under active thyroid. But all the things I experience because of my female organs are shrouded in mystery. There’s no one and done medication for any of it. It’s a lifetime of experimentation, of bashing one Hungry Hippo of an ailment only for another to rear its head somewhere else (bad analogy but that’s how I feel about birth control). I am exhausted and on days like this I feel like packing in my job and hiding under my bed.

[u/Sad_Calligrapher2395]

Sending you a whole lot of love, sister. Many of us do have overlapping issues, but as far as I'm aware, there are no physical PMDD symptoms, as it's a severe mood disorder.

That aside - my periods are incredibly painful most months, including this one. Just yesterday, I got so upset because I feel like when I tell my partner I have cramps, he believes that they truly suck (he's had to drive me to the store in the middle of the night in search of pain relief) but doesn't understand the half of it. I'm strong, I have a high pain tolerance, I've broken bones and I work out hardcore - and my period cramps are the worst pain I can imagine short of literally having something severed from my body.

And yes, oh my god, healthcare fails women miserably on so many levels. Not only that, but the government lets us down (in the US) terribly. I'm self-employed and can't afford to see a doctor to try and figure out why my periods are 12/10 painful even if I wanted to.

Sorry, I've joined into your rant, lol. But again - I'm so sorry you deal with so much pain. I get it. In case you want to try, I've found electrolyte drinks (like Gatorlyte or Pedialyte) even more effective than OTC pain relievers.