Almost all of us have had mothers, sisters, girlfriends or wives in our lives and shared living spaces at various points. Most of us old enough would get it. 14 year old boy, or someone raised in a monastery, maybe not. 😛
Actually, if Midol/herbal tea/hot baths aren’t helping, or you need them a lot, you might have a major medical condition called Endometriosis. I have it, and I suffered for a long, long time because A.) I completely believed my pain and symptoms were typical and normal, and B.) Endometriosis doesn’t show up in CAT or MRI scans. The condition shouldn’t kill you, as far as I know, but it *is* extremely painful. It can also lead to infertility (And one of the main treatment is a hysterectomy—I do NOT like how close that word is to ‘hysterical’.) Doctors have to go in, with surgery, to even be sure you have it, but I’ve met some who’ve gotten the diagnosis without surgery (How, I don’t know.)
I’m not selling anything, I swear! I haven’t responded to any treatments (Most of the time they can put you into ‘chemically induced’ menopause to treat it or use birth control; Neither worked for me and menopause is gonna *suck*.) But I did start seeing a Gyno at a young age because my parents suspected something was off; Actually, my father did, which goes to show some men really *do* understand women/daughters.
There’s another condition called PCOS that’s also painful; I have both (They could only discover one while I was in treatment), and my doctors are ENTIRELY too casual when they say things like “If your ovary explodes, make an appointment and we’ll try to see you in a month.” I feel like if a man had a testicle explode, he’d go to the ER and start crying—which is my plan.
So here’s my PSA: If your period makes you scream out in pain, see a doctor. If it makes you cry from pain, see a doctor. If it makes you *feel insane*, see a doctor (Endometriosis *causes* depression and anxiety, so feeling depressed/anxious really may not be PMS.) If you have pain without a period, see a doctor. If you have pain and your doctor won’t believe you, see a new doctor. If your doctor is bullshitting you, refusing to treat your pain, refusing to treat the condition (I’ve had almost all my doctors do it, most refuse to treat me because they say they don’t understand the condition well enough to), find a new doctor.
It’s entirely too easy for any female to write off the problems this condition causes as PMS, depression, anxiety, or as “normal” or “everyone goes through this”. Some times, some women with the condition have never had pain: Others have extreme amounts (That’s me!), and others don’t seem to have unusual amounts of pain—I keep meeting new girls, every day, who went sick for years because of the illness. No one else needs to suffer another day.
Lastly, if you develop uterine cancer, as endometriosis is made up of this (Which is why MRI’s can’t see it), all this endometriosis tissue could turn cancerous as well, and depending how much and how far it’s grown in your body (It sort of acts like cancer itself, except they call the things it grows “implants” instead of “tumors” and it’s *not* cancer, but grows *like* it), this could be a disaster.
Sorry this was so long; I just don’t want anyone else to wait as long as I had to, to get help 🙁
It… it doesn’t come out of nowhere though, right? Because a couple months ago I had ONE day, first or second day of my period, where I woke up and my abdominal region was so ouchy and cramped I threw up about five minutes later. Then I was completely fine within like an hour, and haven’t had any problems since.
But…
A few years ago, and I do mean years (weirdly, I never remember the actual year as a year or my age or anything, but as “the year the fifth Harry Potter book came out”, since it happened at the same time) I had serious abdominal pain, bad enough to repeatedly vomit, and it coincided with my period. They thought it might be a kidney stone, but nothing showed up on scans or anything. D:
But… on the other hand, the only thing that seemed to treat it was an antibiotic? Because the symptoms went away after I was on it and came back after I forgot to take it for a day, and then went away again when I went back on it. (Also, fun fact: the guy who saw me in the ER and painfully felt up my innards and then ordered the scan? Found out nothing. Guy from walk in clinic? The one who prescribed the antibiotic that actually worked. Yeah. )
Ugh. Can we just agree that lady parts have too many things go wrong with them and should stop it with that? >.>
The worse part is I can’t afford to see a gyno right now to have this stuff double-checked on >.>
I don’t know if you’ll see that I replied to you or not, but it may have been an ovarian cyst that formed or popped. I’ve had a couple of those, and they were really intense, sudden pain, but after the first one shrank, and the second popped, things got better. Took a few days though. And the doctors told me cysts are one of the things that don’t show up in MRIs, but do with an ultrasound.
Of course, a cyst wouldn’t necessarily respond to antibiotics, so it could just be that something was really inflamed with an infection for you.
I don’t want to distract from the serious point you’ve raised here, but there’s a reason why the words “hysterectomy” and “hysterical” are so similar. Doctors – real, medically trained doctors – used to believe that emotional problems in women were caused by the womb wandering around their bodies, ending up in the wrong place and disrupting your body’s natural functioning.
Mind you, this was in the days when “medically trained” meant “can apply a leech, and knows which bit the knee is,” so maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised.
Christie;
Whoa—offended? I’m offended that I made you think I was offended–so I offended myself!
Seriously, I wasn’t upset; I just don’t want other females to suffer for years and years the way many of us do with the condition. I took no offense at you, your comment, or Gyno Star–I promise 🙂 I was just concerned for that lone reader with unusual pain who, like me, whole-heartedly believed everyone was in that same level of pain; That’s actually some good amount of most of us with the condition. We knew we hurt—we just assumed it was normal. Some women with no pain discover they have the condition via another surgery or when trying to have children, at which point many can’t; Treating it earlier gives you the best chance, probably, to still have kids.
So I’m sorry if I offended you by sounding like I was upset; I’m totally not 🙂 I’m just broadcasting the “No, sometimes some pain is too much and means you have a real problem” message, as the condition is relatively rare (10% have it, and it’s something you tend to be born with, though I have heard organ donation can give it to someone if the donor has it), and most doctor’s don’t check; My aunt also has it, but by the time they discovered it (After my own diagnosis) nothing could be done–she woke up to be informed they’d removed her reproductive system, as it was useless from the condition; She suffered a long, long time when she could have had it treated or removed at my age and lived a fairly pain-free life.
Actually, maybe I’ll make a little one-shot manga as a PSA for this; I get scared, now, when I see commercials for pain management for women’s periods and birth control; You never hear them say “But if you keep having pain, see a doctor, because you could have a serious but rare condition called endometriosis.” I actually just checked a bottle of Midol, and it says nothing about continued pain (But it does say to check the box, so I guess I’ll dig that out and give it a read.) It’s entirely too easy for women with this or any sort of condition in this region to go on suffering way longer than needed, but a little information goes a long way; That’s the only reason I jumped in to comment, just to provide the “By the way, you could have a serious condition” byline.
Our medical establishment are only now looking at chronic pain seriously. It was bad when men took over the jobs of women in relation to child birth and other aspects of women and girls health. Puts them rather behind in knowledge and the female of the species suffered because of it.
Ha! That last panels punchline is gorgeous.
Oh, good. I wasn’t entirely sure if dudes would get it…
Almost all of us have had mothers, sisters, girlfriends or wives in our lives and shared living spaces at various points. Most of us old enough would get it. 14 year old boy, or someone raised in a monastery, maybe not. 😛
YES! Badass Gyno-Star.
Yep, and more to come… possibly. No spoilers.
…anyone who tells you different is selling something.
Actually, if Midol/herbal tea/hot baths aren’t helping, or you need them a lot, you might have a major medical condition called Endometriosis. I have it, and I suffered for a long, long time because A.) I completely believed my pain and symptoms were typical and normal, and B.) Endometriosis doesn’t show up in CAT or MRI scans. The condition shouldn’t kill you, as far as I know, but it *is* extremely painful. It can also lead to infertility (And one of the main treatment is a hysterectomy—I do NOT like how close that word is to ‘hysterical’.) Doctors have to go in, with surgery, to even be sure you have it, but I’ve met some who’ve gotten the diagnosis without surgery (How, I don’t know.)
I’m not selling anything, I swear! I haven’t responded to any treatments (Most of the time they can put you into ‘chemically induced’ menopause to treat it or use birth control; Neither worked for me and menopause is gonna *suck*.) But I did start seeing a Gyno at a young age because my parents suspected something was off; Actually, my father did, which goes to show some men really *do* understand women/daughters.
There’s another condition called PCOS that’s also painful; I have both (They could only discover one while I was in treatment), and my doctors are ENTIRELY too casual when they say things like “If your ovary explodes, make an appointment and we’ll try to see you in a month.” I feel like if a man had a testicle explode, he’d go to the ER and start crying—which is my plan.
So here’s my PSA: If your period makes you scream out in pain, see a doctor. If it makes you cry from pain, see a doctor. If it makes you *feel insane*, see a doctor (Endometriosis *causes* depression and anxiety, so feeling depressed/anxious really may not be PMS.) If you have pain without a period, see a doctor. If you have pain and your doctor won’t believe you, see a new doctor. If your doctor is bullshitting you, refusing to treat your pain, refusing to treat the condition (I’ve had almost all my doctors do it, most refuse to treat me because they say they don’t understand the condition well enough to), find a new doctor.
It’s entirely too easy for any female to write off the problems this condition causes as PMS, depression, anxiety, or as “normal” or “everyone goes through this”. Some times, some women with the condition have never had pain: Others have extreme amounts (That’s me!), and others don’t seem to have unusual amounts of pain—I keep meeting new girls, every day, who went sick for years because of the illness. No one else needs to suffer another day.
Lastly, if you develop uterine cancer, as endometriosis is made up of this (Which is why MRI’s can’t see it), all this endometriosis tissue could turn cancerous as well, and depending how much and how far it’s grown in your body (It sort of acts like cancer itself, except they call the things it grows “implants” instead of “tumors” and it’s *not* cancer, but grows *like* it), this could be a disaster.
Sorry this was so long; I just don’t want anyone else to wait as long as I had to, to get help 🙁
Thanks for the info, Xexilia. It IS something people should know!
That… is seriously scary. 🙁
It… it doesn’t come out of nowhere though, right? Because a couple months ago I had ONE day, first or second day of my period, where I woke up and my abdominal region was so ouchy and cramped I threw up about five minutes later. Then I was completely fine within like an hour, and haven’t had any problems since.
But…
A few years ago, and I do mean years (weirdly, I never remember the actual year as a year or my age or anything, but as “the year the fifth Harry Potter book came out”, since it happened at the same time) I had serious abdominal pain, bad enough to repeatedly vomit, and it coincided with my period. They thought it might be a kidney stone, but nothing showed up on scans or anything. D:
But… on the other hand, the only thing that seemed to treat it was an antibiotic? Because the symptoms went away after I was on it and came back after I forgot to take it for a day, and then went away again when I went back on it. (Also, fun fact: the guy who saw me in the ER and painfully felt up my innards and then ordered the scan? Found out nothing. Guy from walk in clinic? The one who prescribed the antibiotic that actually worked. Yeah. )
Ugh. Can we just agree that lady parts have too many things go wrong with them and should stop it with that? >.>
The worse part is I can’t afford to see a gyno right now to have this stuff double-checked on >.>
I don’t know if you’ll see that I replied to you or not, but it may have been an ovarian cyst that formed or popped. I’ve had a couple of those, and they were really intense, sudden pain, but after the first one shrank, and the second popped, things got better. Took a few days though. And the doctors told me cysts are one of the things that don’t show up in MRIs, but do with an ultrasound.
Of course, a cyst wouldn’t necessarily respond to antibiotics, so it could just be that something was really inflamed with an infection for you.
I don’t want to distract from the serious point you’ve raised here, but there’s a reason why the words “hysterectomy” and “hysterical” are so similar. Doctors – real, medically trained doctors – used to believe that emotional problems in women were caused by the womb wandering around their bodies, ending up in the wrong place and disrupting your body’s natural functioning.
Mind you, this was in the days when “medically trained” meant “can apply a leech, and knows which bit the knee is,” so maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised.
😀
Hahaha…Love the last panel! I love finding other webcomics…and I’ll definitely be adding yours to the frequently read list.
Thanks! I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
So glad I work at Walgreens. Otherwise, I’d have no idea what Midol was used for.
Erm, stupid 19 year old guy with very little girl experience…what IS Midol for?
*experience question…
It’s for menstrual cramps & general PMS symptoms.
Xexilia, I’m sorry you went through that. I was just finishing the movie quote, so sorry if my comment offended.
Christie;
Whoa—offended? I’m offended that I made you think I was offended–so I offended myself!
Seriously, I wasn’t upset; I just don’t want other females to suffer for years and years the way many of us do with the condition. I took no offense at you, your comment, or Gyno Star–I promise 🙂 I was just concerned for that lone reader with unusual pain who, like me, whole-heartedly believed everyone was in that same level of pain; That’s actually some good amount of most of us with the condition. We knew we hurt—we just assumed it was normal. Some women with no pain discover they have the condition via another surgery or when trying to have children, at which point many can’t; Treating it earlier gives you the best chance, probably, to still have kids.
So I’m sorry if I offended you by sounding like I was upset; I’m totally not 🙂 I’m just broadcasting the “No, sometimes some pain is too much and means you have a real problem” message, as the condition is relatively rare (10% have it, and it’s something you tend to be born with, though I have heard organ donation can give it to someone if the donor has it), and most doctor’s don’t check; My aunt also has it, but by the time they discovered it (After my own diagnosis) nothing could be done–she woke up to be informed they’d removed her reproductive system, as it was useless from the condition; She suffered a long, long time when she could have had it treated or removed at my age and lived a fairly pain-free life.
Actually, maybe I’ll make a little one-shot manga as a PSA for this; I get scared, now, when I see commercials for pain management for women’s periods and birth control; You never hear them say “But if you keep having pain, see a doctor, because you could have a serious but rare condition called endometriosis.” I actually just checked a bottle of Midol, and it says nothing about continued pain (But it does say to check the box, so I guess I’ll dig that out and give it a read.) It’s entirely too easy for women with this or any sort of condition in this region to go on suffering way longer than needed, but a little information goes a long way; That’s the only reason I jumped in to comment, just to provide the “By the way, you could have a serious condition” byline.
Sorry again! D:
O_O Princess Bride reference.
I LOVE this comic 😀
Now, madame, here you’ve gone too far! Claiming herbal tea has any reason for existing! For shame!
I stand by it!
Our medical establishment are only now looking at chronic pain seriously. It was bad when men took over the jobs of women in relation to child birth and other aspects of women and girls health. Puts them rather behind in knowledge and the female of the species suffered because of it.
This is exactly the comic I needed today, thank you.