Lower back pain during PMS - questions

[nancy324]

This has been a rough week for me. I normally have lower back pain every month during PMS time, and some months are worse than others, but this month was the worst.

If I hadn't had scheduled client meetings each day, I probably would have missed a day or two of work. Instead, I took high doses of OTC medications and drank a lot of wine and beer just to kill the pain. I know I have to call my doctor and discuss this with her because it can no longer be ignored. I am particularly worried because my Alaskan cruise is going to fall at exactly that time next month.

I am really curious to know whether this level of lower back pain (in my case I had neck and shoulder pain as well this month) is unusual or not. So I have 2 questions:

1. Do you regularly experience low back (and/or neck and shoulder) pain as part of your PMS?

2. If so, what is the level of pain? Is it an 8-10 (keeps you up at night or causes you to miss work), a 5-7 (you can sleep but it's always nagging at you and you occasionally miss work or other activities), or something lower?

Thanks ladies!

-Nancy

 

[Timber99]

Hi Nancy,

The lower back pain seems to be something new for you...have you started new medication or done something different this month?

I used to get terrible lower back pain during PMS or my cycle. I don't recall any shoulder or neck pain but I wouldbet that if you have lower back issues, the neck and shoudlers can be equally effected. A doctor explained to me that the lower back pain is a typical side effect during the menstrual cycle b/c of the location of the ovaries (if I remember correctly). My pain was strong but not enough to keep me from functioning or going to work. Sometimes I would toss and turn with it but I was never up all night. With different birth control pills, I have seen this lower back pain fluctuate. Right now, I barely have any.

If your pain is severe enough to keep you awake at night or to cause you to stay home from work and OTC meds don't seem to relieve it, perhaps you should talk to your doctor.

Good Luck
Christine

 

[Kit_]

Nancy,

My PMS use to be nearly 9 in pain. About every part of my body hurt, but the cramps and lower back pain were the worse. They could put me right down on my knees just trying to get out of bed to go to the bathroom.

Do see your doctor about this, as there are special meds/painkillers for PMS that can take a lot of the muscle pain away. Usually it’s a pill or a shot, so it’s just remembering to either take or go get it, day (whatever). And there are several so go see your doctor ASAP so you can start trying them before your trip. As once your out on that boat, it might be hard to get a different prescription. Granted a lot of the cruse lines do have a medical staff, but I have no idea how well stocked they’d be with those type of meds.

And also be careful with taking large amounts of OTC with wine and beer or any alcohol, depending if it's Ibuprofen it can make your period much heavier. As I found out the hard way, and my doctor confirmed it. Actually she chewed me out for doing that. If you cut yourself or get into an accident, it makes it much harder to stop the bleeding from cuts and scrapes, and especially internal bleeding. This affect can last up to 10 days from Ibuprofen. And this stuff can make you bleed excessively just from getting a shot. So make sure you tell your doctor how much of it you’ve taken. And you’ll probably get a lecture about pain meds and alcohol, but it’s better they know, so if they do give you a shot, they don’t think there is something else wrong and put you in the hospital for a few days.

Kit

 

[robin4health]

Oh Nancy, I am so sorry to hear this! I sympathize with your pain! I hate that I keep talking about Shaklee on here, but let me tell you my personal experience and of some of my friends. My periods use to last 7-8 days and I had bad cramps (intensity around 7-8), sometimes it would tense up my whole lower back and I would pop the IB and lay on a heating pad for a couple of hours until it eased up. I usually had bad cramps the first 3 days of my period. My cramps usually were the worst around mid afternoon.
That was the old me. Now, let me tell you how my periods are now: they last about 4 days and if I do get cramps, they are so mild that I don't have to take anything for them any more. The only thing different is that I am on Shaklee vitamins and their soy protein (I went on thier essential foundations which includes a multi, B, C, & E and soy protein, you can read more about this product at www.shaklee.net/robin_walker). The first month that I was on these I noticed that my period didn't last as long, but I had still had some cramping. The next month my period was little bit shorter and I didn't really have cramps at all, and that is when I realized how great this was! It has made a world of difference for me and my story is not unique. I have many friends who have experienced the exact same thing. Many women have noticed that their periods are less intense and PMS is much less when they switch onto Shaklee's vitamins. What I have learned is that the severity of how bad we experience PMS is related to our hormone levels which in turn can be impacted by the vitamins in our body. Any how, I have some info I can send you if you are interested about reading more about PMS symptoms and how they are related to the vitamins in our bodies and what vitamins help with PMS. If you are interested in these files, please email me at: [email protected] and I will send them your way so can read about it yourself!!!!
I hope you are feeling back to yourself soon!!!

 

[nancy324]

Thanks so much Christine and Kit. Not to worry, Kit, I didn't combine the pain meds with alcohol. They were separate. Although I'd rather do without them both entirely.

No, Christine, the back pain is not new for me at all. I've had it for at least 20 years. But most of the time it's quite tolerable.

Kit, your information is very helpful and interesting. I didn't know that about ibuprofen.

Let me ask you something: do you think I should see my gyn or my regular doc? I wouldn't be surprised if arthritis is at the bottom of this, perhaps made worse by PMS. I'm no doctor, so that's just a guess. I'd rather see my regular doc, because she's easier to get an appointment with, but maybe that doesn't make much sense. It's hard to think straight when you're in pain.
:-(

 

[Kit_]

Your regular doctor should be able to prescribe these meds, but they may not be up on the info. They know about them, but only have the general info, and this is a maybe, some general doctors won’t even have that info. So if you go there for that, you maybe wasting your time. Where as your gyn, will know specifically, as that's their specialty.

Since there could be two factors, I'd hit them both. As there are some good arthritis medicines out there right now too. Usually they just do an x-ray to determine if there is any arthritis, if not they may just give you a light muscle relaxes or anti-inflammatory to take as needed or send you off to physical therapy. The meds will be stronger then over the counter, and depending on your system will either make you sleepy or a bit more hyper, though in general the affect is sleepy.

But also this decision will actually have to depend on if this pain has been bothering you more then just during PMS. If so, then you'll have to decide if you want to go threw the testing to see you can fix it without meds, as another way you could probably go, as most doctors are usually all for this. Is to try different physical therapies on your back. There are a ton, if you live in a good size city you’ll probably have access to most of them. From ultra-sound to water therapy to massage to exercise, the list goes on and on. There are a lot of choices and you may just have to keep trying until you find the one that works the best. Though you may still end up getting the PMS medicine, if it's been a re-occurring problem, as you can help your back 20 days out of the month but those 7 days of PMS, seems to be in a completely different category. What you thought was all fixed, isn't during that time. Which is way if it were me, I’d hit both doctors. As you can have two problems in one area at the same time, so to fix it completely you got to go after both. Which means basically spending more time in the doctors office then you really want to. But it could amount to no lower back pain, which is a really good thing.

Hope that helps, and try to stay out of pain as much as possible. I know that's not always an easy task to do. So I'll be sending you some healing vibs your way.

Kit

 

[rmrmr]

Hi Nancy,

I also had horrible back pain during my cycle and would even miss work because I was in so much pain. The pain got worse as I got older. Due to this horrible pain I just had a hysterectomy and can tell you it has made all the difference in the world. I even had some liver damage due to all the pain killers I had been taking.

Good Luck whatever you decide.

Diana