Why are my periods so painful?

Symptoms:

You’re in your middle 40s and you’re having prolonged, irregular periods, often painful. Your periods have been getting progressively more painful in the past few years until now you’re forced to take to your bed each month.

You have abdominal pain which is worse when you pass urine and during sex. Your periods are painful too.

It could be:

Menorrhagia,

quite common as women approach the menopause and often due to hormone imbalances.

Endometriosis,

where the lining of your uterus grows outside the uterine cavity causing inflammation with each period.

It could be

pelvic inflammatory disease

(PID), often related to a past STI such as chlamydia.

Stop it:

See your doctor and have a discussion about taking a hormone (a form of progesterone) that will hopefully regularise your periods. You need a gynaecological assessment, so see your doctor for a referral. There are several different treatments for this condition with or without surgery.

It’s important you see your doctor or an STI clinic as soon as you can because PID can cause infertility and even septicaemia. Refrain from sex.