For some women, periods are easy to handle. For women who live with menstrual disorders, they’re uncomfortable at best and excruciating and disruptive at worst.
The most common menstrual disorders are dysmenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.
While most women experience menstrual cramping at some point, for a select group of women it happens every month and is intensely painful. These cramps, also called dysmenorrhea, are thought to be caused by a substance your uterine lining cells produce called prostaglandins. Women with dysmenorrhea may also experience diarrhea or feel faint.
PMS is an umbrella term for a group of symptoms connected to a woman’s menstrual cycle. The majority of women experience some kind of PMS symptom, and for most, the symptoms are not severe enough to disrupt daily life.
Though symptoms can overlap, PMDD is much more severe than PMS. Psychological symptoms such as anxiety, irritability and mood swings are prevalent, and all symptoms — psychological and physical — can significantly disrupt day-to-day life significantly.
Symptoms that may indicate presence of a menstrual disorder tend to start within 2 weeks of a woman’s period (and improve once it begins) or change in the middle of the cycle. Common symptoms include:
Some women may also experience prolonged periods (lasting longer than 8 to 10 days), too frequent periods (occurring more than once each month) or the absence of periods (no menstrual period for more than 3 months).
The effectiveness of treatment for menstrual disorders varies for each woman affected. Common treatments include:
If you're experiencing signs or symptoms of a menstrual disorder, schedule an appointment or call 800-TEMPLE-MED (800-836-7536) today.
Learn more about our doctors and care team who diagnose and treat menstrual disorders.