Understanding Dysmenorrhea
September 15, 2009
Dysmenorrhea or painful periods are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, fainting, headaches, lethargy and exhaustion.
Two types of pain may be experienced- spasmodic dysmenorrhea and congestive dysmenorrhea. In congestive dysmenorrheal, the women experience a constant low backache. In spasmodic dysmenorrheal, the women experience cramping pain like contraction. Also, many times painful menstruation may not have any specific reason for pain.
Nevertheless, the pain must be investigated. For this, the painful periods are classified into- primary dysmenorrhea and secondary dysmenorrhea. There is no significant reason of painful period in the primary Dysmenorrhea. In the secondary dysmenorrheal the reason of pain could be due to some infection, fibroids and endometriosis.
Causes
The pain will become worse during the initial days of periods. During the period, the womb has to contract in order to squeeze out the blood. This simple contraction may become stronger in some women which lead to painful periods.
Over-production of endocrine substances, prostaglandins may aggravate the pain. Normally prostaglandins are healthy substances but PGF2- alpha and PGE2 are highly inflammatory substances. Levels of prostaglandins are low before the periods start.
Once periods start the level of prostaglandins increase causing inflammation and hence the pain. This triggers the muscle to contract and make the nerve ending more sensitive towards pain. Fatigue, nausea and headaches accompany the pain.
Treatment
The pills may be prescribed to put you in an artificial cycle. But use of pills offers many side effects which include nausea, headache, low sex drive, breast tenderness and depression.
Tablets of mefenamic acid may be prescribed. The substance is a strong painkiller which inhibits the production of “bad” prostaglandins.
Ibuprofen is yet another effective painkiller. Both drugs show side effects like nausea, diarrhea and drowsiness. Surgical procedure is the last resort. It is only considered when all remedies fail.
Role of Nutrition
Supplementation of vitamin B-complex is very important for production of “good” prostaglandins in the body. These vitamins also help in reducing the intensity of the period pain.
It is not clear how vitamin E brings relief but the rich antioxidant capacity of the vitamin may be doing the duty. Vitamin C and bioflavonoid help in relaxation of the muscles.
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