“Stomach pain?”
I am a 17 year old female, I have been on my period for 5 days now and I've been having stomach pain for the 5 whole days. I have loose stools and have felt nauseous. I only threw up once. I can barely eat. Whenever I try to eat, it makes my stomach hurt more. I've taken Acetaminophen pills to try to help. So far they haven't helped much at all. At one minute my stomach hurts then the next it stops. What should I do? This has never happened to me before.
Female | 17 years old
Complaint duration: 5 days
5 Answers
See a provider. You may have an ovarian cyst.
Sincerely,
Dr. Janice Alexander, RN, MD
Sincerely,
Dr. Janice Alexander, RN, MD
This question is hard to answer without seeing you and doing some tests. You can try ibuprofen to see if that helps but it may make you more nauseous. If this continues you should see a provider.
Dr. Victoria Mondloch
OB-GYN (Obstetrician-Gynecologist) | Gynecology
Stomach pain could mean many things: in the world of women’s health, ‘stomach pain’ can actually be your stomach, which is usually associated with acid reflux, a hiatal hernia (not usual for a 17yo), a high acid concentration that is irritating to the stomach lining that can lead to ulcers over time or a stomach that is not emptying so it ‘back-fires’ and you then ‘throw-up’. Abdominal pain that is associated with your period is usually associated with your female hormones which can impact your entire GI tract from your stomach, to your small intestine and your large intestine, usually as rapid transit time resulting in diarrhea or as slow transit time resulting in bloating which can also trigger burping. Slow transit time goes along with low Progesterone; this can happen once in awhile or it can happen a lot which means you may be bloated a lot. Low Progesterone can also result in a thicker lining inside your uterus that needs to get bled out with your period; if your uterus is trying to pass a lot more blood than it usually does, you may not pass it all as a liquid form and you may form some blood clots; these are harder to push out and your uterus, which is a muscle, will work harder and contract stronger to push out those clots, this is another reason for ‘bad cramps’.
Over time, low Progesterone can lead to a condition called endometriosis when you have some of your menstrual blood and bits of lining pass backwards through your fallopian tubes landing in your pelvic tissues; this blood is extremely irritating and causes cramps by itself. Then any of the tissue can start to grow outside of your uterus and you then bleed inside your abdomen EVERY MONTH, causing stronger and stronger cramps each month. This condition called endometriosis can cause scar tissue and your bowels become irritated with inflammation and that can cause your bowels to ‘stick’ to the bleeding and now it’s not free to move as it normally would and this can cause abdominal pain.
Sometimes women will build a cyst on their ovary from too much Estradiol and too little Progesterone; this cyst pushes against your bowels and can irritate them causing them to slow down and contribute to bloating. And some stronger pain medication can slow down your GI tract so that it stops moving; if that goes on for too long, then it may require a doctor to intervene.
So as you can see, abdominal pain can be a once in awhile type of occurrence, or it can happen on a monthly basis. If it happens regularly, then seek a doctor’s advice as endometriosis needs to be found early and reversed by treating it properly with replacing natural progesterone at the right levels or by overriding your cycles with the Estrogen and Progesterone artificial hormones that are in birth control pills. Do NOT use a Mirena IUD or an implant in your arm as these options are only using artificial progesterone which is not a healthy option for you.
Over time, low Progesterone can lead to a condition called endometriosis when you have some of your menstrual blood and bits of lining pass backwards through your fallopian tubes landing in your pelvic tissues; this blood is extremely irritating and causes cramps by itself. Then any of the tissue can start to grow outside of your uterus and you then bleed inside your abdomen EVERY MONTH, causing stronger and stronger cramps each month. This condition called endometriosis can cause scar tissue and your bowels become irritated with inflammation and that can cause your bowels to ‘stick’ to the bleeding and now it’s not free to move as it normally would and this can cause abdominal pain.
Sometimes women will build a cyst on their ovary from too much Estradiol and too little Progesterone; this cyst pushes against your bowels and can irritate them causing them to slow down and contribute to bloating. And some stronger pain medication can slow down your GI tract so that it stops moving; if that goes on for too long, then it may require a doctor to intervene.
So as you can see, abdominal pain can be a once in awhile type of occurrence, or it can happen on a monthly basis. If it happens regularly, then seek a doctor’s advice as endometriosis needs to be found early and reversed by treating it properly with replacing natural progesterone at the right levels or by overriding your cycles with the Estrogen and Progesterone artificial hormones that are in birth control pills. Do NOT use a Mirena IUD or an implant in your arm as these options are only using artificial progesterone which is not a healthy option for you.
I recommend you see your primary care doc or a gastroenterologist.
Hello,
I am so sorry that you do not feel well. Hopefully, you are starting to feel better already.
Typically, this website is more for questions like "What are the complications for an IUD?" It is not really meant for this type of acute problem. So, a couple of questions: If you have a fever, then you should definitely go to an emergency room as a fever with your symptoms can mean something dangerous and we have to rule out some things such as appendicitis, etc. If you do not have a fever, your symptoms could be due to something you ate, or, you can get viruses that affect the GI tract. Either way, they are usually self-limiting and will go away within the next few days. So, again, as long as you do not develop a fever, you should be fine. Also, antibiotics will typically not help this problem and I would hold off going to an emergency room unless you get a fever or your symptoms become much worse.
I hope you feel better soon.
Joseph A. Adashek, MD FACOG
I am so sorry that you do not feel well. Hopefully, you are starting to feel better already.
Typically, this website is more for questions like "What are the complications for an IUD?" It is not really meant for this type of acute problem. So, a couple of questions: If you have a fever, then you should definitely go to an emergency room as a fever with your symptoms can mean something dangerous and we have to rule out some things such as appendicitis, etc. If you do not have a fever, your symptoms could be due to something you ate, or, you can get viruses that affect the GI tract. Either way, they are usually self-limiting and will go away within the next few days. So, again, as long as you do not develop a fever, you should be fine. Also, antibiotics will typically not help this problem and I would hold off going to an emergency room unless you get a fever or your symptoms become much worse.
I hope you feel better soon.
Joseph A. Adashek, MD FACOG
