Disclaimer: Other brands of Ibuprofen are also available (this was just the best picture I could find on Google). I have to admit, I froze up a little to talk about such a 'taboo' subject. The P word sends us all into mental breakdown, but it's something that women all over the world are dealing with on a regular basis. It shouldn't be regarded as something too personal to address, and so I decided to post this after all.
I've always suffered with periods, whether that was they just weren't happening at all or I suffered so much so that I was almost rendered bed-bound. After a few tests and scans, doctors diagnosed me with Poly-Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which is much more common than you'd think. I wrote a post a little while ago about it now, and I myself was shocked to discover that 1 in 4 women suffer from the same condition. It effects all women differently and symptoms differ from person to person, but if you're interested in finding out a little more about that, check out my post. So anyway, I started taking the contraceptive pill, Cilest, which thus far has succeeded in regulating me so I have a little more control. The only issue was that with more frequent periods came more frequent pain, heavier bleeding and all that fun stuff. I tried taking paracetamol religiously, which combated some of the cramps but did nothing for the amount of blood I was losing, which increasingly started to worry me. I used hot water bottles at night to ease the pain, tried light exercise and even tried adding healthier foods into my diet. All of these things helped ease the pain for a time, but nothing was easing up the blood loss. It wasn't until recently that a friend suggested taking Ibuprofen. The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug works by reducing your body's production of inflammatory elements called prostaglandins. These little buggers have an impact on the blood vessels in the inner lining of the uterus and therefore can affect the amount of blood loss. Taking Ibuprofen can apparently decrease the amount of the bleeding by 20-40%, and sometimes even more for women with heavy periods. As a pain killer, it also tackles cramps and pains. At first, I didn't quite believe that anything would be of much help. I'd always likened Ibuprofen to Paracetamol and assumed that they only had pain-relieving qualities as is more commonly known. But I decided to give it a try. Low and behold, it actually worked. At times, I even stopped bleeding altogether. The important thing with Ibuprofen is to take it properly and as instructed. I had assumed that you could take it every 4 hours no problems like Paracetamol, but as it turns out, you can only take 2 pills every 6 hours and you should take them with or after food as the acidic value in the pills can destroy your stomach over a long period of consumption. If, like me, you find that you need pain killers more regularly than every 6 hours, you can also take Paracetamol at the same time to compensate. It may seem like a lot of pills but trust me, it's worth it. If you struggle with your periods, give it a try and see if it works for you cause this month, Ibuprofen has been an absolute life-saver for me.
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