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Dealing with Dysmenorrhea

Can Painful Periods Impact Your Fertility?

By Teri Brown

Dysmenorrhea, also known as painful periods, can be crippling. It can affect not only the normal activities of daily living, but also a woman's ability to conceive children, depending on what is causing the dysmenorrhea and how it is treated.

Rosemary Barry of Phoenix, Ariz., has suffered for years. "My painful periods started at puberty," she says. "I used to lie in bed and yell for my mother until she brought me an ice pack and over-the-counter pain medication. The pain throbs and rages in my lower abdomen, and sometimes radiates into my legs. It makes me double over, or want to curl into the fetal position. It's impossible to ignore, and impossible to function normally without taking some sort of medication."

Barry, the mother of two, isn't sure that her periods affected her having children or not, but she does know it was difficult for her and her husband to conceive. "My husband and I struggled with infertility for many years," she says. "I don't know if there's a connection between painful periods and infertility or not. A lot of people seem to have cramps until their kids come, or they have normal periods until after their kids come, so it's hard to say."

Dr. Kellie Flood-Shaffer, an associate professor and division director of General Obstetrics and Gynecology for the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, says dysmenorrhea is the most common complaint of gynecologic patients. "Although mild discomfort is common, dysmenorrhea is a term reserved for those women whose pain interferes with activities of daily living or prevents normal activity and requires medication to control (whether it be [over the counter] or [prescription])," Dr. Flood-Shaffer says.

Want to see more?

• The Painful Truth About Endometriosis: Living with This Condition
• Uterine Fibroids: Their Affects on Fertility, Pregnancy and Beyond
• Uterine Factors: How Abnormalities of the Uterus Contribute to Infertility
• Join the discussion on our Family.com community!

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