Doctors finally confirm period pain can be as painful as a heart attack

patients have described the cramping pain as "almost as bad as having a heart attack."

I'm sure they have. Heart attacks do not necessarily involve any pain at all. This statement is entirely useless; lots of things can cause more pain than a heart attack.

So you’ve had a heart attack then?

I have. And I felt really dreadful, but had pretty well no actual pain.

But you do know that heart attacks can be pretty darn painful. Would you expect someone to go to work/school whilst they’re experiencing that sort of pain?

I do; of course they can. And period pains can be very painful - everyone knows that. My wife used to have to take naproxen to reduce the pain and the effects it had on her.

Anyone that goes to work while having a heart attack, whether painful or not, is asking for trouble.

My point was simply that the doctor quoted was making a completely useless statement.

How is it useless? Most people would associate a heart attack with severe pain but wouldn’t do the same with menstrual cramps.

Would they? My own personal experience tells me the opposite. I think most adults know that period pains can be excruciating and that heart attacks can be completely missed by the sufferer. I know a man who had what he thought was indigestion for four hours - it was a heart attack.

The most pain I have suffered came from bruising of the intercostal muscles, with no apparent cause!

Ngl, your personal experience doesn’t mean much. There’s plenty of women who don’t experience any pain during periods, does that mean that they aren’t excruciatingly painful for others?

The point is that when severe pain is felt during a period cramp is pretty similar to the severe pain felt during a heart attack:

The condition (dysmenorrhea) , described as “severe enough to interfere with daily activities in up to 20% of women” is characterized by aches and pressure in the abdomen, hips, thighs, and lower back. According to John Guillebaud, a professor of reproductive health in London, it’s totally possible for the cramping to be as bad as a heart attack.

You seem to be on a mission. Of course period pains can be excruciating. I said that. You don't need to have suffered a painless period to know that. I also said that heart attacks, which are life threatening, can be painless. The whole comparison is useless.

I don’t know what’s so difficult to understand