Hell no! That’s not what I was trying to say at all. That one is my sister-her doctor gave her some sort of higher dose of advil-type medicine. I know it is not naproxen, she says it is ibuprofen-i can check later. In any case, nothing seems to work for the wee soul.
Also I’m not a doctor, I do suffer from dysmenorrhea and was diagnosed by a doctor though. I know a couple of other people that have been diagnosed and as far as I know the naproxen and the birth control are the most common solutions we’ve been given. My information is along the lines of “hey, I have it and here’s my anecdotal recounting of it.” Go to your own doctors to find out what to do.
I know what it’s like to work in a failing retail store.
I worked for the Grand Union company for 3 1/2 years as a cashier. Even though we were the GU with the highest sales in our area, we were worked on a skeleton crew.
For insurance, I had to pay more than 10% of my paycheck for health insurance that had a $1200 deductible, no dental, no eye.
Morale was unbelieveably low.
There were no paid sick days. If you can’t work, then you just don’t get paid for that cut of your 26 hours.
It sucks. It sucks a lot. I have no doubt that the stress, uncertainty and low morale contributed to the high sick rate that my co-workers had. The vast majority of them really were sick, too.
More than once, when I tried to call in, I was talked into coming in anyway. Several times I went home halfway through my shift because I just couldn’t stay.
I am very grateful that I now have a job where my judgement isn’t questioned when I call in, with good insurance. Even having what I do now, it’s not a situation that I am ever going to forget being in, and I feel for anyone in that situation.
Personally, I am what would correspond in the States to a “contractor”. If I don’t work a day, I dont get paid for that day. So the situation does not apply to me.
My wife, however, is regularly employed. If she calls in sick, she would be taking a serious chance if she left the house for any reason, as her employers have the right (and do, on a statistical basis) to send a doctor to our home to check up on her status. If she says she has a fever, she may be called upon to demonstrate it.
It has occurred that she had the ‘flu, or back pains, or menstrual cramps (I think there is less shyness about saying so openly here, but that is only my opinion), and has remained at home. On such occaisions, she will not leave the house even to do some quick shopping (the shops are in easy walking distance). Failure to be present during a medical visit could lead to serious repercussions.
The difference may be in the health care systems, or it’s just another example of the fundamental evils of dog-eat-dog jungle capitalism.
Just checking in with some ‘I had bad cramps’ anecdotal comments. When I started college I went on oral contraceptives to minimize menstrual cramps which were, at the time, uncomfortable but not debilitating. This changed with time, however. My periods grew extremely heavy and lengthened in duration, to the point where I needed the thickest pads and had to change them frequently; the flow was that strong for a week or longer and would then taper off. My cramps became debilitating, to the point where it felt like someone was taking my internal organs in my pelvis, tying them in knots, and then punching me in my pelvis. At its worst times I would lie in bed in a fetal position, knees drawn up to my chest, and cry, and my housemates would occasionally come in and talk to me, obviously very worried. I kept trying different pain relief medications, and upping the dosage past the label recommendations. My doctor kept changing the type of oral contraceptives I was on, but we had to give each type a month or two to work and see how it went. They even went so far as to do an exploratory endoscopy to check to see if I had fibroids or endometriosis, an extremely painful condition in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows in the body cavity outside the uterus, and bleeds each month at the time of the period. Fortunately the exam came back negative and they were finally able to find something that worked for me, a particular dosage of oral contraceptive, plus a prescription of Anaprox DS (double strength, so essentially 4 Aleve) - it was not at that time available over-the-counter.
To Guin - sorry if this was brought up before, it’s a long thread and I may have missed it. Do you have a Planned Parenthood in your area? They charge on a sliding scale based on your ability to pay, and will do an examination to see if an oral contraceptive might work for you. As in my case, it might take some time to find the particular dosage and combination of hormones that works with your body, but seeing a doctor is important. If they can find a way that you don’t have to live with this pain any longer, it’s worth it. Trust me.
I just remembered something that happened to a man I knew a few years ago.
His grandfather died in his sleep, unexpectedly. He got the call about his grandfather early in the morning, and when he had pulled himself back together the first thing he did was to call work to let them know he wouldn’t be there.
His boss told him to come in anyway.
A very loud argument followed. The boss insisted that he come in anyway, then told him to take the morning off and come in that afternoon. When he said he wouldn’t be in until after the wake (three days, and company policy for “death in the family” leave,) I could hear the boss shrieking at him.
I heard the whole call from a foot away. I could clearly hear the boss shrieking through the telephone handset.
The boss’ logic: he’d never had a death in his family, but some time ago his friend died (no doubt his only friend,) and he’d gone into work anyway, and he expected the same sort of dedication from his employees. After all, it’s not like it was his mother who died.
There are some bosses who, if an employee called to say that their writing hand had been chopped off and they were bleeding to death, the boss would ask them to come in anyway because “you have to sign for something.”
