# What in Og's name is the point of menstrual cramps?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579 "2009-06-03T14:36:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/21 "2009-06-03T23:00:28Z")
Why the pill switchup at all? Why not just stop the periods altogether? (I know that’s what the newer BC pills are touting as a selling point–why wasn’t it done all along?) I’d think women would love that! Or is it that, without a period, they would have nothing to complain about? (Ha! Just kidding. There are always us men. That must be why the periods were left in–to take some of the heat off of the guys, at least for a few days each month.) ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/22 "2009-06-03T23:08:16Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Correct. The last week or so of pills you take have progesterone in them. When you stop taking the progesterone (either by taking the sugar pills or just stopping all together), you menstrate. That may be true of some pills, but not all. I’ve taken several kinds of BCP in my life and I never took the “white pills” and always had a period. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/23 "2009-06-03T23:43:39Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Or is it that, without a period, they would have nothing to complain about? (Ha! Just kidding. There are always us men. That must be why the periods were left in–to take some of the heat off of the guys, at least for a few days each month.) Personally, I’d rather endure a couple days of period than pee on a stick every month to know I’m not pregnant. Even though I’m on the pill, I don’t trust that it is going to work 100% (neither do the makers of the pill!) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/24 "2009-06-04T00:12:40Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Correct. The last week or so of pills you take have progesterone in them. When you stop taking the progesterone (either by taking the sugar pills or just stopping all together), you menstrate. The type I take has just a little bit of hormone in the inactive pills. It’s supposed to help with the cramps, although it’s not a big difference. I only have mine one very three months. And even though I’m on The Pill the rest of the time, and even though I take the hormone “sugar pills”, and even though I stuff myself to the gills on Advil, I still usually get excruciating cramps. I think my uterus is broken. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/25 "2009-06-04T00:41:13Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > The type I take has just a little bit of hormone in the inactive pills. It’s supposed to help with the cramps, although it’s not a big difference. > > I only have mine one very three months. And even though I’m on The Pill the rest of the time, and even though I take the hormone “sugar pills”, and even though I stuff myself to the gills on Advil, I still usually get excruciating cramps. > > I think my uterus is broken. If you are nulliparous, I’d consider a very tight cervical os as another possibility. A baby or two trucking through there might leave it a little more patulent and perhaps decrease the pain. If you are done with procreation, have a chat with your gyne and see if she thinks endometrial ablation would help. I’ve often said if men had the babies, there would be a max of one baby per procreator, it would be created early, and the uterus would be removed with the baby at (universal) c-section. ---
**Author:** ![Honey6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c57346/32.png) [@Honey6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey6)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/26 "2009-06-04T00:48:49Z")
I would rather have cramps than this.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premenstrual\_Dysphoric\_Disorder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premenstrual_Dysphoric_Disorder) ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/27 "2009-06-04T00:54:35Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > It’s what you get for tricking us into eating that apple. Gold, baby, gold! ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/28 "2009-06-04T00:58:37Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Kind of the opposite - better-developed babies have a survival advantage over premature ones, which selects for birth size of “just barely able to squeeze out”. True, but “barely able to squeeze out” is not a selection pressure on more pain, if anything it’s a selection for women with a stretchier cervix / vagina / stuff. But human childbirth appears to be more painful and more risky than birth among other mammals. This is probably because of the speed with which we evolved our big heads. Otherwise I suspect that there is a selection pressure for less pain, but it is a weak pressure. My reason for suspecting this is that if the mother is in excrutiating pain, she may writhe about, panic etc, which may negatively affect the chances of an entirely successful birth. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/29 "2009-06-04T01:36:11Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > If you are nulliparous, I’d consider a very tight cervical os as another possibility. A baby or two trucking through there might leave it a little more patulent and perhaps decrease the pain. If you are done with procreation, have a chat with your gyne and see if she thinks endometrial ablation would help. > > I’ve often said if men had the babies, there would be a max of one baby per procreator, it would be created early, and the uterus would be removed with the baby at (universal) c-section. Er… does nulliparous mean “not pregnant”, or “not having kids”? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/30 "2009-06-04T01:38:33Z")
It’s doc-speak for “never having given birth to a kid”. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/31 "2009-06-04T01:48:28Z")
Oh, well, in that case- I’m only 20. I don’t think I should go mucking around with my reproductive system just yet. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/32 "2009-06-04T02:14:12Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > That may be true of some pills, but not all. I’ve taken several kinds of BCP in my life and I never took the “white pills” and always had a period. I think you need to re-read my post, that’s exactly what I said. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/33 "2009-06-04T02:20:04Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Why the pill switchup at all? Why not just stop the periods altogether? (I know that’s what the newer BC pills are touting as a selling point–why wasn’t it done all along?) I’d think women would love that! > > Or is it that, without a period, they would have nothing to complain about? (Ha! Just kidding. There are always us men. That must be why the periods were left in–to take some of the heat off of the guys, at least for a few days each month.) In my case, when I try to ‘skip’ a period and don’t take that week off, I get cranky, moody, irritable and just plain out of sorts. I prefer three days of bleeding to dealing with that for three weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/34 "2009-06-05T12:52:15Z")
> [@Honey6](#): > > I would rather have cramps than this.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premenstrual\_Dysphoric\_Disorder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premenstrual_Dysphoric_Disorder) Yes, you would. I used to embrace and welcome my cramps because they meant “sweet relief” from the PMDD…I would feel the first telltale sign of cramping and I would be " Oh, God, YES, thankyou thankyou thankyou". ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/35 "2009-06-05T14:16:27Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > A biological feature doesn’t have to have a purpose. Then it’s not a “feature,” it’s a “bug.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/36 "2009-06-05T15:06:52Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > But human childbirth appears to be more painful and more risky than birth among other mammals. This is probably because of the speed with which we evolved our big heads. It also has to do with us walking upright. That one gives us an asston of grief. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/37 "2009-06-05T16:13:41Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Correct. The last week or so of pills you take have progesterone in them. When you stop taking the progesterone (either by taking the sugar pills or just stopping all together), you menstrate. They aren’t acutally just “sugar” pills. They contain various minerals, most notably Iron, which women lose when they menstruate. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome, where I don’t ovulate regularly. Therefore, my endometrium (uterine lining) keeps building up and when I _do_ get a period, it’s horrendously painful because my uterus has to keep squeezing to get it all out. Sometimes I bleed for a month at a time, with painful cramps for a week or two straight. It’s excruciating. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/38 "2009-06-05T18:05:20Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Why the pill switchup at all? Why not just stop the periods altogether? (I know that’s what the newer BC pills are touting as a selling point–why wasn’t it done all along?) I’d think women would love that! > > Or is it that, without a period, they would have nothing to complain about? (Ha! Just kidding. There are always us men. That must be why the periods were left in–to take some of the heat off of the guys, at least for a few days each month.) The medical thinking used to be that women needed periods every month (actually, every four weeks) to keep us in working order. Nowadays (and isn’t it odd that we’ve got more female researchers these days?) the thinking is more along the lines of “Who needs periods anyway?”. Back when I had a uterus, I found that walking regularly helped with cramps. And by this, I mean walking quite a long distance several times a week, and not just during my period. However, that might just have been coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/39 "2009-06-05T19:03:17Z")
> [@Sound Mind](#): > > I was actually somewhat insulted that the drugcos thought I was too ditzy to start the pills again on the right day if I stopped taking them for a week. Easier for you to throw them away than for someone who needs a daily routine to try to find something else to stand in for the pills. > [@toadspittle](#): > > Why the pill switchup at all? Why not just stop the periods altogether? (I know that’s what the newer BC pills are touting as a selling point–why wasn’t it done all along?) I’d think women would love that! My objection to it is that I get exactly the same result (no menstruation) if the BC _isn’t_ working as I would if it _is_. > [@Serenata67](#): > > They aren’t acutally just “sugar” pills. They contain various minerals, most notably Iron, which women lose when they menstruate. I think that’s only some oral contraceptives, not all. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/40 "2009-06-05T19:12:53Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > It also has to do with us walking upright. A recent trend is to sit - or even lie down - during childbirth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579.md?page=3)