# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**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 5, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/41 "2009-06-05T19:32:09Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > 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_. Okay, how 'bout they market two different sets of pills? One is for people who are taking them for birth control, and they get their period every month, or every three months. The other is for people who are taking them for dysmenorrhea, and they have no periods at all. Everybofy satisfied. (Okay, maybe not women who have dysmenorrhea _and_ don’t want kids. But you can’t please everyone). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/42 "2009-06-05T19:34:15Z")
Ugh. cramps. I can’t wait to have my uterus yanked. I also don’t respond well to snthetic hormones, so the pill has never helped. I also throw up until I have little blood blisters popping up around my eyes. And yes, I had periods regularly after the Celtling was born, despite breast-feeding for almost a full year. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/43 "2009-06-05T19:34:31Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > 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. As stated, they aren’t all like that. But thanks for enlightening us. ---
**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 5, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/44 "2009-06-05T19:36:33Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > It’s doc-speak for “never having given birth to a kid”. Ya, and more specifically, we tend to use it to mean “no birth through the cervix” in this context…it’s not absolute but for the way I’ve used it here, a c-section still leaves the cervix nulliparous, so it’s quite literally “never having given birth” even if you have had children who were removed by c-section before they loosened up your birth canal very far. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/45 "2009-06-05T20:41:03Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > 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!) And that there is the reason why my GF takes her Nuva Ring out once a month to allow for a period-- it’s nature’s way of letting us both know that the BC worked just fine. She’ll take the pain of a period over the pain of pregnancy any day (well, at least until we’re married with kids. . . but even then I’m sure she’ll be grumpy!). ---
**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, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/46 "2009-06-05T20:41:27Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Okay, how 'bout they market two different sets of pills? One is for people who are taking them for birth control, and they get their period every month, or every three months. The other is for people who are taking them for dysmenorrhea, and they have no periods at all. Everybofy satisfied. Um. They do this already, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Honey6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c57346/32.png) [@Honey6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey6)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579/47 "2009-06-05T22:16:46Z")
> [@Sound Mind](#): > > 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". Exactly! When I was younger, if there were any sign of cramping, I’d be bringing out the Tylenol, hot water bottle, etc. and going around moaning. Now, since I have developed PMDD, I actually EMBRACE cramps!!! No Tylenol needed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-ogs-name-is-the-point-of-menstrual-cramps/498579.md?page=2)