Brief Answer: Get yourself evaluated. Detailed Answer: Hello XXXX and welcome to HCM, This is a very common symptom and most women experience some amount of pain. However if the pain is excessive and interfering with daily life, it needs evaluation. The pain that you experience is called congestive dysmenorrhea. It happens due to congestion of blood in the pelvis. It may occur due to many causes like excessive release of local hormones called prostaglandins. They are the same ones that produce pain at any other site. Other reasons are fibroids or polyps: non cancerous uterine tumors. Very common. Adenomyosis is enlarged uterus that may lead to blood pooling and produce dysmenorrhea. Infections like pelvic inflammatory disease, ovarian cysts which are benign ovarian tumors. Endometriosis is a condition where the uterine lining grows at abnormal places inside the abdomen and is shed during menses. This usually produces severe dysmenorrhea that increases during menses. Your seems to get relieved by menses so it is less likely. So there are many possibilities. Sometimes no cause is found as simple pelvic congestion does not produce any signs. Most of the times a course of antibiotics and oral contraceptive pills are enough to relieve symptoms. Pregnancy also corrects it most of the times, especially in endometriosis and adenomysosis. I suggest you visit a doctor and get yourself examined and an ultrasound examination. If a cause is found, treatment will depend upon it. If no cause is found a course of antibiotics and oral contraceptive pills will help. Hope I was able to answer your question. Please feel free to ask any further questions and I am here to answer. Dr Madhuri Bagde Consultant Obstetrics and Gynecology.

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