As I was sitting in front of the computer a few minutes ago, one of my colleages limped in with her hair hanging in front of her face and almost collapsed. She sat down and almost passed out. We gave her some water to drink because I thought it might be the heat. She then vomitted. One of the guys I work with said it happens every 28 days, so I assumed it was some form of severe period pain. They say it happens constantly. Do any of you know more about this condition?
Oh, surely this should be in the girl’s forum?
I agree. However, I have been excluded from joining based upon somatic reasons.
I’m going to eat chalk and call Erhu to try and fool her.
Some women just have toughies. I have prescriptions for mine. In Taiwan there are NO PERIOD MEDICATIONS. which is truly a cruel state of affairs. So the women here have to rely on freaking Panadol to keep their periods under control. Even for a physically fit women this might not be enough. So you wind up with girls like her. Having their asses beat down by mother nature when chicks in other countries have Midol or Pamprin and birth control pills that many women are on solely to control their cycles.
My little sister went on birth control pills to regulate her periods and reduce her menstrual cramping when she was a teenager. It helped her a lot.
Many Taiwanese women think that birth control pills are too unhealthy to take…but if your collegue is more open minded, it might be worth giving it a try.
Dang gui and duck soup.
HG
That’s pretty extreme. I personally don’t know anyone who gets that ill during their period but every woman reacts differently, I guess. I’m pretty glad that all I suffer from around that time is irritability. She should go see a doctor about that as it does sound a little severe. :s
Ah, just as I thought, an attention seeking malingerer. Shoot her.
HG
My GF drinks this Chinese herbal drink. You can buy a six pack at Watsons or Cosmed. It’s also supposed to give you larger breasts 
It was pretty funny when her dad saw her drinking it and said “so, are they getting any bigger?”.
Would that be 當歸 dang1gui1, Chinese angelica?
Ibuprofen will reduce flow volume. Taking iron pills regularly will also help, as over-heavy periods deplete iron stores in the body, which could lead to fainting and fatigue.
She may be suffering from endometriosis, which can cause all sorts of nasty things. Unfortunately the only conclusive diagnosis consists of exploratory surgery, and even if they “clean it up” the symptoms don’t always disappear. There are medications available for it which essentially throw the body into an artificial menopause by chemical means, which obviously takes care of the dysmenorrhea, but at the cost of other symptoms.
The most practical thing to do first off would be to try ibuprofen and iron. Least invasive and readily available even in Taiwan.
I see the poor local girls suffering at work every month. I was told they may even take one day off per month when they feel “uncomfortable”.
Does it perhaps have anything to do with the normal cha bu duo precription one receives, irrespective of illness, from Taiwanese doctors… the "drink-hot-water-and-don’t-work-too-hard-and-don’t-eat-spicy-food across the board prescription that clears congestion, scurvy, flu, rashes, heat stroke, menstrual cramps, hay fever…
Well, at the risk of sounding hard-core feminist or something, it was only recently in the West that the medical profession recognized “these problems” as being legitimate…before that it was all “in your mind” or “it can’t be that bad” or whatever.
For all its emphasis on breeding male heirs, Chinese culture hasn’t gotten to the point yet where women’s issues are really respected in many regards. Sure, there’s progress, but having it seep down through all the layers of the medical establishment, for example, takes a LOOOOONG time.
A pretty good local friend of mine here had years of horribly excrutiating menstrual cycles. Her Dr.'s said the only way for it to get better would be to remove her uterus. My friend, being a bona-fide lesbian fought for years for them to take it out. For years they refused to because she was still of child-bearing age. It was pretty sad… she finally had it out, but not without the usual guilt trip from the medical community.
Dragonbones:
Yes, that’s the very one. It’s helpful in the duck soup (當歸鸭), but one of the chief herbs in a very well known and often patent powdered Chinese formula, 逍遙散 xiao yao san (逍遙 xiao yao from the chapter of the Zhuang Zi and 散 san or powdered formula).
It is a very useful formula and a far healthier option than cutting out wombs and taking gut rotting NSAIDs (brufen). It does require time - a month will do to see quite a dramatic effect. Ideally you’d buy the whole stagnant liver cheese (liver qi) or spleen and earth school stuff including diet and exercise.
But obviously seeing a good Chinese medicine practioner or dotor that knows these herbs is essential as they should rule out a myriad of other potentially nasty possibilities.
Pain is never normal, but it does direct your focus to a problem.
Well he would, of course. Gynaecologists are principally surgeons. Ask a surgeon a question and unsurpringly he will give you a surgical answer.
HG
My mother and my sister both would have to call in sick for work or school and they also had similar symptoms - diarrhea and vomiting, severe cramps, migraines, etc. Not a fun time at home. Don’t know how I got off scotch-free.
If she can convince a hospital to give her something strong, then that will help with the pain and the cramping. And covering her abdomen with heat - whether through a hot water bottle, a hot bath, or a heated pad will do wonders for her.
Incidentally, here’s a related thread with lots of advice:
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … ND+madness](Menstrual Madness!
[quote=“stan”]
Does it perhaps have anything to do with the normal cha bu duo precription one receives, irrespective of illness, from Taiwanese doctors… the "drink-hot-water-and-don’t-work-too-hard-and-don’t-eat-spicy-food across the board prescription that clears congestion, scurvy, flu, rashes, heat stroke, menstrual cramps, hay fever…[/quote]
If H5N1 ever starts to transmit from human to human and we have a pandemic, this will be the typical conversation between your average GP and the patient suffering from avian flu:
Dr. Chen: So what seems to be the problem today?
Patient X: Well, my mother just had a very high fever, bloody cough and heavy congestion in her lungs. I didn’t think anything of it until she kicked it about a week ago.
Dr. Chen: OK, so what seems to be the problem with you?
Patient X: Well, I’ve had a fever of about 40 degrees since the day after we took mom’s remains to the mass burial grounds where the Health Department has been burying the bodies of the people who’ve gotten that nasy cold that’s been going around.
Dr. Chen: Oh, you mean the one in 2-28 Park?
Patient X: No, we heard that one is completely full and that they are now burning the bodies there to make room. Mom didn’t want to be cremated, so we took her up to the one at Yangmingshan. We couldn’t even get any of the mortuaries to answer our phone calls. It seems they’re all shut for some reason.
Dr. Chen: A damn shame them tearing up that park like that.
Patient X: Yeah, so anyway, I’ve had a sore throat and I’ve been coughing up blood and dark mucous for about 5 days now, and I’ve been vomiting, too. Oh, and I went into cardiac arrest last night, but my wife and the neighbors were able to revive me.
Dr. Chen: I see. Did you by any chance have any cold drinks in the past week?
Patient X: Well, yes. Oh, and I’ve had explosive, bloody diarrhoea, too.
Dr. Chen: Ah, so that cold drink must be it.
Patient X: Well, I’ve also had that fever and aches all over my body.
Dr. Chen: Drinking cold beverages will do that to you.
Patient: …and I’ve been pissing blood, too. My brother who lives in Canada told me that’s a sign of kidney or liver failure, or something like that.
Dr. Chen: Uh, was that cold beverage you had a Coca-cola?
Patient X: Well, uh…yes.
Dr. Chen: Well there you have it. Caffeine does put quite a strain on the kidneys. OK. I think you need to stop drinking the cold beverages, and you’d best lay off the spicy foods. No fried food or peanuts, either.
Patient X: OK.
Dr. Chen: You should only eat plain congee since you’ve got a bit of an upset stomach.
Patient X: OK, but can I have something for the sore throat and my mucous and clotted blood filled lungs.
Dr. Chen: Well, I think you need to just have more of your mother’s soup.
Patient X: But she just died.
Dr. Chen: Oh, yes, I did forget about that. Well what about your wife’s mother?
Patient X: Well, I suppose…
Dr. Chen: Yes, well then only plain congee to eat and drink plenty of soup and warm water.
Patient X: So you’re not going to prescribe any medicine?
Dr. Chen: Well of course I am. You’ll take this yellow pill to help you sleep, this white pill four times a day with a glass of warm water, drink one line of this liquid three times a day, chew these after each meal, and take these two vitamin supplements to boost your immune system. Oh, and these last ones are antibiotics. After you finish the three day course, you can come back and get more if you like. But if you just get some rest, drink more water and soup and only eat plain congee, I’m sure you’ll be fine by morning.
Diarrhea associated with menstruation is usually due to elevated levels of prostaglandin. Taking ibuprofin to reduce flow will help with this to some degree.
Whether someone “gets” a hysterectomy (or, in opposite cases, is subjected to one without wanting it) really depends on the doctors involved. I had surgery recently and Doctor A [male, general surgeon]wanted to take everything; husband informed Doctor A that a second opinion would be required, Doctor A got huffy but Doctor B [female, specializing in OB/GYN surgery] soon showed up and the scope of the OB/GYN portion of the day’s festivities suddenly shrank. Doctor A still got to take out a really interesting appendix, but had to yield the table to Doctor B to do a much less radical version of what he had had planned.
Some doctors are for, some are against; not many in the middle, it seems. And try hanging onto your internal bits if you’re over 40. The opposite argument applies: “Why would you want to bother?” 
[quote=“ironlady”]
Some doctors are for, some are against; not many in the middle, it seems. And try hanging onto your internal bits if you’re over 40. The opposite argument applies: “Why would you want to bother?” [/quote]
Because if you think the heat in Taiwan during the summer is bad, wait until you get menopause. 
Could this girl also have fibroids? It would be good for her to get a pap smear check up along with a pelvic exam.