When I was 17 my appendix ruptured because I thought I was just having period cramps and didn’t go to the hospital so don’t tell me PMS symptoms are no big deal
this actually happened to me during my math final and i didn’t think anything of it and when i was later admitted to the hospital my math prof was asking me ‘you didn’t have to take the final! why didn’t you tell me it hurt?!?!’ and i told him i’ve had cramps worse.
he gave me 100
This is actually an extremely common occurrence simply because in sex ed they don’t teach you how to tell the difference between menstrual cramps and other more serious pains. The way to tell the difference between cramps and appendicitis is that while menstrual cramps are generalized toward the middle of the stomach below the belly button, pain from a swollen or burst appendix will start in the middle of the stomach and relocate to only the lower right side, even lower than menstrual cramps, and is a very localized pain. It also comes on extremely suddenly and will worsen over time or when you make a sudden movement, like a cough or a sneeze.
Basically, if you’re feeling any sort of pain, even if it’s menstrual cramps, don’t hesitate to tell the school nurse or a parent, or if you’re out of school and home even make a doctor’s appointment. Chances are if your cramps are that bad there’s something they can do to improve that as well.
I am boosting the shit out of that reply, because I am twenty-fucking-five years old and did not know how to tell the two pains apart
Adding another diagnostic tool! This is something we use in the ER called the rebound test. Basically, appendicitis and cramps react differently to certain things. If you’re still not sure if you have cramps or appendicitis, take two fingers and press them into your abdomen where the pain is (try repeating this on the lower right quadrant of the abdomen just to be sure.)
When you press in firmly, it will probably hurt. Here’s the test: LET GO. Does it get better or get worse? Appendicitis will immediately hurt worse when you let go. Cramps will not. Go to the ER if the rebound test makes it worse!
THE REBOUND TEST IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
My husband got sent home from the ER with a rupturing appendix. When he came back and was rushed into surgery, the surgeon was super angry – “Why didn’t anyone do the rebound test?!”
All great info, but there is another lesson to be learned here: if you’re in major pain, it’s probably important - so don’t let anyone tell you it’s not. There is a documented pattern of women who go to the ER with complaints of pain being dismissed as overreacting…when in reality women have an incredibly high tolerance for pain, to the point that some don’t even realize exactly how serious their condition is. These stories only serve to illustrate this point.
Reblog to literally save a life.
Every time I see this..
^the women have a high pain tolerance thing…my orthopedic surgeon, the first day I met him laid me down and messed with my shoulder. At this point I had been told by doctors and another orthopedic surgeon I was overreacting and making my pain up…for months. There were days I missed class because I couldn’t get dressed. Anyways, he laid me down and messed with my shoulder. When he was done he helped me sit up, and went and sat down across the room from me. He looked me dead in the eye and said “I just dislocated your shoulder, put it back in, and you didn’t flinch. You needed surgery four months ago.” He was pissed. Seriously, don’t take major pains lightly, in the abdomen or otherwise.
I am gonna do a quick minor tweak on one of the bits above:
pain from a swollen or burst appendix will start in the middle of the stomach and relocate to only the lower right side, even lower than menstrual cramps, and is a very localized pain
Bolding original, italics mine. Because before I went on birth control in part to get rid of my cramps, I would sometimes feel pain from them in my upper thighs, which is. A bit lower than the appendix, I’m pretty sure. So I’m going to go ahead and assume it should be “lower than the uterus”.
This is so, so important. I had an ectopic pregnancy this year and I never would have known if my massage therapist hadn't urged me to see a doctor. I was having a lot of pain but thought it was just cramps. I went to a doctor who thankfully ran a pregnancy test just to rule things out. Later that evening I had debilitating pain and only went to the emergency room because I knew I was pregnant. If I had thought it was just my period I wouldn't have gone; I would have had some Tylenol and cried it out like 'normal'. The doctors ran an ultrasound and they rushed me into surgery within 3 hours to remove my rupturing fallopian tube.
I would have died.
You're not dramatic, you're in pain. Keep talking until someone listens.
