My legs shake and I suffer pain so bad I have to lie in bed for days every month. Yet doctors dismiss my agony - and MILLIONS of other women suffer it too
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Last month I was on the train coming into work in London when I collapsed. I was running late and, as I took the station stairs two at a time, my legs felt shaky and a stabbing sensation began deep in my stomach. On the train, the pain grew in intensity, until my whole body was gripped by it. Sweaty and nauseous, I couldn't stop shaking. My eyes went out of focus, my hands and feet numb, as I went into a kind of shock.
![[Some 14 million women in the UK experience severe period pain]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/09/18/93922383-14267691-image-a-2_1736446086513.jpg)
The pain was so all-consuming that the indignity of being slumped over and groaning in front of a packed carriage of commuters barely registered. Then the train jolted and I fell to the floor, the contents of my bag, including the painkillers I always carry, spilling around me. A kind stranger gave up his seat and collected the pills for me and I curled up, clawing at my stomach, until the train slid, agonisingly slowly, into Victoria.
There, I spent two hours in the medical assistance room, waiting until I regained enough strength to get on the train and limp home. This may sound like some freak medical emergency, but it was, in fact, period cramps. This degree of suffering is becoming standard procedure for me, as it is for some 14 million UK women who experience severe period pain.
Why is it this bad? I wish I knew. No doctor has been able to tell me because I haven't been able to get an appointment. My local GP is usually pretty efficient, but collapsing from period pain doesn't seem to qualify as important enough to get an on-the-day appointment.
