Chapter 7

DISORDERS OF MENSTRUATION.

=Amenorrhoea.=--This is a condition in which the monthly flow is suspended. It can hardly be called a disease, as it is rather a symptom of some disorder of the uterus, or of some constitutional defect. This may occur at the time when menstruation should normally appear, namely, from fourteen to fifteen years of age.

=Danger of a Decline.=--If the young girl does not menstruate at sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen, something is certainly wrong, and treatment should be taken at once in order to correct the difficulty before the girl goes into a decline. It is not wise to trust too much to nature in these cases.

Such girls are generally thin and pale, with a peculiar sallow, or yellowish-green color to the skin which has given rise to the term "green-sickness," or "Chlorosis." They fall easy victims to scrofula, consumption, nervous prostration, insomnia, and other diseases.

=Treatment.=--When the time for menstruation arrives, and the flow does not appear, the mother should give her daughter regular doses of Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound. This remedy acts strictly according to the laws of nature, and simply brings about natural conditions.

For some reason nature may not succeed in beginning this important change in the girl's life, but with the help that comes from the Vegetable Compound, this is sure to come to pass.

=How Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound Acts.=--A better circulation is established, the condition of the blood is improved, the nervous system is greatly invigorated, and, as a result, the menstrual flow is established.

This should set at rest a great deal of worry on the part of the mother, and it means a great deal to the daughter, as well. Now, the mother can be assured that one great danger is passed, and, with proper care and attention, there need be no more trouble.

Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, however, should be taken for some weeks or months until the habit is well established and menstruation appears regularly every twenty-eight days.

=Delicate Girls.=--If the young girl menstruates, and yet is not in good health, then she should certainly take the Vegetable Compound for a week before the time when menstruation is expected; the great object being to establish regularity in the menstrual function.

=Keep the Bowels Regular.=--In all these cases attention should be given to the condition of the bowels, which are usually constipated. To correct this, the girl should take laxative doses of Lydia E. Pinkham's Liver Pills, just enough each night so that there may be one good, natural movement the day following.

=Look Well to the Diet.=--A great deal can be done, also, in the way of diet. Girls, especially at this time, have a most perverted appetite, preferring pickles, olives, rich pies and cakes, and other indigestible foods. These are all bad, of course, as they disturb the digestion and keep the blood thin.

Let the diet consist principally of rich milk, eggs, lamb chops, beefsteak, chicken, and good bread and butter. If the milk rests heavy on the stomach, then add a tablespoonful of lime water to each glass of milk.

Daily exercise in the open air is also of value, and the sleeping-room should be well ventilated, especially at night.

=Menstruation Suspended During Pregnancy.=--During pregnancy menstruation is usually suspended, although the regular monthly flow may continue for two or three months. Of course, suspension at this time is natural, and nothing should be done to bring on the flow.

If menstruation appears when there is a strong probability that pregnancy exists, then the person should remain quietly in bed and eat only light food, and every precaution should be taken lest a miscarriage be brought on.

=Should a Mother Nurse Her Child While Menstruating?=--Menstruation is also usually suspended during nursing, although not infrequently this function is resumed again three or four months after childbirth. The question here arises whether the mother should continue to nurse her child while menstruating.

If the child remains healthy, keeps steadily gaining in weight, and seems to be well nourished, and if the mother is not losing ground in any way, then there is no reason why the mother should not keep on nursing her child. If, however, the mother's health fails, or if there is evidence that the child is not prospering, then weaning should take place.

As a rule, a menstruating mother does not have good milk for her child; it is usually thin and watery; although, as I have said, under certain conditions nursing may continue.

=Sudden Suppression.=--Sudden suppression of menstruation is most generally due to a cold, mental shock, or undue exposure of some kind. It is always accompanied with pain in the back, headache, more or less fever, and other unpleasant symptoms. It should generally be considered as a dangerous condition, and every effort should be made to restore the menstrual function. Sometimes when menstruation is suddenly suppressed in this way, a so-called "vicarious" menstruation occurs, and there is hemorrhage from the lungs, the nose, the gums, the bowels, or from some other source.

=Treatment of Suppression.=--The treatment of sudden suppression consists of a hot foot-bath, or sitting in a tub of hot water. At the same time the person should drink a bowl of hot ginger tea, or hot lemonade, be covered well with blankets, and every effort be made to bring about a profuse sweating. Then have the person go to bed, and apply hot cloths across the lower part of the bowels. Place at the feet bottles of hot water, or hot bricks, and keep up the perspiration in this way for an hour or two. This is all that need be done in the great majority of cases.

=Only One Medicine to be Taken.=--As the shock to the system tends to disturb the menstrual function for some time to come, the person should begin at once with Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, and should continue it through the coming month, in order to insure that the next menstruation may be normal in every way.

=Scanty Menstruation.=--Often menstruation appears with perfect regularity and yet is greatly deficient in amount. As we have stated elsewhere, there is no rule about this, and yet when the menstrual function is scanty, it is almost invariably a symptom of anæmia, or poverty of the blood.

=Anæmic Girls.=--Such girls are listless, easily tired, nervous, with little appetite, poor digestion, and with no resistive power.

By taking Lydia E. Pinkham's Blood Purifier regularly a most remarkable change is brought about; and by the use of an easily digested and very nourishing diet, as just given in this chapter, together with plenty of outdoor exercise, this condition can be corrected before serious trouble ensues.

=Dysmenorrhoea.=--This is better known as "painful menstruation." It is due to a large number of causes, and yet can almost invariably be relieved by proper treatment.

=Two Great Causes.=--In the great majority of cases the cause is two-fold: Weakness of the nerves and congestion of the uterus. These are so closely allied that it is often quite impossible to tell which is the ruling factor; indeed, one seems to be largely dependent upon the other.

It is certainly true that congestion of the uterus almost invariably produces neuralgia of different parts of the body; while nervous exhaustion, nervous prostration, neuralgia, and general nervousness often show themselves by this increased pain at the menstrual period.

=Symptoms of Dysmenorrhoea.=--Usually the most marked pain is before the flow is well established. The person has a heavy pain in the lower part of the bowels, with sharp, darting pains extending down the back of the limbs. Then the pain becomes more concentrated in the uterus itself, or sometimes in an ovary at the side.

The pain may begin as a dull, heavy ache, which gradually changes into a sharp, darting pain, and which culminates at last in distinct and positive attacks of uterine colic, or cramps.

The person suffers such intense pain that a chill may be produced which is followed by a high fever. Often the pains are of a bearing-down character, and are not unlike those in the last stages of ordinary labor.

=Often Make a Complete Wreck.=--These attacks of uterine cramps tell severely on the general health of the person, and if they are allowed to continue without treatment, they almost invariably make a complete wreck of the constitution.

=Can Be Cured.=--This most distressing and most agonizing complaint may be quickly and entirely cured by a thorough course of treatment with Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound. This remedy should be taken continuously; not a day should pass without the regular dose.

=Old Cases Cured.=--If the disease has existed for some time, it must not be expected that it can be cured in a month, but by perseverance the cure will certainly come and will be perfectly satisfactory.

=A Valuable Aid.=--In the meantime, the person who suffers from painful menstruation, a day or two before menstruation is expected, should take Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, being careful to keep the bowels in good condition.

=Additional Treatment.=--If possible, the person had better remain in bed, or recline upon a sofa, for at least a day before the expected menstruation, certainly as soon as the first uncomfortable symptoms appear. Then have her take a hot foot-bath, get into bed and cover with warm blankets, with bags or bottles of hot water, or hot bricks at the feet and back, and with warm cloths over the lower part of the abdomen.

=Temporary Relief.=--If the pain is exceedingly severe, and is not relieved by these simple measures, then wring out flannel cloths from as hot water as can be borne and place these over the lower part of the bowels, directly over the uterus, covering them with dry flannels. As soon as these become cool, change for hot cloths again, using care, of course, that the cloths be not hot enough to burn. It is often surprising what instant relief from pain this simple procedure will produce.

=Do Not Take Opium.=--No one should think for a moment of taking opium in any form at these times, as the opium habit is very easily contracted and is almost impossible to break up. This is also true of other anodyne remedies. By carrying out the suggestions given above, it will be found that their use will not be necessary.

=Thousands of Grateful Letters.=--If the readers of this book could only see the thousands of letters from grateful women the world over telling how this Vegetable Compound relieved them from the fearful torture which they had been enduring for years once a month, they would use every endeavor possible to spread the good news to every suffering friend that at last there is a perfect and absolute cure for this most distressing and most frightful complaint.

=Reasons for these Startling Cures.=--The reason why Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound works so admirably in these cases is easily understood when we call to mind the fact that some of its ingredients are the strongest of nerve tonics, building up, strengthening, and giving tone to the whole nervous system; while other ingredients have the remarkable property of relieving congestion of all the female generative organs.

=To Illustrate "Congestion."=--If a string be tied around the base of the finger snugly, but not too tightly, the finger soon becomes darkened from the obstructed circulation. We say the finger is "congested." All that has to be done, in this case, is to cut the string and the congestion is promptly relieved.

=Cures Congestion.=--In cases of congestion of the uterus, Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound removes obstruction to the circulation as effectually as cutting the string relieves the congestion of the finger. When the circulation is perfectly natural through these parts, then the congestion and inflammation must disappear and the uterus itself must again resume its natural position.

=Menorrhagia.=--This is better known as "profuse menstruation." Just what constitutes an unnatural loss of blood cannot be stated, as each woman is a rule to herself. From experience she knows just about what is the normal amount she should lose each month and retain her health and strength.

When this amount is more than natural, especially when sufficient to produce weakness and prostration, then it becomes "profuse."

=Occurs in the Full-Blooded.=--Profuse menstruation may occur in those who are very full-blooded, or in those who are extremely weak and pale. When occurring in the former, the person usually complains of a dull, heavy, throbbing headache, pain in the back, and other symptoms of fever. Such persons recover from an excessive flow of blood quite promptly, and do not suffer severely from it.

=Occurs in the Pale.=--On the other hand, when this condition occurs in those who are very weak, pale, and thin, there is usually great prostration, which may even become most alarming.

=Treatment for the Former.=--When profuse menstruation occurs in those who are full-blooded, the diet should be quite simple and plain. Indeed, it would be better if the person should take but two meals a day and should eat but little or no meat. Immediately upon the appearance of menstruation she should go to bed and remain there as quiet as possible, for in this way the pain and fever will be less and the amount of the flow greatly diminished.

=Treatment When Pale and Debilitated.=--It is a much more serious matter when this excessive loss occurs in those who are pale and debilitated. Often the most energetic measures are necessary even to preserve life itself. The following rule should be observed when possible:--Just as soon as menstruation appears, the person should go to bed and remain there quietly until the flow is nearly over.

Of course it is an easy matter to give these directions, and exceedingly hard, often quite impossible, for them to be carried out. Many women have work that must be done, or children who must be cared for during these days just as well as any other time, and it is almost out of the question for them to remain quiet.

Yet the question seems to be whether they will remain in bed two or three days at this time, and then have far better health for the rest of the month, or whether they will drag along through all the month. We would certainly urge that this suggestion be carried out as often as possible, and that for one or two days the person keep as quietly in bed as possible.

=When Very Excessive.=--If the flow is very free, then the foot of the bed may be raised three or four inches by placing blocks of wood under each lower corner. This will tend to check the flow.

=Wonderful Cures Possible.=--Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound has made some most startling and almost miraculous cures in just these conditions. An immense number of letters are on file from women who have despaired of relief, given up all hope, and who were confirmed invalids until after taking this famous remedy. Its continued use heals the inflammation in the cavity of the uterus, causes a better circulation through that organ, makes the blood richer, strengthens the digestion, and thus greatly improves the general health.

=Relief is Prompt.=--The very next month after beginning its use the flow is diminished, the next month it is still less, and so on, until soon there is only a regular, natural menstruation.

=A Happy Change.=--And what a change this means to suffering women! It means new life, new hope, new ambition, new courage. It means work better done, children better cared for, and all social and domestic duties better performed. I am indeed most happy in being able to tell suffering women what prompt relief Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound is sure to bring them.

In these cases I always recommend the use of the Vegetable Compound in the form of Lozenges, or Pills.

=Metrorrhagia.=--When there is great loss of blood at other times than during the menstrual period, it is given the technical name of metrorrhagia. It means "uterine hemorrhage."

Keep the person quietly in bed, and have the foot of the bed raised as suggested above. If the hemorrhage is at all severe, a physician should be summoned in order that a careful examination may be made and the cause of this unusual occurrence thoroughly understood. =If you do not understand your ailments write to Mrs. Pinkham, Lynn, Mass. Her advice is free and always helpful.= All such letters are strictly confidential; only women assist her in answering them.