This article originally appeared in the December 1993 FDA Consumer . The version below is from a reprint of the original article and contains revisions made in October 1994. This article is part of a series with important health information for teenagers.
Some young women feel it coming days before they get it.
Others are hardly aware they have it. She explains that just before and during menstruation, levels of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone are low. A day or two after your period starts you begin to feel better. More than half of menstruating women have cramp-like pain during their periods. The medical term for menstrual pain is dysmenorrhea.