I hated it. Gall stones hurt about the same amount as cramps but higher up and didn’t come with diarrhea. Sometimes all I could do at school was pound my head on the bathroom wall for a distraction, then I would go back to class. I felt terrible, my mood stank, and all I ever wanted to do was curl up somewhere in a dark hole and sleep with a heating pad on my abdomen.
Cramps also came accompanied with migraines frequently, so nausea, head pain, problems with light, and all that was part of it. In addition, it always seemed to happen whenever I was supposed to go camping, go sailing, spend the night at someone’s house, start a new job, or cram for a big exam. And then for a while in my twenties I was having hot flashes, too.
And the funny thing is that, with all of that agony, I was never able to carry to term and so ended up adopting two children.
Menopause has been a wonderful experience compared to all that. Its like being a little kid again, except I can float better.