There’s often not much that can be done for the underlying cause.
As for me, relief from the symptoms is good enough and I don’t care if it’s what’s called birth control. Hormone replacement therapy is a good enough phrase for those women who are using the hormones for symptom relief and not birth control. Single women do it.
IIRC, you are a guy, hence, disqualified from offering a relevant opinion on the matter. Until you live it, you just will never understand. Nothing personal. You’re a great FReeper, but men through no fault of their own,DO. NOT. UNDERSTAND.
For that matter, not all women understand either. Some have ZERO problems and they are worse to deal with than the men. They think that just cause they don’t have problems, no women do and it’s all in our heads.
Oh, puh-leeeeze. I visited a friend in PA last year who detailed to me how, when she moved in with her lesbian sister and her wife following her divorce, she began bleeding continuously. It went on for seven freaking weeks. As best as she could figure, her body was trying to sync her menstrual cycle up with the other two people in the household.
Furthermore, I grew up in an environment dominated by my mother and various aunts and female cousins -- Mom divorced Dad when I was about five --, so I knew about periods before I turned 12, and they would also talk about the cramps, too. I DO have some idea about the problems with women's bodies.
So, please spare me the "mansplaining" jive and the Amazonian censorship attempt. Thanks.