“when I was young, I would not have turned this down because I had a tendency to vomit and then pass out on Day One.”
Same here. I would either pass out from the pain or hallucinate. I’d see movies on the wall that weren’t there. Curled in fetal position, crying. On the day of my NYS Algebra Regents Exam, which could not be missed, I puked at my desk - which I did every month.
In 70 years I’ve had a lot of pain for a lot of reasons, but Day One every month is the absolute worst pain ever. Nothing compares.
Where you really skinny and pale when you were young? I was, and I’m apparently a bit anemic, which probably had something to do with how hard it hit me.