Medications

Medicine won't cure female pelvic pain. But it can help control the pain and keep it from getting worse or becoming chronic. There is no one medicine that works for all women.

Medicines to control hormones

• Birth control pills are commonly used for menstrual pain. They are also often prescribed for endometriosis-related pain, though there is little research showing that they work.¹
• High-dose progestin is sometimes prescribed for pain related to endometriosis.¹
• Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists can relieve pain from endometriosis by stopping production of the hormones that make endometriosis worse. This treatment may also relieve pelvic pain that comes in cycles but isn't related to endometriosis, as well as pelvic pain related to irritable bowel syndrome.¹ This short-term treatment brings on menopause, though, with side effects such as hot flashes and loss of bone density, for as long as you take it.

Medicines to control pain

• Prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), taken on a regular schedule, help relieve pain caused by inflammation or menstruation. If one type doesn't work for you, then your doctor may recommend another.
• Tricyclic antidepressant medicines are sometimes used to treat chronic pain in other areas of the body. Limited research suggests that they help relieve chronic pelvic pain in some women.¹
• Anticonvulsant medicines such as Gabapentin are sometimes used to treat chronic pelvic pain.²
• Narcotic pain medicine is only recommended as a last-resort treatment for severe pelvic pain.