Kate talks to her friend Taylor Hallam, who has struggled with ovulation pain and ovarian cyst ruptures since getting off 19 straight years of hormonal birth control. Taylor has questions, and Kate dives into the research to find answers. What causes ovarian cysts? What are they filled with? Why do doctors often say they're "normal" and offer no options other than birth control? Are there other ways to treat ovarian cysts? Support CRAMPED at patreon.com/CRAMPED See Privacy Policy at https://art1...
Jun 26, 2025•47 min•Ep. 13
Kate answers some questions that listeners asked her to research for them, including: What do I do when my doctor says my lab results are "normal"? Does the MTHFR gene mutation affect periods? Why are my cramps excruciating one month and fine the next month? Support CRAMPED on Patreon See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jun 18, 2025•26 min•Ep. 11
CRAMPED is back with new episodes - but we need your help! Subscribe to our Patreon to make our work possible at www.patreon.com/cramped See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Jun 11, 2025•2 min•Ep. 12
While we're on a break from releasing new CRAMPED episodes, we're recommending some other fantastic podcasts to check out. Today we're featuring an episode of Sex Ed with DB, a feminist podcast all the sex ed you never got, centering LGBTQ+ and BIOPOC experts, hosted by Danielle Bezalel (aka “DB”), MPH. This episode, "The Ultimate Period Episode with Dr. Jen Gunter" fulfills a sneaky goal of Kate's, which is to get Dr. Jen Gunter to be on CRAMPED even after declining to be interviewed. DB is joi...
May 28, 2025•51 min•Ep. 11
While we're on a break from releasing new CRAMPED episodes, we're recommending some other fantastic podcasts to check out. Today we're featuring an episode of The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, from Foreign Policy and Good Trouble Productions. According to the World Bank , as many as 500 million people every month lack access to menstrual products or facilities. This cuts across all countries, including big pockets of the U.S. and the UK. The inability to afford period products is often c...
Apr 28, 2025•26 min•Ep. 10
In season 1's final episode, Kate calls up biological anthropologist Kate Clancy to find out why we're even in this pain to begin with. Then Kate throws a period party, and gives the details on how she's been treating her period pain and endometriosis. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Apr 08, 2025•33 min•Ep. 10
If 51% of the population has a uterus, and 91% of menstruating people experience period pain, why do we literally never hear about it in the media we consume?? Whether its TV, film, podcasts (aside from this one), or social media, it's practically impossible to find stories of periods and period pain. Why?? And how does this lack of visibility affect all of us? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Apr 01, 2025•42 min•Ep. 9
Kate talks to her mom about joining the Boston Women's Health Movement in the 1970s. Why was body literacy such a big part of feminism in the 70s, but when Kate became an active feminist in Boston in the 2000s, she didn't get information about body literacy? To learn more, Kate talks to Laura Prieto, program director of Our Bodies, Ourselves. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Mar 25, 2025•35 min•Ep. 8
Kate checks in with comedian and recent hysterectomy patient Max Gross, as well as therapist Suzanne Garrison to figure out - what is medical trauma, and do we have it? How does undiagnosed and untreated pain affect mental health? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Mar 18, 2025•42 min•Ep. 7
Kate sees a specialist and finally gets a diagnosis for the condition causing her severe period pain. But instead of relief and a clear treatment plan, she just has more questions. She interviews her doctor, Dr. Iris Kerin Orbuch, and influencer Emma Maxwell. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Mar 11, 2025•38 min•Ep. 6
Kate gets sucked down a rabbit hole of "hormone balancing" content on TikTok, and wonders...this whole time, have her cramps just been due to a hormone imbalance? She talks with Alex Sujong Laughlin (Normal Gossip, Defector) about her experience trying to balance her hormones with info from TikTok, and then gets real answers from Dr. Thara Vayali on hormone function, cortisol, and how our hormones ACTUALLY work. Transcript at: www.katehelendowney.com/episode-5-transcript See Privacy Policy at ht...
Mar 04, 2025•45 min•Ep. 5
Kate takes a field trip to Evanston, Illinois to visit the Gynecology Research Laboratory, where a team of doctors and researchers are doing groundbreaking studies to understand period pain and find new treatments. What can they tell us about what causes severe dysmenorrhea, and is there hope for relief? Episode transcript and citations: https://www.katehelendowney.com/episode-4-transcript Editorial Producer: Kelsey DiLanzo Sound Design & Mixing: Kelly Kramarik at Maven Post Media Associate ...
Feb 25, 2025•36 min•Ep. 4
It seems like a simple question, right? How many other people out there are experiencing "death cramps"? It turns out...not so much. Kate brings on her sister Maeve, who also gets death cramps, to figure out why they never talked about the horrible pain they were both in. They look at a meta-study of the prevalence of severe period pain, and bring in data scientist Andrea Jones-Rooy to explain why the data on this is so bad. Episode transcript and citations: https://www.katehelendowney.com/episo...
Feb 18, 2025•40 min•Ep. 3
When you're in severe pain and can't figure out how to make it go away, you might seek help at an ER or Urgent Care. But if you're experiencing severe PERIOD pain, you may not get what you need. Kate and guest Sydney Battle trade stories of ER visits gone wrong, then Kate brings their questions to ER doctor and Good Morning America medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton for some answers and advice. Episode 2 Transcript & Citations available here: https://www.katehelendowney.com/episode-2-tr...
Feb 11, 2025•41 min•Ep. 2
Just how bad are Kate's "really bad cramps"? And what could be causing them? In the first of ten episodes, host Kate Helen Downey describes what happens when "death cramps" strike at work. Gynecologist and author Dr. Karen Tang explains what she looks for when a patient has severe period pain, and why someone might spend years in diagnosis limbo. Transcript & citations available here: https://www.katehelendowney.com/episode-1 Editorial Producer: Kelsey DiLanzo Sound Design & Mixing: Kell...
Feb 04, 2025•42 min•Ep. 1
A sneak peek at what's to come in the 10 episodes of CRAMPED - first episode dropping Tuesday February 4th, with new episodes weekly for 10 weeks. See more info at https://www.katehelendowney.com/cramped See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jan 21, 2025•6 min
One nerd’s quest to find out why we know next to nothing about period pain. Tired of suffering from "death cramps" with no diagnosis for 20 years, Kate Downey has to look for her own answers. She interviews top doctors and researchers, and delves into topics from Greek history to sitcoms to TikTok wellness scams, all to figure out why menstrual pain is so often dismissed and untreated. What she finds will change how you think about your own body and the medical system. Because having a microphon...
Nov 04, 2024•2 min
