CRAMPED – Details, episodes & analysis

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-transcript

Editorial Producer: Kelsey DiLanzo 

Sound Design & Mixing: Kelly Kramarik at Maven Post Media

Associate Producer: Katelyn Sabater 

Theme song: Farideh

Podcast art: Nicholas Scheppard

This podcast is supported by the Simons Foundation’s Science, Society & Culture

Division

Fiscal partnership is provided by the Arkansas Podcast Collaborative

Published in partnership with Multitude. Contact them for advertising inquiries at https://multitude.productions/ads

This publication is for entertainment and informational purposes only, and does not represent itself as medical advice. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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: Kelly Kramarik at Maven Post Media

Associate Producer: Katelyn Sabater 

Theme song: Farideh

Podcast art: Nicholas Scheppard

This podcast is supported by the Simons Foundation’s Science, Society & Culture

Division

Fiscal partnership is provided by the Arkansas Podcast Collaborative

This publication is for entertainment and informational purposes only, and does not represent itself as medical advice. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.

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 microphone gets you more answers than having a uterus.

Season 1 launches weekly episodes starting February 2025.

CREDITS:

Host & Show Creator: Kate Downey

Editorial Producer: Kelsey DiLanzo

Associate Producer: Katelyn Sabater 

Theme song: Farideh

Podcast Art: Nicholas Scheppard

Sound Design & Engineering: Kelly Kramarik

Published in partnership with Multitude Productions 

This podcast is supported by the Simons Foundation’s Science, Society & Culture Division

Fiscal partnership provided by Arkansas Podcast Collaborative

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.

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.

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 https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Producer: Katelyn Sabater 

Theme song: Farideh

Podcast art: Nicholas Scheppard

This podcast is supported by the Simons Foundation’s Science, Society & Culture Initiative

Fiscal partnership is provided by the Arkansas Podcast Collaborative

Published in partnership with Multitude. Contact them for advertising inquiries at https://multitude.productions/ads

This publication is for entertainment and informational purposes only, and does not represent itself as medical advice. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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/episode-3-transcript

Editorial Producer: Kelsey DiLanzo 

Sound Design & Mixing: Kelly Kramarik at Maven Post Media

Associate Producer: Katelyn Sabater 

Theme song: Farideh

Podcast art: Nicholas Scheppard

This podcast is supported by the Simons Foundation’s Science, Society & Culture

Division

Fiscal partnership is provided by the Arkansas Podcast Collaborative

Published in partnership with Multitude. Contact them for advertising inquiries at https://multitude.productions/ads

This publication is for entertainment and informational purposes only, and does not represent itself as medical advice. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.