CRAMPED

There's a very obvious gap in the healthcare market: millions of people in serious pain every month, and almost no companies trying to solve it. In this episode, Kate talks to Sushma Ravindran, founder of Ask Nomi, an app in beta testing that aims to help people with endometriosis track symptoms, find the right care, and figure out what actually works for their body. Sushma spent 18 years undiagnosed, paid $20,000 out of pocket to finally get answers, and then quit her job to build a solution. They also gets into the genuinely uncomfortable question of whether an app is an adequate solution to a healthcare system that has catastrophically failed people with period pain, or whether it's a Band-Aid over a gaping wound.

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CRAMPED episodes are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only, and are not medical advice.

American Heart Association Journal article on endometriosis and heart disease risk: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.115.002224

Ask Nomi link to join the beta test: https://www.asknomi.ai/partners/cramped

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

Your ears are pretty far away from your uterus, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE NOT LISTENING.

Dr. Natalie Crossland, an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus management (and also has endometriosis), explains the surprising ways that hormones, hearing, and the nervous system are all in conversation with each other. Like why estrogen levels affect your ability to hear in background noise, why tinnitus might pop up during hormonal shifts, and what you can actually do about it besides being told to ignore it.

Join the CRAMPED Patreon: https://patreon.com/cramped

CRAMPED episodes are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only, and are not medical advice.

Dr. Natalie Crossland: https://www.newyorkhearingdoctors.com/team/natalie-crossland-au-d/

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

Severe period pain doesn't care who you work for. Diana Falzone is a journalist and current host of EndoTV, whose endo story is tangled up with Fox News, an NDA, and an endo-related near-kidney failure seven months after giving birth. She joins Kate to talk about 18 years of dismissed pain, an infertility diagnosis at 32, and how her journalism skills became her most useful medical tool.

CRAMPED episodes are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only, and are not medical advice.

Join the CRAMPED Patreon: https://patreon.com/cramped

Jane Myer's 2019 New Yorker story: https://archive.ph/cW3jr

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

Pelvic floor physical therapist Caroline Gamwell experienced a strange constellation of symptoms from the time she was 4. After decades of misdiagnoses, unnecessary surgery, and overmedication, she brought her search to an AI chatbot.

Is it possible to use AI well in this situation? How do you protect yourself from potential AI hallucinations? Can someone with no medical background use AI to help get to a diagnosis?

The New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/well/live/ai-illness-claude-chatgpt.html?smid=url-share

CRAMPED episodes are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only, and are not medical advice.

Join the CRAMPED Patreon: https://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.

PATREON-ONLY EPISODE TEASER

Join the CRAMPED Patreon (even at the free tier!) to listen to the full episode: https://patreon.com/cramped

I started research for a totally normal episode about spiral arteries in the uterine lining, and SHIT GOT WEIRD.

Get ready for a deep dive into where period blood comes from, all the new organs and tissue you grow every month, and how science got the info on how it all works.

CRAMPED episodes are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only, and are not medical advice.

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

When Riven first got her period at age 10, the debilitating cramps weren't even the worst part. Instead, she felt completely out of control for the first day or two of her period, sometimes sobbing for hours, sometimes losing time. But the scariest symptom was the intrusive thoughts of harming herself that came with her period pain. It took over 10 years, but after an incident involving her kid brother, she got a diagnosis of PMDD and a medication that she says saved her life.

CRISIS SUPPORT:

Call 988 anywhere in the US for free, 24/7 mental health crisis support

Text HOME to 741741

PMDD Support (not Crisis Support): International Association for Premenstrual Disorders - IAPMD.org

Studies mentioned in the episode:

Prevalence of depression in women vs men: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5532074/

Female-specific pharmacotherapy in ADHD: premenstrual adjustment of psychostimulant dosage: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10751335/

CRAMPED episodes are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only, and are not medical advice.

Join the CRAMPED Patreon (even at the free tier!) for ad-free & bonus episodes, plus the discord community and online ClamBakes! https://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.

Today we have a guest episode from another excellent science-based podcast: Sex Ed with DB!

What even is testosterone -- and why do so many menopausal women swear by it? DB and her mom Dr. Rebecca Levy-Gantt dive into a recent New York Times article "I’m on Fire’: Testosterone Is Giving Women Back Their Sex Drive — and Then Some" by Susan Dominus. What does testosterone actually do? Who could benefit from taking it? What are the risks? And why are the only people who can easily access it cis men? (You know why.)

Guest details (please include if possible): Dr. Rebecca Levy-Gantt is an obstetrician and gynecologist who has been taking care of women of all ages for more than thirty years. Learn about her consulting services at premierwomenshealthconsulting.com.

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

We know Viagra (sildenafil citrate) as a treatment for...one specific male problem. But a 2013 study showed it could potentially be SHOCKINGLY effective for dysmenorrhea. So what happened in that study? Why would a boner pill work for period pain? and why didn't it go anywhere?

CRAMPED episodes are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only, and are not medical advice.

Join the CRAMPED Patreon (even at the free tier!) for ad-free & bonus episodes, plus the discord community and online ClamBakes! https://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.

You've heard MY diagnosis and treatment story - now I'm handing the mic over to other people who have been through the period pain fire and come out the other side.

Daphne had been on birth control since she was 10 for severe period pain, and every time she tried to come off it, the excruciating pain would come back, putting her right back in the puke-til-you-go-to-the-ER club. After finally getting a diagnosis from a specialist, she opted to find a different specialist to continue treatment with, because of the unacceptable way that doctor spoke to her about her body.

You can find Daphne on Instagram @GodLovesDivorce, and check out her podcast, Love Is a Trip.

CRAMPED episodes are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only, and are not medical advice.

Join the CRAMPED Patreon (even at the free tier!) for ad-free & bonus episodes, plus the discord community and online ClamBakes! https://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.

PATREON-ONLY EPISODE TEASER

Join the CRAMPED Patreon (even at the free tier!) to listen to the full episode: https://patreon.com/cramped

We don't get very many studies on menstrual pain - so when we finally get one, and IT SUCKS, we don't just ignore it. We get data science professor Andrea Jones-Rooy to tell us exactly why it sucks and how we can spot a bad study.

Get more Andrea Jones-Rooy: https://www.jonesrooy.com/

CRAMPED episodes are intended for informational and entertainment purposes only, and are not medical advice.

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