A natural painkiller for period cramps??

thats how I was in high school at night wen i first started or the day before sleepingont he bathroom floor barfking all night because the pain was inolerable...turned out it was that my body fat was too low (I had 18 then...I have 27 now d It happens a lot with high school girls because they forget to eat...or live in socal and can't lol. but getting at least 2000 calories whenyoure growing is soooooooo important and let me tell ya your metabolism slows as an adult if you dont eat enough as a teen and it bites...so think 4 years of being super cute and the envy your friends or a lifetime of being healthy...going back I would choose the lifetime...god I would do anything to go back and takecare of my body andnot have ulcers now or a sluggish metabolism or immunne problems...take care of yourseves girls!!!

 

well i tried a couple things on here for my cramps. but weird thing is i had a really heavy flow for 2 days and then on the third day nothing. i mean no spotting no nothing..is this normal?

 

that's not unusual. Actually, that is how my "normal" periods used to be, two days of out of this world heavy flow, then nothing.


I thought I'd come back to this thread, though, because right now I am on my period, and am not in pain! this is amazing for me, even if I was in pain the week leading up to my period... I'll tell you what I've done, and maybe it will help you. I am not eating any gluten or sugar (the processed refined kind of sugar or corn syrup, but I do okay with fruit sugars and honey and other natural sweeteners). I had eliminated wheat, but that wasn't enough. I'm totally gluten-free and taking digestive enzymes and it has made a huge difference. I am also using natural progesterone cream daily (I am not concerned about the possible effects to my fertility, I'm sterile, but that is something to consider). I'm drinking way more water, too. Lots and lots of water. I'm taking magnesium daily, this thins my menstrual blood and gets rid of the clots.

 

If you burn white sage save your stems and float them in a hot bath soaking for at least 30 min, this will help with menstral related back pains.

Sweet grass tea to help with cramps, this herb is representational of mother earth and therefore provides relief to us fair sexes

I also find Valerian root and Kava Kava capsules very nice. Not only for period related pains but headavhes and such, helps with the pain and relaxes muscles. A good alternative for those of us who love perscription pills too much.

Of course my favorite burn some herb.

 

where can i find it at?

 

oh i get severe cramps every time I'm on my period the 2nd day is the worst all I wanna do is lay in bed. I don't know about natural remedies but Midol Cramp does wonders for me, it has to be the Cramp formula. I always drink hot tea throughout the day which helps a little.

 

Don't know if these have been mentioned before but... reducing your caffine intake a week or so before your period helps (but can't remember the medical reason why). So, lay off the pop (if you drink it) and switch to decaf coffee or herbal teas. Worth a shot at least, if the cramps are really bad. The "no caffine" thing has helped me... doesn't rid you of them totally but does seem to make them a little more bearable.

Also, if you use tampons, stop. Tampons apparently make cramps worse for people who have bad cramps. Switch to disposable pads, moon pads, the diva/venus cup... whatever... just don't shove chemically treated cotton up there!

I realise these aren't really "cures" persay, but they are natural!

 

What do you mean by 'natural', poison ivy is natural, doesn't mean it's good for you. Lots of commercial remedies come from natural sources and lots of 'natural' remedies are no more natural than drugs. 'Natural' is just a label. But mamaboogie brought up a good point about building tolerance so maybe u do want to mix up the remedies.

Anyways...
what's been said here about pain not being normal is true. From 13 to 19 years of age I only had menstrual cramps ONCE, and it was only for the first day. Then after that they would come in phases, for a few months to a year I would get cramps one day a month, Midol worked very well. Then years would go by b4 I see another cramp, followed by a few months of 1 day a month cramp. Never has my periods ever made me throw up, they’ve been bad, like writhing in bed bad, but not that bad.

There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason. I could be drinking heavily, consume lots of coffee and chocolate, eating sloppily for weeks leading up to it and yet I evade cramps . I’m on my period now and yet again I evaded any discomforts. Other times I could eat good, drink moderately, etc. and I get cramps

I get cramps less than 25% of the time, prolly more like 10%. I am not gloating here, just trying to relay another woman’s experience.

I like my periods cos they reinstate my feminism , but I was a late bloomer so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

cramp bark works well

red rasberry leaf tea

evening primrose

black cohosh

Also I got this stuff to help treat period pain the last time I was in Mexico, I havent tried it yet tho. Its got menthol and menthyl and hmm somehing else in it you rub it on your back or tummy or legs or wherever hurt.

Also, Im surprized no ones mentioned this, EXERCISE. I plant trees for three or four months a year and its like running a marathon everyday. When Im planting my period is very very light and theres no pain at all.

 

I would also try Vitex. It is also known as Chaste tree berry. It is a capsule you cab buy at the health food store. It has been studied extensively and used to treat painful periods, infertility, PMS, as a treatment for endometriosis and to help normalize periods after stopping the pill. It stimulates prolactin and is sometimes given to boost milk flow. The best way to take it is long-term. In studies it has been used for periods of years with no ill effects. I got some great info on it from Rosemary Gladstar's books . You should look into it. I have been taking it for over a year.

 

I do the exact same thing. Maryjane always makes the pain go away for me.

 

evening primrose oil is estrogenic and could possibly make cramps and hormone imbalance worse. Some women with endo do well to take it, others have disastrous effects. Vitex did absolutely nothing for me. what works for one woman does not necessarily work for any others. Exercise is great, depending on the cause of your problems. Exercise will make pain resulting from adhesions (internal scar tissue) much much much much much worse. The best remedies are the lifestyle and dietary changes that you do every day, instead of the medicines and other remedies you try after the pain is on you. Diet has a huge impact on pain levels, some foods are known to make pain worse. Wheat is at the top of that list.
Dairy and meat contains animal fat. Animals store excess estrogen in their fat cells. Endometriosis is typified by estrogen dominance, and more estrogen makes it worse. Environmental toxins like pesticides and herbicides are also stored in fat cells. So if your problems arise from too much estrogen, eating dairy and meat can make it much worse, not just immediately, but over the long term. Products bleached with chlorine also make estrogen-related pain much worse. That includes most menstrual pads and tampons.

 

I think the key to exercise being helpful to all types of women is regularity. I'm not sure if that was implied in your post, crystaleyez, so I must say it so it's specific. Like... a woman who gets bad cramps might exercise regularly until a few days before her period, and then begin again once her period has finished. Would that avoid adhesions, mamaboogie?
-So yes, regular as opposed to just exercising around moontime.
I like to focus on resting during my period anyway...

 

adhesions are usually caused by trauma or infection to the abdomen. exercise makes the pain caused by adhesions worse. overdoing things too soon after surgery is a good way to guarantee you will get them, the body needs time to heal. Having surgery and not having all of the endometrial implants completely removed is another way to guarantee you will get adhesions. When my adhesions were at their worst, before I had them surgically removed, exercise was totally impossible for me, I could barely crawl out of bed to go pee. But for some people, adhesions aren't that extensive or that painful. It's just one of the ways I use to self-diagnose what is causing my pain. Pain from the endo lessens with regular exercise, pain from adhesions gets worse instead. And you are right, it has to be on a regular basis, preferably daily, but it doesn't have to be strenuous exercise, just get out and move around, even yoga stretches would help!

 

Hmm.. interesting. Do you still have pain from the operation? I'm sorry to hear bout that.
Yup... daily exercise doesn't have to be strenuous. Pretty much every morning I get up, slip on some joggerbums and run around the block (which is a bit hilly) and get my heart rate up and my breath going. It makes me feel waaay more motivated for the rest of the day. I just started this routine a couple weeks ago, so when I get my period I'll tell everyone if I get cramps...

 

not sure I understand what you are asking. I've had four abdominal surgeries, including a cesarean (which created the more recent issues). My last surgery was in December of 2004. It took care of the adhesions that were causing me extreme bladder pain (among other things). I saw a specialist who only performs women's reproductive surgery, and is considered to be one of the top in his field in the entire world. It takes a certain level of skill to do what I needed done, a less-skilled doctor would have only made things worse for me (been there done that, never will let a regular ob/gyn operate on me ever again if I have any choice in the matter!). And still, he didn't take care of everything, did not touch my intestines, which in the video appear to also be glued together with adhesions, and we suspect I also have adenomyosis but I will not consent to a hysterectomy knowing that it won't make all my pain go away. But it's still very much better than the pain I was in before the surgery.

 

Wow, you've got a lot going on, there. *hugs offered*

 

thanks the second and fourth surgeries were to fix the damage done by the first and third surgeries... *sigh* I know I'm facing another one probably next year sometime, but am doing whatever I can to put it off a little longer. the diet changes and the progesterone cream seem to be working better than anything else in managing my pain levels.

 

This is random but I've found needing to take a crap makes my periods THAT much worse.