Blahh

[fairydogericara.livejournal.com]

Ok, so I've been getting really bad cramps now for the last few months when I get my period. I am basically doubled over, and whatever I take does not last long. It interferes with school and work.

Anything I could do/take to make it less severe/not get them at all?

Today was particularly horrible. My period's heavy (as it has been ever since I've been getting bad cramps), I couldn't stand up really and I had to sit down with my back against the wall/chair back or lie down, and I was nauseated a ton. At one point I almost threw up, and passed out. I had to leave work early. =(

Help!

Comments

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

I would go see your dr. asap. I think your body may be trying to tell you something needs to be looked at. Good luck!

[fairydogericara.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I am supposed to have my annual check-up soon anyway for shots and such. I was planning on bringing it up. Hopefully nothing is too bad. My mom as a girl told me she had bad cramps. Odd thing is that I seem to be the cursed one, since my sister gets nothing.

[jenn.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much the same, except my mom didn't have cramps at all, but man, do I ever. When I'm not on the Pill, I pretty much just want to die the first day I get my period. I am honestly out-of-commission for two days out of the month. I even passed out from pain at the mall once, and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance! Haha, they asked me if I needed anything, and I was half out of it and said "Midol." Now that I'm on the Pill though, I get little twinges and that's about it.

Here's what usually helped me:
- Heating pad (or those ThermalCare pad things, SO RAD!)
- Hot bath
- Midol!!! Take 'em as soon as you feel ANYTHING, or even right when your period starts (if you're like me and had horrible cramps at the very beginning of your period) If they don't help, toss back like 4 Advil, which is prescription strength (you can take Advil and Midol at the same time since they don't have the same pain reliever)
- Exercise is supposed to help, but OMG I never wanted to move AT ALL. I found that lying perfectly straight and still, legs straight out (not hunched over or curled up in a ball) helped a LOT. This, of course, is no good when you have to go to work or school or something. But it's what usually helped the most for me.

All those things worked for me, but of course, no promises that it'll work for you. But yeah, for most pain meds, take it before you're in pain, if you know you're going to be. Then you don't have to wait around in agony for it to kick in :D

[daisybones.livejournal.com]

i have icky cramps, but not terrible like you guys. i find they're helped if i work out pretty good a few days before my period. maybe that'd help prevent them? just a thought. good luck:)

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you're going through this. I take warm baths when my cramps are bad and crawl up in the fetal position (lots of advil or motrin too).
Good luck. I hope everything works out ok for you.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_last_serenade_/]

try taking calcium supplements the week before and week of your period (and all the time, really)...alot of women seem to notice an easing of cramps when taking calcium. i drink alot of soy milk and have also noticed a difference in cramping/flow. my gynecologist also recommended taking 2 or 3 advil a day starting 3 days before my period. just a general regimine to keep the blood thinned out. although honestly, i haven't had much of a problem since i started taking calcium and doing yoga.

i know it probably doesn't sound like much fun, but some light stretching or yoga does wonders for getting the blood flowing in parts of your body BESIDES your uterus. i second the hot bath and/or heating pad thing...this might get you loosened up enough to do some stretching.

and most importantly, get enough sleep. your body is loosing some blood and quite a few nutrients in a short amount of time and it's frankly pretty traumatic. if you feel like you should do something, by all means do it...your body knows what's best for itself. ;)

[howlingsickness.livejournal.com]

Yeah, i agree with the above. Calcium can help a lot. So can potassium and Vitamin A. Ginger tea can help alleviate cramps pretty quickly.

These two remedies might sound weird, but ive seen/heard them work for several of my friends as well as myself:

Foot massage: the reflexology or accupressure points on the feet for the uterus and ovaries are located behind the ankles, just above the heel. Press hard where it hurts. This area is generally very sensitive during menstruation. Use your thumb to put firm pressure on the area, for 5 min. on each side, then switch feet. It works better if you can have someone else do it for you.

Moonwatching: two good friends of mine told me about this (on separate occasions). I thought it was a pretty hokey, altho romantic notion at first, but decided to give it a try when my cramps became debilatating. I don't know if its a placebo, or what, but it worked! (it does seem more than coincidence that our cycles are the same as the moon's, 28 days) But anyway, what my friends told me to do was just keep track of the moon's cycle. Go out every night until you become familiar with what phase the moon is in, and what phase of the moon you ovulate and bleed in. Sleeping under the moon seems to help even more, if you can. The first girl who told me of this used to have cramps so bad she literally could not get up for two or three days for years, she said after only a couple months of moonwatching, her cramps are completely gone.

Hope this helps, and you feel better, no matter what you decide to do! Just remember, menstruating is natural, and almost every woman experiences some irregularities or pain at some point.

oh, one more thing, look up red raspberry leaf tea. Ive not tried it myself, but ive read in several places and had it recommended by countless women for all kinds of menstrual problems.