6 Tips For Controlling Menstrual Cramps
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I can still remember rolling my eyes as a teenager, bragging about how much of a breeze menstruation was. I was particularly impressed with my ability to deal with cramps. I called anyone writhing around in a pain a wuss. And I meant it. Until I hit 17 and had my first introduction to hardcore pain, menstrual style. Not only could I not stand up, I couldn’t even get out of bed. To make things worse, nothing would get rid of the pain. It was a nightmare and it lasted for two days.
It took me nearly 15 years to devise some kind of pain management technique to keep me going every month. My cramps tend to come near the end of day one, so at least I have a little warning. The following are my tips for dealing with cramps. I can’t promise they will each work for you, but they’re certainly worth a try.
- No added salt, no extra salty food 72 hours prior. Bloating always seems to magnify my cramps. When I was in college, I ate loads of ramen noodles. Salt content is off the wall in that stuff. I thought the warmth was making feel better – and it probably was – but the sodium was just canceling that out. No salt!
- Drink warm tea. In moderation, mind you. You don’t really want to make it so you have to get up to potty fifty million times. Just sip it, and space it out. The warmth always makes me feel better. Could be psychological, but I don’t care, as long as it helps.
- Consume loads of fiber starting 72 hours before. Over the years, nearly each of my girlfriends have remarked that they thought menstrual cramps were primarily caused by constipation. Constipation you aren’t really aware of until you’re no longer constipated. While it’s not very scientific, we all feel very strongly that giving things extra incentive to keep moving reduces cramps by about 60%.
- Heating pads really work! As a teenager I’d thought this was a stupid suggestion. I didn’t try it until I was in my late 20’s. What an idiot I was. Heating pads were sent by God. Use them, they work very well.
- Ibuprofen You will not see me recommend Tylenol or any other NSAIDs, cos they have never worked for me. Advil (ibuprofen) is the only thing which reduces my cramps. I actually take far more than the recommended dosage, so I’m not going to tell you how much. I’ll just advise you to start taking it at the FIRST SIGN of pain. The first, faint, far off gleam in your eye. This is KEY in keeping the pain under control. And continue taking it round the clock until the pain goes away. You shouldn’t exceed 1200 mg a day.
- Take a hot bath. I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to do when I’m in real pain, is climb out of a warm bed and go climb into a bathtub. However, I only needed to try it once to know it’s more than worth it. My entire body is completely relaxed afterward, and my cramps seem to go away and never come back. Try it!
There you go, six tips for controlling cramps. If you have any others you’d like to add, feel free to add them in the comments section!
xx Isabella
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Comments
Thank you! :)
drinking black coffee helps the cramps go away aswell i drink it everytime i have my period.
I have been recommended to take a good amount of CALCIUM CALTRATE W/ VIT D. I have started that. We'll see!
for anyone who doesn't have a bathtub to crawl into, i've found that standing in the shower and having hot water poor down on my back works wonders. i have the water as hot as i can take it and just stand there having the water hot my lower back. i realize that that's not where the pain is comming from, but trust me it works :)
ok guys I just turned15 and i tell you ihave the worst cramps... nothing really seems to-help but heat and not for very long.... I have them from early-morning to way late at night... I need help!!!!!!!
oh i love these tips girlie! the hot bath works wonders for me!
I'm 18 & i should say that IBUPROFEN is a gift from god and totally cures my cramps! I eat them with a banana and fall asleep, waking up with no cramps and feelings great!
Very helpful tips Isabella!
All tips where dead on. I never took a hot bath, but now I will try it out.
Sometimes reading a book helps a lot. It takes your mind off of the pain and you can enjoy a book at the same time.
everytime I have bad-ass menstrual cramps, I drink 1-2 glasses of Coca Cola or Pepsi and after 5-10 mins, the cramping is reduced and then gone. I dunno the exact mechanism but this actually works for me all the time! I also take Advil for cramps when I'm too lazy to get a drink from the kitchen.. :P
I'm 29 and STILL suffer from horrible cramps! I've done a TON of research and finally put 2 and 2 together - a lot of the times, cramps can be controlled with the propert diet. I kow, yeah, right! But seriously, cut out the caffeine because it acutally makes cramps WORSE (i.e. coffee, tea, chocolate etc). Instead, have raspberry tea (the raspberry tea leaves are said to relax the muscles). No salt, and use those heating pads!!! My cramps laugh in the face of Tylenol, so I started using Advil again and it works wonders (the pharmacist said its the most used OTC pain reliver for cramps). Hope this is helpful!
gosh im only 14 and about a day before i quit my period i get dizy and feel like imma throw up and i always eat a bananna and take mydol and go to sleep and i fell much better after that
thanks for the advise
-sarah hudson
thanks for the tips!! i'm only 15 but I have them so bad that I throw up sometimes. I'm really going to try that heating pad cause Tylenol is not working for me at all!! I wouldn't say mydol is the best thing but for me, it just eases the cramps. It doesn't make them go away completly
I have also found that exercise helps. I run. It is hard to be motivated at this time but the extra endorphins are great if you can get yourself out the door.
I used to have severe cramps then I changed the way I was living. I started eating a vegan diet that is low fat and high in produce, working out 30 min. a day, drinking mint, raspberry leaf, fennel , cinnamon tea. Also getting wnough calcium, magnesium, vitamin b6, zince helps too. Now my cramps are mild.
Funny, I just realized after 17 years of horrible suffering, that it's all about the combination, just like you said - I do the screaming hot shower while I lay down in the tub and let the water hit my stomach (2nd degree burns still feel better than my cramps sometimes!!) try to lessen the salt, increase the fiber, do the hot tea (chammomile is good) and many, many ibuprofen at the first onset. Two more things I found that help are Chinese Tiger Oil to put on your stomach and back, and also Valerian root. It's a shame we have to go to such lengths, but when you're in enough pain, you'll do almost anything!! Thanks for posting confirmations!
these are great i'm 14 and cramp badly. i find that going somwhere to take your mind off it helps a bunch. or get a freind to give u a shoulder rub...works wonders, i have a freind who do it so well i and even tho he doesn't know it it makes my cramps feel better if i have them
Hey, these tips are just perfect. I do the heat pad everytime. I have bad cramps that i dont get up from the bed,first 24 hours of my period.
One thing i'd like to suggest is dont have anything cold. Avoid Rice, curd,ice creams and lollies.
Guys you should try ZORF; its a mixture of three painkillers paracetemol can't remember the rest. it works as long as you take it as said "AT THE SLIGHT SIGN OF PAIN". Also keep off animal products i.e. red meaT. This usually works for me
I take Aleve at the first sign of pain and I mean the first sign. I'm glad I found this site because I thought that I was the only one who had bad cramps. People would think that I was faking but NO I have very bad cramps if I don't take pain reliever in time before the pain fully kicks in. And yes heating pads and a hot bath works wonders.....
I heard that heating pads work really well so I am def. going to invest in some!
i have super bad cramps right now. they usually aren't that bad, but these ones are crazy bad. i will have to try the heating pad thing and i also heard bananas are good for them so iwill try that too! thanks for the tips!
It's too bad these things don't work for some of us. Ever since I was 12, I have had super light periods that last for a short three days but come with the worst pain imaginable. The first day of every period I have been abused by the pain of menstruation to the point of severe vomiting and sometimes even going to the emergency room. After dealing with this month after month, I am not a sissy, I have a super high pain tolerance, I don't vomit anymore, but the pain is relentless. Every period feels like I am literally going to die. I have been on all sorts of pain meds and birth controls that can't control it, however I've finally come to the point in my life, at age 20 where it's beginning to get confused. By that I mean with trying different food regimens and exercising, some months I don't feel a thing, where other months aren't that bad and I don't have to deal with prescription medication at all, but unfortunately, there are still times, like today that I feel like the world's about to end because of the pain I am experiencing. I just keep looking for something I haven't tried yet, I've been told that the pain will end after I have my first kid, and unfortunately that's not going to happen anytime soon.
Actually anaprox and ice pack works really well for me
Ya taking a hot bath works..i've done it for awhile!
during periods you can also take massages of hot water. Instead of taking escalators or lifts try taking the stairs if you don't get time to exercise.You ncan also take hot water bath.
ibufens are realy the best taking them at the begining of my periods helps me a lot and yes putting a hot water bottle on your stomach can help you a lot. I havent tried taking a hot bath to easy them, im gonna try it as well as eating the bananas too. thanks for the great tips.
Thanks for the great tips you have provided before us. i live in lesotho and we dont have much of the painkillers you have mentioned. i would just try exercising and drinking lots of warm beverages. but i would like to tell you the herb that my father gets for me outin the field works wonders for me it is called Hloenya in Sesotho it helps me a lot. i also take a traditional drink made with ground ginger or even drinl stoney ginger beer sometimes they help a lot please try them.
omg these tips have help my cramps so much....very much appericated to all these comments. i always have hardcore cramps about in the middle of my period but this time its been the worst ive ever felt....id recommend that u eat lightly and the hot soothing bubble bath does work wonders for my period. thanks so much.....love the tips
Thank you so much for the helpful tips. I feel like I can't function for the entire first day of my period but I think if I can manage these few helpful tips that I will start to see that change soon!
I already took some Advil and will be stopping at the market for bananas after work today.
Heating pad is a god sent.. Might I suggest having two... One for the house and one for the office if at all possible. That way if you are sitting at your desk you can at least have the heating pad on your stomach to try to ease the pain a little while having to suffer through work day.
Hey i am sixteen and i always have really unbearable cramp eihea day before my perid or the frst day of my period i got told that eating bannanas helps. i tried it this month when i came on my period IT WORKED !!!
Drinking black tea does wonders..
siddhinfo says:
2 years ago
Nice tips and evry one read them