periods

[nunu]

I hope this is in the right section, if not, please feel free to move it.

Okay girls, I thought i'll start a thread on periods. Since i get really bad cramps i thought i'll ask what you girlies do to ease the pain of periods. Do you do anything special?
I like to curl up on a sofa with a hot drink (tea) and have a hot water bottle resting on my abdominal area. I also take these special pills for that time of the month, they are called Feminax (i don't know if you get them outside the UK). The ingredients are 500mg paracetamol and 8mg codeine phosphate. It used to have a third ingredient i can't remember what it was but i found that when it was all 3 ingredients my cramps disapeared within 5 minutes of consumption...I felt like i wasn't on my period because i was bubbly and i can go out etc which usually doesn't happen when i'm on my period. I really have no idea why it's been taken out. I can't really do much when im on my period because it's really painful for me i just like to stay at home. It lasts about 8 days and the heavy flow stops at around day 5.

Just before my period i get really emotional and just cry over little things!! I hate PMS!! I would love to hear what you girls do to help ease the pain. Share your tips!

My tips: Some people don't like to take pain killers but i have to take some because i have bad cramps, so i'll reccomend pain killers to ease the pain. hot water bottle on the abdominal area to relax your abdominal muscles, drinking hot drinks like tea or chamomile tea or even having soup since i heard that caffeine is not really good for women during that time of the month. Exercise and hot showers can help too.

 

[tara_hearts]

Hot showers definately help.
Midol normally makes my cramps go away pretty fast.
Then I eat a snickers bar and buy some makeup & it makes me a happy Tara.

 

[eastsidesunset]

My periods were so bad (talking caused me to be severely anemic) I went on the pill. And I haven't looked back either. Unfortunately, it's done nothing for the duration (once seven days, always seven days I guess), but I can function like a human being again.

Before the pill, I did the hot water bottle and tea thing too.

 

[nunu]

Thanks tara!

Quote:

Originally Posted by eastsidesunset My periods were so bad (talking caused me to be severely anemic) I went on the pill. And I haven't looked back either. Unfortunately, it's done nothing for the duration (once seven days, always seven days I guess), but I can function like a human being again. Before the pill, I did the hot water bottle and tea thing too.

thanks, i always wanted to go on the pill but i heard that one of the side effects is that you gain weight..is that true?

 

[pahblov]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nunu thanks, i always wanted to go on the pill but i heard that one of the side effects is that you gain weight..is that true?

I used to have cramps just as bad as yours it sounds like! Thankfully I've started the pill and I'm able to have a normal life again. The pill effects everyone different, and different brands with different combinations of hormones will effect people differently too. I've been on Tricyclen, Tricyclen lo and Linessa, and now I'm back on Tricyclen lo. I gained a bit of weight when I was on Linessa, but like I said, it effects everyone differently. I'm pretty sure too, that the weight you gain is just water weight anyway, and it's such a miniscule amount if weight gain that it's really not that noticible even if it does happen to you.

Anyway, I really recommend Tricyclen lo because it has really low dose hormones. I was really mood swingy on all the other ones, but Tricyclen lo hasn't done that to me.

 

[yummy411]

immediate solutions... stay on a pain reliever regimen.... eat something light when taking the pills every four hours to stay ahead of the pain.

overall: visit your doctor to describe the pain and symptoms to see if there's some underlying cause. i had multiple huge fibroids and i have endometriosis. both make periods horribly painful. good luck!

 

[ratmist]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nunu i always wanted to go on the pill but i heard that one of the side effects is that you gain weight..is that true?

There are a lot of side effects depending on the type of pill, whether you're a smoker, your age and weight, etc. The NHS Direct service (google for it) has dozens of pages online dedicated to informing you about the contraceptive pill. You should consult your GP before seeking anecdotal advice.

 

[aeni]

Aspirin or China Mist Passion Fruit Tea always works for me!

 

[tara_hearts]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nunu thanks, i always wanted to go on the pill but i heard that one of the side effects is that you gain weight..is that true?

I've been on ortho tri cyclen for 2 years and I haven't gained any weight. I talked to my doctor about it and she said the pill doesn't make people gain weight, but she said the shot will. She said the shot makes you gain alot of weight and weird side effects like body hair and stuff. So you are safe with the pill. The pill also cleared up my complexion and calmed down my mood swings. I used to be psychotic around my period and i'd love/hate/ cry about my boyfriend or a sad commercial. Haha. The only downfall I've had with the pill is it killed my sex drive

 

[purrtykitty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nunu thanks, i always wanted to go on the pill but i heard that one of the side effects is that you gain weight..is that true?

it can be a side-effect, but the studies done lately have shown that the gain is usually very minimal (1-3 pounds), not the larger gain that was previously associated (i.e. 5-10 pounds). at any rate, it will vary from person to person...as will any other side-effects.

i went on the pill (well, really due to sexual activity), but i'm glad i did because it's really helped with my cramps and flow. i used to get horrible cramping often enough, that would take me out of commission for a couple of days. i would also have a fairly heavy flow. now, i don't get bad cramps too often (although, i still get them on a rare occasion) and my flow is much lighter (the norm is about 4-5 days and i can get away with wearing just a pantiliner). i didn't really notice much of a weight gain with me, but on the plus side (i guess...at least from the male perspective), my boobs got bigger

(maybe that's where the weight gain went). i've heard it's not unusual for breasts to get larger once going on the pill.

anyway, when i do get cramps...it's usually accompanied by gastrointestinal discomfort

(pleasant, i know), so i tend to spend most of the day in bed downing warm fluids (like tea or hot chocolate) and popping tylenol (since my tummy doesn't really like ibuprofen).

hope this gives y'all some ideas!

 

[nunu]

my sister used to always tell me to stay away from dairy products when i'm on my period, she used to say that it makes your cramps worse..so i stayed away from cheese and milk mostly. She also told me to stay away from fizzy drinks like coke as well. i love cheese and i love coke! they are hard to stay away from but i have to because i noticed that they do make my cramps worse.

 

[banjobama]

Definitely consider going on the pill. I LOVE the pill. I'm on generic Seasonale where you only get your period four times a year. Is is perfectly ok to do that. When you are on a normal cyclic pill, you only get your period from the withdraw from the hormones, not from ovulation. The inventors of the pill put that placebo week in so that the cycle would remain more natural so that the Pope might approve of the pill, but it didn't work. Anyway it is so great, talk to your doctor about it, you shouldn't suffer like that!!

 

[kimmy]

my visitor always comes on it's first day about three am (the devil's hour...coincidence? haha!) and the cramps are so bad it wakes me up. so i usually down a couple midol and a few bottles of water and go back to my bad a lie there whatever way feels best. that's the only time you'll see me taking pain killers. ugh.

when i'm pms'ing, i get cravings...like for a few days i absolutely must have one thing everyday or i'll go berserk. time before last it was cake batter ice cream with rainbow sprinkles from cold stone. that got expensive really fast haha. last time it was butterfingers. it's always something with alot of sugar, i think maybe my body's getting ready to start reproducing blood and it knows it needs the sugars.

maybe i'll try staying away from fizzy drinks next time. i've never heard that before, but anything is worth a try!

 

[komischkatze]

Bleh, periods. I have hypothyroidism and if I forget to take my synthroid, my body gets super confused and I'll just randomly have my period whether it's time for it or not. Before I was diagnosed, I kept having short periods off and on (4 periods in 6 weeks basically). Talk about screwed up hormones. My mom always says she never belived in PMS until me. I'm super moody - weepy, mean, panic attacks. Sometimes I take vistaril for the latter. I have fierce cramps but my periods are really short now - just 2 or 3 days. I used to take darvocet for my cramps, but eventually the ibuprofen in them screwed up my stomach. Now I just take alleve to make them a little more bearable and curl up in a warm bed. I do have ovulation cramps too though. They're usually not as fierce but I'll have them for about 4 days.


If I can avoid going to work, I will. If not, I'm pretty much miserable all day and a crappy, unfocused worker. Warmth, something for pain, and a lot of time in bed is my routine.

 

[MACATTAK]

I get bad periods too. I am on the pill & it does help, but still doesn't make me feel cheerful & giddy. The week before my period I get a horrible headache that usually won't go away no matter what I do. My period week I am extremely tired. I always take Alieve for the pain & sometimes use a heating patch (they stick on to the front of your underwear).

 

[lalaxp]

Showers. And i take pamprin. It takes long for me to kick in though. I usually pop like 6 pamprin pills a day when im Cramping which is only like 1-2 days out of my period. Yeah hahaha.. i have killer cramps too.

 

[user79]

I don't have a special remedy. I just take a pain killer like Advil because I get terrible back cramps, less so abdominal cramps.

But, I don't get my period every month. It is very irregular, usually I've skipped a few months in between periods. I've gone to the doctor to check this out, everything is ok it's just I don't ovulate regularly. I am a bit worried about it if I want to have kids in the future, but my doc said there are drugs you can take to induce regular ovulation, for when you want to get pregnant, so I'm not toooo worried.

It's kinda nice right now only getting my period every couple months or so. But the drawback is, I never know when it's going to start! So that's a bit of a pain because you can't plan ahead. But usually like a day before it starts, I feel the symptoms so I'll just take tampons along with me.

 

[eastsidesunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nunu Thanks tara! thanks, i always wanted to go on the pill but i heard that one of the side effects is that you gain weight..is that true?

For me it was. Being on Orthotricyclen made me so hungry I gained some weight, but I switched to Orthotricyclen-Lo and I don't have that problem anymore. Unfortunately, the best way to find out if you like the pill is to get on it. If it doesn't work, try another one. Not one pill is right for all women. It's all a matter of what works best for you. Talking to a doctor about what you want/need is a good start.

 

[Holly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nunu Thanks tara! thanks, i always wanted to go on the pill but i heard that one of the side effects is that you gain weight..is that true?

I've been on Marvelon 28 and Ortho Tri Cyclen, and I haven't gained weight from either. The only thing I got was a bit of acne on my chin from the Marvelon, but when I switched to Ortho Tri Cyclen it completely cleared up.

Before I was on birth control I got cramps for the first couple days of my period, so I took a couple midol. But since i've been on the pill, I dont get cramps anymore, and my flow is waaaaay lighter than it used to be. I dont mind getting my periods anymore

 

[redambition]

i get discomfort, but it's not so bad that i have to take a sick day from work.

i get lower back and low tummy pain, i find that if i'm sitting for long periods of time it makes it feel worse. i find it hard to be comfy in a chair when i'm at that stage.

if i really need some help with it i'll take some ibuprofen or naprogesic.