Help for Difficult Menstruation

A reader asked:

“I deal with pretty severe menstrual symptoms like heavy bleeding, pain, and vomiting, do you know of anything I can do to lesson these symptoms each month?”

photo credit: spettacolopuro

My answer:

First is that heavy bleeding and severe pain and cramping is not  normal and should be taken seriously. Two reproductive issues that can  contribute to such pain are endometriosis and fibroids, with endo being more common  in younger girls and women than fibroids. Endo very often causes pain that severe  due to the endometrial lining attaching to other areas of the gut. When the period begins, the other growths of endo bleed as well but  have nowhere to go other than be reabsorbed into the blood stream,  causing pain and nauseousness.

Eliminating junk and processed foods is key – especially sugar.  Making sure to consume enough fats and saturated fats is also important as they are needed to produce hormones. Cod Liver Oil can also help provide much needed omegas and vitamin D  Evening Primrose Oil can also be helpful.  Vitamin B complex can also help a lot (many women are low in B-1 and  B-6) in balancing hormones.

Using cloth pads instead of conventional can drastically reduce the  amount and length a woman bleeds.  Some women with endo find a lot of relief cutting out meat and animal  products due to the hormones that are in them. Sourcing meat is of  utmost importance, make sure to buy grassfed and organic meats.

Personal care products like lotions, face washes, shampoos should all  be looked at as they can mess with the balance of hormones.

I have a friend who teaches Iyengar yoga and has been able to help a  few women with issues like this when they practice certain yoga  postures. She always recommends the book “Yoga for a Healthy Cycle” by  Patricia Walden (& Linda Sparrowe) to get women started.

Foods can aggravate the reproductive system for a lot of women! Many with horrible  periods find that cutting wheat and dairy can help a lot – there is a  strong link between reproductive disorders and wheat sensitivities/celiac.

Charting your cycle is also really inportant! You”ll be able to figure out if there  is an issue with a part of the cycle and better ‘prescribe’ herbs and  such. Many herbs have estrongenic properties and could actually make  things worse if you’re already to high in estrogen, but then again they  could be super helpful if her body needs support in that area.

Herbs specific to cleansing the liver (which excretes excess hormones from the  body) or blood can be especially important though and shouldn’t mess  with hormones to much. Dandelion root for one is a great cleanser.

If she is overweight, and exercise regimen can be helpful, but every woman should always rest during the first few days of menstruation.

A lot of reproductive issues begin with the thyroid – http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ (inversion yoga and a great
diet can also help the thyroid)

Castor oil packs a few times per week (not during menstruation) along with abdominal massage could be really beneficial if she has adhesions due to endo that are causing the pain.

You answered (via the Naturally Knocked Up Facebook Page)

• Red raspberry leaf capsules/tea and vitex (chasteberry) capsules. Made a huge difference for me! I bought mine on Amazon.
• Does she use mama cloth or diva cup? I know when I used them, my pains lessoned and my flow was a bit lighter. I had to wait for 6 months tho for it to do that.
• I take Evening Primrose Oil. I have cramps about a week before my cycle starts that are severe to the point I just want to stay in bed all day. I started taking EPO this month and haven’t had a single cramp.
• I stopped eating grains and sugar and all signs of PMS went away, no cramping and less flow.
• Definitely Vitex (chasteberry) capsules!!
• Cut back on the sugar and dairy, and choose only organic hormone free meats.
• My cramping and flow both went down dramatically 6 or 7 years ago when i cut down (or slowly eliminated) sugar, baked goods, conventional dairy products, hydrogenated oils, HF Corn Syrup and added in a quality cod liver oil.
• Cheyenne is the age-old remedy I know of the lessen the flow – for pain and discomfort, I would recommend diet change, calcium & magnesium (usually works in an hour or less), and tracking fertility symptoms.
• I quite caffiene 4 years ago and overnight, my pain decreased by 80-90%; some months I have none. Before, I’d be doubled over in pain for hours and pain killers only took the edge off.
• The homeopathic mag phos is what works for me.
• Nourishing herbal infusions- rasp leaf, red clover, NETTLE, oatstraw- are all safe and super beneficial. If you’re having fertility issues, I’d hold off on the vitex until you’ve determined specifics. Exercise as well as rest. Heat. Rose bud/petal tea or tincture. Caffeine makes cramping worse.
• Have a chiropractor adjust your psoas muscle.
• Do you eat/take a lot of flax? when I started adding flax to my diet my cramps increased massively and so did flow…stopped and they disappeared immediately. Flax is really high in phytoestrogens.
• Taking Maca really helped me!

Do you have any other tips for this reader?

*As always, consult your health care professional for a diagnosis or guidance in using natural therapies. This post is meant to inform you of options you may have, always research before trying something new.

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