Natural remedy for period pains?

Yorky

Does anyone know of such, rather than paracetemol?

Is there any natural remedy/tablet that can be taken? If so, can it just be taken as required ie at the onset of period?

Faith

Evening primrose oil can help, as can vitamin B6. Both are available in capsule form from health stores.

kizzyr

Having a long hot bath with lavander in it is also pretty natural and you can't beat a hot water bottle on your stomach either. Oh and stay away from caffine too as too much can make the pain worse.

Heyes

Chocolate

Ah on a more serious note, i always found that if i got a hot water bottle or something with some heat i was able to relax and the pain would fade. tbh i dont really suffer from very strong period pain, but when its sore its sore, and i have found that hot water bottles do the trick folds over.

The Sweeper

Things like evening primrose oil, vitamin B6 and the slightly more obscure agnust castus and black cohosh (more to do with regulating periods and are best subscribed to after a discussion with a herbalist) only really work if they're taken steadily approaching a period, as opposed to reactively.

Bit like Vitamin C with a cold, really.

Aura

I find Arnica very effective. Tablet form. Brand name Weleda.
Just ask in any health food shop.

Have to agree though that Chocolate and copious quantities at that, are an absolute must!

SmoothyG

my sister was crippled with period pains when she was younger, my dad got her into Taijiquan, it is an energy healing system from china. a bit likt tai chi. no tables only breating exercises. she does them once a day for 30mins and has no pains at all. it also helps with lots of other things. I use the exercises for my temper. I am very chilled out now, perhaps too much

SmoothyG

Aura wrote:

Have to agree though that Chocolate and copious quantities at that, are an absolute must!

so if the pains arent bad enough you will become a fatty to cure any self esteem issues you mioght have

Black Swan

Hot tub, proper diet, multi-vitamins, adequate sleep, and year-round daily (strenuous) exercise.

Sleepy

Cranberry Juice is supposed to help too.

metrovelvet

Double brandy. Nookie.

Or

Year round excersize and a decent diet.

Lynfo

SmoothyG wrote:

so if the pains arent bad enough you will become a fatty to cure any self esteem issues you mioght have

Are you serious??? have you ever had period pain? obviously not if you can make an insensitive comment like that.

OP - i personally find that hot water bottles - or any of those hottie thingies that you heat up in the microwave work wonders, and again, chocolate always eases the pain a bit.

Nevyn

SmoothyG, unhelpful and off-topic posting will get you banned from this forum.
Do take time to read the charter which contains the rules and abide by them.
Have a nice day.
Thaedydal

Nevyn

Primrose tea or raspberry leaf tea or raspberry leaf tablets.
All of wich a good health store will have an explain to you about.

Remember if you are having to dose yourslef with pain killers and are incapastitated with your period then there is something not right and you should your dr about it.

SmoothyG

i wasnt trying to offend,
i just find it difficult to see how eating loads of chocalate will help with pain.
and eating loads of choclate will make you put on wieght, which no-one wants.

sarcasm was intended but obviously not welcome
my apologies

Nevyn

Chocolate contains substances which can increase the bodies seratoine levels.
Something which most women can be effected by.
It dosn't take a lot of good chocolate to have this effect and it can help with the mood swings, crampy and feeling crappy that can come with pms and periods.

Stepherunie

Starflower oil is more potent than evening primrose oil too so you could try that.

The one I really find is best is a really simple thing - i do sit ups every day - doesn't need to be that many but i find it really does help - when i did a lot of swimming in my younger days i got no cramps whatsoever. Give it some time but i found that in about a month I noticed a difference and if I ever get a bit lax about it the cramps come back. On a side note also helps fitness levels which I find to be a pleasant side effect.

hunnymonster

sounds corny but I find a a quick walk in the open air does wonders for me. The movement and fresh air clears the crampy pains and energises me becuase tiredness is the worst symptom I get.

Coconut

Hmm.. I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the most natural of all - an orgasm.
The combination of endorphin release, and the physical release of tension work wonders.
Allegedly.

Rogueish

I have to say that exercise was the only thing that worked for me. I was really bad for a few years not just with cramps but with cramps, vomiting and diahorrea for the first 24 hours. I had a window of 30mins to get medication into me before I became incapacitated. Once I went to college and got involved in exercise that all eased off oconsiderably.

up for anything

Grated fresh cocounut. I read that in a book years ago and often wondered did it work. Let me know if you try it.

LegacyUser

'

Rogueish wrote:

I have to say that exercise was the only thing that worked for me. I was really bad for a few years not just with cramps but with cramps, vomiting and diahorrea for the first 24 hours. I had a window of 30mins to get medication into me before I became incapacitated. Once I went to college and got involved in exercise that all eased off oconsiderably.

nyep, this happens to me too. it lasts about 3 hours usually. it used to happen every month from when i was 11. if i went to school i'd faint or have to go home. paracetemol didn't help, disprin did a little, but i just learned to take the day off school when my period came. my mum had no sympathy for me at all, i guess she never had pains like that. nafter a few years of this i went to the doctor, and got put on the pill (aged 15).

the pill didn't help that much, but i stayed on it anyways. over the years my period sorted itself out a bit more, i'd still have bad pains every few months, but not so bad as before. being in college/having control over exactly what i do on the day i get my period might be one of the biggest reasons that its not so much hassle anymore. if i think its going to be bad i can just take it easy that day. excercise always always makes my periods worse.

na little less than a year ago i decided to go off the pill, more so for financial reasons than anything else. i'd been on the pill constantly for 9 years. what a mess. my libidos gone AWOL, my hairs gotten uncomfortably thin, and i've had at least one diahorrea/puking/painful period since. i'm really hoping that this is all hormonal stuff that will level itself out soon, and that this isn't just what i'm like without the hormones in the pill. i've been taking evening primrose, b vitamins and iron to try and help. i've thought about going back on the pill, but if withdrawl from it caused this much hassle, it can't be a good thing to be putting in your body.

nso anyways, to get back on topic, over the years i've learned a lot of things about how to deal with period pains:rn rn- one easy thing to do, is to stretch out. instead of curling up in a ball (which is exactly what u feel like doing), lying down and stretching yourself out can really help the muscles. i usually alternate between a stretching and fetal position. of course if its the really really bad pains, i can't even move, so thats not an option. n- don't be underweight. since 16 i've always stayed more or less around the same weight, i'm pretty skinny, but worse when i was around 12-15.

i've heard it a few times from people who have been or are unusually skinny that their periods are really painful. and so maybe gaining a stone in weight has helped keep the puking/diahorrea/fainting periods at bay. something to consider, although its probably not the underlying reason (which is still a mystery), becuase my periods are still really bad from time to time, but a lot less frequently than before..n- probably the best advice i can give is: don't do anythng you dont feel up to doing, no matter how simple the thing seems. stay in bed if you want/can.

if you have friends/boyfriends/girlfriends/family who want to come over while you're having bad pains make sure they understand that if you dont want to move or go out they can't try and convince you. i had a few bad fights with friends/boyfriends/family who wanted me to come somewhere with them when i had my pains, the argument is always "you can't let it dictate your life" or "exercise is supposed to help!", this has ended up with me doubled over a table not able to move in a resturant, and getting given out to in shops.

the best thing about staying in bed/on the couch with really really bad period pains is when the pain starts to wind down. it feels like your uterus is contracting and then relaxing, and as it relaxes it must make your body release endorphines or seratonin or something, because it feels really good. not in a sexual way or anything, just in a cosy "wow, not being in excrutiating pain is amazing!!!" kind of way. lying down means u can have the time to feel this properly, like a lttle reward for going through such an ordeal.

nanyways, this one last piece of advice was given to me by one of my mums co-workers one day when she had to collect me from school because i'd fainted (again..) with period pains.. she claimed that her periods had been really bad when she was my age (at that time 14 or 15), and that she knew how terrible it is, but that the only thing that helped her was having her first baby. apparently she never had a painful period since. such unhelpful advice to give a teenager! nnonce one of my mums friends had to collect me from school after i fainted from period pains and told me she felt sorry for me'

b3t4

uuugggggggghhh it sounds like you've more going on than painful periods. Go to a different doctor and get checked out for endometriosis. Read the symptoms here http://www.endo.ie/modules.php?name=FAQ&myfaq=yes&id_cat=1&categories=

It sounds very much like your mother's friend had it too. People often find that endometriosis subsides after they have a baby.

Please get checked out. What you're suffering may not be endometriosis but what you are going through is not normal and badger doctors to take you seriously. Many doctors write this kind of thing off.

A.

LegacyUser

'

b3t4 wrote:

uuugggggggghhh it sounds like you've more going on than painful periods. Go to a different doctor and get checked out for endometriosis. Read the symptoms here http://www.endo.ie/modules.php?name=FAQ&myfaq=yes&id_cat=1&categories=

It sounds very much like your mother's friend had it too. People often find that endometriosis subsides after they have a baby.

Please get checked out. What you're suffering may not be endometriosis but what you are going through is not normal and badger doctors to take you seriously. Many doctors write this kind of thing off.

A.

see i heard about endometriosis years ago. and i reserched it and everything. and from that link u provided too, it seems like there isn't a cure, and its very common.

the medical treatment for mild endometriosis is hormonal drugs which have side effects such as:

Hot flushes, headaches, dry vagina, mood swings, insomnia, decrease in breast size. Irregular light bleeding during first and possibly second month of treatment, acne, oily hair/skin, weight gain, nausea, muscle cramps, mood swings, breakthrough bleeding.* abnormal hair growth (less than 5%)* deepening of the voice (less than 5%)

so, since withdrawl from the contraceptive pill has caused my hormones to be so crazy, the last thing i would wont to do is take even stronger hormones.

also they mention:

At present, the only way to have endometriosis diagnosed is by having a minor surgical procedure called a laparoscopy. This is performed under general anaesthetic, and involves a laparoscope (telescope type instrument) being passed into the pelvic cavity, via the umbilicus.

now, i dont know about you, but this sounds like a lot of trouble and expence to go through to be told you've got a non-life threatening disease, which will only affect you once every month or two, and for which there is no safe effective cure.

i actually just started my period this morning too (i have a feeling a lot of girls are having theirs right now, at least a lot of my friends are). and it was pretty bad, but i just took it easy at home for the day. i guess i'm lucky that i dont have a regular job/committments that would make me have to be busy when i have my period. but then if i did i might have enough money to think about diagnosing/treating it.

anyway, thanks for the suggestions/advice.'

b3t4

uuuuggghhhh wrote:

now, i dont know about you, but this sounds like a lot of trouble and expence to go through to be told you've got a non-life threatening disease, which will only affect you once every month or two, and for which there is no safe effective cure.

Hi uuuuggghhhh,

I hear what you are saying but endometriosis can cause infertility and for me that would put it in the major disease category.

I am fortunate in that I do not suffer with this but a close friend of mine did. Her case was extreme and she ended up having to get a hysterectomy at the age of 23.

I'm glad to see that you've already done the research but I thought I had to reply and put the idea out there as some women may not know about endometriosis.

A.

LegacyUser

'

b3t4 wrote:

Hi uuuuggghhhh,

I hear what you are saying but endometriosis can cause infertility and for me that would put it in the major disease category.

I am fortunate in that I do not suffer with this but a close friend of mine did. Her case was extreme and she ended up having to get a hysterectomy at the age of 23.

I'm glad to see that you've already done the research but I thought I had to reply and put the idea out there as some women may not know about endometriosis.

A.

i know, thanks for mentioning it.

the infertility thing doesn't bother me too much, since i'm pretty sure i can live without having children..'