alternative relief from cramps

my "girl time" has gotten rough and i don't like to have to take pain killers so often to help myself.... just wondering if anyone knew of alternative ways to ease the horrible awful pain!

ps i do use heating pads and they help some..  what else though??

bump

Hot Showers can be comforting and (dont kill me here but) exercise has been known to help in the area of cramping.  Take a walk in the park.  Get out and breathe in the fresh air.  I realize that the uncomfortable feeling makes you want to crawl into bed, but a good walk will do wonders.

Sometimes caffeine seems to help me, especially something warm, like coffee.  Hot tea might help too.  Caffeine, I believe, acts the same way Ibuprofen does, and opens your blood vessels a little, which is also why the heating pad helps.  Someone may correct me on that, but it doesn't hurt to try it and see if it helps you too.  (A placebo effect is still an effect, right?)  Menstrual pills like Midol often contain caffeine.

Sometimes it seems like massaging the area helps, too.  It doesn't feel really good while I'm doing it, but it does seem to feel better afterward.  Probably opens up the blood vessels...

And exercise helps me, but only if I've already been doing it and if it is light, like the walk devilish_patsy recommended (she always seems to give good advice!)  Something cheery and invigorating.

Good luck - I hope you find something to make it a little easier!

caffiene makes mine worse.

If you take Evening Primrose Oil regularly, it is supposed to help. I noticed a small difference when I took it, but I only took it for a month. I kind of just fell out of taking it, i didn't have bad experience with it or anything.

Keep very very hydrated.

I don't mind taking drugs so I have no qualms about popping a darvocet or muscle relaxer. So I haven't looked too much into other ways to deal with the pain. Its just too bad. The cramps are getting longer and sharper with each passing month. :(

Things like gentle stretching and yoga work well if you can handle it. I've also heard that licorice and ginger can help. But the licorice needs to be good licorice- not just the sugar/corn syrup based stuff.. find a "real" or "natural" licorice candy (if you like it) and chomp chomp chomp! Or look for various herbal teas.. lots of them claim to help with cramps.

caffeine makes mine worse too, more so in a drink than in a medicine, though.  and im not about to drink coffee bc my bowels are already so twisted up around this time!  lol but thanks yall!

I just wanted to second (or 3rd) the advice about the light walk, it's always helped mine.  And so has gentle stretching.  I hope you find something that works for you!

Sorry to hear. I second patsy in that exercise relieves my cramps a lot. Also, err, hope this is not considered TMI or vulgar/offensive to anyone, but having an orgasm practivally takes the pain away for me.

lots and lots of water.  cramps are mostly about dehydration; if you keep hydrated, your body doesn't need to cramp because everything is fluid.

(ily, there's nothing vulgar or offensive about orgasms.)

Birth control saved my life when it comes to cramps. Not sure if you use it or not, but it does help to regulate bad periods. Have you been checked for endometriosis?

i was on the pill for 6 years & now have a hormone free iud.. i get checked out regularly but not sure that includes an endo check so...???  idk dont scare me!

you would have had to have a laproscopy I think to definitively diagnose endometriosis. I have it, and it makes for the most horrendous cramps, but the BC pretty much got it under control. I would think if it was endo though you would know it by now, i would literally have to call out from work for 2 days every month and not move.

hmmm well i have an appointment on the 8th and will most likely ask plenty of questions, but ive always had bad periods.  bad to me & bad to you sound like a world apart though.  i CAN function w these horrendous cramps i just really dont WANT to & struggle through it sometimes.  they come & go.  plus bein military i cant not wk as much as i srsly wish i could call in!

thanks a lot, glad to hear the pill is helpin you & good luck

Original Post by pgeorgian:

lots and lots of water.  cramps are mostly about dehydration; if you keep hydrated, your body doesn't need to cramp because everything is fluid.

(ily, there's nothing vulgar or offensive about orgasms.)

I hope so! xD

Seriously though, to my embarrassment I admit to not having a good grasp on what is and is not considered inappropriate in an online environment, as I have seen people get flamed for saying much less.

haha such manners!  bless your heart!  thanks for the suggestion i have had Os before during but dont necessarily recall them helping unfortunately

try some chamomile tea.

A heating pad helps some, but when I was younger and had HORRIBLE cramps, the one thing that helped--even more so than medication--was taking a really hot bath.  It's like being submerged in a heating pad, I highly recommend it!  

If you use heat pads, it might do the same trick...but I swear by my hot water bottle! 

Also, anything to help take your mind off is good. 

Exercise can help, but I know, sometimes, going out is the last thing you want to do!

I'm not sure whether it's the physical activity, or the distraction for your brain but yeah, everyone's different.  I just get zonked out by it these days and all I can think of is sleep!

I get my hot water bottle on my tum, turn on the heater by my bed and sit in front of it and just keep thinking... a couple of hours, I will be fine! 

I have a friend (Psychology grad) who swears that all pain can be controlled by the brain. She gave birth with out any drugs and says that with the time of the month, a lot of it can often be psychosomatic - we know it's due, we get stressed about it, we know it's going to hurt, it all builds up and therefore it does.

So I could suggest trying to relax too, but that's easier said than done!

Last two/three months I have had really light pains and little or no PMT.  

I think my body is finally settling back to a happy balance of hormones after years of ups and downs on the pill, which I personally never want to experience again!

I hope you figure something out.x

A lot of people have recommended walks, but I just wanted to add that, for me, walking up and back down a steep hill does the trick.  It stretches out the muscles in my abdomen and my lower back, both of which tend to be really tight when I have cramps.

i would like to invest in a hot water bottle i think! and my neighborhood is good for walks, thanks again to all the responses