CRAMPS cRaMpS cramps CrAmPs

[Summer]

Ugh!
I am getting cramps!
I never use to get them.
What can I do for them?
What shouldn't I do for them?
Ugh!

[TinTennessee]

If you will take Ibuprofen regularly a couple of days before your period and all during, it should help. Also, they say caffiene makes cramps worse. I say..me without caffiene and someone DIES....Hope you feel better hun <hugs>

[dreamgurl]

I find that taking a calcium supplement helps greatly with mine, or eating more dairy which oesn't work for me cause i'm allergic to it... otherwise it's good old pain killers.

[Gilly]

Taking iron pills a few days before, and during is supposed to help, as well, because your iron levels dip lower during your period.

I found taking Motrin 800 tabs helped with the pain. That's perscription only, but taking 4 over the counter motrin 200 tabs is the exact same thing.

I used to get horrible ones over the past two years, and they finally perscribed me a pill called Naprosyn, 500mg's. The generic sub for it is called Naproxen. It's a cramp medicine that was made specifically for period relief. I've found, however, that in the past 6 months of taking it, that it also works when you get flu type cramps. And, if I take it just as the cramps start, they're usually gone within about 20 minutes. I'm assuming that the pill is extremly water solible, is why it works so fast.

If your cramps are regular, I'd suggest asking about methods of reducing or controlling them. Mention the drug I said, cause, for a while, the Motrin 800 wasn't working, and I was actually taking vicodin to control the pain, and these work just as good, if not better, at getting rid of them.

[Lilith]

The over-the-counter name for Naproxen or Naprosyn is Aleve. No sense in getting a prescription for something you can just buy.


http://www.aleve.com/faq.html

[wyndhy]

besides the aforementioned drugs, (i have found a combo of one advil, one asprin and a cup of coffee does wonders for me personally) a nice hot water bottle feels pretty good on the belly.


edit-don't forget a lower back massage.:D it really helps, too

[Lilith]

I take 2 excedrin, 1 motrin and a cup of coffee to cure everything:p

They said today they think aspirin helps to prevent the most typical breast cancer.

[Gilly]

Aleve doesn't work on my cramps at all. For otc, the only thing that helped me was Motrin.

[Cobalt]

Sex helps sometimes, honestly, has been proven.

[Cheyanne]

FYI - from one who has experienced this....

If you never had experienced cramps before, or your cramping is more severe than usual and is becoming a constant everytime you have your period I would suggest that you see a doctor and get checked. Sometimes, not always - cramps can indicate fibroids, a change in your hormones or even cysts.

I have learned from my experiences that if my body is acting different from what I considered normal for me, I will monitor what the changes are and see if there are any consistencies and get checked out.

About 2 years ago I went into the doc to get checked out because I was having unusal problems and ended up getting a hysterectomy. When they did the lab stuff, they found cancerous cells which didn't show up on a pap and didn't really have anything to do with what my problems were.

Basically, what I am trying to say is listen to your body - if what you are experiencing isn't usual, it doesn't hurt to get checked out.

[Steph]

Great advice, Cheyanne!

On a much more light-hearted bend, may I suggest pOt, pOt, pOt or pOt? :D You forget you have cramps! :D

[huntersgirl]

Originally posted by Steph


On a much more light-hearted bend, may I suggest pOt, pOt, pOt or pOt? :D You forget you have cramps! :D

LMAO!!!! I wish I could, but I would be useless! Even more useless then the cramps make me....I have never been able to tollerate that stuff!

[Mackenzie]

I eat Loratabs when ever I have cramps.....my cramps are crippling!!! I need something strong....anti- inflatmatories do nothing for me.

Believe it or not..crunches help my cramps!!

[cyberkitten]

i've always had terrible periods, so i was on the depo provera shot for 8 years or so until i ended up in the emergency room with blood clots in both lungs. then they put me on blood thinners and took away my birth control which made my periods even worse, so my ob/gyn was cool enough to do an endometrial ablation (word of warning though, the procedure is not reversable, and you will not be able to have kids after having it) to control the heavy bleeding. unfortunately, i still have cramps occasionally though, and i've found that vicodin/lortab doesn't work that well for me and anti inflammatories are out of the question because of the blood thinner. however, odd as it seems, antihistimines seem to help. for a lot of people, they have an overall relaxation effect, and for women on their periods, we apparently have higher than normal levels of histimine in our bodies, which make us feel pain more acutely (it was explained to me that way by my nurse, and my massage therapist, so i guess there's something to it). also, they make these warming pads, that have sticky stuff on one side (check the feminine protection/hygiene area of a drugstore or ask the pharmacist) that you can stick across your lower back or abdomen and wear them under your clothes. they stay warm for 6-8 hours each and they're disposable. they really seem to help and they're a non-drug alternative.
other than that, just stick with whatever you can do to make yourself more comfortable 'til it's over. and do check with your doctor if this is something new/unusual for you, just to rule out any other problems.

[Summer]

Thank you all for such great advice. It is a new thing for me to deal with. I am glad I have been provided so many different things to try.

So far a hot hot hot bath seems to be helping. If they get to where they were before, again, I think I will break down and try some over the counter remedies.

A RL friend of mine said it is because I am almost 30 and that is why this is happening. *shrugs

Thanks again.

[maddy]

Someone else mentioned crunches... and I would add any form of exercise... I find that being physically active alleviates the pain. I've been known to mow the lawn while having severe cramps - I'm focused on the mowing and moving and when I'm all done I have a glass of ice water and a bath and feel good (and accomplished too!)

[Lilith]

Originally posted by Summer


A RL friend of mine said it is because I am almost 30 and that is why this is happening. *shrugs

Thanks again.

She must be a real B-I-T-C-H :D

[Lilith_82]

heat packs.
Green tea.
Evening Primrose Oil (recommended for women with fibrocystic breasts, but I found it also alleviated cramps) (it comes in capsules)
yoga.
Yogic breathing.
Meditating on your center. (I mean sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, with your hands over your belly-button. It helps to focus healing energy on the part in pain, and it calms the muscles of your body that could be tensing)

[LixyChick]

*jotting all this down*

I'd lay on a bed of nails, smack dab in the eye of a tornado, with a cow and an outhouse pressing down on me if someone said it relieved cramps! I think the only thing that would help me...is for the doc's to finish off that partial hysterectomy they started way back when I was 28!

I wish you all the relief I can't find Summer! I feel your pain and I hope you never feel mine!

[maddy]

Lixy, I'm not sure if you are open to the idea of taking a pill or not. But here's a suggestion, my periods have become miserable - mostly in the area of mood swings, but also cramps, bloating, break outs, cravings, etc. My doctor put me on a new birth control which doesn't really "fix" any of those issues, but it controls how many times I have to go through the miserable times. It's called Seasonale and it is a three month pill instead of a three week pill. Meaning of course that you only have your period "seasonally" or once every three months. It is FDA approved and much research was done supporting that it is completely healthy and non-detrimental to the body.

So far I really like it, so thought I'd throw it out for an option for anyone else. :)

[Lilith_82]

Originally posted by maddy
Lixy, I'm not sure if you are open to the idea of taking a pill or not. But here's a suggestion, my periods have become miserable - mostly in the area of mood swings, but also cramps, bloating, break outs, cravings, etc. My doctor put me on a new birth control which doesn't really "fix" any of those issues, but it controls how many times I have to go through the miserable times. It's called Seasonale and it is a three month pill instead of a three week pill. Meaning of course that you only have your period "seasonally" or once every three months. It is FDA approved and much research was done supporting that it is completely healthy and non-detrimental to the body.

So far I really like it, so thought I'd throw it out for an option for anyone else. :)

Thanks for that, I'm going to ask my doc about that. I am on Depo-Provera and don't have a period at all, and would like to have it back... I can't help feeling that not having a period at all is somewhat of a bad thing.. after this long of not having one.

[Sassy Rose]

Originally posted by Cheyanne
FYI - from one who has experienced this....

...Sometimes, not always - cramps can indicate fibroids, a change in your hormones or even cysts.

Basically, what I am trying to say is listen to your body - if what you are experiencing isn't usual, it doesn't hurt to get checked out.


I have to agree 100% with Cheyanne having dealt with this myself. Last year right before my auto accident I ended up so sick and in so much pain I wanted to die. I ended up finding out that I have a tendancy towards ovarian cysts as well as a rather large fibroid. What made me so sick was having a cyst rupture. This is what led the doctors to finding the fibroid which they figure has caused my severe cramping. Please, ladies, listen to your bodies, if something has changed, get it checked out, don't wait. We are all too precious to suffer or even lose our lives to something that can be treated. *big hugs*