Ladies: How do you deal with cramps?!

Ladies: How do you deal with cramps?

I am on my period sorry TMI. and I have MAJOR cramps. My husband and I are trying to make babies..and I dont want to take pamprin or midol cause those dont work for me and I just dont want to take pills...is there any other way to heal my stomach??? I hate cramps!!!!!!!

Okay, so several things: 1) The cramps aren't coming from your stomach, they're coming from your uterus and possibly back, as in women who have tipped uterui often feel the worst cramping in their lower backs. They also often end up w/ posterior babies and back labors too, so at least you'll have had some experience w/ this if and when it occurs. 2) Going vegetarian and cutting out meat, eggs and dairy for a good long while can help immensely--it did help me a lot. The meat in this country is EXTREMELY tainted w/ artificial hormones which cause some women to have unbearable cramps and huge amounts of excessive bleeding. All animal food effects your hormonal balance. I find in my own life that eating lots of vegetables, especially greens, helps me a lot. I do eat poultry and fish--personally, I need to eat some protein now b/c I'm diabetic and an all carb diet makes me really ill--but for many years of my life I was macrobiotic or a pretty strict vegetarian. I did not have menstrual cramps or asthma, and I weighed 129 as opposed to the 207 (or 218--I'm 6 feet tall) I weigh now. Other natural things that can help cramps: 1) Evening primrose oil; 2) Magnesium and calcium (sometimes in a 2:1 reverse ratio: 2 parts mag to 1 part cal.); 3) Vitamin B-6; 4) a heating pad; 5) homeopathic Mag Phos (helps w/ all kinds of cramping/muscle spasms/sharp, shooting pains, but you can't drink coffee while using it. Camphor, menthol, mint will antidote it, too, so allow at least a half hour after brushing your teeth before you take the remedy.) Homeopathy is non-toxic, inexpensive and works very deeply. It can't hurt you or your baby. This particular remedy (B-6) did NOTHING to help me, but it has helped other women. To be extremely honest w/ you, my cramps were so intense in my teens and 20's that they used to find me passed out in the bathroom, covered in my own blood and **** and hemorrhaging all over the place. I HAD to take ibuprofen or tylenol to be able to get thru school and then my work week. As a child, I grew up in a home where we forced to eat meat and drink milk three meals a day. I later found out that I am highly lactose intolerant/dairy allergic and EXTREMELY sensitive to hormones. I cannot to this day take any form of hormonal birth control, nor do I want to. Both my sisters and I became vegetarian as adults for long, long periods of time. I believe many women just do better on a primarily vegetarian diet. Cut out or cut way down on the red meat and eggs, especially two weeks before your period and see how you do. Sometimes the level of pain you're describing can also imply that you might have endometriosis or even endometrial tissue adhered to your internal/pelvic organs, so go to your gyno and get checked out for this. I also would recommend a course of fresh vegetable juices everyday w/ lots of garlic and ginger. Ginger assists your body in breaking down fats, which is where the excess hormones/estrogens are stored in the body. Women w/ stagnant gall bladder/liver chi are also helped greatly by putting a lot of lemon/lime into their diet, as in starting each and every day w/ a big ole glass of water w/ the juice of a lemon in it. The changes in your body won't happen over night, but if you change your diet and do some research into menstrual cramping (Read Balch and Balch's Prescription for Nutritional Healing and Luisa Francha's Dragon Time which is like an owner's manual for those of us w/ breasts and a womb...), and then incorporate those changes into your life, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. 6) Put soy into your diet. It's cooling in the body, especially cooling to the sex organs (Menstual issues like you're describing would be classified as a "hot, yang, stagnation" issue in Chinese Medicine.) Soy is full of phyto-estrogens (Plant-based estrogens) and will help to balance your body/condition. If you're soy allergic, hypothyroid (underactive), or are cold all the time, be careful w/ the soy part. Only used it warmed up, and preferably w/ spices, like soymilk in chai, or tofu in soups.

Additionally, aspirin was originally synthesized from white willow bark. If you don't want to take something synthetic (which I completely understand and support, especially when one is trying to get pregnant), go to the health food store and buy some white willow bark (Salix) in capsules, or preferably, tincture form, and take that. Don't exceed the dosage recommended on the bottle.

This won't help you so much right now, but when you do finally get pregnant and go through labor, the pains won't come as such a shock b/c you'll finally know that you've already been through "mini-labors" each and every single month of your life. It's actually made you stronger and more able to deal w/ a natural birth. The good news is also that after a woman's first child, those uber-intense periods usually calm way down or go completely away.

Other things I can recommend: 1) Chamomile tea by the potful helped me, as did drinking lots of "green" water. I used Kyo-Green (a Wakunaga product) dried barley grass powder in my bottled water. All day, every day. It's great, but it might take a bit of getting used to at first. 2) Vitex tincture helped me immensely, but it's bitter as HELL and some women just can't deal w/ that. Again, put it in your bottled water. Vitex berries are eaten mixed w/ daily porridge in the Middle East and act as very powerful hormonal regulators. 3) Belly dancing helps a lot of women w/ menstual cramps and/or tipped uteruses. It's fun, it tones your waist, it puts you dead in touch w/ your deepest femininity, your husband will love it!!!! 4) Tea of any kind, but especially Earl Grey or English Breakfast helped me get through the worst bits. 4) Dandelion and burdock tincture strongly stimulate the liver/gall bladder meridian and can help the body discharge prostaglandins, excess estrogens and hormones and their by-products and old meat/cheese/dairy/egg chemicals/energy still laying around in the body that can effect your hormonal balance. Again, bitter as hell, but incredibly good for you. Nettle tincture and alfalfa tincture would also be good for this condition. Anything really, really green and filled w/ chlorophyll will help you here, so eat salads and greens every single day of your life. Scullcap for the cramping, too. There are many others, such as motherwort and squaw vine, try them and teach yourself about their use. Don't exceed 30 drops at a time in the beginning, about a teaspoon per dose.

See if you can find a massage therapist who does (Mayan) Uterine Massage and go to him or her (I prefer hers...). This last bit was heaven for me, and really, really helped me.

Let us know how it goes for you!!! And good luck w/ the baby making! It truly is one of the best parts of life!