Quote:
Originally posted by
CoffeeCup
Menstrual cramps. Some women have them worse than others. Personlly, I suffer from dysmenorrhea. (excessively bad menstrual pain)Hormonal contraceptives reduce the severity greatly, but every once in awhile, I still get cramps bad enough to cause an
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Menstrual cramps. Some women have them worse than others. Personlly, I suffer from dysmenorrhea. (excessively bad menstrual pain)Hormonal contraceptives reduce the severity greatly, but every once in awhile, I still get cramps bad enough to cause an inconvenience.
How do you deal with your cramps?
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I have suffered from endometriosis, which come with a friend--IBS since my early teen years.
Talk about embarrassing! Since my teens, I've always been totally down, out and stuck in bed for about 2 weeks out of each month. Sometimes a few days less, sometimes a few days more. It got so bad that I couldn't have a life, got extremely ill, ended up 70 pounds and in the hospital! That about killed me. It got to where the problems were nearly constant rather than just during my period.
I had surgery with relief for only one week, went back and my OB/GYN prescribed darn pain killers and anti-spasm/anti-anxiet y meds as well as a medication that stops my menstrual cycle and helps slow the endometrial tissue growth. That all helped some, but the meds made me high. Even a year later, I cannot take any more than one pill a day and still get high and zombie-like. The dose I was prescribed was FOUR A DAY! I never was able to do that. I didn't like being on meds everyday. I finally got desperate and tried Virgin Coconut oil. It helped, but I also had herxheimer a lot when taking it. It'd help my menstrual mess a lot, but the herxheimer made me so sick that I couldn't bring myself to take it. I finally started stuffing it inside capsules and taking it because I was getting really sick again. That was helpful, but I finally found something better--Aloe Vera. I began taking it in pill form, which means paying $30 if I wanted actual Aloe rather than watered down crap. About 2 months ago I gave up and started growing my own aloe--$9 for one plant and I now have a HUGE plant, plus baby sprouts. That's much cheaper. Now I prepare the aloe and since I have little extra time and no time for preparing a meal to put the aloe in, I stick the cut up chunks on my tongue, follow with Dr.Pepper--just like a pill.
Aloe has been a life saver for me. I still have endo. I completely stopped taking my crazy zombie meds and haven't even went back to see my OB/GYN in a year! I still do get the injection to slow the process and that combined with OTC stuff, occasionally pain killers and the aloe, I'm like a new person! I rarely suffer to the point of staying out of work or not having my life. I have some bad moments during my menstrual cycle and still have extreme headaches, agitation, and the rest of the PMS sypmtoms, but I'm not in so much pain that I am confined to the bed. I adore my aloe!
With endo, cramps are severe. Each time my period hit--and often when I wasn't even near my period--I'd be doubled over with cramps so severe I couldn't breathe! If I even do get the cramps now, they're pretty moderate or only last for a short few minutes. Aloe is great for problems like this as well as hundreds of others. I'd really recommend trying it. However, never start with large doses. I take pretty small doses, and especially when I'm using straight from the plant since it's so potent. Taking too much can actually cause MORE cramps! It only happened to me once when taking the pills at way to high a dose. I've never gotten cramps while taking it right from the plant.
