Morning ladies! Today a topic specifically for us, though guys are more than welcome to read and learn along.
The Truth About Painful Periods
I think the topic of painful periods and debilitating PMS, though not very sexy, is a very interesting one. Every woman either suffers from this, at a point in life or pretty much all the time, or knows someone who does. And just like with so so many things in todays society: it’s really not necessary nor normal to feel this way!
Say what?? It’s true though. And don’t worry, you’re not the only one who’s never realized this before. It’s just another one of those shitty retarded things we’ve all come to take for granted because it seems like the norm and not something we can really do anything about, right? Right?! Well, it’s time for a little reality-check on this front.
Doesn’t it sound just a wee bit odd that nature/god/the universe/whatever floats your boat, decided for women to go through hell every 3 weeks? Doesn’t it sound just a little but suspicious and just plain wrong? That’s because it is.
I also for many many years swallowed birth control pills like they were candies and didn’t think too much of my cycle and if my periods were normal or not. But when not too long ago raw food and later on Bikram yoga came into my life and I noticed a big change in my periods (less pain, less bloat, lighter period), without even anticipating this, I became intrigued. And when I quit the pill last summer and I, even more unexpectedly, felt like a new, happier, shinier version of myself, I was shocked to say the least (I was on the pill for 8 years and never thought I was ‘ one of those persons’ that got affected by it).
The mechanisms involved in menstruating are super duper complicated and intricate but I decided it was time to confirm for once and for all painful periods and suicidal PMS (or anything close…) are not, in fact, normal. Lately I’ve been coming across more and more evidence that these symptoms revolving menstrual periods are a sign of imbalances in our system. And, no big shock here, that they are mostly confined to Western cultures.
Period 101
Every month when we get our periods, we release a lot of toxins and metals (specifically copper) that have accumulated in the blood. The more toxins and metals in your body, the more painful your period will be. This explains why symptoms (such as mood swings, swollen breasts and stomach pains) start days prior to menstruating, and progress to be worse and worse until the day you menstruate or even a few days in. Thats when enough toxins and metals have left your body and you’ll start to feel like yourself again. Your hormone levels can be affected by these toxins, which makes matters worse because now your delicate hormone system will become imbalanced, which causes a lot of trouble. Too high or too low estrogen levels can really make you feel like a different person rather than your shiny happy self.
Now What?
Pain killers and birth control pill are widely accepted ways to control menstrual pains. Like any and all medication, these are just ways to cover up the symptoms, not to eliminate the root cause. Oh, and while doing so, they add a nice variety of new toxins to your system.
I will go into further detail on the steps you can take to make your period a less painful and more natural experience tomorrow.
What about you, do your periods leave you in pain and agony each month? Ever noticed a shift in this?
Love,
Sabine
Well, I’m one of those women who use her birth control methods to battle her menstruation. I began taking the pill when I was only 13 because my periods were extremely heavy and painful, leaving me sick at home once a month. With the pill I could control how often I got my period and that helped a lot, so yay.
About a year and a half ago I decided to stop taking the pill. I disliked the idea of hormones in my body. I still do in fact. But as the months progressed, the horror of my periods increased. I’m fairly healthy and especially in the time off the pill I’ve started to eat even healthier and exercise more, but it didn’t affect my period at all. If anything, it got worse. So I went to the doctor again and she told me that the amount of pain and blood-loss I had wasn’t normal and she gave me a ‘Mirena’ which will diminish my periods to basically non-existent.
Long story short: My periods have been quite extreme from the start and although I agree with you that the hormones we’re putting into our body are generally doing more harm than good, I don’t know another solution.
From a nutritional standpoint, have you ever looked into magnesium supplementation or calcium? I have read numerous articles on how a low magnesium level/ calcium levels in our bodies can cause painful menstrual cycles. Taking a magnesium supplement has changed my life in this aspect…
Overall a great website, and here is an article on menstrual cycles: http://www.naturalnews.com/019419.html
There are so many wonderful informative articles on this webpage…just type in what ails you in the google search bar on the main page, or select a topic.
Also this is the magnesium supplement I take:
http://store.naturalnews.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=1000744
(This works fast too. If you do not want to buy it from this site, you can look at a local health food store, which typically will carry it.)
Just trying to send a helpful message your way.
-Maureen
Hi maureen thank you! Yup I heard about the magnesium/calcium thing but havent had the time to look into it properly yet. I myself dont suffer from painful periods at all (quite the opposite) but I’ll try and add it to a post soon, thanks again <3
Goed dat je dit onderwerp aankaart, want ik heb me er altijd over verbaasd dat vrouwen hier zoveel last van kunnen hebben. Zelf had ik de eerste paar jaar van mijn menstruatie altijd pijn in mijn onderrug, maar inmiddels heb ik vrijwel nergens meer last van. Denk dat dit komt doordat ik de afgelopen jaren gezonder ben gaan eten en meer ben gaan sporten.
I got my first period when I was only 11 years old, and every single one was horribly painful from the very start. I took painkillers every month and accepted my situation. Doctors couldn’t help me either. Many years later I started taking the pill, and while my periods are still quite unpleasant, the pain has become a lot lighter.
I’ve been living like this for 20 years now, thinking I can’t really do anything about it. Even though I’ve no intention to give up the pill at the moment, I’m looking forward to reading your tips!
Wat ik zo leuk vind aan jouw site is dat je eigenlijk totaal ingaat tegen wat door vrijwel de hele maatschappij wordt gedacht, maar dat je wel allemaal sterke argumenten hebt bij je standpunt. It all makes sense, om het zo maar te zeggen. Je artikelen zetten me wel altijd aan het denken!
I’m looking forward to hear your tips tomorrow! But I probably want other tips then you will give. I’m just interested in alternatives to the pill! I started taking the pill when I was 17/18 years old. That’s more then 10 years of the pill today. I’ve never had very painful periods, nor did I become a whole other person, but I had my period half of the time (for real). It was like: period for a week, no period for a week, period for a week, no period for a week, etc. When I was 17/18 I had enough of this and I started taking the pill. The last couple of years I’ve been wanting to quit the pill, but I don’t want to get pregnant (yet). I still haven’t found an alternative to the pill, because I don’t want a hormonal thing anymore, I don’t want a spiral (is that correct English?) because I find the way it prevents a pregnancy not that great. Other ways are condoms (regular or womens) but I have a boyfriend and I don’t want that going on anymore. Measuring my temp. is also an option (or other ways that tell you you have your ovulation) but because my period has been so strange until I started the pill it probably wouldn’t be effective at all.
To sum things up: I’d love to quit the pill, but I don’t know how, because I don’t think there’s an alternative for me.
I’m so happy though that I don’t have the PMS like some others! Probably I don’t have that much toxins in my body?
Wow heel herkenbaar dit verhaal! Ben ook al een flink aantal jaren aan de pil en heb zelfs korte tijd een spiraaltje gehad (geen succesverhaal, toen had ik pas echt veel last van kramp). Afgelopen jaar ben ik een aantal maanden van de pil af geweest, maar net als Marieke heb ik een vaste vriend en dan is het geklooi met condooms niet echt ideaal en bovendien ben ik bang toch zwanger te raken. Ben erg benieuwd naar je artikel van morgen en misschien/hopelijk wat gezondere alternatieven voor anticonceptie zonder hormonen. In de paar maanden dat ik geen pil slikte, merkte ik niet echt veel verschil in humeur. Het enige dat echt opviel, was dat mijn cupmaat iets geslonken was, wat natuurlijk best logisch is.
Same here! I’m on the pill since 11 years now and hate putting all those hormones and chemicals into my body. On the other hand I’m very hysteric about getting pregnant because I don’t want that to happen (now). And I’m in a relationship as well so condoms aren’t the solution either. I would love to quit the pill. I’m not losing lots of blood during my period but have some back pain or headache. I’m on a veggie/almost vegan diet.
WOW,,,I have always had the first 2 days very painful,,,,,,until I went vegetarain/vegan/raw this last year! I thought this is very ODD and there shouldn’t be a connection,,,,but this is the second article I’ve read to only confirm my suspisions. I’m 47 so I have had painful periods for a LOT of years….not anymore<3
Hope your doing well and have an awesome day.
Ik ben 22 jaar en ik heb al 10 jaar last van een zware menstruatie. Ik eet naar mijn idee gezond en beweeg voldoende. Ik gebruik sinds 1 week de pil, omdat ik gewoon geen keuze heb en hoop dat dit zal helpen. In eerste instantie wilde ik de pil niet gebruiken, maar na 10 jaar ben ik het echt zat, haha. Ik vind dit een heel interessant artikel en ik ben benieuwd naar de volgende!
I’m using the Mirena spiral for four years now, and I basically feel no signs of my period. Sometimes, but rarely, my breasts feel a little sensitive, and that’s about it. Mirena has got so little hormones, I feel a lot better than when I was on the pill.
Natural family planning is deffinitely not my thing, I wouldn’t try that. I’ve heard from a lot of people who eventually, got pregnant – unintendently of course.
I totally agree with you that PMS is Western/bad diet BS. I used to think painful periods were just what happened to girls. Then I started exercising, then I went vegan and mostly raw, and now I can’t even imagine that I ever used to spend 3-5 days of every month crying in pain and unable to sleep.. How did I ever think that was normal??
On another really interesting note, I’ve been looking into a lot of studies/this theory that having periods the way we do nowadays isn’t normal. The argument is that animals and humans (before modern times) do/did get their periods but much lighter ones and for a much shorter time. The fact that we bleed so heavily and for so long would actually point to an irregularity in our lifestyles/diet/health. That’s why the healthier we get, the shorter our periods tend to be and the less we tend to bleed.
I can’t remember where I saw this, but some people argue that we even got the Bible (and other old texts) all wrong when we assumed that they were anti-women when they wrote that women who have their periods should not be touched/are unclean. In fact, it says that women who were “bleeding” were abnormal… because WE assume that period = bleeding, we thought these texts were talking about menstruation in general, when it fact, excessive bleeding to ancient peoples might have just been a sign that a woman was in poor health (so shouldn’t be touched)… A lot of anthropological studies also show that some women in certain cultures who are very healthy have very few outward signs of menstruation (usually no more than a few tablespoons of blood) and still ovulate totally normally and tend to live longer/be healthier/etc. I thought it was pretty interesting stuff! Not sure if that was all clear, but didn’t want to rant too long
very interesting!
I don’t have too painful of periods but some months are worse than others. And since ive been eating poorly for the past year, my periods have gotten heavier.
I’ve also read in a thread somewhere that it’s thought that women who wear tampons are likely to bleed longer rather than women who use pads or a diva cup.
Ah and a (slightly, maybe too personal) question- do you use tampons or do you use a diva cup? I’ve wanted to invest in one (I think they’re about $35 and should be replaced every year). I think it would be something you’d like to look into as it totally eliminates any feminine product waste.
Hey Denise don’t worry, I don’t mind being open about pretty much anything
. And I think us chicas need to stick together and help each other out 
.
I have only just begun looking into much more natural ways of birth control and regulating periods myself. I quit the pill this summer (after wanting to quit for almost a year..) and have only gotten my period once since then (lovely after effects of pumping hormones into your system for 8 years..). I have heard of the diva cups once before, just can’t remember how/where, and its def something Im going to look into. What bothers me most about tampons is that they are bleached with dioxide, which is super chemical… sigh. Sometimes the world around me just seems a bit crazy, once you figure all of this stuff out. Besides that its of course not environmental friendly at all and in ayurvedic principles its considered unnatural to go ‘ against the flow’ like that!
I’m interested in diva cups as well but never tried them so far.
Ik heb totaal andere ervaringen met de pil..Na 15 jaar pilgebruik ben ik in juni gestopt, omdat we graag een kindje willen. Ik heb nooit veel last gehad van mijn menstruatie, niet met, en niet zonder de pil. Elk lichaam is anders en reageert anders op hormonen. Ik heb nooit problemen gehad met het idee dat ik hormonen in mijn lijf stopte: het had toch een doel? Als ik hoofdpijn heb, neem ik ook gerust een paracetamolletje, daar zijn ze voor. Zolang mijn focus primair ligt op gezond eten, voldoende bewegen en genoeg slapen, voel ik me prima in mijn vel, met of zonder medicatie.
Hoi Rosanneke, wat is jouw andere ervaring met de pil dan?
en heel spannend dat jullie een kindje willen, all the best to you
!
Ik zit hier dus ook al jaren mee met alle hormonen die in ons systeem worden gepompt. Ik ben super benieuwd naar je vervolg artikelen. Keep up the good work! Je bent geweldig. xxx
Ik ben blij met de pil en wordt ongeveer twee keer per jaar ongesteld. Hooray.
Ik ben nu al zo’n 10 jaar, elke keer als ik ongesteld ben echt een wrak. Psychisch stort ik gewoon echt in, vorige winter ben ik nauwelijks mijn bed uitgekomen, omdat ik me zo ‘zwaar’ en lusteloos voelde. Pas als ik ongesteld was geweest viel er opeens een last van me af en ging het even een paar dagen beter. Echt verschrikkelijk.
Maar ook lichamelijk heb ik er heel veel last van. Enorme krampaanvallen, met opvliegers, flauwvallen, rugpijn, hoofdpijn. Mijn hele lichaam lijkt dan ontregelt en ik voel me het beste als ik niets/weinig eet, omdat mijn spijsvertering ook niet normaal lijkt te werken. Sowieso krijg ik voor/tijdens de eerste dag altijd diarree, wat ook erg vervelend is. Maar de constante pijn is het ergste, omdat ik er vaak ook niet van kan slapen, waardoor ik uiteindelijk gewoon echt ‘op’ ben.
Aan de pil ben ik gelukkig nooit geweest, maar heb verder al wel heel veel geprobeerd op alternatief gebied. Van magnesium (in combinatie met vit c) tot teunisbloemolie, tot acupunctuur tot een histaminevrij dieet, niets werkt. Zelfs zware pijnstillers niet, waar ik eigenlijk heel erg tegen ben, omdat ik vermoed dat het in mijn geval psychosomatisch is en dus vind dat ik het niet moet onderdrukken.
Op het moment ben ik ongesteld en experimenteer met basevormende voeding. Ik vind de informatie die daarover te vinden is alleen erg wisselend. Hoe weet ik welke lijsten kloppen en welke niet? Die lijst die je bij je artikel had staan, is dat een betrouwbare bron?
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I’m lucky that I didn’t experience that PMS thing, because I saw my sister how she suffer from her painful PMS every month.
Great post! I am currently using the Nuvaring, which is an alternative for the pill. It contains less hormones, yes – but it’s still hormones. I’ve been off hormonal birth control before for about a year and found that my periods became increasingly painful. So I went back to the Nuvaring… I know I’m just covering up symptoms and not actually solving anything, and I had been cracking my brain over this for a while now (not a big condom fan either). Your post gives me a little ray of hope that my body will be able to balance itself out if and when I take good care of it!
As for the diva cup, I’ve been using it for two years now, combined with organic cotton pads (used as panty liners), and I love it. It’s easy, it’s hygienic, there are no funny smells, it saves you tons of money in the long run (30 euro’s for the cup – think about the price of tampons!), and it’s good for the environment, too. And you never have to remember to bring tampons with you anywhere ever again! It took me a while to figure out how to insert the thing properly, but once I did, I was totally convinced.
[...] ik wat dan laat ik jullie het zeker weten. Ook wil ik jullie door verwijzen naar het artikel van Sabine (Thefruitpursuit.com) over PMS. Staat ook een deel 2 van online. Ik vond het heel [...]
[...] ik wat dan laat ik jullie het zeker weten. Ook wil ik jullie door verwijzen naar het artikel van Sabine (Thefruitpursuit.com) over PMS. Staat ook een deel 2 van online. Ik vond het heel [...]
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