Ladies only! Working out with painful periods
Replies
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amyrebeccah wrote: »amyrebeccah wrote: »** although, taking 200 mg ibuprofen (not aspirin, not acetaminophen - ibuprofen, like advil) every 4 hours for 2-3 days before your period starts can help reduce pain bc it decreases prostaglandin activity. if you track your period with an app, you can work out the timing.
this helps things hurt less for me than when i forget to do that, and am woken up in the middle of the night by surprise uterus violence. not enough less to try to work out.
I had been doing that, and it does help, but you risk overusing the advil and taxing your kidneys and stomach lining. My GI made me go off it entirely. :-(
True - for stomach, taking it with food helps. Kidneys, I don't know
Anecdotally - lots of women I've talked to have experienced a reduction in pain after childbirth. It's an extreme measure, admittedly.
Yeah, I've heard that too, but
Lol yeah it's a bad reason to have a kid. (I actually thought about it once though)0 -
Abdominal exercises should be avoided during the heavy days especially, and if you are still bleeding red. If color changes to brown towards the end you can resume light ab workouts but sometimes that could create bleeding again. It's best to avoid ab work outs until all bleeding has stopped.
I don't do any abdinal work outs for the five days of my cycle and then make sure to do them all other days. It turns out to be a nice break that I appreciate. A time where I slow down and find that internal rest that is so needed during that time of the month.HereToLoseOrWin wrote: »Hello, i am a yoga teacher and have learned a few things about bodies over the years. I have a few suggestions for you that I've learned from personal experience and this applies to all the ladies. Menstration should be a time for rest and surrender where you honor yourself as a woman. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't work out. You just need to tone it down a bit. A few things to avoid during your cycle: dont do any abdominal workouts, this puts strain on your uterus and will increase your flow unnecessarily, don't do exercises that generate a lot of heat. Your body natural heats up when menstruating which is already taxing your system. Don't invert your body doing handstands or hanging upside down. Avoid twisting your abdomen when stretching.
I recommend taking and learning restorative yoga poses to do during your cycle. There are many poses that provide releif for cramps and bloating. You can easily find classes online.
Do take fish oil and primrose oil regularly. Another thing that made a HUGE difference with my cycle was sleeping on an earthing blanket. Also known as grounding blankets. You can find them online. You can achieve the same benefits if you spend 45 minutes a day grounding your feet in either grass, sand or cement as well. Look up earthing. It provides many benefits and helps balance out the rhythms of your body. Hope this info helps!
Namaste!IronBatMaiden wrote: »So I'm not sure if some of you have seen my other thread in another board about Aunt Flo issues, but just to give you some background, I've dealt with irregular cycles in the last 4 years. It boils down to some kind of hormone imbalance where my body won't make enough progesterone to ovulate and menstruate every month. The last two months since starting exercise, I hadn't had a period until last night. So now I have to deal with pain while working out.
For the last two nights in a row, I was dealing with horrible cramps that were made worse with working out. Last night was probably the worse out of the two. I almost stopped because the pain was so bad! As soon as I got home and took a shower, I curled up on the bed in a ball of pain! I didn't end up going tonight because I just felt drained and I soaked through a tampon to where it stained my panties and shorts. (Sorry for the tmi.)
I just ordered a menstrual cup and I'm gonna see if that acts as a good alternative to tampons, but I have to ask. Does anyone have any tips for reducing or getting rid of menstrual pain while working out and getting a good burn in?
Do you think stomach exercise and exercises that generate heat should be avoided through out the entire period or just the first 1-2 days?
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IronBatMaiden wrote: »The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
Wow! That sounds like torture. Is it possible that you may have endometriosis?
I have suspected in the past I might have endometriosis or some other reproductive issue. The only thing that it can be pinned down to is some kind of hormonal imbalance. I wonder if it's endo and/or pcos.0 -
Thanks for the advice about the yoga everyone. I'll look some up online. And on another note, I'm gonna probably end up making a doctor's appointment so I can find out why my cycles are so irregular and what I can do for it.0
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Cardio has always helped my cramps. Thanks to this birth control I'm on I've had spotting and 2-4 periods a month for the past 4 months and I've never let myself miss a gym day because of them. Hot pads, Tylenol, and bring one or two back-up tampons and a light liner to the gym. If those aren't working you should look into birth control (just not Nexplanon!) to reduce your period symptoms.0
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IronBatMaiden wrote: »The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
Wow! That sounds like torture. Is it possible that you may have endometriosis?
This doesn't even sound like endometriosis..menstrual cramps are your uterus contracting, endometriosis is still in the uterus and just causes lower abdominal pain. Pain in that area sounds like a UTI or an STD.0 -
IronBatMaiden wrote: »IronBatMaiden wrote: »The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
Wow! That sounds like torture. Is it possible that you may have endometriosis?
I have suspected in the past I might have endometriosis or some other reproductive issue. The only thing that it can be pinned down to is some kind of hormonal imbalance. I wonder if it's endo and/or pcos.
Skipping periods is a symptom of pcos. You can easily have this checked out through blood test and ultrasound.0 -
Ashtoretet wrote: »IronBatMaiden wrote: »The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
Wow! That sounds like torture. Is it possible that you may have endometriosis?
This doesn't even sound like endometriosis..menstrual cramps are your uterus contracting, endometriosis is still in the uterus and just causes lower abdominal pain. Pain in that area sounds like a UTI or an STD.
It isn't constant. It's just 2-3 days before my period and on the first 2 days on my period.0 -
HereToLoseOrWin wrote: »IronBatMaiden wrote: »IronBatMaiden wrote: »The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
Wow! That sounds like torture. Is it possible that you may have endometriosis?
I have suspected in the past I might have endometriosis or some other reproductive issue. The only thing that it can be pinned down to is some kind of hormonal imbalance. I wonder if it's endo and/or pcos.
Skipping periods is a symptom of pcos. You can easily have this checked out through blood test and ultrasound.
Maybe I'll request an ultrasound since the blood test only revealed a hormonal imbalance.0 -
Believe me, I understand the pain. For just a day or two a month, though , why not skip the workout? Be kind to yourself and go back to the gym feeling 100%.0
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Wine, Netflix, burrito.. in that order for me. When I have really bad cramps I don't go to the gym. I make sure I go back right when they are dull or gone. You can try a heat wrap walgreens.com/store/c/thermacare-heatwraps/ID=prod6003654-product0
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I skip the first three days every period...have for over 20 years....I figure I'm going to be doing this until I'm 80 (God willing), I think I can be kind/gentle to myself three days a month...lol (Consequently, I've heard that the first two days you burn more calories, not sure of the logic or reason, but there it is!)0
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You might try taking a low dose aspirin a day when you start cramping, especially if you pass a lot of clots. Sometimes this will help. I also find that there are some months that tampons make the cramps ALOT worse and I have to resort to pads. My uterus tips on it own, sometimes from month to month, sometimes in the course of one cycle so my pain alternates between my lower back and pelvic area... what exercise I can tolerate depends on where I am hurting, and also changes how well I respond to Tylenol and Motrin for pain relief. Evening Primrose Oil capsules help a lot, as do Black Cohosh (though this will makes cramps worse for a day or so but shorten your cycle by several days- or does for me anyhow.)0
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I find if I'm having an averagely painful period, light exercise after taking a few painkillers actually makes the cramps ease off for a few hours (so much that I can usually go 6-7 hours between doses rather than 4-5). However when the cramps are so strong they make me feel sick I take it easy.0
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amyrebeccah wrote: »** although, taking 200 mg ibuprofen (not aspirin, not acetaminophen - ibuprofen, like advil) every 4 hours for 2-3 days before your period starts can help reduce pain bc it decreases prostaglandin activity. if you track your period with an app, you can work out the timing.
this helps things hurt less for me than when i forget to do that, and am woken up in the middle of the night by surprise uterus violence. not enough less to try to work out.
I had been doing that, and it does help, but you risk overusing the advil and taxing your kidneys and stomach lining. My GI made me go off it entirely. :-(
True - for stomach, taking it with food helps. Kidneys, I don't know
Anecdotally - lots of women I've talked to have experienced a reduction in pain after childbirth. It's an extreme measure, admittedly.
Opposite here. I get awful ovulation pain AND period pain post pregnancies.0 -
IronBatMaiden wrote: »How many days do your extreme cramps last? If it is only a couple, why not take rest days? Mine are not bad enough now that I can't exercise but when I was younger, they were awful. I can sympathize with you on that and really think that a couple of rest days would be fine.
The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
From all the symptoms you've described, you sound like my friend who has endometriosis.
She's had ultrasounds for conformation and even went through surgery to remove endometrial overgrowth that was causing her intense pain and limiting her ability to function like a normal human.
She rests on these days and at most takes her dog for a 15 minute walk. Lowers her calorie intake and eats only the things her stomach can tolerate because the pain is so bad she gets pretty nauseous.
DEFINITELY something to look into. Take care of yourself.0 -
I can definitely relate.
When I was 17 I was diagnosed with endometriosis. What I'm reading here I think some of you all should have that possibility looked into for yourselves. Period cramps are normal, but period cramps that make working, exercising, going to school, doing normal activities impossible, etc, are not.
Prior to being diagnosed with endo, my periods were awful. Midol did not work. Motrin was the only thing that helped, and even then only if I took 400 mg before the cramps started. If the cramps had already started it was too late. Taking a med that didn't work (like Midol), or getting the Motrin onboard too late often resulted in me moaning on the couch with a heating pad or doubled over in the bath room. If it got really bad I'd usually start vomiting and start feeling like I was going to pass out. I believe I came close, but I never actually passed out. Any kind of exercising at a gym would have been impossible. If the cramps were low grade, I could often go for a leisurely walk with fairly good results of staving off more severe pain until the meds kicked in all the way.
I was diagnosed via exploratory surgery for severe abdominal pain, which turned out to be a softball-sized ovarian cyst. I lost my ovary and tube on that side with the cyst. The cyst was caused by the endometriosis. Once I was diagnosed I was put on the pill (actually several as it turns out I'm allergic to estrogen). Herein all my weight problems started and over a period of 10 years of being on the pill I'd about doubled my body weight from my pre birth control days. Exercise wise, besides things being harder to do because I was now fat, it was better period pain wise, because how my GYN had me taking the pill, I didn't have periods anymore. No more pain every month.
Ten years after being diagnosed with endometriosis and put on the pill I had some medical testing done for a completely unrelated matter. A mass was discovered on my liver. Several CT scans later, I was diagnosed with a hepatic adenoma - a benign live tumor usually caused by long term use of birth control. As this particular tumor has the sinister characteristic of potentially turning cancerous and/or growing and hemmoraging, especially with hormone use, I was taken off the pill and once again went untreated for my endometriosis. (I get my liver tumor checked regularly now - and as of my last CT it was shrinking).
The pain is different now than it used to be. There are months/cycles, where I never have to touch a Motrin and the pain of cramping is fairly dull. Its there, but its "normal" - I can continue with activities in my life. There's other times where taking 800 mg of Motrin doesn't touch the pain and I'm doubled over somewhere moaning and willing the pain to go away. Through a year of trial and error I've found that eating dairy products and non-organic meats, especially near the time of my cycle greatly increases the amount of pain I'm in during my cycle. A lightbulb came on when I realized that most meats/cheeses have been raised with added hormones, which was aggravating the endometriosis and probably wasn't the best for my liver tumor either. I now try to eat only organic meat when possible and keep dairy down to a 1 oz serving a day to help with pain management. There's been a few times where I've skipped going to the gym because I was in too much pain, but most of the time I'm able to go.
My advise for the gym with painful periods; if it hurts that much, don't go. Go another day, or do some cardio at home once you start to feel better. If you still have a few hours to go before gym time, try an NSAID and maybe a heating pad. And please, menstrual cramps that cause vomiting, passing out, or disabling pain that stops you from doing normal daily activities, are not normal. See you doctor.0 -
I dont usually have anything more than 'normal' cramps, and not even those terribly often (i know im lucky in that regard). i take motrin and go on with it.... I have had a couple of occasions where I did cut short a workout or two due to them, though.
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Okay I just got an update. Apparently, I learned yesterday that premature menopause runs in my family and there may be a chance I have it. I haven't been diagnosed officially, but it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.
My great aunt on my mother's side told me when she was 28, she experienced the same thing. Irregular and painful periods. Her periods were so bad that giving birth to her daughter was less painful.0 -
IronBatMaiden wrote: »Okay I just got an update. Apparently, I learned yesterday that premature menopause runs in my family and there may be a chance I have it. I haven't been diagnosed officially, but it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.
My great aunt on my mother's side told me when she was 28, she experienced the same thing. Irregular and painful periods. Her periods were so bad that giving birth to her daughter was less painful.
Wow. Best of luck in getting good treatment.0 -
Thanks0
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Menstrual cups are GREAT. I've been using one for 7 years. Which brand are you going to try?0
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Ashtoretet wrote: »IronBatMaiden wrote: »The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
Wow! That sounds like torture. Is it possible that you may have endometriosis?
This doesn't even sound like endometriosis..menstrual cramps are your uterus contracting, endometriosis is still in the uterus and just causes lower abdominal pain. Pain in that area sounds like a UTI or an STD.
Endometriosis is when endometrial tissue grows in places other than the uterus. I have endo and it causes a shooting pain down there, too.
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Ashtoretet wrote: »IronBatMaiden wrote: »The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
Wow! That sounds like torture. Is it possible that you may have endometriosis?
This doesn't even sound like endometriosis..menstrual cramps are your uterus contracting, endometriosis is still in the uterus and just causes lower abdominal pain. Pain in that area sounds like a UTI or an STD.
Endometriosis is when endometrial tissue grows in places other than the uterus. I have endo and it causes a shooting pain down there, too.
Really? So endo could be causing the shooting vaginal pain?0 -
amyrebeccah wrote: »** although, taking 200 mg ibuprofen (not aspirin, not acetaminophen - ibuprofen, like advil) every 4 hours for 2-3 days before your period starts can help reduce pain bc it decreases prostaglandin activity. if you track your period with an app, you can work out the timing.
this helps things hurt less for me than when i forget to do that, and am woken up in the middle of the night by surprise uterus violence. not enough less to try to work out.
I had been doing that, and it does help, but you risk overusing the advil and taxing your kidneys and stomach lining. My GI made me go off it entirely. :-(
True - for stomach, taking it with food helps. Kidneys, I don't know
Anecdotally - lots of women I've talked to have experienced a reduction in pain after childbirth. It's an extreme measure, admittedly.
Opposite here. I get awful ovulation pain AND period pain post pregnancies.
Me too0 -
I started running because my period was very heavy, painful, uncomfortable, and draining. I run in the morning (2.5 miles) and have no discomfort and minimal bleeding for the whole day. I don't have to take ibuprofen anymore.0
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Magnesium supplementation has helped me a lot with cramping.
NSAIDS - there are ones more effective than Advil
Some kind of hormonal oral birth control to suppress cycles or the mirena (there is also a mini-mirena now).
Talk to your doc.0 -
IronBatMaiden wrote: »Ashtoretet wrote: »IronBatMaiden wrote: »The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
Wow! That sounds like torture. Is it possible that you may have endometriosis?
This doesn't even sound like endometriosis..menstrual cramps are your uterus contracting, endometriosis is still in the uterus and just causes lower abdominal pain. Pain in that area sounds like a UTI or an STD.
Endometriosis is when endometrial tissue grows in places other than the uterus. I have endo and it causes a shooting pain down there, too.
Really? So endo could be causing the shooting vaginal pain?
Yes, it can. I also have lower back pain that goes down to my thighs. Do a little online research, and if your symptoms match, mention it to your doc! Admittedly, there's no cure for endo and the most the doc can probably do is help with pain management. (Unless you find an excision specialist, but that's a whole other thread.) But it's better than nothing.
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IronBatMaiden wrote: »Ashtoretet wrote: »IronBatMaiden wrote: »The premenstrual cramps last for about a week, but 2-3 days before and the first day are usually horrible!! I feel like I 'm getting stabbed in my vag! I took one rest night last night but I might be up for it again tonight since the pain has lessened (the flow, not so much).
Wow! That sounds like torture. Is it possible that you may have endometriosis?
This doesn't even sound like endometriosis..menstrual cramps are your uterus contracting, endometriosis is still in the uterus and just causes lower abdominal pain. Pain in that area sounds like a UTI or an STD.
Endometriosis is when endometrial tissue grows in places other than the uterus. I have endo and it causes a shooting pain down there, too.
Really? So endo could be causing the shooting vaginal pain?
Yes, it can. I also have lower back pain that goes down to my thighs. Do a little online research, and if your symptoms match, mention it to your doc! Admittedly, there's no cure for endo and the most the doc can probably do is help with pain management. (Unless you find an excision specialist, but that's a whole other thread.) But it's better than nothing.
Honestly, if that's the case, I would want a hysterectomy. I don't want any kids and losing my fertility would not be a loss to me. As long as I can keep my ovaries, it wouldn't be a problem.0
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