Vicious Cycle
Replies
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leejoyce31 wrote: »Oh you're so not alone. You described me completely. It's awful and unfortunately a lot of people really don't get it... And the last few months my cycles have one lasted 3 weeks, so it's pretty much non stop hell.
First, medicate. I pretty much have to alternate Advil and Tylenol (or store brands, but it has to be soft gels or it takes too long to work) every 2-3 hours for days. I start as soon as I get up. Once the pain is gone, it's much easier to get moving.
Exercise more. Seriously. My last bad PMS day was bad, but I try to stay active and end up burning off a big chunk of the surplus (I laugh at the 'eat at maintenance' posts. Maintenance doesn't even get close to cutting it for me). I've increased my activity and walk whenever I have 30 minutes to kill (instead of just sitting down and watching TV or browsing the web or something - exceptions being in the morning while I drink my coffee and at night when the kids are in bed).
Find what foods REALLY satisfy you. That horrible hunger feeling... what can you eat in reasonable quantities to make it go away? For me, I've found that just a plain English muffin will work much better than ice cream or cookies (I might crave them but they really don't satisfy me and I can't stop eating them if I start at that time). The key is to eat as little as possible of the thing that will satisfy you, and avoid the stuff that won't, no matter how tempting.
The whole mental thing... I know it's not it for me because sometimes I skip a period and it doesn't happen to me at all. I always kinda feel insulted when people suggest it though! And yeah, some cycles it doesn't happen more than maybe a day and I'm so grateful.
And my best advice if you don't want to gain weight from that - eat less on the easier days. It sucks, but that's pretty much how I've managed not to gain back the weight in 2.5 years (I've gained back a couple pounds when Holidays and special events fell on usually 'normal' days and I wasn't able to keep a deficit that 'easy' week, but that's pretty much it and my clothes still fit the same).
Yeah, the suggestion is a put off to some degree. I guess sometimes it's hard for people to believe that something can be real for others, if they don't experience it themselves.
It is real for sure!!
It's definitely real. No one is saying you're not experiencing what you say you're experiencing.But I see this all the time at my work. Women go crazy when you suggest that your brain can affect what you feel physically. I used to have terrible period pains until I saw an endocrinologist and realized my hormones were normal and I was very depressed. And once I went on anti depressants the symptoms improved dramatically. It still hurts but not the way it used to.
People with amputated limbs still feel pain in them. The mind is an amazing thing and to discount the idea that some of this could be mental rather than physical is doing yourself a disservice .3 -
I guess i'm a bit jaded when i hear the word pms. It makes me think of my ex sister in-law
Every month for 2 weeks she would moan about pms, she would be parked on the couch with her chips and chocolate and was a total B*tch.
Except she was like this every other day of the month too! But for 2 weeks she had an "excuse" for being like that..4 -
Sounds good ladies. Thank you for the suggestions. First let me say I am 45...of course I have seen the doctor about this and have had many forms of birth control. Never a good reaction to any of them. So I just deal with it. I promise, the pain, the cramps the appetite is not in my head. It is all very real. I can go through almost a whole bag of napkins in one cycle. I will say this. If I work out it is not as heavy but I do still get every thing else. I think the suggestion about drinking a lot of water is one that I will try. Honestly I don't drink a lot of water. I am not using this as an excuse or a crutch of any sort. You all are right I have to keep pushing through. So that is what I intend on doing. I just can't with another birth control. Nothing good ever comes from it for me.
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I completely understand.. 1st of all the pains are sometimes unbearable, codeine sometimes doesn't even take the edge off.. the week leading up to it, the hunger takes over. I used to give in and could easily do a few chocolate bars (I have an extremely sweet tooth) however I then discovered dark chocolate (above 75%) I now have 2 cubes every night the week before and it seems to help with cravings, plus I swear it's easing the water retention and headaches.. it may be all in my head but it seems to help..0
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I'm another who had problems with PMS and was annoyed when someone tried to tell me it was just an excuse. One of the worst problems for me to deal with was emotional. I have incredible respect for people who can stay calm in emotionally charged situations. I aspire to that, but when I was PMSing it got much more difficult. I can remember sitting at home in front of my desktop playing spider solitaire, with no particular thought in my head except the game, tearing up out of the blue, and realizing I was PMSing. For years before that I felt the emotion (anger/frustration/sadness) then looked for an outside cause, which meant I made mountains out of molehills. In later years I learned to recognize the exaggerated response and just pulled back from interactions. If you've never experienced this part of PMSing I can see how it might seem "fake", but it's not.2
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May I suggest you talk to your doctor about a progesterone replacement. I work in a pharmacy where the pharmacist compounds hormones specially for people with hormone problems it really helped with my endometriosis which it sounds like you may have.1
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Hi, I suffered for years with severe pain and dizziness and fainting. Heating pad for at home and they have those little pads they sell for your stomach, your shoulder, etc. that are warm and they are adhesive. Back in the day we used to have to crush the aspirin and put it into foods. I remember buying a book about 35 years ago about PMS. I think it said brewers yeast might help but not sure. You can check on-line to see if there are any new vitamins/minerals that are recommended. And reading everyone's responses, I think I may have just figured out something - why I have always binged. Could have started when I was eating normal portions but then had the craving to eat because of PMS. Then the extra weight got me dieting and the cycle began of yo-yo dieting/binging. It is very real what you are going through. Tell that to the policeman who was called with me fainting sitting on a stoop. He called my work and told them I wouldn't be in and then got me a taxi. (On another note, he kept on asking me if I had a boyfriend. I was too sick to think about giving him my number lol) Hugs and more hugs0
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Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »leejoyce31 wrote: »Oh you're so not alone. You described me completely. It's awful and unfortunately a lot of people really don't get it... And the last few months my cycles have one lasted 3 weeks, so it's pretty much non stop hell.
First, medicate. I pretty much have to alternate Advil and Tylenol (or store brands, but it has to be soft gels or it takes too long to work) every 2-3 hours for days. I start as soon as I get up. Once the pain is gone, it's much easier to get moving.
Exercise more. Seriously. My last bad PMS day was bad, but I try to stay active and end up burning off a big chunk of the surplus (I laugh at the 'eat at maintenance' posts. Maintenance doesn't even get close to cutting it for me). I've increased my activity and walk whenever I have 30 minutes to kill (instead of just sitting down and watching TV or browsing the web or something - exceptions being in the morning while I drink my coffee and at night when the kids are in bed).
Find what foods REALLY satisfy you. That horrible hunger feeling... what can you eat in reasonable quantities to make it go away? For me, I've found that just a plain English muffin will work much better than ice cream or cookies (I might crave them but they really don't satisfy me and I can't stop eating them if I start at that time). The key is to eat as little as possible of the thing that will satisfy you, and avoid the stuff that won't, no matter how tempting.
The whole mental thing... I know it's not it for me because sometimes I skip a period and it doesn't happen to me at all. I always kinda feel insulted when people suggest it though! And yeah, some cycles it doesn't happen more than maybe a day and I'm so grateful.
And my best advice if you don't want to gain weight from that - eat less on the easier days. It sucks, but that's pretty much how I've managed not to gain back the weight in 2.5 years (I've gained back a couple pounds when Holidays and special events fell on usually 'normal' days and I wasn't able to keep a deficit that 'easy' week, but that's pretty much it and my clothes still fit the same).
Yeah, the suggestion is a put off to some degree. I guess sometimes it's hard for people to believe that something can be real for others, if they don't experience it themselves.
It is real for sure!!
It's definitely real. No one is saying you're not experiencing what you say you're experiencing.But I see this all the time at my work. Women go crazy when you suggest that your brain can affect what you feel physically. I used to have terrible period pains until I saw an endocrinologist and realized my hormones were normal and I was very depressed. And once I went on anti depressants the symptoms improved dramatically. It still hurts but not the way it used to.
People with amputated limbs still feel pain in them. The mind is an amazing thing and to discount the idea that some of this could be mental rather than physical is doing yourself a disservice .Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »leejoyce31 wrote: »Oh you're so not alone. You described me completely. It's awful and unfortunately a lot of people really don't get it... And the last few months my cycles have one lasted 3 weeks, so it's pretty much non stop hell.
First, medicate. I pretty much have to alternate Advil and Tylenol (or store brands, but it has to be soft gels or it takes too long to work) every 2-3 hours for days. I start as soon as I get up. Once the pain is gone, it's much easier to get moving.
Exercise more. Seriously. My last bad PMS day was bad, but I try to stay active and end up burning off a big chunk of the surplus (I laugh at the 'eat at maintenance' posts. Maintenance doesn't even get close to cutting it for me). I've increased my activity and walk whenever I have 30 minutes to kill (instead of just sitting down and watching TV or browsing the web or something - exceptions being in the morning while I drink my coffee and at night when the kids are in bed).
Find what foods REALLY satisfy you. That horrible hunger feeling... what can you eat in reasonable quantities to make it go away? For me, I've found that just a plain English muffin will work much better than ice cream or cookies (I might crave them but they really don't satisfy me and I can't stop eating them if I start at that time). The key is to eat as little as possible of the thing that will satisfy you, and avoid the stuff that won't, no matter how tempting.
The whole mental thing... I know it's not it for me because sometimes I skip a period and it doesn't happen to me at all. I always kinda feel insulted when people suggest it though! And yeah, some cycles it doesn't happen more than maybe a day and I'm so grateful.
And my best advice if you don't want to gain weight from that - eat less on the easier days. It sucks, but that's pretty much how I've managed not to gain back the weight in 2.5 years (I've gained back a couple pounds when Holidays and special events fell on usually 'normal' days and I wasn't able to keep a deficit that 'easy' week, but that's pretty much it and my clothes still fit the same).
Yeah, the suggestion is a put off to some degree. I guess sometimes it's hard for people to believe that something can be real for others, if they don't experience it themselves.
It is real for sure!!
It's definitely real. No one is saying you're not experiencing what you say you're experiencing.But I see this all the time at my work. Women go crazy when you suggest that your brain can affect what you feel physically. I used to have terrible period pains until I saw an endocrinologist and realized my hormones were normal and I was very depressed. And once I went on anti depressants the symptoms improved dramatically. It still hurts but not the way it used to.
People with amputated limbs still feel pain in them. The mind is an amazing thing and to discount the idea that some of this could be mental rather than physical is doing yourself a disservice .
No disservice to me. I accept it as a part of my life and don't over analyze. It's only a few days out of a month. If I overeat I have developed mechanisms to counter it.
I'm just not one to discount what people feel by chalking it up to it's just mental. That's my opinion. We just disagree. I won't say you are doing yourself a disservice just because our opinions differ.1 -
Christine_72 wrote: »I guess i'm a bit jaded when i hear the word pms. It makes me think of my ex sister in-law Every month for 2 weeks she would moan about pms, she would be parked on the couch with her chips and chocolate and was a total B*tch.
Except she was like this every other day of the month too! But for 2 weeks she had an "excuse" for being like that..
Lol.
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leejoyce31 wrote: »Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »leejoyce31 wrote: »Oh you're so not alone. You described me completely. It's awful and unfortunately a lot of people really don't get it... And the last few months my cycles have one lasted 3 weeks, so it's pretty much non stop hell.
First, medicate. I pretty much have to alternate Advil and Tylenol (or store brands, but it has to be soft gels or it takes too long to work) every 2-3 hours for days. I start as soon as I get up. Once the pain is gone, it's much easier to get moving.
Exercise more. Seriously. My last bad PMS day was bad, but I try to stay active and end up burning off a big chunk of the surplus (I laugh at the 'eat at maintenance' posts. Maintenance doesn't even get close to cutting it for me). I've increased my activity and walk whenever I have 30 minutes to kill (instead of just sitting down and watching TV or browsing the web or something - exceptions being in the morning while I drink my coffee and at night when the kids are in bed).
Find what foods REALLY satisfy you. That horrible hunger feeling... what can you eat in reasonable quantities to make it go away? For me, I've found that just a plain English muffin will work much better than ice cream or cookies (I might crave them but they really don't satisfy me and I can't stop eating them if I start at that time). The key is to eat as little as possible of the thing that will satisfy you, and avoid the stuff that won't, no matter how tempting.
The whole mental thing... I know it's not it for me because sometimes I skip a period and it doesn't happen to me at all. I always kinda feel insulted when people suggest it though! And yeah, some cycles it doesn't happen more than maybe a day and I'm so grateful.
And my best advice if you don't want to gain weight from that - eat less on the easier days. It sucks, but that's pretty much how I've managed not to gain back the weight in 2.5 years (I've gained back a couple pounds when Holidays and special events fell on usually 'normal' days and I wasn't able to keep a deficit that 'easy' week, but that's pretty much it and my clothes still fit the same).
Yeah, the suggestion is a put off to some degree. I guess sometimes it's hard for people to believe that something can be real for others, if they don't experience it themselves.
It is real for sure!!
It's definitely real. No one is saying you're not experiencing what you say you're experiencing.But I see this all the time at my work. Women go crazy when you suggest that your brain can affect what you feel physically. I used to have terrible period pains until I saw an endocrinologist and realized my hormones were normal and I was very depressed. And once I went on anti depressants the symptoms improved dramatically. It still hurts but not the way it used to.
People with amputated limbs still feel pain in them. The mind is an amazing thing and to discount the idea that some of this could be mental rather than physical is doing yourself a disservice .Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »leejoyce31 wrote: »Oh you're so not alone. You described me completely. It's awful and unfortunately a lot of people really don't get it... And the last few months my cycles have one lasted 3 weeks, so it's pretty much non stop hell.
First, medicate. I pretty much have to alternate Advil and Tylenol (or store brands, but it has to be soft gels or it takes too long to work) every 2-3 hours for days. I start as soon as I get up. Once the pain is gone, it's much easier to get moving.
Exercise more. Seriously. My last bad PMS day was bad, but I try to stay active and end up burning off a big chunk of the surplus (I laugh at the 'eat at maintenance' posts. Maintenance doesn't even get close to cutting it for me). I've increased my activity and walk whenever I have 30 minutes to kill (instead of just sitting down and watching TV or browsing the web or something - exceptions being in the morning while I drink my coffee and at night when the kids are in bed).
Find what foods REALLY satisfy you. That horrible hunger feeling... what can you eat in reasonable quantities to make it go away? For me, I've found that just a plain English muffin will work much better than ice cream or cookies (I might crave them but they really don't satisfy me and I can't stop eating them if I start at that time). The key is to eat as little as possible of the thing that will satisfy you, and avoid the stuff that won't, no matter how tempting.
The whole mental thing... I know it's not it for me because sometimes I skip a period and it doesn't happen to me at all. I always kinda feel insulted when people suggest it though! And yeah, some cycles it doesn't happen more than maybe a day and I'm so grateful.
And my best advice if you don't want to gain weight from that - eat less on the easier days. It sucks, but that's pretty much how I've managed not to gain back the weight in 2.5 years (I've gained back a couple pounds when Holidays and special events fell on usually 'normal' days and I wasn't able to keep a deficit that 'easy' week, but that's pretty much it and my clothes still fit the same).
Yeah, the suggestion is a put off to some degree. I guess sometimes it's hard for people to believe that something can be real for others, if they don't experience it themselves.
It is real for sure!!
It's definitely real. No one is saying you're not experiencing what you say you're experiencing.But I see this all the time at my work. Women go crazy when you suggest that your brain can affect what you feel physically. I used to have terrible period pains until I saw an endocrinologist and realized my hormones were normal and I was very depressed. And once I went on anti depressants the symptoms improved dramatically. It still hurts but not the way it used to.
People with amputated limbs still feel pain in them. The mind is an amazing thing and to discount the idea that some of this could be mental rather than physical is doing yourself a disservice .
No disservice to me. I accept it as a part of my life and don't over analyze. It's only a few days out of a month. If I overeat I have developed mechanisms to counter it.
I'm just not one to discount what people feel by chalking it up to it's just mental. That's my opinion. We just disagree. I won't say you are doing yourself a disservice just because our opinions differ.
Did you actually read what I said? I never said 'it's just mental'. But you carry on disagreeing with imaginary arguments. Obviously whatever you're doing is working out well for you.0 -
Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »leejoyce31 wrote: »Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »leejoyce31 wrote: »Oh you're so not alone. You described me completely. It's awful and unfortunately a lot of people really don't get it... And the last few months my cycles have one lasted 3 weeks, so it's pretty much non stop hell.
First, medicate. I pretty much have to alternate Advil and Tylenol (or store brands, but it has to be soft gels or it takes too long to work) every 2-3 hours for days. I start as soon as I get up. Once the pain is gone, it's much easier to get moving.
Exercise more. Seriously. My last bad PMS day was bad, but I try to stay active and end up burning off a big chunk of the surplus (I laugh at the 'eat at maintenance' posts. Maintenance doesn't even get close to cutting it for me). I've increased my activity and walk whenever I have 30 minutes to kill (instead of just sitting down and watching TV or browsing the web or something - exceptions being in the morning while I drink my coffee and at night when the kids are in bed).
Find what foods REALLY satisfy you. That horrible hunger feeling... what can you eat in reasonable quantities to make it go away? For me, I've found that just a plain English muffin will work much better than ice cream or cookies (I might crave them but they really don't satisfy me and I can't stop eating them if I start at that time). The key is to eat as little as possible of the thing that will satisfy you, and avoid the stuff that won't, no matter how tempting.
The whole mental thing... I know it's not it for me because sometimes I skip a period and it doesn't happen to me at all. I always kinda feel insulted when people suggest it though! And yeah, some cycles it doesn't happen more than maybe a day and I'm so grateful.
And my best advice if you don't want to gain weight from that - eat less on the easier days. It sucks, but that's pretty much how I've managed not to gain back the weight in 2.5 years (I've gained back a couple pounds when Holidays and special events fell on usually 'normal' days and I wasn't able to keep a deficit that 'easy' week, but that's pretty much it and my clothes still fit the same).
Yeah, the suggestion is a put off to some degree. I guess sometimes it's hard for people to believe that something can be real for others, if they don't experience it themselves.
It is real for sure!!
It's definitely real. No one is saying you're not experiencing what you say you're experiencing.But I see this all the time at my work. Women go crazy when you suggest that your brain can affect what you feel physically. I used to have terrible period pains until I saw an endocrinologist and realized my hormones were normal and I was very depressed. And once I went on anti depressants the symptoms improved dramatically. It still hurts but not the way it used to.
People with amputated limbs still feel pain in them. The mind is an amazing thing and to discount the idea that some of this could be mental rather than physical is doing yourself a disservice .Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »leejoyce31 wrote: »Oh you're so not alone. You described me completely. It's awful and unfortunately a lot of people really don't get it... And the last few months my cycles have one lasted 3 weeks, so it's pretty much non stop hell.
First, medicate. I pretty much have to alternate Advil and Tylenol (or store brands, but it has to be soft gels or it takes too long to work) every 2-3 hours for days. I start as soon as I get up. Once the pain is gone, it's much easier to get moving.
Exercise more. Seriously. My last bad PMS day was bad, but I try to stay active and end up burning off a big chunk of the surplus (I laugh at the 'eat at maintenance' posts. Maintenance doesn't even get close to cutting it for me). I've increased my activity and walk whenever I have 30 minutes to kill (instead of just sitting down and watching TV or browsing the web or something - exceptions being in the morning while I drink my coffee and at night when the kids are in bed).
Find what foods REALLY satisfy you. That horrible hunger feeling... what can you eat in reasonable quantities to make it go away? For me, I've found that just a plain English muffin will work much better than ice cream or cookies (I might crave them but they really don't satisfy me and I can't stop eating them if I start at that time). The key is to eat as little as possible of the thing that will satisfy you, and avoid the stuff that won't, no matter how tempting.
The whole mental thing... I know it's not it for me because sometimes I skip a period and it doesn't happen to me at all. I always kinda feel insulted when people suggest it though! And yeah, some cycles it doesn't happen more than maybe a day and I'm so grateful.
And my best advice if you don't want to gain weight from that - eat less on the easier days. It sucks, but that's pretty much how I've managed not to gain back the weight in 2.5 years (I've gained back a couple pounds when Holidays and special events fell on usually 'normal' days and I wasn't able to keep a deficit that 'easy' week, but that's pretty much it and my clothes still fit the same).
Yeah, the suggestion is a put off to some degree. I guess sometimes it's hard for people to believe that something can be real for others, if they don't experience it themselves.
It is real for sure!!
It's definitely real. No one is saying you're not experiencing what you say you're experiencing.But I see this all the time at my work. Women go crazy when you suggest that your brain can affect what you feel physically. I used to have terrible period pains until I saw an endocrinologist and realized my hormones were normal and I was very depressed. And once I went on anti depressants the symptoms improved dramatically. It still hurts but not the way it used to.
People with amputated limbs still feel pain in them. The mind is an amazing thing and to discount the idea that some of this could be mental rather than physical is doing yourself a disservice .
No disservice to me. I accept it as a part of my life and don't over analyze. It's only a few days out of a month. If I overeat I have developed mechanisms to counter it.
I'm just not one to discount what people feel by chalking it up to it's just mental. That's my opinion. We just disagree. I won't say you are doing yourself a disservice just because our opinions differ.
Did you actually read what I said? I never said 'it's just mental'. But you carry on disagreeing with imaginary arguments. Obviously whatever you're doing is working out well for you.
This is petty. I have no further words for you. Have a wonderful day.1 -
Jules_farmgirl wrote: »This may be harsh, but we all started the monthly cycle between age 12-14 (obviously exceptions to that), you need to learn how to control those PMS symptoms in one way or another. Its life. It happens. If losing and maintaining weight is what you want? Then learn the deal with the cravings. If not, go out and indulge if it makes you happy. I have many friends who complain monthly about their symptoms, and I tell them the same thing. You need to learn to deal with it and not use it as an excuse.
Wow your comment is really disheartening. I say this because I am 45 and I have one child. I have only been going through this since my late 30's. Many different birth controls, vigorous exercise, eating right, many doctors visits. None of this has done anything for this issue. Believe me I am just dealing with it "every ....single...month". I say all that to say this, I use to be a very sarcastic person towards other women that complained all the time about the same issue. I never thought I would see the day I would have the same issue. My time has come and I hope yours never does. If it does maybe you'll just "keep to yourself" like a good girl as you suggest. As far as friendship your not being a very good one because I am not sure how you can say suck it up basically to an issue you don't deal with. Would you say that to your daughter. SMH......
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Nevertheless, I have worked out a lot this go round. Actually day and night and it was much better. I can't lie. I did eat what I wanted to but I kept it to a minimum. Thank you again, it is good to know that someone understands and can give some healthy criticism. I take it all into account. God Bless4
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What to do to fight this vicious appetite 2 weeks out of the month? I am getting my cycle soon and I know because I want to take a bite of my desk right now. I don't track it at all but I know from the incredible overwhelming sensation of hunger I'm having. I feel out of control when this happens. I only have one normal week a month. One week of hunger followed by another week of hunger, headaches and cramps. Then the most horrible heavy period and it's over. The pain is horrible the hunger is horrific it is all a nightmare. Does anyone have any tips or trips to get through this a little better?
Definitely NOT alone! This was me to a T until about 3-4 months ago, except add in insomnia and severe depression (So yeah.. there's hope. Cling to it for dear life! LOL)
Francl27 advice is spot on. My only suggestion is instead of trying to tackle it all in one fell swoop, break the tips down into single habits to build and work on each one, one at a time. I's also say it may help to stop worrying about weight loss, but instead think of it as steps towards healthier living. It's been over a year that I started and I just now started losing weight, but my overall health and happiness is through the roof, and my periods are a sharply milder version of what they used to be.
For me... I choose to start by focusing on workouts simply because I actually like working out and knew it would help the insomnia. It took me close to 6 months of playing around with workout times, workout options and beating my family into submission before I really found a routine that worked for me and allowed me to consistently get 3-4 solid workouts a week. I had a lot of starts and stops along the way, but it didn't take long for me to notice that the better I stuck with my workout routine, the better I slept and the better I felt overall. It helped increase the motivation to keep at it until I finally cracked my code. My weight pretty much stayed pat (+/- 5lbs), but I found I didn't even care cause I felt soo much better.
Next I focused on food choices. Not how much I ate, but rather the things I was choosing to eat and when. I also focused on things that helped to control hunger. Everything I read lead me to focus on 1) eating a good breakfast, 2) getting a LOT more fiber in my diet and 3) upping my protein intake. Again.. took about another 5months or so of trial and error to find what works, but I now have about 3 different breakfast options that range from 350 cals to 450 cals, 25+ grams of protien and 7+grams of fiber. I found this change alone really took a huge bite off of my daily hunger issues I was dealing with. I also created a high fiber salad concoction that I eat with my lunch everyday. Last but not least was tackling my insatiable snacking appetite. Rather then try and quash it (which failed spectacularly in the past), I chose to harness it by finding and stocking up on healthy, high protein/high fiber snacks. It still took time to retrain my brain to reach for the healthy snacks over the quick easy ones, but over time, I found I'd get pissed throwing out the healthy options when I choose the "other" stuff, so I eventually converted (mostly). About 4 months ago (3 months into the overhaul), I noticed that my period came and went with very little issue. Body was only mildly achy the week before and some mild cramping the day before I started. I also started losing a little weight without even tracking calories.
Now I've been focusing on water intake for the last 2.5 months. I bought a 1L bottle that I keep next to me almost everywhere now. The first month I focused on getting one bottle a day (About 33oz, or 4 glasses). Last month, I focused on upping it to two bottles. That change cut out enough calories for me to start actually operating at a deficit, so I've been actively tracking for weightloss since Jan. I've been losing about a 1lb a week pretty steadily since then. This month, I'm working on getting 3 bottles a day which gets me to a little over 100 ounces a day. I'm due to start my period any day now, no pains, no cramps. Just a mild ache in my knees and hips that kicked up a couple days ago, but nothing to stop me from working out. I did have two days of ravenous hunger, I fought it for a day, then chose to indulge yesterday at dinner time. Today, the hunger is gone and I'm back on track. Also, because I had a great breakfast and a healthy lunch first, my indulgence yesterday only put me about 200 cals over my limit.
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Sounds like things are looking up. Thank you for sharing. I have to do a lot better with my water intake. Huge problem that I am not addressing.
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Jules_farmgirl wrote: »This may be harsh, but we all started the monthly cycle between age 12-14 (obviously exceptions to that), you need to learn how to control those PMS symptoms in one way or another. Its life. It happens. If losing and maintaining weight is what you want? Then learn the deal with the cravings. If not, go out and indulge if it makes you happy. I have many friends who complain monthly about their symptoms, and I tell them the same thing. You need to learn to deal with it and not use it as an excuse.
I see you're 29. My periods were heavy but no big deal until I developed large fibroids, which is common as estrogen levels start fluctuating wildly before menopause. I'm 50 now and my periods are god awful. I'd pity the fool who told me to just deal with it.
While I agree with your message about learning to control PMS symptoms, it could have been delivered with a lot more empathy and compassion.10 -
What to do to fight this vicious appetite 2 weeks out of the month? I am getting my cycle soon and I know because I want to take a bite of my desk right now. I don't track it at all but I know from the incredible overwhelming sensation of hunger I'm having. I feel out of control when this happens. I only have one normal week a month. One week of hunger followed by another week of hunger, headaches and cramps. Then the most horrible heavy period and it's over. The pain is horrible the hunger is horrific it is all a nightmare. Does anyone have any tips or trips to get through this a little better? Surgery is not an option. Something has to work besides Strawberry Ice Cream. I don't even want to log in this damn coca cola and doritos I'm eating. My husband wants to walk tonight and I want to hang on the couch. SMH
Also did I say that it takes away all my motivation to work out.
I used to be all about pints of Ben & Jerry's premenstrually but this just made things worse. Now, while I might add in a moderate treat or two, I concentrate on foods that satiate me.
I also ramp up the exercise, and this helps as well. I often have to force myself to go, and am always glad I did.
How much weight to you want to lose total and what's your weekly weight loss goal? Maybe dial it back a bit.
When my appetite spikes premenstrually I eat at maintenance for a few days. And during my two heavy days I log Donating Blood to give myself more calories as I lose well over a pint on those days.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10461463/blood-donation/p1
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kshama2001 wrote: »What to do to fight this vicious appetite 2 weeks out of the month? I am getting my cycle soon and I know because I want to take a bite of my desk right now. I don't track it at all but I know from the incredible overwhelming sensation of hunger I'm having. I feel out of control when this happens. I only have one normal week a month. One week of hunger followed by another week of hunger, headaches and cramps. Then the most horrible heavy period and it's over. The pain is horrible the hunger is horrific it is all a nightmare. Does anyone have any tips or trips to get through this a little better? Surgery is not an option. Something has to work besides Strawberry Ice Cream. I don't even want to log in this damn coca cola and doritos I'm eating. My husband wants to walk tonight and I want to hang on the couch. SMH Also did I say that it takes away all my motivation to work out.
I used to be all about pints of Ben & Jerry's premenstrually but this just made things worse. Now, while I might add in a moderate treat or two, I concentrate on foods that satiate me.
I also ramp up the exercise, and this helps as well. I often have to force myself to go, and am always glad I did.
How much weight to you want to lose total and what's your weekly weight loss goal? Maybe dial it back a bit.
When my appetite spikes premenstrually I eat at maintenance for a few days. And I log Donating Blood to give myself more calories as I lose well over a pint.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10461463/blood-donation/p1
It's not the same though. Your body won't be spending extra calories replacing the lost blood like it does with donations.0 -
I don't know if I missed this (I'll admit tldr all the responses), but how many calories are you on? There was a time I went super calorie counting crazy and was on 1200 calories a day (because that's what you do, right? silly me) and I was starving all the time, hunger pains, headaches, all the hangry. I have menorrhagia (extremely horrible disgusting periods) and I always knew when it was about to happen because I wanted to eat everything in the world, I had those headaches where you feel like your head is pounding and hollow at the same time. Oh, and also I was a mean bitz. Like @kshama2001 I'll eat maintenance for a day or two when it does happen to help balance out the hunger of that time.
Another thing to keep in mind is what are you eating? You're not tracking everything, so you can't *see* a pattern or a trend written out in black and white. Regardless of how bad it is, track it. It is your log for YOU, and if you're uncomfortable with others seeing it, you can block it. If anyone tries to shame you for what you eat, shame on them (discussion about it one thing, shaming another). Also with tracking your log you'll see things like - Are you eating a lot of vegetables, but no fats? Are you getting fiber? Is it all sweet foods that will curb a craving, but have no nutritional value to help hold off hunger?
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kshama2001 wrote: »What to do to fight this vicious appetite 2 weeks out of the month? I am getting my cycle soon and I know because I want to take a bite of my desk right now. I don't track it at all but I know from the incredible overwhelming sensation of hunger I'm having. I feel out of control when this happens. I only have one normal week a month. One week of hunger followed by another week of hunger, headaches and cramps. Then the most horrible heavy period and it's over. The pain is horrible the hunger is horrific it is all a nightmare. Does anyone have any tips or trips to get through this a little better? Surgery is not an option. Something has to work besides Strawberry Ice Cream. I don't even want to log in this damn coca cola and doritos I'm eating. My husband wants to walk tonight and I want to hang on the couch. SMH Also did I say that it takes away all my motivation to work out.
I used to be all about pints of Ben & Jerry's premenstrually but this just made things worse. Now, while I might add in a moderate treat or two, I concentrate on foods that satiate me.
I also ramp up the exercise, and this helps as well. I often have to force myself to go, and am always glad I did.
How much weight to you want to lose total and what's your weekly weight loss goal? Maybe dial it back a bit.
When my appetite spikes premenstrually I eat at maintenance for a few days. And I log Donating Blood to give myself more calories as I lose well over a pint.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10461463/blood-donation/p1
It's not the same though. Your body won't be spending extra calories replacing the lost blood like it does with donations.
According to my scale, something similar is happening.1 -
OP I know you mentioned having tried "various BC methods" but have you ever specifically tried the hormonal IUD Mirena? I used to have horrific periods, late September 2015 I had Mirena placed following my third daughter and haven't had a period since. Not sure if it's a good fit for you personally but might be worth a chat with your doctor if you haven't considered it yet
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OP, did you by chance start experiencing these symptoms after gaining weight?
I have always experienced increased appetite, fatigue, and cramps with my cycle, but I've noticed over the years the more out of shape I am the worse it seems. I'm not sure what the correlation is, but now that I'm losing weight it seems to be becoming more manageable again.
My tips: hot drinks/broths seem to help with the cramps. I don't really like tea, but I've found hot chocolate or even hot water with lemon will help. I also find soup helps probably because I drink/eat my soup really hot. I take some form of pain medication (either ibuprofen or midol) before the onset of pain and that seems to help. I eat more than usual but I try to eat foods that are less calorie dense so I can eat larger volumes of food and I find that helps. I will allow myself some junk I just try not to go overboard.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »What to do to fight this vicious appetite 2 weeks out of the month? I am getting my cycle soon and I know because I want to take a bite of my desk right now. I don't track it at all but I know from the incredible overwhelming sensation of hunger I'm having. I feel out of control when this happens. I only have one normal week a month. One week of hunger followed by another week of hunger, headaches and cramps. Then the most horrible heavy period and it's over. The pain is horrible the hunger is horrific it is all a nightmare. Does anyone have any tips or trips to get through this a little better? Surgery is not an option. Something has to work besides Strawberry Ice Cream. I don't even want to log in this damn coca cola and doritos I'm eating. My husband wants to walk tonight and I want to hang on the couch. SMH Also did I say that it takes away all my motivation to work out.
I used to be all about pints of Ben & Jerry's premenstrually but this just made things worse. Now, while I might add in a moderate treat or two, I concentrate on foods that satiate me.
I also ramp up the exercise, and this helps as well. I often have to force myself to go, and am always glad I did.
How much weight to you want to lose total and what's your weekly weight loss goal? Maybe dial it back a bit.
When my appetite spikes premenstrually I eat at maintenance for a few days. And I log Donating Blood to give myself more calories as I lose well over a pint.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10461463/blood-donation/p1
It's not the same though. Your body won't be spending extra calories replacing the lost blood like it does with donations.
According to my scale, something similar is happening.
You're right. Because building an endometrial layer every month takes a huge amount of energy. So does shedding it. Science just has no way of estimating how much. But it's probably more than just having your blood removed by a needle,2 -
I don't take hormonal BC - initially because I didn't want to, then as I got older I was told I shouldn't anyway because I suffer from migraines. And I always get menstrual migraines, which vary in intensity, just like my PMS/cycle symptoms. Some things that I have found help some with various symptoms:
- Not using disposable products. Mostly, I use a menstrual cup, but I also have cloth pads.
- Trying to be consistent with taking magnesium at least twice a day (I take Natural Calm). I try to be consistent with this to help with both my migraines and menstrual cramps.
- Getting regular exercise.
- Allowing myself something I'm really craving and logging it. Luckily, I don't usually even eat to maintenance on those days, so I don't know I can really help with advice there since you seem to have longer periods of hunger. But, just in case it gives you any ideas - some days during or before my cycle my appetite is often suppressed and a couple others I'm ravenous and it will even out. So if it's one of those hollow days, I just let myself eat what I really, really want. Sometimes I just really, really want that chocolate cake and that's my dinner.
- Sipping either raspberry leaf tea or Women's Cycle tea (Yogi brand with raspberry leaves and some other stuff). I have no idea why raspberry leaf tea helps with cramps, but for me it does. However, I have to continuously sip it, and that's not always an option.
I don't know if any of that will help, but you have my sympathies!0 -
I'm another vote for going to the Dr.
There are all kinds of actual medical situations which could be causing these problems.
In my case, I went from having a relatively normal cycle to something that was really weird and long and frequent and heavy. I lived with that for about 18 months figuring it was just a "new normal", but finally got fed up with bleeding 3 weeks out of every month and mentioned it to my Dr.
Within weeks I was into surgery having quite a large polyp removed. Since then I've been diagnosed with a hemorrhagic cysts (which are apparently more painful and cause more symptoms than other kinds of ovarian cysts) and the suspicion is that I've had a number of these along the way. And just recently I've been diagnosed with pre-cancer.
Meanwhile, a friend of mine with similar symptoms just had a hysterectomy after years of dealing with endometriosis.
So yes ... get checked!!
I'll also add that although I was going through a heavy 2-week period, about a week off, and then a lighter 1-week period each month, I still exercised as much as I could. There were some times when it was just too painful and I was too tired, but I tried to do something every day.
It did, however, put a real damper on spontaneous swimming. We didn't go swimming all that often but would do it every so often on a whim, maybe a couple dozen times a year. Raining that day, don't want to go cycling outside in the rain, so we'd head to the pool ... that sort of thing. But when things went wonky, and I had no idea at all when I'd start or how heavy it would be, I felt really uncomfortable with the idea of going to the pool.
I'll also add that I cannot take hormones so I have had to resort to other things such as calcium and magnesium for the cramping, valerian and ginkgo-biloba for the moods, evening primrose oil for the breast tenderness etc. But talk to your Dr about these. I ran them past my gynaecological oncologist and he approved. 0 -
You are definitely not alone and I'm glad you asked for advice instead of suffering in silence. I also had debilitating periods and awful pms until using the mirena iud. When I ended up having that removed I bled so profusely I immediately had an endometrial ablation. Highly highly recommend it, it has been life changing. I still get periods but they are so light usually a panty liner is enough to take care of it. The pms has gotten better also - exercise and diet have helped a lot with that. I really hope you find what works for you.0
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I'm guessing that the "it can't be that bad" people here have never had the flood gates open, and with one massive cramp that leaves you doubled over and dizzy, it's all pouring down your leg.
Happily ... it doesn't happen often, but it was happening just often enough that I started wearing black leggings all the time just in case.
Thankfully ... things have actually been pretty good the last 3 months.1 -
Hi OP. I'll share what's worked for me and one of my girls. Maybe something will be a help to you.
I actually disagree with using BC. My experience has been that that can actually make things worse in a lot of ways. I don't understand why, but in some women, it seems to do that. A lot of times, painful cycles are caused by progesterone that is too low. I've only seen that helped by bio-identical progesterone creams (as opposed to progesterone pills). Again, I don't understand why the pills seem to make someone worse. The only thing I can figure is the creams can be compounded to exactly how much progesterone you need vs. the pills that only come in certain strengths and can't be tweaked.
In previous years, taking 1000mg of calcium/magnesium a day (a 1:1 ratio, NOT a 2:1 ratio) helped hugely with cravings, PMS, and cramps. Especially cramps! However, it is an accumulative affect. It took about 3-4 months of taking it every single day before it started kicking in. I didn't realize what had started helping until I stopped taking it at the 6 month mark (because I thought it wasn't working) and my cramps, PMS, etc. returned. I quickly went back on it and got relief again!
Acupuncture and pressure points can be helpful for pain relief as well. Hot water bottles on the belly if warmth feels good to you. Exercise (if you can force yourself even if you don't feel like it).
With the amount of pain you're having, do you have either ovarian cysts or endometriosis? Horrendous pain is often associated with those two things. It sounds crazy, but mixing 1tbls of black strap molasses with 1tbls ACV (warm it like a tea) and drinking it daily can actually cause the cysts to go away and thereby relieving much of the pain. I have seen this work with two people and it worked very very well so long as they stuck with it. You would start taking it on the first day you have pain and stop at the end of your cycle. Since it's 3 weeks that you are miserable, it might just be easier to do it daily and make it a routine.
The first thing requires either a functional medicine doctor or MD that understands bio-identical hormones and that most women (especially in the 40's and later) will feel and do better if their progesterone (not estrogen!) is in the upper 2/3 of the normal range for progesterone. The cream is easy to use and can literally be micro-adjusted daily if needed (it's only used from day 14 of the cycle until the cycle starts).
The other 3 things are very easy to try. My general philosophy is, if it won't hurt, and it can possibly help, then it's worth a shot. So you might consider trying one or all of these things to see if they help the actual pain/cycle issues.
I can attest to using cloth pads or even a cup to lessen bleeding. Switching to cloth 10+ years ago literally cut my bleeding in half. For that one, there is a health forum where hundreds of women started using them and had the same experience with either of those. So that might be a possibility worth trying. I started my girls out on cloth so they don't like disposables now. Both have fairly light cycles compared to how I was at their age (although one has the pain/PMS issues).
As for food/losing weight - I would encourage you to log EVERYTHING even if you have completely over eaten. I find when I log everything, no matter what, that sometimes it stops me the next time b/c seeing it in black and white does something to the brain. So be honest, just log it, and go on. Eventually, this can become a helpful tool in controlling the cravings (which I agree, can be awful!). Also, just plan on eating at maintenance on our worst days. At least you won't gain and you can eat in a deficit on days you can manage it.
There's been a lot of good suggestions from others already. Hopefully these and some of them will help you!1 -
[quote="savithny;38754833"
My cramps were so bad that I ended up having a 9-pound baby without any pain meds, because I told myself I'd wait until labor was as bad as my worst cramps - and it never got that bad. All the breathing and relaxation tecnquies I used to get through school and work were more than enough to have a baby with. The pain is real.
[/quote]
Lol... I never had major issues with PMS or pain and delivered my 8 & 9 lb babies with no meds & minimal discomfort. Now that I'm approaching menopause, I feel like I'm paying for all of that good fortune
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My go to suggestion to everyone is take a magnesium supplement at night before you go to bed. I take Slow Mag 400 mg. from Walgreens. it relaxes your muscles and helps you sleep and is a cure for restless leg syndrome.
My thought is it might, along with your increased water.. relax some of your tense muscles and give you relief. I couldn't hurt to try it.0
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