FEMALES ONLY: That time of the month

swebb1103

I get horrible food cravings, mostly for potatoes and milk. Other than that and some water weight, I am not too badly inconvienced. I tend to stay on my normal workout plan. Occasionally I will get bad cramps so might have to change things up a bit.

justjara123

I’m horribly emotional a day or two before. If I don’t work out the day before or the day of, I cramp on my first day.

Appetite-wise, I have cravings and do tend to have a cheat meal (pizza, really saucy pasta, or burger) once or twice while I’m on my period.

It only lasts for 4 days though, so it’s not that much of a problem. Quick jog + pilates helps. I don’t workout that hard unless I have a planned class that I’m going to.

shaumom

First- hugs. So sorry the cramps are so bad! My daughters are similar.

Second, Celery and cucumber are not easier on the stomach, at least not compared to other foods. Raw veggies in general are on the harder end of digestion, usually, although some veggies are worse, of course. Also, If you are drinking enough, water content of your food is irrelevant.

If you are looking for something that might sit better on you tummy, looking at lists of foods that work for people with gastroparesis or ibs would be helpful- they can’t tolerate a lot of foods that are hard to digest.

From what I’ve seen, white rice is one that gives you some good calories for less digestive effort. Cooked veggies are better than raw. Dairy sits well with some folks and badly with others. Nuts and seeds and whole grains tend to go poorly.

That said, I would ask if you are just low in calori s, or if nutri nts are an issue as well. If you are not taking a multi vitamin, maybe you could try that and see if you feel better, even with the lower calories?

If it does not help, then I wiuld say yeah, it sounds like adding more calories might be inportant.

I have a disease that impacts my stomach, and there is a soup recipe I found once that is supposed to be really anti- inflammatory and help soothe the stomach( and the body a bit)- it has legitimately helped me when my stomach is not doing well. Takes maybe a day to work, if I have it a couple times a day, but it can be made ahead of time and frozen, just thawed out for use, and with rice added, or ground beef if you like, it might be an easy to make soup that gives you some calories but might also help your tummy a bit so you have more appetite.

Recipe for it-
Chop roughly the following:
3-5 zucchini
1 head broccoli
1 fennel bulb
2 onion
2-4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh thyme
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup fresh mint( i sometimes do cilantro)
2tbsp fresh rosemary
1/4 lemon, peeled
1/2 pinky finger perled turmeric root ( i sometimes do ginger root as well)
Olive oil.

Heat up olive oil in big pot, then throw everything in and saute for a couple minutes, then add water to cover, plus a bit extra.

Bring to a boil and simmer 30-60 minutes. Cool slightly and blend in a blender until smooth.

If you don’t have some of the herbs, just substitute what you have- they, the onions, and the turmeric are most of the flavor.

I ended up growing an herb garden so I could get the herbs in large amounts like this, but without paying too much money.

Another thing that might be of use to you is natural mast cell stabilzers. Mast cells are the cells that release prostoglandins, that cause a lot of the cramping pain. Mast cell stabilizers can sometimes lower the amount that is released, which can sometimes make things better.

I have a different disorder that causes my mast cells to release more than they should, and I have been helped by these stabilizers myself. Doesn’t help everyone, but some it has a big impact on.

Quercetin, luteolin, and rutin are all mast cell stabilzers. And bioflavonoids. Quercetin you can even find in a supplement now, but olive leaf extract, olive leaf tea, guava leaf tea, or even juicing thyme so you have a little shot glass of it- all of these contain them as well.

Chunkahlunkah

I got my period when I was 10, cramps weren’t too bad at first. Then from 12 on, they were excruciating: debilitating cramps, throwing up most months from the pain, diarrhea. It wasn’t until I was in my early 20s that I saw an excellent gynecologist who explained that about 10% of women have cramps this severe and it’s due to producing too many prostaglandins. That triggers cramps that are like contractions. To prevent it, he recommended that about a week before my period was due to take 1 or 2 ibuprofen a day. He said it wouldn’t be nearly as effective to wait until the cramps started to begin taking the meds bc by that point, too many prostaglandins have already been produced. His advice worked. Well, most of the time. About 30% of my periods would be agonizing regardless, but, still, that was way better than when it was 100%! I mention this in case it can help someone with the same condition. Be sure to eat when you take the ibuprofen, of course. See new doctors until you find one who takes your pain seriously and actually helps you.

I’m now on a type of bc pill where I only get my period 4 times a year. Changed my life. I regret suffering for so long!

Before the pill, I had no appetite the first couple of days of my period so would eat very little, like you OP. The week before, I’d crave sweet food, which is a shift for me bc I have a relatively small sweet tooth. I don’t experience much of a change in my appetite now that I’m on that pill, just a bit less hungry during and a bit more before, but the change isn’t anywhere near as pronounced as it was pre-pill.

abbynormalartist

I'm the opposite. Two days before my period starts I start starving. STARVING. I want to eat anything and everything. I plan to eat at maintenance on these days and usually ignore my macros. If I want two chocolate bars, I make room for two chocolate bars. With hormones and water retention (and maybe some of the extra food in my belly) I usually go up around 2-4 lbs around this time. But, towards the end of my period, it's all gone.

TrinityR05

hungry few days before, super super exhausted the day before, then crampy and tired for a few days. fun! lol! was considering going back on the pill, but not sure I want to due to my age (42).

glammooreghoul

The week before my period, I'm super cranky. All I wanna eat is chocolate and salt. I'm a sloth like 2 days before it actually hits. But I swear, as soon and it starts, everything immediately starts getting better. I will say it's worse with age. Exercise helps a lot with my cramps and bloating.

flitabout38

For me the hunger starts the week before. But when I start I lose my appetite. I can gain around 3-5 lbs which usually hangs on around 3-4 days after I start. Then it falls back down and if I have been tight with my plan through the bad week they usually take a pound or 2 with them.

Chunkahlunkah

Chunkahlunkah wrote: »

It wasn’t until I was in my early 20s that I saw an excellent gynecologist who explained that about 10% of women have cramps this severe and it’s due to producing too many prostaglandins. That triggers cramps that are like contractions. To prevent it, he recommended that about a week before my period was due to take 1 or 2 ibuprofen a day. He said it wouldn’t be nearly as effective to wait until the cramps started to begin taking the meds bc by that point, too many prostaglandins have already been produced.

Sorry to quote myself but I realized I forgot to explicitly state that ibuprofen reduces the amount of prostaglandins that the body produces in the first place. That’s why my dr stressed that it was important to take it the week before the period was due for women whose bodies would produce too much without that intervention. (I’d still need to take it during my period too to help with the pain.)

pooks1976

The week before I get pretty hungry and retain about 2 lbs of water. Once I start, the cravings and the water go away. During, I get a little crampy and my appetite drops. I weigh every day, but know the weight will shift based on where I am in my cycle.

kshama2001

almostanxious wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

almostanxious wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

almostanxious wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

almostanxious wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

almostanxious wrote: »

Any advice on making myself eat during my cycle? I'm NEVER hungry, but I know my metabolism will suffer if I don't eat something

Not really. Unless you are starving - like concentration camp starving - you can't affect your metabolism much.

Are you tracking your calories, using a food scale and logging everything? How much are you eating during your cycle? How much are you eating the other three weeks?

I usually eat 1,399 calories a day the rest of the three weeks, but during my cycle I have caught myself eating as few as 400 calories a day for two days in a row. I never want to eat anything

I hate to belabor a point, but do you use a food scale to weigh and log everything?

Normally or specifically during this week?

Both.

Normally yes, I sometimes slip on packaged foods and per measured servings, but when I cook at home I almost always break out my scale. During my cycle, not so much. I tend to eat so little and so sporadically I hardly ever think about it. For this cycle, I have meal planned and intent to follow through with cooking and trying to eat as I would normally, but we'll see how that works out.

Are we talking 3-5 days where your appetite is so low that you can only eat about 400 calories a day?

Assuming you have discussed this with your doctor and they're not concerned, if my only issue was lack of appetite for 3-5 days a month, I think I would just increase my calories either immediately before or after my period so that I was averaging (for the rolling week) my calorie goal.

(Note: This is based on the assumption that logging is generally accurate)

I have discussed it with my doctor and we both concur that my cramps are generally so bad that I feel nauseated and avoid foods, similar to having a stomach flu. She has advised me to try eat light food like celery and cucumbers and things that are easy on the stomach, but that will keep me hydrated. The only thing is, most of these are very low calorie and don't provide a high running total of calories per day. She doesn't seem to be too worried about it overall as my cycles tend to be short, but I am often left feeling extremely exhausted for a few days after.

If your cycles are short but light, the fatigue is probably from undereating.

If they are heavy, you could be deficient in iron, which can lead to fatigue - have you had your iron levels tested?

Mine are so heavy I've been prescribed tranexamic acid, which cut the bleeding in half and fatigue by about 75%.

(It had gotten so bad that iron supplements alone stopped helping with fatigue.)