For the ladies <3

LovelyBunny

Mother nature! What to do when she strikes?
She gives me horrible horrible cramps. Have you ladies found any tricks to out do her monthly anger?

The only tricks I know is to eat a lot of crackers and bananas, to stay away from soda and chocolates, and to drink lots of juice.

caramammal

i take pain killers for the cramps and have a day free from working out..or 2 days if it's severe.

I also try and stick to calorie goal. I crave sweet stuff at the middle of the cycle when I ovulate, rather than at the end. During that time, i'll have a bar of chocolate or something to satisfy the craving.

tehzephyrsong

I solved my debilitating cramps by going on the Pill. Also, I have PCOS.

It's been years since I was legitimately bedridden by my uterus beating me up from the inside, but something that helps on the rare occasion that I do start cramping up (still happens sometimes, even with the pill, just not nearly as bad) is to make an ersatz heating pad by microwaving a dry towel for about 20 seconds. Wedge it against your lower abdomen, then resume praying for the sweet release of death in the fetal position. Your legs hold the towel in place! Easy! Unless you own a real heating pad, then just use that. The towel stays warm for a few minutes, and if you happen to have a sympathetic boyfriend, sibling, or older child (young children should probably not be taught to play with the microwave) handy, you don't even have to get up to reheat it. I usually take some Tylenol or something as well, but the towel is nice if I've run out of painkillers or to do something about the pain until the pills start working.

If my cramps are bad enough to warrant making a heating pad, I'll usually skip my workout and consider making it up later in the day if I feel better. Sometimes it's just really uncomfortable to stand or walk for any period of time, and of course, gastrointestinal issues make working out at the gym a chancy proposition at best. I don't have much of an appetite on those days, so I don't consider it a total loss if I never manage to take my walk or whatever.

joytron

I don't get cramps anymore, but in my teens I got the debilitating kind, like stay-home-from-school-for-2-days-a-month-PAIN-moaning-in-bed kind. In those days my mother worked in the alternative health industry and she got me taking one capsule of evening primrose oil daily. The cramps disappeared and my skin improved as well. I've no idea if this works for everyone but you might want to give it a shot!