That time of the month...an excuse or legitimate?

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Replies

  • Jerrypeoples
    Jerrypeoples Posts: 1,541 Member
    images_zpsb171705d.jpg

    this is the phrase that is on that picture (again, too big to display)
  • sabinecbauer
    sabinecbauer Posts: 250 Member
    If your cramping is really severe, there's one way of dealing with it (though your grandma will object :wink: ): get your nose pierced. Seriously. When done on the left nostril, the piercing sits on an Ayurvedic pressure point and will relieve menstrual cramps (and labor pains, BTW).
  • antxoable
    antxoable Posts: 86 Member
    I don't have crimps i just can't stop eating but hey! then i go down few more calls next week.
  • FitFabFlirty92
    FitFabFlirty92 Posts: 384 Member
    The people who are going to tell you "just push through it" probably don't have cramps as bad as yours. I get what you're saying because I've had cramps so bad I couldn't move or speak. And talking to your doctor doesn't usually help, either -- I don't have PCOS or any other disorder, I just have really bad periods and have to suffer through them. If you really truly can't make it through a workout, don't. Or find something a little easier to do, like yoga, and do it for a shorter period of time. As for food, I know it's hard, but try to eat as you would if your appetite wasn't double. Or snack on lower calorie foods like fruit and fill up on that. :) Sorry you're having such a rough time.
  • nikkylyn
    nikkylyn Posts: 325 Member
    My PMS symptoms before I started exercising and after are way different. I found that if I am exercising regularly my cramps are minimal if at all. The few times I fell off the exercise wagon I got massive cramping and just really bad cravings. Sometimes its what keeps me motivated I love that my TOM is actually not that bad since working out. :)

    Stick with it and very much try to not give into all of your cravings. I think for most women with a healthy diet and exercise the cramping symptoms are reduced or disappear all together.

    If you are in pain take a break but maybe at least try to walk or stay slightly active and keep at it.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    OP only you now how you feel, if you can't you can't, if you're in agony then that's a legitimate excuse to take it easy.

    You'll get all spectrum's of fatigue and pain of the PM scale on here, I can cure mine with a couple of over the counter painkillers (and to be fair most of my PMS is crying at dog food commercials if the puppy looks sad and craving chocolate), whilst to some it's so debilitating they've had to have a hysterectomy which just goes to show how legitimate the pain some suffer is.

    I feel you think just because it's a womens issue (and nearly every women menstruates) doesn't make it legitimate, but it's no easier to quantify than asking someone else if you should take it easy if you have a headache and we don't know if it's a skull splitting, nausea inducing, sit in a darkened silent room migraine or a mild throb that will clear after half an asprin. xxxx

    Preach!

    My answer: OH HELL NO. I have cysts and bad endometriosis and I'd rather get 20 tattoos at once (my ankle-bone tattoo was a breeze). My pain is comparable to when I woke up during TMJ surgery. This is with Rx pain meds, btw. It's absolutely unbearable.

    My doc and I are trying to get the dam*ed thing to just stop again, but my new Metformin must have interfered with my period-stopping meds and I had it last month. I end up doped up on meds, tethered to a heating pad, and Lamaze breathing for 48 hours. Not cool.
  • Sunitagt
    Sunitagt Posts: 486 Member
    As many people have said, I feel better cramps wise when I get my exercise in either way. My cramps were awful until I started exercising regularly and now I have found them to be a lot better.

    Another contributing factor might be that I also started using a lunette cup instead of pads/tampons so I never worry about leakage, but it also seems to relieve a lot of my cramps throughout my period. Since I started using both regular exercise and the cup around the same time, I can't tell you which one it is that worked, but I will continue doing both now.
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    I avoid exertion during the two days before and the first day of my period. If I do any kind of cardio or more than light resistance training my cramps go from about a 4 on a scale of 1-10 to somewhere approaching infinity. Like that full body sweat, shaky, why-can't-I-just-hurry-up-and-die pain. There is absolutely no way I am going to risk that just to get a couple of extra workouts in.

    (Edited for iPhone fat finger typos)
  • kaotik26
    kaotik26 Posts: 590 Member
    I still make myself workout because I think it actually helps. As far as food goes I cut myself a little slack because I think my body needs a little extra during the roughest part of that week.
  • vienna_h
    vienna_h Posts: 428 Member
    continuous birth control - take the pills without stopping for the unnecessary withdrawl bleeding - no more periods.

    ETA: I have terrible endometriosis and had cysts, I am no stranger to pain. continuous bcp (now I'm on the mirena IUD though) is the only way I could control the pain. but before that, easy, mild exercises helped a bit, but mostly just had to suffer through it and try not to cry too much.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    The worst symptom I experience is crushing depression. And for me, extra cardio the week before I'm due is essential. Doesn't make it all better. Doesn't have to be intense cardio. But without it, I'm a big ole mess.

    And as for cramps, well, my husband helps out with that... :smokin:
  • Saucy_lil_Minx
    Saucy_lil_Minx Posts: 3,302 Member
    Men might not want to keep reading if they are squeamish! So it is almost my time of the month and I get extremely painful cramps and other side effects. Usually I am so fatigued that I truly cannot get the energy to do almost anything, especially exercising. Do you guys (girls!) work out on your period? If you do, how do you deal with cramps / fatigue? I also have a bad habit of overeating on my period. Again it's the same old "I can do whatever I want because this is living hell and my insides are being ripped apart" excuse.

    Any advice for not falling off the bandwagon for a week every month?

    I workout, cramps ease with activity, and it shortens my cycle length. I allow myself :happy: some :happy: treats on my cycle or I would be grouchy. I surround my self the rest of the time with healthy snack choices to avoid the binge that come with my cycle. I sometime feel like I am out of my mind while it is my TOM, and exercise helps with that BIG TIME!
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    I usually skip the first 2 days because those are the worst for me.
  • kaotik26
    kaotik26 Posts: 590 Member
    images_zpsb171705d.jpg

    You can try!:devil:
  • Saucy_lil_Minx
    Saucy_lil_Minx Posts: 3,302 Member
    Exercising is good, just don't sneeze

    IMG_57808106882463.jpeg




    HAAAAAAAA HAHAAA! EWWWW! HAAAA! OMG that is so funny! Everyone turned and looked at me b/c I laughed so loud!!!!!
  • wyattj99
    wyattj99 Posts: 454 Member
    It's an excuse, the more you push yourself to workout during that time the better you will feel in the end.
  • Linnaea27
    Linnaea27 Posts: 639 Member
    I usually take the first day of my period off from heavy exercise. I often feel totally disgusting and crampy on that one day, and I just don't feel like pushing myself. After the first day, when I feel less gross, I will do some lighter-than-usual or sitting-down exercise (like riding a bike) or if I weirdly have a lot of energy, I'll do a regular workout. Once the first 2 days have gone, I feel back to normal and exercise as usual.

    I think if you feel crappy for 5 or more days, it's not worth the strength loss and consequent feeling of lethargy and grossness to rest on all the days. Maybe rest for the first 2 -- make those your rest days for the week-- and do at least light workouts or go for walks the rest of the days. I've found that working out somehow for a solid hour makes me feel great even if PMS or my period were getting me down before.

    I get dreadful food cravings too, especially the few days before when I am a PMS grouch in the extreme. Usually I just want lots of chocolate-- which I have, and then I am careful not to eat other high-calorie things for my meals that day so I'm not overeating too much.

    It seems like as one gets more accustomed to cleaner eating (more veggies, fruits, whole grains, good-quality meats), cravings for white food like pasta and very sweet chocolates decrease. The one other weird craving I usually do indulge is for red meat, but that can be prepared very healthily or even eaten in jerky form!
  • daniellabella986
    daniellabella986 Posts: 325 Member
    Exercising is good, just don't sneeze

    IMG_57808106882463.jpeg




    HAAAAAAAA HAHAAA! EWWWW! HAAAA! OMG that is so funny! Everyone turned and looked at me b/c I laughed so loud!!!!!

    OMG I'm cracking up because I remember that episode!!!!!!!! Hahaha! I would do something when you're not feeling it, not necessarily a heavy cardio session (which for me would be equivalent to sneezing like that pic lol), but go for a walk or something. Really anything to keep your body moving. If it really is that bad for you, take a day off and see how you feel the next - take lots of Ibuprofen and caffeine can help. For me, I've noticed that since I've been eating better and working out more, my period has not only gotten lighter & shorter, but the symptoms aren't as bad (I always get affected the week of, not the week before like some people). Don't get me wrong, I'm still a raging, hangry, water-retaining b*tch who shouldn't be around people or bakeries, but after doing some type of workout I always feel better and less bad about myself. When aunt flo makes you feel like a fat a**, get off it and prove her wrong!
  • Saucy_lil_Minx
    Saucy_lil_Minx Posts: 3,302 Member
    My issue isn't while I'm bleeding- it's the 7-10 days beforehand. I get cranky, emotional, irritable and crave every salty and sweet thing in sight. The moment aunt flo gets here, I'm good. I know this, it's been this way since my teens, and what makes it more bearable is working out. I don't often get cramps, but when I do, exercising is what seems to help most, even more than a heating pad.

    This is pretty close to how I am. My problem is not actually while my Aunt Flo visits, but the week or two prior to Aunt Flo's visit.

    I break out two weeks before, and put on 5 lbs. of water weight.
    Then 1 week before I am cranky, and tired.
    When Aunt Flo visits other than cramping (which eases with exercise) I am done being a hot mess! However, I do want to eat more...which makes since when you are losing blood volume your body wants to replenish it quickly so it needs more fuel!

    I also find if I take an iron supplement regularly my fatigue, and cravings are MUCH less!
  • VelcroButt
    VelcroButt Posts: 34 Member
    I have terrible periods. I take the first day of my period as a rest day because of the cramps and I usually have an upset tummy that day too. 2nd day I work out but only at home. TMI but the flow is very heavy that day and I don't want to risk embarrassment. After that I'm back to my normal schedule. My cramps are much better now that I'm older and have had children, but when I was younger they were incredibly painful. Like to the point I passed out on more than one occasion. I would never expect someone to push through that kind of pain and I certainly don't think it's an excuse.

    As far as cravings go, if I'm really wanting something I will try to just have a small portion. I often want potato chips so I'll go to the convenience store and get a snack-size bag. I think if I got a regular-size bag I might eat the whole thing so I avoid doing that.

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