What do you do for your young daughters who have severe menstrual cramps. The last few months, Em's cramps have become so bad that she cries and has a hard time sitting. If she walks around the cramps lighten a bit but she can't walk all day for a few days. LOL So I was wondering what you do when yoour girls get crampy. Thanks!
My daughter gets bad pain in her back during her time of the month. The pediatrician told us to give her ibuprofen (we give it in liquid form, it seems to work quicker), and to also use a heating pain on the area where the pain is. This combination works very well for my daughter. The ped. also suggested soaking in a warm bath for 20 min. if she needed too, but the liquid ibuprofen and heating pad normally do the trick. LR
I had/have bad cramps and when I was young, my mother didn't offer us pain relievers much, just heating pads, etc. Now that I am older, I take the midol, premasyn types of over the counter pills that not only deal with the pain, but the bloat, mood swings, etc. My daughter hasn't started yet, she's 11 and we are expecting it anytime now, as that is how old I was when I started. I'm just glad that when she does start, I know that these over the counters are available and work - at least for me.
Ok - I have had issues for YEARS with pain/bloating/mood etc. I started taking Midol and they help ease them. Sometimes I will sit in a hot bath for awhile and that will help. I used to stay home from school at least 1 day a month from it or at least whine all day in high school The Dr actually put me on birth control because of it to help regulate my hormones and that I personally believe just messed them up more. Granted - I did like the shot I would take (BC) because I wouldn't HAVE my period for a couple of months and that made me (and DH) happier with my beautiful mood.
Sepia is a homeopathic remedy that works well on hormonal issues (like cramps). It will also help any mood issues or bloat. In addition, heat is glorious for that sort of pain. Thermacare makes these wonderful heat pads that velcro around your waste and heat the area for the whole day.
Have to agree with the heating pads and ibuprofen! What we do is use a heating pad to stop the pain right now and then take an Advil for lasting pain relief.
I get my dd the teen midol for her to use when the cramps get unbearable. It seems to work really well for her.
You gals may think I am crazy but it works: I don't drink anything with caffeine in it for a couple days before and during my cycle and I feel a lot better. If she drinks a lot of tea or pop then I would try slacking off. I hope she gets to feeling better!
OH! I can't believe I forgot this in my op, but Raspberry Tea works wonders on any sort of cramping like that (even labor pains ). It allows the muscles to continue to work but without the pain.
Raspberry tea was my suggestion. A health food store would carry it, or get some from www.mountainroseherbs.com. I like the heating pad idea and not to drink caffine before and during. Thanks.
I hate to say this, but the only thing that helped my cramps was getting pregnant and of course my hysterectomy. Sorry, I'm old and I used the heating pad and Mydol. It helped a little.
My sister's cramps eased up drastically once she had children. On the other hand, I rarely had cramps and once I had Ems, I started to get them.
Thanks everybody for your help! Last month Em's doctor said that caffeine and spicy foods played a huge factor in cramps. Ems doesn't eat spicy food but does drink tea a lot and occasionally a coke. I need to try cutting out the tea and see what happens.
I'll third the comments on caffeine. I remember when I'd gotten to the point of drinking 4 things of Dr. Pepper per day that my cramps would get so bad I'd ball up and cry. My sis-in-law said caffeine makes cramps worse, so I just cut out the caffeine completely. It was like night and day. Now, I'll occasionally drink something caffeinated, but it's rare and NEVER near my time of the month. I drink Sprite or root beer if I have a craving for a soft drink.
The caffeine makes sense. I drank a lot of tea. I had bad cramps. I've had the hysterectomy and don't have the cramps anymore, but I do get fibroid tumors in my breasts because of the caffeine. I drink less caffeine now and I feel better. Caffiene is bad for you in all ways.
Ohhhh, poor Ems! I hope some of these suggestions help her! I had horrible cramps and bleeding that NOTHING would stop sometimes! I got horrible cramps one time when we were visiting my aunt, who was a nurse. I took Tylenol, and ibuprofen, and it didn't touch it. I had a thermaphor on it, which helped a tiny bit, but I was beginning to get "out of it", so my aunt finally gave me codeine, which finally cut through. I've told my dd that it runs in the family, and I'm hoping against hope that she didn't get the bad tendencies (My mom had 4 sisters. All 5 of them had hysterectomies. My sister had a hysterectomy also. AA couple of years ago my cramping and bleeding got so bad that I was sent to a specialist, who did an endometrial ablation on me. No bleeding since, and mostly cramp-free! ANYWAY...), but if she does, I want to be aware of what can help! I got "Traditional Medicinals" Organic Raspberry Leaf Tea, and it really does help me, so I'll have her try it. She hasn't started yet, PTL! I started when I was 14, so I'm hoping she starts around then also! Using a thermaphor gets to the muscles better--it's a moist heat, and worked immensely better for me than a regular heating pad. Pamprin and Midol did absolutely nothing for me, so I combined 1 Tylenol with 2 (200mg) Ibuprofen (Dr. recommended), and that's the only thing that even touched my cramps.
If you are using Ibuprofen it works much better if you take it just as you feel the first twinges of pain. It seems to do a better job of preventing cramping than fixing it once it has started.
Wow, ladies! I cut out caffeine this month and it made a WORLD of difference! I felt like a regular person; not a nauseous, achey mess. Great advice!
