a self-care routine for surviving your god-awful period
Hello friends! Let’s talk periods. And let’s keep it real.
Menstrual health is still such a stigmatized topic in this day and age, even though 26 percent of the world's population is experiencing a period at any given time.
I always feel several emotions when I talk about my period, because I feel like there’s typical period symptoms and then there’s MY period symptoms. When people talk about the pain of getting kicked in the balls, I have to think, bless their hearts.
Most people who have uteruses experience cramps, fatigue and hormonal changes on their periods. My own experience is one I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
I suffer from severe dysmenorrhea, or in short, pain related to menstrual cramps. It’s not a pretty picture. While some women experience an unpleasant dull ache or discomfort, I’m often unable to walk or move. I break out in chill sweats and struggle not to pass out. I once got quite the ugly bruise on my face because I lost enough consciousness and hit my jaw on the corner of a dresser on my way to the ground. I vomit on the regular and sometimes the pain is so bad that all I can do is lay on the ground and writhe. It’s a pathetic picture actually. Another pain bout I look back on with (well, okay, not fondness but some humor and much appreciation) is the time I texted my best friend Mariah from the floor of the bathroom to please come in and perform some acupressure on my feet. If you’re reading this Mariah, you’re literally the best—who knew acupressure points in your feet link to reproductive organs?
At 15 my doctor prescribed me double the amount of pain medication someone my age would normally take and while birth control has helped regulate my symptoms, it’s not always enough.
It’s an exhausting experience to exist right on the edge of my pain threshold.
I’ve never known many women who experience the same debilitating symptoms but lately I’ve heard from tons of my followers that they also deal with pain that they would classify as a 10/10. Pain management tends to take over my life the week of my period and in some ways it has to. Medicine has to be taken through the day and night at the correct time so that the pain doesn’t completely knock me on my ass. Food, activity level, social plans and functioning are all affected. My period can take me from a calm, organized person to an ugly gross monster.
So, I’ve come up with quite the regimen to keep me functioning. These tips may not work for everyone, but it’s important to find what will best help your pain management.
Step 1. eat and do what sounds good
I don’t usually have to force myself to eat, but my appetite always dips the first couple days of my period and if you don’t eat, you’re usually more likely to pass out. Eating kind of becomes a chore those first couple days, which is why I don’t follow any specific period diet plan, I just try to eat whatever sounds good and sounds like my stomach can manage it, even if that’s ice cream and mac and cheese. I won’t say this is the best idea, since in theory eating healthier foods like leafy greens and fruits will help reduce inflammation but I know eating at all is often better than eating nothing. Once my appetite comes back, I try to drink a green smoothie here and there and make sure I’m taking in healthy fats.
The same rule applies to movement. I know plenty of people who take a full week of rest from their usual exercise routine (I’m one of those) but also some who try to get in lots of yoga and stretching. While I know that activity can help ease period symptoms, I do short, easy yoga poses (keyword being easy) and that’s the most I usually do. Some child’s pose and deep breathing is about as much effort as I typically feel like putting in.
2. turn up all the heat
I’ve tried a variety of heat solutions to get rid of my cramp pain—hot water bottles, rice in a sock (this is a great option if you’re in a pinch and need to DIY one), and different heating pads. My favorite is a soft electric heating pad, but be careful with whatever you decide to use. Heating pads and heating blankets can burn your skin. Unfortunately, I’m speaking from experience there.
3. remember to take supportive supplements
I wish someone would have told me years ago that the vitamins you take in can have a huge impact on your menstrual cycle. Vitamin deficiencies can worsen the symptoms you might experience. Iron levels tend to decrease on your period, so iron pills are a must for many to maintain energy and avoid anemia. Magnesium is also vital because of its relaxing properties for the muscles.
The biggest help I’ve come across for supplements thus far is the one developed by Semaine Health. Their supplements are specifically formulated to decrease your period pain. I actually came across their company while I was researching different supplements to address my own pain and I knew I had to try them. Semaine is formulated with 9 super-powered plant extracts and minerals that support the body's natural inflammatory response, a.k.a. what’s causing pain every month. There are all sorts of anti-inflammatories and caffeine-free energy boosters in it that kept me from feeling like a wrung-out rag.
All I have to do is to take one vitamin in the morning and one before bed (way easier than trying to stay ahead of my cramp flare-ups with typical cramp medicine like ibuprofen or aleve) during the week of my period and my menstrual pain is significantly reduced! For someone like me who is used to waiting up to an hour for medication to kick in, Semaine is such a great option, especially because their team know this kind of pain first-hand and their supplements are plant-based and vegan. You can take advantage of their subscription based on how often you get your period and then it ships to you regularly. I’ll be suggesting them as an option for period pain relief for such a long time to come.
4. sleep early and often
Sleep is so important but especially on your period because it’s when your body is recuperating. The level of exhaustion I feel after dealing with cramps is next-level. If you’re like me, you’ve also had your sleep interrupted by pain at four in the morning before. I also tend to struggle (because of course I do) with overall insomnia leading up to and during my period. Trying to set my phone down early before bed and go for a book instead has shown wonders not only for getting rid of that pesky blue light but also for all the physical benefits of getting to sleep faster. Prioritize naps the week of your period if you can and while lots of us are taking them more often than we’d like, take a sick day if you need it so you can rest.
5. give yourself all the grace you can muster
Our periods are a time when our functioning can look seriously different than it usually would. The eye-rolling positivity we get from tampon commercials is unrealistic at best and I fall into the trap of thinking I need to be at full capacity when the fact is that needing to slow down is natural. So stay in your sweats and messy bun. I also tend to fall into patterns of negative self-talk because the week of my period of is probably the week that I feel the least congruent with society’s beauty standards. We’re all allowed our bad days even when we wish they were good days.
Working on my self care routine around my period has led to some healing of what in the past I would have called a pretty broken relationship with my body. Supplements have been the most recent path to healing. By honing in on our level of self care during our periods we have the ability to make them a little less terrible. I’ve tried so many holistic and medical ways to reduce my pain but have found that making sure I have enough sleep, food and vitamins in my body is vital. My self care routine for surviving my period has evolved over the years and I’m sure it will continue to, but these tips have helped me to go on.
I hope that this has helped you to, if not reach healing, then at least find some more information on how you might get there. I’m wishing you all the ease you can have.
