h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oddly enough sex can help.
Both headache and cramps/like an internal massage for cramps and blood flow.
Problem is you probably feel anything but sexy at these times!
An nderstanding partner you really helps!

Maybe growl , Screetch like a cat in heatat your partner or better yet with him!

Walking and the pool are excellant.
Also being kind to your stomach - whatever that means for you.
If you are drawn to sweet and salty , take it easy. They bring on worse symptoms in large amounts.

If your blood sugar get loopy cinnamin can help.
Ginger (fresh) helps tummy and many other things.
Chamomile,mint or rosehips tea(sleepy time* - celestial seasons recipe)

Good Luck - If your periods are regular just plotting them on the calendar helps both you and your partner. I never decided anything important that could wait and did not discuss touchy subject then.

I never had a bad period - PMS until I was nearly 40. I stopped, early menopause a few years later.

One thing comes to mind- would endometriosis be a possibility?
Between the hormones and thyroid weight gain it is possible.


Exercise, walking especially can get rid of a migraine too.
It hurts more first! You take the risk of it getting worse and staying but often the headache hits a cresendo like the cramps and then goes......Water is soothing for all. Warm water might be better than the pool. A heated pool (therapy temperate 100)is even better. Do you like steam ?

If there is muscle tension around head and neck you can have 2 types of headaches at once Forhead lifts. Raising eyebrows up and down can essentially massage your scalp slowly from the top down your backside of head/neck.

Massage for your belly can work in conjuction with heat, damp or not.

Check your mailbox, PC (not my hotmail addy)

Thanks, all, for the suggestions. And thanks, DQ, for the email. It's useful to be able to balance the non-medical stuff other women do- avoiding certain foods, increasing certain forms of exercise, etc- with the sort of medical advice only someone who works in health care can provide.

Abbi- I love Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime tea. Also their Tension Tamer, which does in fact help the headaches and takes the edge off the crankiness.

Will definitely discuss this with my GP, though. I haven't noticed any changes in my actual period itself, just the accompanying acne breakouts (which I never experienced before 30), headaches and extreme irritability. I hate to moan to my doctor about every little thing and sound like a hypochondriac, but I guess he needs to know if I'm getting headaches and mood swings this bad.

Meanwhile I can try to alleviate some of this myself. Obviously I'll want to avoid anything that could lead to potential weight gain, especially as I'm trying so hard to get back to my normal, healthy weight (ideally in time for my 20-year high school reunion ). A little more walking/exercise, avoiding salt and sweets, etc, are all very do-able!

I've always found horseback riding to be the most effective form of exercise against cramps - but I guess it's not good if you have allergies. Can you be around horses?

PC, persevere with the weight loss, I am sure that helps. I have just realised that my later symptoms subsided somewhat when I lost weight, which makes sense.

Take care,

Websailor

I've ridden once or twice, when I was much younger, and I suppose I could manage if I took my "only when needed" allergy pill like I do when I'm going to be around dogs. The question is where to find horseback riding stables- there are surely some out in the far exurban areas, but perhaps there are one or two a bit closer to home- and whether or not I have gotten over having fallen off of a frisky fellow and into a briar patch when I was a kid.

Feeling like myself again today, thankfully. The worst of it only lasted the one day (Thursday), though I was still feeling a bit run-down yesterday. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as it was during summer- the heat and humidity made me even crampier and crankier.

Thanks, Websailor. I'm sure if I can get back down to (or close to) the right weight for me, it will help alleviate other things that have gotten worse- like my asthma- too.

I'm still nervous cantering because my first attempt on our own horse ended with me doing a very beautiful somersault over her neck when she braked suddenly...

The "cranky" bit always gave me an extra edge with the swordfighting

If I'd had a sword on Thursday there would be a trail of corpses between my office and my front doorstep.

...glad I wasn't in Chicago Thursday then ...

I'm perimenopausal, which basically means my periods are gone for months and then show up at inconvenient times, like the day you're having your scheduled Pap smear (which can't be interpreted if mixed with blood). But the periods can be as painful as they were when I was a teenager.

So now I'm experiencing exactly what I told other women some ten - fifteen years ago when I did family medicine "It's not unusual that you get young again the last years"

Pah, I'm 24 and appear to be going through puberty again

God I hated puberty. All the other girls had bigger boobies than me and I was always jealous!

PC - on the depo I have had no negative symptoms at all, no mooods or depression. I know some people can get that, but they can get those types of side effects on the pill too.

Not sure what weight loss stuff you have tried but I have personally found Weight Watchers to be successful - I recently lost 12lb in 7 or 8 weeks. Nice and steady, small amounts each week and I am LOVING the gym! I have never been to a gym before let alone be a member, but now I go at least 3 times a week and I even went this morning, on a Saturday!

As far as weight loss stuff, I basically just try to stick to the calorie intake my GP recommended (1000 per day max) and get enough exercise. I haven't looked into any programs or anything like that. Though 12 lbs in 8 weeks isn't bad!

I really really need to join the Y and hit the swimming pool daily.

Puberty wasn't all that bad. I was always really tiny, but had decent boobs. My butt was great, too. I couldn't walk past a mirror without stopping to admire it.

I hit puberty and gained nearly 20 kilos in one summer when I was about 12. People always took me for anorexic when I was a kid, that's certainly not the case now.

And it appears that it's all related to the hormone problem they're busy tracking down. Seems to have started back then already.

Sheesh! 1000 calories per day would be enough to drive me crazy. You must have been really petite!

Although I'm only 5ft4, I'm built, and always have been. Just waiting for the blasted meds to kick in and then I can actually go RUN again. Really miss it, weirdly.

I was. I'm about 5'2" or so and held steady in the 95-100 lb range from the time I was 15 till I was 29. Now I'm a bit more than that. I'm just training myself to SLOW DOWN, because I got in the habit of eating quickly and then feeling hungry again too soon.

My asthma meds work much, much better than anything has for ages, but I can't quite pull off decent running yet. I manage a brisk walk/ light jog on my lunch breaks but I'd love to be able to go for a nice sprint, followed by a steady distance run, without wheezing.

Oh, and I won't say that I don't occasionally get a bit crazy. But I try to accommodate the occasional craving rather than get into hard core deprivation and then go off on chocolate binges, though.

And a certain hootoo friend has turned me on to good quality dark like I'd never known before.

well, i'm sure you've seen my facebook commentary in the last few days - fulled by m&ms...
i stress-eat. bleh

I saw that you were fueled by M&Ms these days and just thought "wow, now that's an efficient machine!".

I get stress hungry but *try* not to eat when it happens. Doesn't always work, which means missing dinner later.