When you should speak to your doctor
If you are suffering with any of the following issues it is important you speak with your doctor. There are some reasons you may be experiencing cramping that need a health care professional's expertise:
- You have pelvic pain at times besides your period.
- Your period pain is keeping you from your day to day activities.
- Pain relief medication does not relieve the pain.
- Your cramps last for more than 3 days.
If the above scenarios don't apply to you, I have some suggestions on what's behind your menstrual cramps this month.
What causes cramps?
Each month the womb begins to make a lovely, hospitable environment for a fertilised egg. It makes your womb thick and spongy, like preparing the guest bedroom when you've got a visitor arriving. If an egg isn't fertilised then this lining is of no use and your body needs to expel it. Inflammatory chemicals called prostaglandins get released. These tell your womb to contract so it can shed the unused bed linen, so to speak.
This is all pretty normal and straight forward. It is a natural body process which might result in mild cramps the day of or before your period, but nothing you can't handle.
Why might these cramps feel worse than usual this month?
Excess Oestrogen
Oestrogen is the female hormone that gets the womb ready for a potential "baby visitor". If oestrogen levels are high in the body, it will become a bit over zealous with preparations. You will have a very thick womb lining and thus lots of prostaglandins and lots of cramping.
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One reason for excess oestrogen is being exposed to some very everyday things you would never associate with your period. These everyday things contain endocrine disrupting hormone chemicals, or EDC's. EDC's are oestrogen-like, man-made chemicals that mimic or interfere with the body's hormones. You find them in normal day to day products such as:
- Food and drink wrapping and storage.
- Non-organic foods.
- Chemical cleaning products.
- Cosmetics and household furnishings.
- Sugar, non-hydrogenated oils and artificial food ingredients.
Getting your diet in order can have a huge impact on the levels of oestrogen in your body. Adopting a Mediterranean diet can be very helpful to address this. As can simple lifestyle changes, such as:
- Switching to organic food.
- Using natural organic skin care and cleaning products.
- Drinking from glass or stainless steel water bottles.
- Storing and buying food in cloth bags or glass containers rather than plastic.
Having at least one bowel movement a day is vital to remove excess hormone and toxin build up. If your bowels are sluggish, try taking bitter herbs before meals to get things moving. Digestisan can have a beneficial effect on digestive symptoms.
Lack of exercise
Exercise has been shown to effect the prostaglandin levels in our bodies. It is thought that the subtle hormonal changes associated with regular exercise may decrease the concentration of prostaglandins in the lining of your uterus.
So if you've not been exercising as much as you usually would, this could be the reason for the onset of cramps this month. Try getting into an exercise routine again, by slowly building it back up. There are lots of online workout videos available, from yoga classes to cardio sessions. Findarace.com are offering a virtual marathon for charity and will even send you a medal when you finish!
If a medal doesn't motivate you to get moving again, and you need more convincing, then take a look at our blog on why exercise is so helpful for your period. We've also compiled a list of exercise ideas that might inspire you if running a virtual marathon doesn't float your boat.
Stress and anxiety
Research has found a link between high stress levels and painful periods. It is not clear how this comes about, but stress-induced changes in ovarian hormone levels and neurotransmitters are thought to be involved.
One study found that women with high stress levels during the month prior to their period, had increased risk of dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation). Additional studies proved that workplace stress has a negative impact on dysmenorrhea.
Additionally, when we are in a state of stress, we experience a heightened sensitivity to pain. Stress can increase the amounts of magnesium we loose from the body through our urine and low magnesium levels leave us more sensitive to pain – the stress cycle is a nasty one. So, if you've had a stressful few months, it could be showing up in your menstrual cramps now.
It can feel difficult to address stress as it seems like we don't have a lot of control over it. While we can't eliminate stress completely, we can learn how to manage our response to it.
Activities that get you out of your head and into the present moment are valuable in this way. Artistic and musical endeavours, will help to focus the mind and regulate breathing. Dancing, stretching and walking in nature will do the same while releasing endorphins (happy hormones) into your body.
Meditation, deep breathing and singing will induce a feeling of calm, regulate and lengthen your breath, whilst stimulating the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve regulates blood pressure and heart rate amongst other important things, so very useful for stress management.
Another handy stress mediator that requires very little effort on your part is Stress Relief daytime. It's small enough to fit in your handbag but packs a powerful punch against stress.
Alcohol
Your liver is responsible for breaking down toxins in the body and excreting them through the appropriate exit routes. It's an important job, and one with which you want to give your liver as much help as you can. Drinking alcohol puts extra stress on the liver, as it has to work pretty hard to process the alcohol you are putting in.
This is really key for your period, because when your hormones have finished their job they are sent to the liver to be deactivated. If the liver is struggling to function it may not do this efficiently. This can give rise to hormonal imbalances and sometimes an excess of oestrogen. If you suspect your liver has been under pressure these past months, give it a helping hand with Milk Thistle Complex. Take 20 drops twice a day in a little water, or one tablet twice a day with food.
Alcohol acts as a diuretic. This means you excrete more urine when you drink it and can easily become dehydrated. This is why you often feel like a shrivelled piece of sandpaper the morning after a night on the town. Dehydration around the time of your period can worsen cramps. If you become dehydrated, blood flow to the uterus is reduced and this causes your uterus to respond to the lack of blood volume and fluids by cramping.
Along with all the hydration you are losing when drinking alcohol, you are also excreting much needed magnesium too. Magnesium is a helpful nutrient for period pain because it reduces pain sensitivity. Definitely not something you want to urinate away, at a time when you need it most!
I recommend avoiding alcohol in the lead up to, and during, your period. That said, if you do end up having a few too many glasses of wine, Balance Mineral Drink is great to have to hand. It will rebalance lost electrolytes and replenish lost magnesium too. Regardless of alcohol intake, it's a good one to supplement with in the week before your period. That way you know your magnesium stores are brimming when you most need them.
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19209036/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18484442/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15550609/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2875955/#B54
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15288182/
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-02-dehydrated-pain-perception-brain-blood.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507245/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7836619/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6407543/
https://academic.oup.com/alcalc/article/55/2/164/5734241
