The symptom of cramping one or two weeks before your period is one that causes a lot of dismay and frustration with one’s body. If you get these types of cramps before your period, you ask yourself, is it stomach cramps? Or why do I have spotting and brown discharge before my period (if the cramps are accompanied with them). Is it normal to have cramps before your period?
What are the Causes of Cramps Before Period?
First of all, you should know that cramps before the period usually occur three to five days before your period if they are related to your period. Cramping may occur with your period because the uterus is eliminating the inner lining of the uterus. You did not get pregnant and don’t need the lining so your body expels it.
If your prostaglandin levels are high, it’s easy to have inflammation and cramps that are severe. Thus, high levels of prostaglandins can easily be one reason why women get these cramps.
Cramps May Be Caused by Female Disorders
Cramps should not occur more than a few days (five maximum) before your period. If they do, then the cramps are from other causes. For example, there might be uterine fibroids or endometriosis. There might also be pelvic inflammatory disease.
The Remedy for High Prostaglandins
In the case of prostaglandins causing cramping, the cause of high levels of prostaglandins can be traced back to diet. Usually it’s a deficiency of omega 3 fats that cause this.
Our American diet is high in omega 6 fats, not omega 3 fats. Unless you eat fish regularly, you most likely are not getting enough omega 3 fats. Plant sources of omega 3 are not good sources, as they are not well absorbed. In fact, only a maximum of 15% of the omega 3 found in plants is absorbed.
The Remedy for Female Disorders
If you have endometriosis or fibroids, from a natural healing perspective, these conditions are caused from an accumulation of toxins. The toxins are from everywhere in the environment – and because of the high level of toxins, your body may be unable to eliminate them. Your body can only do so much on its own. Thus, herbal cleanses are needed to eliminate them.
Accumulating toxins means you aren’t getting the right vitamins and minerals in your diet. For example, selenium and molybdenum help your body detoxify toxins and if you don’t have enough of them, your body will show signs that it can’t handle them – fatigue, headaches, skin breakouts, muscle soreness and weakness, bad posture and more.
Vitamins and Minerals – How to Relieve Period Cramps
Here’s a list of the top vitamins and minerals to stop those cramps:
Calcium – Many people with calcium deficiency end up with cramps. The cramps are generally not in their stomach but often in their muscles. Dosage to take in supplements is 400-500 mg twice daily. Take all supplements with meals. Calcium citrate is a good form of calcium to take.
Magnesium – Calcium and magnesium work together for muscles to relax and contract. Deficiency of either one causes cramps. Dosage is half the intake of magnesium for the day.
Vitamin E – Many people forget that 400 IU vitamin E can prevent a lot of problems in the body, including cramps.
Period Vitamin – This supplement is engineered for your body’s needs during the years you have your period. It’s a one-a-day supplement that contains vitamins and minerals, including calcium and magnesium, and herbs.
Foods To Eat for Reducing Menstrual Cramps
It’s a healthy diet filled with good foods that naturally prevents menstrual cramps so you can count a healthy diet as one of the solutions.
A healthy diet is one that contains protein foods on 1/3 of the plate, vegetables on ½ of the plate, and a starch on the remaining part of the plate. A fruit is the dessert and a glass of milk goes well with the meal. With this meal plan, you’ll get enough nutrients to ward off cramps. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, a gluten-free diet was helpful to relieve cramps.
Foods not to eat include the following:
• breaded protein foods such as breaded fish, breaded chicken
• fried protein or vegetable foods such as fries, fried onion rings, and fried shrimp
• more than three servings of high carb foods daily
• more than one serving of something sweetened with sugar daily
• any food with fake sugars in it
• any food with hydrogenated fats in it
• any food containing corn oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, safflower oil, soy oil or sunflower oil in it
• alcohol
• caffeine
• white bread and foods that are processed (Many of these are GMO foods.)
• foods that are GMO (For a complete list, see the website www.seedsofdeception.com with author of the book, Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey Smith.)
• beverages containing high fructose corn syrup
You might be wondering how long will it take for diet changes to impact cramps. The answer is about 2 to 3 months.
Other Home Remedies for Menstrual Cramps
1. Staying in bed until they’re gone – this one obviously doesn’t do much proactively for reducing cramps but it does fulfill the need to give yourself a break and pamper yourself once in a while.
2. Giving yourself an enema – This remedy works because it’s removing some of the excess waste matter inside the abdomen. Once it’s gone, there are fewer ‘fires’ your body has to deal with and can attend to the cramps. You’ll feel better after the enema in a lot of ways.
Instructions to do the enema: Sterilize a quart of water in a soup pot on the stove. Let the water cool down to room temperature. Then add the water to a clean enema bag (it holds one quart.). Add the hoses and speculum to the enema bag. Insert the speculum (put oil on it to slide it in) into the rectum. Control the water for a good flow. Stop when you feel full. Hold the water as long as you can. Expel. Repeat the filling and expelling until you are out of water.
3. Going to the gym to do some exercises – Cramps are relieved when other muscles are contracted and relaxed. Doing your bodybuilding exercise circuit is still recommended when you have cramps.
4. Swimming – Swimming relieves some of the gravity effects on the body and may relieve menstrual cramps.
5. Yoga – Sometimes moving your body into yoga poses appears to relieve the cramps. Yoga experts say it works but there are no medical studies to prove it.
6. Acupressure points – Begin pressing on points about an inch apart from each other on your pelvic and abdominal area. Start at the area about an inch underneath the navel. Then get a friend to hit points about an inch apart from each other on your backside near the sacrum and tailbone in the center line all the way out to the hips.
7. Herbal Menstrual Cramp Solutions
Herbs are very effective for these cramps, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Here’s a list of the most effective ones:
• Black cohosh – 20-40 mg twice daily
• Evening primrose oil – 2 capsules three times daily
• Fennel – use the bulb in cooking for the easiest way to get it in. Cut it up in slices and it will look like diced celery but is filled with flavor. Add it to salads and in wok dishes. You may also get an extract and add it to tea or a cup of boiling water. The amount to take should follow what the label says.
8. Other Remedies for Cramps
1. Take a bath with Epsom salts, about 1 cup. Soak in it for 20 minutes. This provides magnesium to your body.
2. Get some magnesium gel. Add it to the area of your body that hurts. This provides extra magnesium to your body to relax the cramps.
Rate the Remedies for Cramps
Of all these natural remedies to stop the cramps, let’s rate them according to effectiveness on a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 is the most effective instantaneous relief.
Herbs – 7 to 8.5
Magnesium in any form – 7.5 to 8.5
Diet changes – 5 (these take time to work)
Exercise – 2
Yoga – 1
Swimming – 4.5
Enema – 7
Calcium – 7.5
Vitamin E – 7
Cutting out alcohol, sugar and GMO foods – 4.5 (takes time to work)
Acupressure points – 7
Omega 3 supplement – 6
Period vitamin 6.5
Staying in bed – 3
You do have choices! Make a plan to eliminate your cramps today!
