[ladyperk]

Hi. I'm 17 years old my periods are pretty regular but 95 percent of the time they start off with bad cramps. Many times I have to taken out of school because they are so bad. I try and stop eating junk food 3 days before I start but the cramps are still really painful. I usually take painkillers the morning of my period but that doesn't last long. Also this only happens the day it starts. Is there anything I can do or take to stop the painful cramps?

[Ashlee T.]

I try and stop eating junk food 3 days before I start but the cramps are still really painful.

Try to stop eating the junk food 30 days before you start. In other words, stop the junk food totally. High fat high sodium high carbs will do nothing but make your PMS worse and stopping a few days in advance isn't going to help a thing. Also consider cutting out as much caffeine from your diet as possible and add in a good 30 minutes of cardio workout at least 3-4 days per week.

I always have cramps on the first day. I've grown accustomed to dealing with them by taking ibuprofen or aleve every 4 hours or so on that first day. It keeps them to a tolerable level.

[aj2sheds]

I often have horrendous cramps too, but this year I lived with an Indian girl who tipped me onto fenugreek - it's a kind of herb thing that's used in cooking, but apparently it's very common for girls in India to use it for their cramps. She lent me some and surprisingly, it actually helped quite a bit. I don't think it's just the placebo effect because I went into it thinking "This is the DUMBEST thing I've ever heard; there is no way on earth this is ever gonna work." The fenugreek looks like tiny little rocks - you can either put them up in your gums until they get soft and disintegrate, or you can use boiling water (I recommend that method). Use about a cup and a half of water for one or two tablespoons of FG - it'll color the water as it softens, and as it cools drink the water and eat the FG. I'd suggest that you drink it starting a couple days before you expect the cramps to arrive. It doesn't taste great but it really does help me a bit. You can look it up on Wikipedia; apparently it has quite a long history of being used to alleviate pain. I hope it gives you some relief

[IvyTheBunny]

Or, you can try being a vegan...personaly I'd rather have a steak and cramps. LOL