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Hormonal treatment for dysmennorhea


mommymilkies
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Continuous pill here - although what ultimately resolved the issue was taking vitamin D along with the continuous pill. I take it in the form of cod liver oil. It truly saved me from surgery and years of more extensive drugs. That being said, we have autoimmune problems in our family (autoimmune liver disease, Crohn's, endometriosis) and all of us who have the autoimmune problems strongly benefit from vitamin D. HTH

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Continuous pill here - although what ultimately resolved the issue was taking vitamin D along with the continuous pill. I take it in the form of cod liver oil. It truly saved me from surgery and years of more extensive drugs. That being said, we have autoimmune problems in our family (autoimmune liver disease, Crohn's, endometriosis) and all of us who have the autoimmune problems strongly benefit from vitamin D. HTH

Which CLO do you take?  I was taking some Omega Mood stuff, and I take a good Vitamin D liquid.  I've been looking for a new CLO.

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I bought organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses today from a health food store. I'm so impressed with your results that it's worth a shot for me.

For anyone taking it, how did you go about knowing how much, how often to take?

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Which CLO do you take? I was taking some Omega Mood stuff, and I take a good Vitamin D liquid. I've been looking for a new CLO.

When I can afford it I take the fermented CLO from Radiant Life Catalog. Otherwise I just take Twin Lab, which isn't the greatest but it does the trick.

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This has been a very informative discussion. My 14 year old is having a terrible time with her period. She's bleeding so much every month and has so much pain! I don't want to start bc pills at her age, just trying to avoid hormones at such a young age. So far she's been prescribed iron for anemia, and I have her taking some herbs for the pain she gets. So far I don't know what to do for the heavy bleeding (she can't leave the house for 2 days at a time because of it.) but I'll go back through and re-read the thread here for ideas.

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When I was her age, I had the same problem.  Nobody took it seriously until I looked pregnant-I grew a fibroid as big as a grapefruit/5 month fetus.  It took a D&C (failed), u/s, hysterosalpingogram, and MRI before they figured it out.  It's very unlikely your daughter has something as serious, but it's definitely worth getting checked out for.  The bc pills nowadays, if taken routinely, can help prevent such a thing or minimize endometriosis (2 of my close friends had diagnosed endo in high school with accompanying laparoscopies).

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  • 3 weeks later...

I bought organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses today from a health food store. I'm so impressed with your results that it's worth a shot for me.

For anyone taking it, how did you go about knowing how much, how often to take?

I take a tablespoon (the silverware kind, not the measuring kind) stick it in the jar, and run the bottom of it across the mouth of the jar so that I have a heaping tablespoon that isn't dripping.  I've started just taking it straight and chasing it with food or drink to get rid of the taste.

 

I just had my fourth cycle.  It was 5 days early for some reason.  I had slacked off on the blackstrap molasses last month, and had a slightly heavier period than the previous two.  It was still manageable.  I left the house on my heaviest day for a few hours without issue.  It was over in five days. 

 

Oh, and no PMS at all.  I had no clue that my cycle was coming early at all.  And that is totally weird because the whole reason I was on the pill was to battle PMS, because my whole family is miserable with my PMS.

 

I have no idea why it is working so well for me. 

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Thanks for your feedback. I've been taking it for probably 3 weeks now. I tried a couple of different ways to take it, and I've settled on pouring a big spoon into a mug and filling it halfway with boiled water.  Add a good splash of milk. Cool. Drink with a straw. 

Expecting cycle to start today, so I am very anxious to see if it will make a positive effect!

PMS was less than before, but still a few agitated moments over the past week.  Still a lot better than the doom and despair I normally feel!

 

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I have a friend that noticed a great reduction in bleeding and pms from fermented CLO, she takes massive doses on her period days. I've not heard of molasses being helpful, I wonder if it is just the iron or something else? I would think if it is iron then iron bisiglycinate would be a lot easier to take it is easy on the stomach as well.

 

Mommymilkies I would say as well that I'd be curious what your actual thyroid numbers are, according to the regular doctors I'm in range as well but the integrative dr looks at everything not just tsh which shows that yes I am hypothryoid. Plenty on the thyroid forums say that they feel best at about a 1 or less TSH yet doctors say it isn't out of range until your a 3 or higher (besides the fact that the Hunt study shown a 40% increase in heart issues for those with a TSH of 1.5+ and that only increases with TSH). Then there is the issue of your T3 and T4 sometimes your body doesn't convert the T4 to T3 or it gets converted to Reverse T3 all of which have the same effect your body doesn't get the T3 that you need. Unfortunately many doctors only look at TSH and are too conservative to be of any help. It used to be that people were treated for the thyroid based on symptoms and in this case the past treatment was much more helpful when the tests they are using isn't the be all end all sign of thyroid function.

 

I've not ever had periods as bad as you have but I did notice that my last period was much better as far as pain, amount of bleeding and mood. I had been on the AIP diet for nearly a month at that point and had just started thyroid hormones the day it started. So, I'm not positive what exactly helped it, it seems it wouldn't have been enough time for the thyroid hormones to help but I don't know. I'm also on a boatload of supplements selenium (for Hashimotos), b complex (a particular kind b/c with MTHFR our bodies only absorb certain forms- I'd venture a guess that this is an issue for you as well), d3, iron, probiotics, Omega 3, an adrenal formula and well, I think that is it. 

 

I don't know if any of that helps but just throwing out some somewhat related thoughts.

 

eta I would say as well my hormones are all jacked up to but perhaps differently than yours my estrogen is high, my testosterone is REALLY high and my progesterone is a bit low. I tried progesterone cream but it only made me feel worse so as of now we are working on the thyroid, adrenals and auto-immune issues and hopefully that will start to line out. Another thing I noticed this cycle was that my fertility signs are much more clear, which I believe is related to a higher progesterone level (although my memory could be faulty). yet again I'm not sure what exactly has caused this change but it is a welcome change especially since we use NFP. For me even without religious issues bc gave me horrible side effects.

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I will try to get a copy of my records.  I was supposed to go to the Gyn yesterday, but life interrupted, so I'm going back next month to ask about IUD and hormonal bloodwork.  I like the period effects of the pill, but the hormones are getting to me otherwise-some depression and other things creeping in.  No weight gain, though.  So maybe by next cycle those will straighten out?

 

This last cycle was really easy, actually!  I spotted allllll month long, but I only had one heavy-ish day.  But I used a sea sponge for the first time and WOW what a difference it made.  It seriously did not even seem like I had my period.  That's a life changer right there.  I didn't even need to wear a pantyliner.  I might buy stock in those. And no spotting so far this cycle  Ok, the internet now knows way too much about my reproductive system!

 

 

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For what it is worth, when I started BCPs for whacky cycles, they told me at least 1 pack and more like 3 to "get things going."  I took 2 back to back, then used the placebo with the 3rd pack.  That first pack was not easy.  Lots of adjustments.  By the 3rd pack, all was good.  Like anything, after about a year, more adjustments had to be made.  This time in life is all about change, adjusting, change and more adjusting....

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I thought I'd update with my 1st month experience with the blackstrap molasses. Actually, I started it exactly two weeks before my cycle. Cycle was much more manageable, definitely still there, but manageable. I also went out on what would be my worst day without any issues. That is a praise! Three normal days and then several days of more like spotting. But none of the horrible clotting; etc. that I normally experience. I'm going to continue with it; I don't think it can hurt and if it gets better, that's a huge plus!

 

God bless you, JoAnn, for sharing it with us!

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I'm listening to all these rec's, but I cannot take estrogen so that rules out the pill.

 

Would a Mirena help in my case and the OP's case?

I can't take estrogen either, because it's a major migraine-trigger for me. I had a Mirena for awhile, and it worked amazingly, miraculously, for treating my dysmenorrhea. But I was in a very small percentage of women who get very light-headed and faint-feeling from it (this side effect is well known with the oral version of this drug, but is rare with the IUD version.). I ultimately decided that I couldn't handle that feeling any more, so I had it removed. But, really, my experience was very rare, my doc said I was the only person she'd ever known to be affected that way. So I think that for most women it is probably worth considering.

 

Since it didn't work out, she has prescribed me tranexamic acid. It's a non-hormone drug that reduces menstrual bleeding. I only had the Mirena removed very recently, so I haven't taken it (you take it only during your period, not all the time) so I can't report on it yet. But I wanted to mention it as something you might discuss with your doctor.

 

OP, that is so weird that your doctor wants to perform an ablation and you don't want it. I've practically begged my doc for an ablation and she won't perform it!

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This has been a very informative discussion. My 14 year old is having a terrible time with her period. She's bleeding so much every month and has so much pain! I don't want to start bc pills at her age, just trying to avoid hormones at such a young age. So far she's been prescribed iron for anemia, and I have her taking some herbs for the pain she gets. So far I don't know what to do for the heavy bleeding (she can't leave the house for 2 days at a time because of it.) but I'll go back through and re-read the thread here for ideas.

Dd15 had almost continual bleeding this past winter and at the advise of a board member here, stopped taking her vit. D supplement (and cod liver oil) and within 2 weeks her bleeding stopped and she is pretty much back to normal.

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So Mirena stories for people who had endometriosis or dysmenorrhea? Especially about issues with teA?

I mentioned the (very unusual and unlikely) side effect that I had with it in my previous post. Other than that, I loved it. It did what I wanted it to do, and I didn't have weight gain, problems with teA, or any other problems with it. If your insurance will cover it, I highly recommend giving it a try.

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Does anyone know what the "magic ingredient" in the blackstrap molasses is that is doing such wonderful things? I have reactive hypoglycemia, and for that and other reasons I have to eat a super low-carb diet. Molasses is mostly sugar right? So I can't eat it. :( Is there any other source of the "good stuff" that's in the molasses without the sugar?

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Does anyone know what the "magic ingredient" in the blackstrap molasses is that is doing such wonderful things? I have reactive hypoglycemia, and for that and other reasons I have to eat a super low-carb diet. Molasses is mostly sugar right? So I can't eat it. :( Is there any other source of the "good stuff" that's in the molasses without the sugar?

If you take it with fat and protein, it should not cause a big insulin spike.  I am also hypoglycemic.

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If you take it with fat and protein, it should not cause a big insulin spike. I am also hypoglycemic.

I looked it up and a tablespoon has 15g of carbs. That's the amount I normally eat in an entire meal! Can't do it. :(

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I was reading yesterday about it and it seems that the biggest thing is the iron and minerals so perhaps an iron sup + minerals, if you looked at the vitamin and mineral profile perhaps it would give specifics. Fwiw another thing I had started before my last period was iron, which I had forgot about, I've just got too many different facts to pin-point one thing helping.

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I was reading yesterday about it and it seems that the biggest thing is the iron and minerals so perhaps an iron sup + minerals, if you looked at the vitamin and mineral profile perhaps it would give specifics. Fwiw another thing I had started before my last period was iron, which I had forgot about, I've just got too many different facts to pin-point one thing helping.

Thank you!

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Each tablespoon contains:
 

60 calories

0 grams of fat

730 grams of potassium

14 grams of carbs, 10 of which are from sugar
 

Each tablespoon also gives 10% RDA of calcium and 15% RDA of iron.  Per wikipedia, it also contains up to 20% RDA of B6, magnesium, and manganese.  

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Let's just say I am Very Uncomfortable this cycle and am thinking the blackstrap molasses didn't do anything to make anything any better (after taking it for a month daily). 

I was hoping for a miracle.

Darn!  It sounded like it might be helpful after your last post.  I hope you find your miracle!

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Let's just say I am Very Uncomfortable this cycle and am thinking the blackstrap molasses didn't do anything to make anything any better (after taking it for a month daily). 

I was hoping for a miracle.

 

 

Ugh! I'm sorry. Hope you find something that helps. It can be just miserable!

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mommmymilkies I was just reading about histamine intolerance and dysmennorhea came up as a symptom, I remembered you mentioning that in another thread so I thought it was worth putting here in case you haven't heard that there is a connection. From what I can read the main fix is following a low-histamine diet, which you may already be doing. Also there is something called Histame (and similar supplements) that supply DAO which is supposed to help you process histamine. 

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  • 5 weeks later...

After months of fighting with my docs to test me for anemia or anything, they said my anemia tests were "fine".  Apparently not.  They only tested my B12 and Hemoglobin (low end of normal).  So I ordered and paid for a ferritin test myself.  Guess what? I'm anemic (12). I'm so mad, but at least I feel ok supplementing my iron now until I can find a new doctor. Hopefully that will make a difference.  Last cycle on the pill was atrocious again. 

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My ferritin is 17. I haven't had horrible pain but then again I haven't had but just a couple of periods since having the baby. I have had some very heavy flow but last time it was better, I'm not sure if that is attributed to iron supplements, thyroid hormones, diet or who knows what else, too many variables to nail it down. I would look at the gentle iron or generic version, personally I'd not just do the molasses with a level that low. The gentle iron hasn't caused me any stomach issues at all and is known to work effectively at lower doses.

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My doc recommended pills for me, but I have a blood clotting factor that puts me at high risk of blood clots from the pills (those people you hear about dying from pills and shots, yes that is me, oh joy), anyway, be sure to ask about testing for that. I forget what it is called, some reactive protein thing, but the doc should know what you mean.

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