teen menstrual cramps - herbs?

[kristin0713]

My 14yo DD gets horrible cramps.  Hormones are not an option for her right now.  She takes a lot of vitamins including calcium, magnesium, and a B complex. She has a prescription for Celebrex which does not seem to help at all.  Last month, she drank RRL tea for the first few days of her period and that seemed to help relieve them but then it prolonged her cramps to 3-4 days when usually it is only 2.  Any other herbs I can try for her?  I am hesitant to try Vitex because she is so young and I read conflicting things about the safety for young teens.  

[Guest]

I feel for you. I tried many things for my dd but the only thing that made a shred of difference was BCpills. She was practically crippled for two days every month and would also vomit. I sought help from an OBGYN. Natural spports did not work. 

Good luck. It’s a challenging problem, for sure. 

[almondbutterandjelly]

Has she tried Aleve?  Every 8 hours.  That was my ob/gyn's recommendation for my teen dd's cramps.

[Katy]

Ginger supplements. Alieve.  Birth control pills.  Surgery for endometriosis. A very low fat vegan diet.  Those are the 5 things that can help.  

[ScoutTN]

Acupuncture.

[MercyA]

I have endometriosis and had severe pain to the point of vomiting when I was a young woman. The thing that helped the most BY FAR was a high fiber, almost vegan diet. Please read this article for a good explanation of why this helps: https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/nutrition-information/using-foods-against-menstrual-pain

I'd also recommend taking the highest safe dose of ibuprofen possible (1200 mg per day for OTC, 3200 mg per day for Rx). She should start taking it about 12 hours before her period starts or the worst pain starts, if possible. It's important to stay ahead of the pain.

I feel for her! Hope she finds relief soon.

Edited January 30, 2021 by MercyA

[Kanin]

4 minutes ago, MercyA said:

I'd also recommend taking the highest safe dose of ibuprofen possible (1200 mg per day for OTC, 3200 mg per day for Rx). She should start taking it about 12 hours before her period starts or the worst pain starts, if possible. It's important to stay ahead of the pain.

As far as I know, I don't have endometriosis, but I was also pretty debilitated for a day each month when I was a young teen. It was a lot better by the time I went to college. My doc also said to take ibuprofen before my period started. In my case, I started 2 days ahead. I still do this, and I use an app on my phone to remind me when it's about 2 days ahead. 

[BlsdMama]

DD says this helps:

Go With the Flow

The same company makes a Maca supplement that helps with reproductive health. I ordered it in this months shipment and has it sent to DD and she was laughing when she called me. Apparently it helps more than cramps? The packaging explained all the benefits. 👀 🤷‍♀️ 

[Happy2BaMom]

I had horrendous cramps as a teen until my family doc put me on Borage Oil, high in GLAs. Worked like a charm, and I've returned to it several times since then when I've had issues and had the same result.

[kristin0713]

Thanks for all of the replies.  I will look into some of these options.

She has been on high amounts of ibuprofen in the past for PANS and it is pretty irritating to her stomach at this point. That is one reason her immunologist prescribed Celebrex, the other is that she said ibuprofen can increase menstrual bleeding. I always used to take it and found that it helped me but I am concerned about her stomach.  Aleve has the same potential to irritate the stomach.  But I will have her try it this month and hopefully we won't be trading one problem for another. 

I'm not putting her on BCPs at 14.  I was on them for many years, and I think it messed up my body. 

I almost ordered this supplement , but thought maybe someone could recommend the right combination of herbs as a tea.  It's hard to know the dosages though for a teen. 

 

[elegantlion]

In additional to internal aids, I found using a heating pad for a while in conjunction with pain meds helped. I used to miss at least one day of school a month because of cramps. 

[Tanaqui]

Quote

 Last month, she drank RRL tea for the first few days of her period and that seemed to help relieve them but then it prolonged her cramps to 3-4 days when usually it is only 2.

Correlation isn't causation. What you mean is that last month she drank this tea and that also, last month her cramps seemed a little lighter at the start but lasted longer than they usually do. It *might* be the case that the tea had this effect - but it also might be the case that the tea had no effect at all, or that the tea caused one of those effects but not the other. One menstrual period is not enough time to draw conclusions about the effect of the tea on the cramping.

You've rejected ibuprofen and aleve because you're worried about bleeding. Fair enough, but have you considered tylenol? If it's safe for those on blood thinners it presumably does not carry this risk.

[kristin0713]

1 hour ago, Tanaqui said:

One menstrual period is not enough time to draw conclusions about the effect of the tea on the cramping.

You've rejected ibuprofen and aleve because you're worried about bleeding. Fair enough, but have you considered tylenol? If it's safe for those on blood thinners it presumably does not carry this risk.

Very true.  It's such a hard thing to troubleshoot because we have to wait another month to see if there is any more improvement.  I had not considered Tylenol because I have never found it to be effective for anything except lowering a fever. 

[prairiewindmomma]

RRL’s primary help is that it is very high in magnesium and other minerals that act as smooth muscle relaxants.

Vitex is a progesterone herb. I would be very hesitant to give it to a 14 yo.

A general recommendation to add to what you are already supplementing would be to add a quality fish oil and up the magnesium. 
 

Ginger, fennel, and a high concentration of tumeric would be where I would head next. 

Has she had an exam by a dr to know if she has a retroverted uterus or endometriosis or something physical going on?

 

[Tanaqui]

1 hour ago, kristin0713 said:

Very true.  It's such a hard thing to troubleshoot because we have to wait another month to see if there is any more improvement.  I had not considered Tylenol because I have never found it to be effective for anything except lowering a fever. 

I find tylenol effective for me for general painkilling purposes. Human bodies are intensely variable in a lot of weird ways. One advantage of an OTC instead of teas and herbs is that the dosage is standardized - that's something you simply can't get with herbal remedies, no matter how careful you are.

Quote

Has she had an exam by a dr to know if she has a retroverted uterus or endometriosis or something physical going on?

I agree, this age is not too young to visit a gyno, especially if there's a known issue.

[Corraleno]

Naproxen (Aleve) and ibuprofen both block prostagladins, but naproxen tends to be much more effective for cramps than ibuprofen. The key is to start taking it either just before the period starts (if someone is regular enough to predict that) or to start at the very very first sign — do not wait until the pain is already bad. The goal is to keep the levels of prostaglandin from getting too high to begin with, since prostaglandin is what causes uterine contractions. 

I used to have such severe cramps (plus nausea, diarrhea, cold sweats, and fainting spells) as a teen and young adult that I would miss school  and/or work 1-2 days every month, and nothing that was available OTC at that time even made a dent. Then when I was in grad school a doctor prescribed naproxen, which was then only available by Rx (Anaprox). Totally changed my life! I went from being completely debilitated every month to just very mild cramps that did not impact daily life.

If naproxen and ibuprofen upset your DD's stomach, make sure she takes it with food and drinks lots of water. I'd increase fiber, too, since it can be constipating.

(ETA: It does not increase the amount of blood, although occasionally if I guessed the start date wrong and ended up taking it for a couple of days before my period started sometimes it would prolong the bleeding for more days — but they were much lighter days.) 

[East Coast Sue]

Aleve, especially taken the day before and the day of. Truly a lifesaver. 

[Amy in NH]

I swear by RRL tea.  It works every time.  Make sure it's the real deal, and not flavored raspberry.  And don't put milk in it - it will curdle.

[kristin0713]

6 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Has she had an exam by a dr to know if she has a retroverted uterus or endometriosis or something physical going on?

 

She would be mortified to go. I really think she just takes after me. I always had horrible cramps and very heavy periods except when on BC.  I am currently on my second Mirena just to keep my periods from ruining my life, despite DH having had a vasectomy 10 years ago.  

[Excelsior! Academy]

I am not normally a proponent for oils, but did purchase a kit from a friend once.  Young Living has an oil blend called DragonTime that is pretty decent at helping with period cramps.  You do need to add a carrier oil.  Definitely don't put it on straight.

[Janeway]

Calcium supplements were about the only thing that fix this for me. However did a great job fixing this. I’m not talking about just taking one calcium pill in one day. I’m talking taking regular supplements and after about a month at the next cycle she’ll find that she won’t have the really bad cramps.

[prairiewindmomma]

4 hours ago, kristin0713 said:

She would be mortified to go. I really think she just takes after me. I always had horrible cramps and very heavy periods except when on BC.  I am currently on my second Mirena just to keep my periods from ruining my life, despite DH having had a vasectomy 10 years ago.  

Please give thought to it. We do our daughters a disservice when we wrap shame or embarrassment around health care. We don’t feel this way seeing an ENT or a opthamologist.

FYI- my friends who have had endometrial ablation swear by it, fwiw, if your childbearing years are over and you are just trying to crawl across the line to menopause