Periods that wipe you out - what are your remedies?

[DumbledoresGirl]

I am currently having a period that is completely wiping me out, eg I spent 12 hours in bed last night, asleep for at least 10 - 10.5 of those hours and I still woke up today feeling as though I do not have the energy to stand upright.

This does not happen every month, but it happens often enough for me to know it is caused by my period. I have been to the doctor (about 2 years ago) and she recommended bread with soya and linseed in it which I occasionally buy, but the rest of the family are not keen on it so I can't eat it all the time. I was tested for anaemia but I was not anaemic at that time. However, I am wondering if I now am as I feel so completely washed out.

Dh thinks I should counter this with lots of red meat eaten as raw as I can bear it and other iron rich foods.

I am thinking Floradix which I had during some of my pregnancies and which seemed to keep my iron count up.

Do you have any other recommendations? Things that have worked for you either during periods or during pregnancy (as this is just the same sort of hormonal fatigue that I had during pregnancy). Please help me plan my defence! I feel so weak right now I can hardly be bothered to type this.

No advice but I have the same problem! I was on prescribed iron tablets for a few months which helped a bit but still get very tired the week before my period.

Sometimes it is before the period for me too, but mostly it is during. So it doesn't sound as though you thought iron tablets worked brilliantly?

Spatone, evening primrose oil and a lot of painkillers. I am the same, some months passfine others knock me sideways - even causing vomitting and fainting.

Does Spatone have a flavour? Also, is it fizzy?

Not fizzy and really has no flavour especially if you add it to a glass of orange juice (this also helps iron absorption due to vit C and unlike other iron supplements it does cause the usual unpleasant side effects).

mirena coil. now i know you can find alot of stories about women that dont get on with it but in 6 months i have gone from being like you feeling like death and passing huge clots (TMI sorry) to no periods at all and very very mild period like symptoms.

I'm the same and also take spatone around the time of my period. I find it is the only thing that helps the wipe out.

i get those. my days like that are usually the first day and the day before! i am slightly anemic though so i know whats causing it!

id recommend more iron rich foods and make sure you have vit c after as your body cant absorb iron without it! its best to take after iron though not with!

I am definitely going to concentrate on the iron content of my food from now on, and make sure I drink more orange juice. I also think I will investigate Spatone - where do you get it from? I am completely ignorant about it.

Actually, I am just developing a period pain and feeling a bit sick so any conversation at all right now would help...

I buy it in Sainsburys. You can also get it at health food shops, boots etc.

I try to have early nights with nice relaxing baths and let go of whatever stuff I feel I "need" to do in the evenings (eg housework or admin). I also get powerful cravings for red meat and grapefruit or orange juice, which seems to reflect what's been said here. Supplement sounds like a good idea too, I'm going to look out for one (so thanks for the thread!).

I use a homeopathic remedy for this called 'China' I have it in 30c and 200c potency (I mostly use the 30c, 200c is for dire emergencies! (can't tell about the emergencies without faaaaar tmi!). It's for loss of fluid that leaves you exhausted and it really seems to help me. But I know not everyone is into homepathic... I can't get along with iron tablets, so I just eat lots of red meat and liver, take vitamin C and limit tea, coffee & wine to help iron absorption.

For period pain I get Buscopan (for spasms) from the doctor and stack over-the-counter ibuprofen, paracetamol and codeine - I write down the time I've taken each one and the time the next one is due so that I don't lose track when taking so many pills. I really sympathise, when I'm not on the pill my periods are unbearable.

feminax is the best thing that i have found for period pain!

now that you are pseaking about periods i have a few questions from my little sis that might cheer you up....

on the phone yesterday...
"will you go to the gym with x i promised i would but i have started my period"
"erm why cant you go with her"
"because im on"
"so? there is no swimming pool why cant you go to the gym?"
"you cant go the gym while you are on can you?" she is 22!!! and had had to phone me because my mum didnt know!!!

when she was in secondary school....
"why have you come home from school?"
"because it rained and i got wet and im on...your not allowed to get wet when you are on"
"who told you that?"
"y's mums"
"so doesnt y get a bath when she is on then?"
"yes but you are not allowed to get your clothes wet!"

Ah sweet! I was trying to explain to my older boys why I had gone to bed before them last night. I always think they will worry why Mum is always feeling ill, but in fact I don't think it occurs to them to worry at all. They are 12 and 10 and have had sex education lessons and I thought they might understand what I meant when I said I was suffering from "women's things" but neither of them seemed to have a clue what I was on about. I am a failure as a mum when it comes to explaining the facts of life.

Hi DumbledoresGirl

I got really run down from my "women's things" over last winter. By April I felt hardly alive and was catching everything going - just felt a complete mess. The thing that really helped was when the Doc (after about 1,000 visits and blood tests!) put me on double dose iron and within four days I felt like I was functioning again. It was only when I was feeling better that I realises how low I had got. I never got on with iron before and asked doc could I not use floradix or like instead and he was insistent that the ones he prescribed would be far better. Also I have had no side effects - think it is because iron was so low. Tests only showed slight anaemia but cells were pale. Hope that helps - there is nothing worse.

ps i got a gynae referral and it looks like i have fibroids so have to look at finding solution to that now - don't really want to go down hysterectomy road - but that is another story!!

Sympathies re fibroids. The health professionals can't work out whether I have fibroids and have been arguing over it for years! I have stopped caring as I managed to have 2 more children since fibroids were first suggested and my only concern was whether they would stop me having children.

Everything here is pointing towards me doing something about my iron levels, so I am definitely going to address that and see how I get on.