5 ways to take care of yourself during your period

Take Baths

• I love taking hot baths when I feel completely bloated and have bad cramps. It immediately relaxes all my sore, achy muscles and loosens my back. Plus if you add some Epsom salts it makes the bath even more enjoyable for the same reasons. And it smells SO good too. Put on some music in the background or read a bit and just chill out.

• Okay this is a hard one for me but I try really hard to cut back when I know i’m hurting. For one the sugar just sits in your gut and makes you feel more yucky and can create more bloating and make you gassy. I really like trying new teas or making new combinations with chilled water, fruit and herbs. Even just using new flavors of water enhancers-if I have them on hand. Also just by changing my hot tea to ice tea can be enough to switch things up. I’m normally a bad water drinker. And for two, soda can make your cramps WORSE. I’m not sure entirely how but gas again could be the culprit of this one, I know I read it somewhere!

• I cannot usually relax unless I have my heat pack on my lower abdominal area or to the side where I have the most pain. My number thing that ruins my day is CRAMPS. So I have to find ways to calm my body or avoid them altogether. And heat is my magic little lesson. I can still be pretty productive or so this point wouldn’t be made. (Currently in this exact situation) I’m happy when I can just watch a show, sit on my phone, cuddle my dogs and lay with the heat for awhile. Usually that makes it easier to move around and get on with my tasks. Sometimes if I feel up to it I do the house chores with a heating pack around my waist and music on. That way I knock out all three: less stress/entertainment, exercise and heat. A perfect storm!

• I’ve learned that it’s probably best to move especially when you don’t want to. Getting to the gym for a walk or jog, doing some at home yoga or Pilates just might be the icing on your cake and alleviate most of that pain and pressure you feel from Mrs. Time of the Month. I haven’t taken my own advice much but sometimes walking through the store is enough to make mine fade away and take my mind off the tenderness and aches that are my body in the moment.

• I take mine just as soon as I feel pain. Usually you can expect your worst days if you know your cycle. Or if you can track it. I however am currently on Mirena birth control and like many others I don’t actually have a period. However the cramps and bloating wanted to stick around regardless. Thanks. So that’s why the heat to me is so important. I can take an Aleve or two and a heat pack, watch a 30 minute show and then feel all better. I prefer Aleve- I can take it on an empty stomach and not feel sick. However still drink lots of water with it! And I think personally it works really fast.

I hope these tips helped you somehow. If not right now then sometime in the near future maybe. It’s pretty obvious to some but maybe you are just a helpless type when Mother Nature rears her ugly head. And for that I don’t blame you, I get cranky too. This way you can at least stay on top of your life and get through it in one piece.