So much worse around my period

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Clare3630

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DX FIBRO
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Has anyone noticed that their symptoms are worse when your period is due
I’m 53 , still have regular periods , no hot sweats or typical menopausal symptoms but leading up to my period and for the first few days , I have awful headaches , backache and leg pains , this has never been me , I’ve always managed really well with my periods but this is really stopping me in my tracks
 
Hi Clare,
I'm 38 and my symptoms started about 5 years ago and one of the first things to go wrong was that the two weeks before my period became unbearable. And I'd never had any problems. Now I am in pain pretty much from ovulation to menstruation starting again. I do lots of gentle stretching in that time and I use flexeril (a muscle relaxer) when things get bad. But you should probably ask a physician about it because they would have more info about this time in your life. Just wanted you to know you are not alone!

I should add that my period itself isn't too awful, but sometimes the couple days before and first two days of it I am hit with bad fatigue like no other. I can always tell when it's coming because I get an awful headache and can barely move. I always say I feel like I want someone to stick me with a pin to release all the water weight, it's almost like I can feel it.
 
Thank you for your reply
You have described exactly how I feel , I can bear the other symptoms I have but the headaches are awful and feels like every part of me is bloated
 
The muscle relaxer sometimes helps my headache and sometimes not. Either way I usually have to go lie down. Baths help too.
 
Can you buy the flexeril over the counter or does it have to be prescribed by a doctor , it sounds like it could help me
Thank you 😁
 
Another suggestion is to research L-glutamine. Takes about 2 to 3 months to work and it has brought me a lot of relief. I do the 5 grams of powder in a liquid for breakfast and for lunch.
 
Another suggestion is to research L-glutamine. Takes about 2 to 3 months to work and it has brought me a lot of relief. I do the 5 grams of powder in a liquid for breakfast and for lunch.
Hmm, that's another interesting one.

I take 0.5g of glutamine for dopamine to balance out my GABA-serotonin. I once increased it more and more to about 1.5 or 2g and got such dreadful pain in both of my thighs, that I needed to reduce again. I did see this explained somewhere, but looking now it seems to be an extremely rare side effect. Many sites are saying even 20-30g are safe, while essentialstacks recommends following what examine says and that'd be 5-10, like you're taking. The amino acid expert Trudy Scott recommends much less, more like 2g/d.

Making me curious to try increasing it again very carefully, altho I think its dopamine decreases my serotonin so increases my seizures.

Oh, and because it's an amino acid it increases my stomach acidity, so I need to encapsulate it.
Carnitine for example I encapsulate 6 per day, around 3g+. Of course I'm not too keen on doing too much more, but at 10 seconds per capsule it's not that much time... About 15 of the 60 capsules I take per day are self-encapsulated, that's 3' to encapsulate, a 3rd of the time it (then) takes to prepare the 60.
 
Hi, it was the same for me. It’s the change of hormones that got to me. I ended up on the pill to regulate my hormones (although my periods were horrendous as well) and it worked great but I realise not everyone wants to do that. It might be worth seeing your doctor about it and see if they recommend anything. Hope you get it sorted x
 
I need to encapsulate it.
How do you encapsulate it? I had added acetyl l-carnitine, but was getting awful stomach aches! Never used so many antacids as the last week I took it.
 
How do you encapsulate it? I had added acetyl l-carnitine, but was getting awful stomach aches! Never used so many antacids as
Oh yes, I know what you mean!

To encapsulate I buy HPMC-capsules (= "veggie", "vegan"), the #00 size, and press the powder into them using the plastic dosing spoons in the powder tubs. Full they contain about 500-600mg, depending.
I did try a capsule "machine", with which you can fill 100 capsules at the same time, but found it very time-consuming, whilst I now only need 10 seconds per capsule, and can vary the amounts (e.g. of GABA) according to my symptoms.

ALC I took in ready-made capsules. But I decided I need (L-)carnitine instead. Which means a lot more of it (but still much cheaper), up to 4g, which I've just increased to. The powder burned my esophagus. Amino acids are all better before meals, but I (have to) take more than half with meals.
(ALC and carnitine don't work together, carnitine is better for body fatigue, ALC for brain "fatigue". And carnitine's been tested more to help with lipids.)
 
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I was using the ALC for the pain & body fatigue. It is in capsule form already, so I guess I will just have to eat when I take them.
 
Can you buy the flexeril over the counter or does it have to be prescribed by a doctor , it sounds like it could help me
Thank you 😁
Sorry for just seeing this, but no a physician would have to subscribe it. I am just now looking into supplementation for some of my symptoms so the responses above are helpful too. :) I do take magnesium, I'm not sure if it helps with the pre period symptoms or not, but it does help my legs spasm less especially in the summer. I am actually thinking about going back on some form of birth control to see if it will mellow out my symptoms. But that involves some extra decision making for me so I am not sure if I am going that way yet.
 
I just figured out what flexibility is. It's a muscle relaxant. You can buy it over the counter in Ontario. It's called Robax. There are different varieties that involve different pain meds. My favorite (It's purple) is the ibuprofen and muscle relaxant. It will put you to sleep and you wake up refreshed. The green one (with tylenol) doesn't put me to sleep. And then there's one with just methocarbamol tablets usp 750mg...just the relaxant.
 
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