Episode 3: Decoding period pain and simple remedies for support
In today’s episode we’re decoding a topic that so many of us deal with but don’t talk about enough: period pain.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the discomfort or just wondered what’s really happening in your body each month, this episode is for you.
Join hosts Dr Peta Wright, Dr Thea Bowler, and Sam Lindsay-German, as they explore the truth behind period pain, share simple remedies you can use right away, and discuss why embracing radical self-care during your cycle is a game-changer.
🎧 Listen now to find out:
🍃 The science behind period pain – understanding what's happening in your body and how knowledge an help reduce pain.
🍃 Easy and effective remedies you already have in your kitchen – ginger, turmeric, and more natural ways to soothe discomfort.
🍃 The power of rest and self-care – why it’s essential to slow down and listen to your body’s needs.
🍃 Practical strategies to feel better, naturally – from yoga and movement to mindful breathing and magnesium supplements.
Resources Mentioned:
Healing Pelvic Pain by Dr Peta Wright
Wild Power by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer
Period Queen by Lucy Peach
Love Your Lady Landscape by Lisa Lister
Additional resources:
Transcript of episode:
Ep3: Decoding period pain and simple remedies for support
[Speakers: Dr Peta Wright, Dr Thea Bowler and Sam Lindsay-German]
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Welcome to another [00:01:00] wonderful episode of Women of the Well. Today, we're very excited to have Thea with us. I'm Sam Lindsay German. I'm Dr. Thea, gynaecologist at Vera Women's Wellness. And I'm Dr. Peta Wright. Today, we're going to be talking about simple remedies for period pain. We're going to be predominantly as well, referring to your book, which I just want to say so that if anyone has got this book, then go to page 149.
And you can have a look along with what we're saying. So if you have the book, I really recommend that you go in there and have a look now. So first of all, maybe the most simple thing is we're looking at when we've got period pain. What can we do in that immediate moment to support ourselves? What's one of the first things that we're going to do?
I think the very first thing is just talking about what's actually happening in our body. Because we know that knowledge always reduces fear, and when we reduce fear and we know more about what's happening in our bodies, our pain is always less. [00:02:00] So, I guess very simply, a period is an inflammatory event.
We know that most women have some pain with periods, or just pain or discomfort in the couple of days prior to, and usually the first few days of their period. And that might be, um, so pain or cramps in the pelvis, the back, the hips, the bottom even. We were just talking the other day about that sharp shooting bottom pain, it's got a big long Latin word, of course, and it's like, you know, almost 20 percent of people report that, which I think is interesting. It can be part of the normal physiology, as well as sometimes women report feeling a bit sick or nauseous, or they have altered bowel habits, so looser or looser stools, or sometimes more constipation, and they're all due to prostaglandins.
And prostaglandins are the little chemicals that are released When the lining sheds, when we have a period to enable the new lining to come on board. And I think [00:03:00] that's exactly it. Like knowing what's going on in your body when pain is occurring, has such a beneficial effect on reducing the worry and the fear and the anxiety that comes along with pain.
The other thing that I always like to explain to patients is that we make all of those, Prostaglandins to help shed the lining of the uterus and they also cause little contractions in the uterus. So it's almost like a little mini labor. The uterus is having contractions to expel the blood to expel the lining, like you said, to enable that new lining to grow.
So it's all serving a purpose. Most studies show that 90 percent of women experience some degree of pain. With their bleed. And we know that there are many things that can dial up the volume on that pain. If 90 percent of the population is experiencing it, then to a degree it's normal and pain can be amplified.
So we know that if our nervous system is sensitized, if we're feeling stressed by our environment, or we have a history [00:04:00] of trauma, , or we have a lot of fear and worry about our impending period, those things drive up our nervous system. Uh, Sensitivity to pain, and dial up the volume on pain within the body.
And the other thing that's really common is that our pelvic muscles can be really tense. Whenever we have pain anywhere in the body, the surrounding muscles tense up to try and brace and protect that part of the body. Like if we hurt our knee. A quad spasm if we hurt our neck, our neck muscle spasm, and the exact same thing happens in the pelvis.
So when we have pain in our pelvis, the muscles there are gripping and bracing and trying to protect that area where the pain is. And a lot of women who've had persistent pain and persistently painful periods will already have a really high level of tension in the muscles. And then when a period comes along, those muscles grip even more and that can worsen the pain.
Yeah. So it's that protective response that can exacerbate pain. And the other thing we were thinking the other day about the purpose of the prostaglandin. So the purpose to expel that old lining to get ready for the new lining. And also maybe we have [00:05:00] that discomfort slowing down pain to get us to slow down during that time of our cycle.
And I think maybe more women have amplified pain these days. potentially because there's no room to slow down. We don't have very much space in order to look after ourselves during that part of our cycle. And our stress levels are so dialed up, which can increase inflammation, increase that muscle tension and all can increase fear and all contribute to amplified pain.
Yeah. So when we're talking about this and thinking about this time and stage of the month that we're in, if we are trying to still keep going, if we're trying to get out of, I don't want to be in pain because I've got to keep doing everything, just adding to that inflammation cycle. So we're literally just tightening the screws on our own sensitivity.
And it's, it is profound to think that our body is literally Just as we always say, guiding us to do exactly what we need to do. And there's, a fabulous resource, [00:06:00] uh, called Red School that was founded by Alexandra Pope, Shani and other fabulous people. And, um, she, her story is when she was in her 30s, she started to get really painful periods and went and saw the conventional doctors who wanted to do surgery and look for endometriosis and all of that.
And she didn't feel that, that way. felt right for her and went off and really started to live more cyclically and giving herself the time and space she needed during her period. And she found that that vastly reduced her symptoms and improved her quality of life. And we may not all be able to run off and do that so completely, but there are so many ways that we can start to listen to our bodies and give ourselves a rest there.
That we need during that part of our cycles. And I think that's so important once we understand what's happening and what our bodies are needing from us, even if it's just when our period arrives, we feel it coming saying no to more things. Making sure we have a bath, making sure that we take extra time.
Yeah, I think asking for help from [00:07:00] the people you live with. You know, whether that's housemates or partners or whoever, even children. I think actually telling your kids, no, I'm just feeling a bit tired, feeling a bit uncomfortable. My body is telling me to rest, so you're going to rest. I do think more and more workplaces are building in period leave or menstrual leave, which I think is really important as well.
Because so much of the, you know, like the fear and the anticipation of a period can drive up that nervous system sensitization and make the period feel worse if you're thinking, Oh God, my period is going to come on that time when I have 50 million terrible meetings in that week and it's just going to be a crappy week.
But then if you knew, okay, I can take a day off, I can have some time to myself, I can do all the things that my body is asking for, the things that will make me feel better. Then you almost dredge the period less. And that's why, and I know that you both talk to your patients about this, but that's why tracking is so important.
That's why actually following your cycle using. apps or are they [00:08:00] still actually knowing, um, by writing it down each day where you are is so important because then you can actually think I'm going to plan to have three days that are quieter or I'm not going to be trying to pitch to a new client, you know, on the day I bleed it's due.
Totally. And these are things that we can control. And actually, if we do that, we're going to create a whole different. Form of energy around that stage of our life. And the more of us that do it, the more normalized it becomes and the more accepted it becomes. It like gives permission for more and more people.
Yeah. And I think because traditionally when we trained, it was very much like the questions you asked were, do you have to have a day off school or work? And if the answer is yes, You're, there's something wrong with your body and you need to have an operation, or we need to give you hormones to stop that.
We need to turn it off. And exactly. And it's just such a capitalist way of thinking about the female body. Like when we really think about it. Well, it's overriding. It's like overriding what is the natural process. Exactly. And so I think our job is to sort of [00:09:00] challenge that belief and it can feel really counter to what everybody has been taught.
It's almost like women should not have to deal with this, but really we need to create a world that is inclusive for women who have cycles, not. Turn the cycles off so that they can fit into the capitalist work structure. I feel like this should be its whole own episode. Yes, I know. Anyway, so we'll just talk about what we can do.
The main number one topic thing is you're safe and it's your body most of the time doing its job. And if your periods are particularly more painful, it might be your nervous system, the environment, your pelvic floor muscles and increased inflammation. So what can we do to start off with? And can we talk first, before you go into sort of the medications, let's talk about what sort of self care and maybe things that we've just got in our kitchen, could we use to help us? So always an anti inflammatory sort of Mediterranean style diet has the most benefit and we'll probably [00:10:00] get Desi Carlos, who's our amazing dietician to come on and do a whole, you whole episode on this, but really reducing processed foods, eating lots of eating the rainbow, basically lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of fiber, less sugar, less alcohol, moving your body as well, which is not in the kitchen, but it's something that you have available to you.
Or you could always dance in the kitchen. You can dance while you're preparing your Mediterranean diet. Um, ginger, ginger. Yes. You can make a beautiful ginger tea, like just grating ginger into boiling water, turmeric. Turmeric, yep, as well. So I like to make a chicken soup with grated ginger and turmeric and lemon and all of that real.
comfort beautiful food and those aromatics and then you can make it and then you can even freeze it and have it for when you do period and so then you don't have to cook so that's also really good and that's actually another good point thinking in advance and cooking so that when we [00:11:00] get to that time of our cycle we have a stash of food in the freezer that's easy so we can still eat nutritious food and without a whole lot of effort at that time i think is a really good hack from a yogic point of view we talk actually about eating lighter on our period food, like heavy food digested, you know, if it's not a great time, I don't think to go out and have a big banquet is what I'm talking about.
Can we, I guess that's to do with bowels I'm imagining. Yeah. I think most people find, and it's quite normal to get more constipated in the lead in to a bleed and then to have looser bowel motions that can often feel a little bit painful, particularly if you're having that bottom pain associated with a bleed.
And so. It would make sense that eating a really heavy meal that's difficult to digest might You know, further upset the bowel and staying away from super spicy food if you do get more digestive problems as well. You can also use ginger root capsules and curcumin [00:12:00] capsules, which is the active ingredient in turmeric.
Both of them have anti inflammatory properties and a great study shows that ginger root capsules have as good or as efficacious as ibuprofen without the, um, the gastrointestinal side effect. Yeah. So that's a really good thing to use. And how, how often would you have to be taking it? Do you take them through the whole cycle or just at that point?
Just with your period, just with those painful days, the crampy days, um, 500 milligram capsules three times a day. Uh, and then you can add, you know, your cooking with ginger and turmeric and all those things to it. And teas and things like that. The other thing would be good fats. So Omega 3s, they're also antiprostaglandins.
So those chemicals, so Omega 3s, so in fish oil, salmon, oily fish like that, lots of good quality olive oil, um, walnuts, nuts, avocados, sardines. Good as well. And [00:13:00] supplements throughout the month that can help would be yes, if you find it difficult, you don't like fish, a fish oil that you take every day, um, and magnesium supplement.
So magnesium glycinate is probably the best kind. Can you just explain that? Cause I know that this is a. Big thing. So the right magnesium and how we know which one to take. So there is, there's a lot of different forms of magnesium, but magnesium citrate tends to cause more, um, yeah, which you probably don't want if you're getting that with your period anyway.
Glycinate is probably the best. So when you're looking for a brand, one that has glycinate in it, and it's usually around about 300 milligrams of magnesium at nighttime, it can help with sleep. And you can, you can Like, if you take it at night, through the month, you can double it when you have your bleed.
So you can take it morning and night when you're having your bleed and having some pain. Yep. Because it basically works to reduce prostaglandins and so reduces those little contractions within the uterus. So [00:14:00] the fish oil, the magnesium zinc is also really good as an antiprostaglandin and it also helps with the lining in the gut.
So helping with the, with the intestinal permeability. And that's usually a zinc citrate is fine and 30 milligrams is a dose. Usually you have to have it with food. Otherwise it will make you feel sick. How do you know? I was talking, I actually asked Thea this the other day when we were looking at all the different supplements, but I mean, how do you know whether I should be taking zinc?
Should I come and do I need to come and see you or see a naturopath or can I just think? Zinc might help me. I think some of these supplements you can just start to take not, I don't, haven't really seen anyone who has high zinc levels. If anything, they're likely to be low. Some naturopaths and dietitians like Desi and Alicia will, will do testing, but I think there's things.
So magnesium zinc and an omega three are really safe supplements to, to try. If you are feeling like you need something [00:15:00] else without testing. And I think part of the thing is that there's much less magnesium and zinc in our vegetable products now because of the soil quality. So most people would be at the lower end of normal anyway, and we'd probably benefit from that.
And then additional supplements would be, we talked about. Curcumin during the period and they can come in capsules as well. And there are a few other things that I would, things like an acetyl cysteine, which can be good, but I wouldn't recommend unless you see a practitioner and that can increase an antioxidant in our body and help with period pain.
So the simple. Yeah. The simple, like the basic ones, magnesium, zinc, omega three, I think like you really can't go wrong. And so we're taking that. We're still, we've got cramps, so say we're struggling with cramps and we've been taking those supplements. What, what else could we do for ourselves that we've got at home or that is available to us before [00:16:00] we, you know, venture to a pharmacy, for example.
So movement is super important because Theo was saying a lot of the amplification of these cramps is the muscles in our pelvic floor, which are getting tense and can go into spasm when we have some more inflammation, like a period. So, and a lot of the time our bodies want to go into this protection mode.
And so it's really common for women to say, I get the cramps. I feel afraid. I feel like if I move, it will make it worse. So they just stop moving, curl up in a ball, which sounds totally reasonable, but from a nervous system and brain perspective and the way, and our muscles, the way everything's connected really confirms.
And we've found there's a big difference that there's something dangerous going on to our brains so if we stop moving and our muscles tense up even more, we're often kind of breathing really shallowly we're not taking those big deep breaths which can help to convey messages of safety to our brain and we're immobile and all of that can send messages to our brain that are harmful to us.
Um, up the vagus [00:17:00] nerve, which is almost 80 percent of the messages that travel along the vagus nerve, go from the body to the brain, telling our brain, um, whether we're safe or in danger. And if you're all curled up in a ball with your muscles all tight and your diaphragm lifted, because you're breathing shallowly, those messages are going to be more of danger.
So when we get a stimulus like the inflammation from the prostaglandins, from the period and then our brain has to interpret whether that stimulus is dangerous or safe. If our body is showing all those signs of danger, our brain is much more likely to think, oh actually our body is in danger and is going to make our brain perceive that sensation as more painful and then our muscles tense up more and we immobilize more and then the cycle continues.
So movement is really important. So number one, knowing that you're safe, there isn't tissue damage going on in your pelvis and reminding yourself of that. So we talk about that as a top down strategy. So saying I'm sore, but I'm safe [00:18:00] and I have a plan. And then the bottom up is the moving. So, um, going for a gentle walk, I would say everyone go for a gentle walk in nature, even if it's just 10 minutes, because it helps to unlock the pelvis and then doing some.
Gentle stretches, uh, and yoga moves. Sam is our yoga teacher. She might want to give us some more, um, tips about that. From my point of view, even just doing something as simple as cat cow, just allowing yourself to be on all fours, relaxing your belly, which I think a lot of us hold our bellies very tight.
So just being on all fours on your bed, being cozy and comfortable, letting the belly soften, moving from. all fours back to a sort of child pose where you just move the bottom back towards the heels, doing some little circles with your hips. These types of things are really, really good. We also know that another nice position, which seems a little counterintuitive, but because it's lifting the bottom, but placing a gentle, a cushion gently underneath your bottom and just relaxing with [00:19:00] the hips raised slightly, can be really, really relaxing, especially around The reproductive organ area.
So it could be really nice for the womb space and just to help you relax because there'll be a shift in the way that your body is resting, putting your legs up. I love inviting women just to even lay down and put their legs up on the couch and then bring the legs up. And then rest them down to almost trying to sort of straighten them and relax them down.
This is, this movement can be really good to release the hamstrings, which actually is where we'll hold a lot of that tension and all of those postures are such beautiful, safe postures. Like when you think about child's clothes, it's just such a beautiful nourishing posture. And moving in those sort of circular motions, thinking about, I feel one of the things with yoga is sometimes it can seem very prescriptive and I know that You know, none of us here teach that kind of yoga.
We're very much more about finding your, your own flow and that's an important part. We're inviting the body to flow. Therefore we need to be in flow. [00:20:00] And the sacral, the second chakra is all about being in flow. The womb space is in our sacral chakra and that's around finding flow. And so anything we can do to support that.
It's really nice. I was just thinking when you were talking earlier, I just loved hearing you talk about the way that we can really just come back to these simple measures that we can do and remind ourselves that by doing this, we allow ourselves to feel safe again. So it just really made me just have a moment of Realization of we were taught not to feel safe because we were taught that our period was a bad thing.
And so it's a, so for some of us, we've got to retrain and reframe. And I was thinking when I used to allow my girls to stay home. When they go to school, I let them have time off when they bleed. And one of the things I always say is you can rest and watch telly, but first you have to go for a walk and you must also do some art.
Then if you want to watch telly for the afternoon, go for, [00:21:00] or make a cake or do something creative, but then you can, yeah, then you can rest after that. That's beautiful. And I think as well, like on the movement thing, actually taking yourself outside, like, Actually being outside, being somewhere green, like walking around your garden with no shoes on and feeling the grass and like just being outside allows you to be so mindful.
Um, and you don't have to walk somewhere where you're around other people or anything, but just moving gently somewhere green is so good for the nervous system. And it also enables you to see that nature, the body's mirror nature as well. There's not this constant productivity that we demand in nature.
So why should we demand that of ourselves? Yes. Like the leaves fall and the seasons change and you can celebrate your own seasons and you can, and then one thing I'll say before we get onto the other things is the aim. I don't think the aim should be of eradicating all pain. If we go into wanting to eradicate it, we're [00:22:00] already losing because the thought of I need to eradicate this pain.
Pain makes our brain think, well, it must be dangerous. So if we understand that it's okay to have these sensations. And I think I was thinking about it the other day when I was having a painful period and it's like, You know how sometimes pain can have that sweet feeling, like if you're getting a massage and it's that deep achiness.
I don't know, there's this sweetness of pain sometimes, like I don't think it's always bad, especially if you know what it is and it's not dangerous. And there can be attributes to it, you know, like it can be warm. Yeah. That can be sweet. And also if you take the view that I am going to allow this time to be a time of radical self care.
Um, then you relish in that, Oh, I've got my cramps, but I'm having a bath and I'm putting my candles on and I'm like really looking after myself. The pain is still there, but you're not in distress. And so I think that is a huge thing. Like different mindset shift, [00:23:00] but that actually helps really to decrease pain because if we're not like saying this can't exist and we're going into protection, then we're not, we're less likely for our brain to interpret it as dangerous.
Yes. And it's always going to amplify the pain. Yeah. So really reassuring yourself that it's not. Permanent, you know, that it is a cycle and that it is going to end. And then, so other things we talked about, baths, warm baths, heat, so heat packs, TENS machine, TENS machines and pressure and massage, getting your partner to, That's quite a, so TENS machine.
I mean, not everyone just has one of those. I only had one when I had a baby. I had to hire one. Can you just get them? You can now get them. You can buy them yourself. And you think that they. And that's a good thing to do is it's supportive and it helps during that sort of pain. Yep. There's a number of studies that show it's very effective.
TENS are very effective at, um, Reducing period pain. I'm just guessing, cause it just leads to what you were just talking about, because [00:24:00] when you feel the sensation of that sort of, so when you have a TENS machine, if no one's used one, it's sort of like a sort of, yeah, like a pins and needley feeling in the skin.
And so it's drawing your attention to a different area of the body, which I was just thinking about. So actually what you're doing is you're actually focusing on a sensation, which is exactly the same as what you were just talking about, Peta, we could actually go to the sensation of the pain in our body.
And kind of allow that to be its own tense machine, is what I was just thinking. Our body is actually being kind of a tense machine and asking us to be really present. Yes. Which I think can be really scary for people at first. Like that idea of turning towards the pain, turning towards the unpleasant sensations.
But I was listening, I think it was a Red School podcast recently, and the lady they were interviewing said she, When she has her pain, she says, yes, this is uncomfortable, but what is here for me, you know, and that might be, what is here for me is. Okay, it's my time to rest [00:25:00] or what is here for me is actually I've learnt I pushed myself too hard this month, but that process of turning toward the sensations in our body and surrendering to them, I think is ultimately the way of helping to dial down that pain signaling in the brain.
It's just so profound because I used to get really bad. I haven't had it for a long time. Migraines just before my bleed, which I guess is normal. You might be able to talk about that in a second. And that was when I would darken the room. And then I would, and I know this is like a, I'm one of these people that does these type of things, but I would darken the room and then meditate into the migraine, sort of ask, why is the migraine here?
And then just is still as I can and just try and work out. And I always knew it was because I'd done too much. I asked my, asked my body for too much. And I was just contemplating. Yeah. It's nowadays when I that a bleed and I have pain, I actually think, Oh, great. I can stop. And I also think I don't have to have sex.
I'm just going to say it because [00:26:00] it is, I actually had that thought yesterday. I thought, I know that I can't have sex and I love having sex with my husband, but I know that I could obviously if I wanted to, but I don't want to. And he's not going to ask me. And there's something really just lovely about that.
Well, it's very like it's inward energy, isn't it? Like no one else can. This is my time. Yeah. And we are doing a lot for everyone else all month long. I really love it because it not that you need an excuse, but I like saying I've got my period and now everyone has to bring me cups of tea and let me have a bath and don't disturb me.
So I think it, this is a very big perspective shift, but I think it's, it's worth considering because any attempt at looking at any kind of pain from a lens of like, I just need to get rid of the pain, especially when it's period pain is a special kind of pain that it happens again and again and again, right?
Any attempt, especially when we look at chronic pain, attempt to say we need to [00:27:00] get rid of it. It's always never works. So we have to think differently. And I think what can we, um, can we learn, how can we, um, slow down is a big one. Can you just mention why I got the migraines? Oh yeah. So many women get migraines just before their period, or even just after ovulation because of the oestrogen dip probably to do with vasodilation and stuff in the brain, but, um, and often it can be because you might've had higher to lower oestrogen.
Also, I think migraines are complex as well in that there's often, Several different triggers. So it might be, you might be more likely to get a migraine with hormonal fluctuation. If you're dehydrated, if you've done too much, if you've got more stress, more muscle tension, haven't slept, eaten something or drunk something, alcohol that might, might trigger it.
And then sometimes that, that threshold, especially if you've got, you know, the hormonal thing and the lack of sleep, you might be more likely to trigger that [00:28:00] migraine threshold. But it's usually when it's hormonal, it's that. We might want to just mention acupuncture, often send people for acupuncture and I find myself, even though I don't like needles, in fact, I'm petrified of needles and it's taken me a lot to build up the courage to find someone who I trust to do it.
But I've found such profound relief at times through acupuncture from other pains that I've had in my body. So yeah, it's amazing. And you definitely recommend that here. There are lots of good studies that show that it's very effective for period pain relief and I think probably working on the nervous system By reducing stress muscle tension.
Yeah, so I think they're the sort of things that I would like looking at the Knowing that you're safe, understanding what's causing it, looking at the simple ways which you can carve out time to really take care of yourself. We've talked about supplements, diet, movement, reducing inflammation. Yeah. And then I guess other simple over the counter anti inflammatories that mop [00:29:00] up prostaglandins.
So that can look like any of the anti inflammatories really. So ibuprofen, naproxen, you can take them orally. So using oral anti inflammatories can be very effective for some people. It's perhaps not quite as effective as using it in suppository form, which is a specially specially designed tablet that goes in the bottom.
Some people it's just like, no, that's not for me. I'm not going to be doing that. And that's totally fine because the uterus and the rectum are like smooshed up right next door to each other. Um, Transcribed And drugs get absorbed super quickly across the lining of the bowel, then they are acting locally, sort of right where they need to be.
So that can be very effective. And you can usually just have one in the morning, one in the evening, and it will give you quite good. coverage. I just think that's brilliant because I didn't know that until we've talked about it, that that was a possibility. And now you say, I just go, of course, that just makes so much sense to me.
And I'm, I'm guessing you don't have as much contact to the stomach then. Yes. Much, much [00:30:00] less likely to cause gastritis and tummy upset. Yeah. So I would certainly look at all of the things you spoke about before that non steroidal medication, because, you know, if you are relying on that. You know, five days out of your cycle, and that's the only thing you've been taught to try that can affect your gut lining can then affect the immune system and can sometimes cause more side effects.
So you want to try this simple lesson. Uh, likely to cause harm things first, but then if you're, if you're needing them, needing to use them once in a while, it's perfectly okay. Yep. The other thing, I'm sorry. No, no, I'm, you're probably going to say, I'm just going to say, so could I take ibuprofen and paracetamol at the same time?
And why would I do that? You can take them both at the same time because they're a different class of drug, so they're very safe to take together. You might do that if your pain was very bad. It's often better if you are wanting to have. Good coverage to stagger them so you can take [00:31:00] ibuprofen and then a few hours later take panadol.
And so on and so forth. So you've always got a little bit of pain relief on board throughout the day. But ultimately what we tend to find is that doing all of the other stuff first means, you know, you might need to take an anti inflammatory perhaps on the first day or two of your period, but really it becomes less and less necessary.
I think the other thing that's very helpful, um, particularly if the bleed is a little bit more on the heavier side, is a medication called tranexamic acid. Um, which basically helps to reduce the volume of bleeding by 50 to 60 percent in a lot of studies. And because if the bleed is heavier, there are more contractions in the uterus.
The cervix is having to dilate a little bit more to perhaps let some clots through. So overall it can be a little bit more painful. So taking tranexamic acid, which is a really simple medication and you just would probably take it on the heavy days of your bleed, that can also help. When used particularly in combination with an [00:32:00] anti inflammatory can be super duper effective and you know You're then just focusing any treatment on those few days that are troublesome and the rest of the month You're not needing to take any medications Can you just get that in there, chemist?
You need a script. So you need to see a doctor for that one. The other thing I would also say is, um, if you are trying to do stuff and it isn't working and you're seeing your doctor, I would always do a vitamin D level too because low vitamin D, if you have low vitamin D, you can, that can be, affect your immune system and can sometimes mean you might have more pain.
So doing a vitamin D supplementation if you have low vitamin D is another good one or get some more sunlight. Yes, get outside early in the morning. First thing in the morning, stand outside with your cup of tea. And then last thing at night, go for a nice walk at sunset. All of what we've talked about, um, including the Mediterranean, um, diet is all in Peta's amazing book, Healing Pelvic Pain.
You can go and refer to it if you felt that we went [00:33:00] through things and you're a bit confused. Everything we're saying is in here, um, but plus all the extra stuff that we were able to share. And I was just thinking it might be nice to say, where are you in your cycle now? I'm on day 30 and I normally have a 28 day cycle, but I think I ovulated a week late.
We'll see in the next week, but I think, I think I should get my period in the next week. And how do you feel at day 30? I feel, I've just had a weekend where my husband, who's an obstetrician, has been on call for the whole weekend. And so I've been parenting. So, um, and I'm feeling a bit tired, um, a bit crunchy, a bit like I just need my own space.
So I'm looking forward to hopefully having my bath and my cups of tea brought to me in about five days. So that would be really good. I think I would be about day 16, 17, a few days post ovulation. So I'm still feeling the glow and I had a weekend in Sydney with my husband for our wedding [00:34:00] anniversary. So it's lovely.
I'm riding high. That's really funny. When I saw you today, when I drove out the driveway, I saw you and I thought, there's glow. There we go. You can tell. So it was like orgasmic ovulation glow. Love it. Um, um, I'm on day three and um, yes. And I was contemplating coming here that I was late getting my bleed.
It came just after we finished our day of menopause, that beautiful menopause retreat we just did, which was fascinating. And then only had a bleed really for two days and it's kind of sort of not there. And I was just going, it's just, it's very, yeah, it feels very, um, This is nice. So I enjoyed my two days.
I really enjoyed it. Yes, are you treasuring it? Very much. And each month I go, will it come? And we should say she's treasuring, Sam's treasuring it more because she's just turned 50. You might not know by looking at her that that's the case. She's just turned 50, so she's getting closer to that, um, that last bleed.
Yeah. And so each month [00:35:00] it's, I wait, sort of hoping it's still going to come because I, well, I, I do feel that that's, um, The reason I look forward to my period each month is that I feel that it is just an indicator that I'm still receiving some of the hormones that are there that are going to be supporting my body.
The more of those I can get, then that's better. Not that I will mind when they're not there, but just enjoying that. So, yeah, but I've just, I've been also just so, I've been learning so much discussing all of these wonderful topics with you both. And I just think, wow, I'm so glad that all of you are going to get this far earlier than I did because yeah, I've definitely, even though I know so much, just being able to really understand what is happening, even for me now is going to help me explaining it to my girls.
Hmm mm-Hmm. , that's a really good question to finish on maybe, but what do you think if you are a mother of a, um, [00:36:00] teenage girl or a tween girl who's on the cusp of getting her period, or, or, or starting to have her periods, what messaging do you think is important for mothers to give their daughters about period pain and about periods?
Mm Gosh, I think number one is. acknowledging your own experience, whether that has been a good one or a bad one with your periods in general, and remembering that the words we hear and the expectations we have very much impact on our experience. And so, um, It's very easy as a mum, perhaps who's had a bad time with her periods, for that messaging to be very negative.
Yeah. And who wasn't supported. That's right. Yeah. Which is totally normal because that's been an experience that someone may have had, but then it's very easy for a young girl to already dread that. Something that she [00:37:00] hasn't even experienced yet. And when we think about it through the lens of the nervous system, and through the lens of the way words and expectations impact on pain, it's very common that, um, having negative expectations of an event Can actually worsen our experience of that thing and so I think recognizing that and Trying to have positive messaging around periods if possible or neutral Is really important, but I think like I think if we can see it as the beautiful thing that it is Which is opening up to the possibility of life growing an egg And then the letting go and this whole microcosm of hormones and beautiful activity going on within our body each month.
I think, like, if a woman or a girl can feel that power that she holds in her body, that would be the message that I would want her to have. And there are so many books and things you [00:38:00] can read about that, even if you're someone who's had a, you know, not a great experience with periods, like reading the Red School Girls, Wild Power, like it's possibly one of my favorite books.
You gave it to me, Sam. And Period Queen by Lucy Peach. Like they're all really beautiful books framing the menstrual cycle in a beautiful, beautiful way. Read by Lisa Lister and also Love Your Lady Landscape, also by Lisa Lister. They're really good books and they were out. Such a long time ago. They were the first books that I really found on these topics and they're great.
And she was also another person who had really painful periods and went along and was maybe recommended to have a laparoscopy or hysterectomy or something and actually I think I want to feel into my body and see if there's a different way. I think, I kind of think the period is like the number one amazing hack for living in this ridiculously fast-paced, modern life where no one stops and the harm that it's causing to everybody's physical, [00:39:00] mental health and the, Earth, the period is like the opportunity to stop and rest.
Like, I just think if we think about that, it is incredible. Like it's a, it's a gift. Yeah. I love that. You, you just literally just, I think, why are we not using our menstrual cycle as a way of biohacking? Because we've talked about this in other episodes, but where it's literally showing us how we have been the month before it's a report card.
And yeah, so therefore we can use our period, the way we're feeling, the way our bleed is, whether we're in pain to really gauge is life working for me. And if we were doing that from the moment that we first got our first bleed all the way through life, just think how powerful women would be. What was occurring to you when you were talking was one of the things I used to say to my girls is I'm so glad you have your bleed even though you're [00:40:00] sad about having it because you're worried about going to school But it tells me that you're healthy.
It tells me that your body is working and that's something I'm going to celebrate. And so, every time that you get that bleed, you can really say to yourself, I'm healthy, my body is working. Um, yeah, I'm moving through life in the right way. And I think, yeah, more than ever, we can help to support ourselves and our daughters to have that nice inward life.
Time and showing them as well. So it's a big perspective shift But then there are also lots of things you can do and mainly if despite doing all those things you still have Debilitating pain. It's a real sign that there's probably something amiss with your environment your nervous system Your pelvic floor you got Usually that is your body's responding to something outside of you I was just thinking as you were saying that, yeah, maybe one of the things that we should say is that around this time when we get our bleed and if we've got pain, this [00:41:00] is the time to sit with one of your best girlfriends, have a cup of tea and talk about what's happening in your life.
Sometimes we just need to be heard and seen and to have someone else say, maybe you could do this. And so it's a great time. That's why. In England we have so many cups of tea, I think. And then seeing a, um, a good GP if none of these things are working and you're still really distressed by pain, who gives you options, um, rather than just saying you have to go on the pill or do surgery.
Um, I think that is really important. Reading the books we've talked about, reading my book as well because it just gives you lots of information and helps empower you I think. To even go to your doctor and say, um, I'm wondering if this could work for me or, or whatever. And I think you having the power in your hands is also like, that's a huge thing that's going to decrease your pain and improve your experience.
If you enjoyed listening to that, then please make sure that you [00:42:00] share this with your friends. Come and check us out on our Instagram. Vera wellness. com. au. And also we will include lots of things in the show notes about the book, about where you can find some of the information that we shared. And also you can head over to the Vera website and find more information on there.
Thank you so much. It was so nice to be here with you both today. Thank you so much. Thanks.
DR PETA WRIGHT:
Just wanted to pop on and add a really important note to today's episode. If despite all of the tools we've given you today, you're still struggling with some of I have experiencing severe, debilitating, distressing period pain that you're unable to cope with.
Please make sure that you seek help early. Whether that is with a GP or a gynecologist or for some women a naturopath, it's really important to seek help if you're struggling with ongoing period pain that isn't easy to live with. We know that if you have distressing [00:43:00] pelvic pain month after month, it can predispose you to developing chronic or persistent pain.
Often just understanding what's causing pain and the things that contribute to it. Is enough to help treat and make things better, but often we need to employ other strategies. So please don't hesitate to seek help if these initial strategies aren't working for you.
DISCLAIMER:
This podcast is for information and educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
