[Mini] What to Do About Period Pain | Ep. 109

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Period pain doesn't have to be your monthly reality despite what society has normalized. Most clients see significant improvements within 30-90 days by making specific diet, nutrition, and lifestyle changes.

• Understanding the difference between normal prostaglandin-related pain and problematic symptoms
• Recognizing how inflammation, infection, and allergies can worsen period pain
• Distinguishing between typical cramping and symptoms of endometriosis/adenomyosis
• Identifying other potential causes including pelvic floor issues and ovarian cysts
• Minimizing processed food, sugar, and alcohol to reduce inflammation
• Supporting your liver with cruciferous vegetables and quality supplements
• Avoiding cow dairy for at least four weeks to test its impact
• Consider magnesium glycinate and zinc supplements for short term relief
• Tracking your consumption patterns without judgment to establish a baseline

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey there, welcome to this episode of I'm Hormonal.
This is episode number 109, andI'm going to be talking in this
mini episode about period painand what you can do about it.
We're going to talk a littlebit about what is normal period
pain and what isn't, because ifyou have this kind of normal
period pain, there should be alot of change, a lot of

(00:21):
improvement that you can seethrough making changes in your
diet, in your nutrition, in yourlifestyle, in your alcohol
consumption.
So we'll dive into that in justa minute here.
Really quick, though, I want tosay welcome and thanks for
listening.
Again, on these Thursdayepisodes that I do.
They are just minis.
We're going to cut straight tothe chase, get right into the

(00:41):
good stuff for you, and it'snormally an expansion or
extension of the longer Tuesdayepisodes.
So if you like what you hearhere and you want more
information on it, make sure yougo back and listen to this
week's earlier episode so youcan get a bit more context.
When we talk about period pain,I think it's so important to

(01:02):
recognize that this is somethingthat impacts so many women Most
women, right?
If you're listening to me,you're probably not surprised by
this, but this is just to saythat period pain is something
that a lot of us assume isnormal.
This is expected, this is justa part of being a woman.
We have to deal with it.
But that's not the case and Iwant to really encourage you,

(01:24):
empower you, to make some ofthese changes I'll talk about
here in a moment to helpyourself feel better when it
comes to period pain, becausewhen I'm working with my
one-on-one coaching clients andthey start making some of these
changes, they see improvementsin their period, in their period
pain, normally within the first30 days, certainly within the

(01:46):
first three months.
I had a client just the otherday who was like man my period
just started and I just had twodays of minimal cramping.
I didn't have to do anything,whereas before we started
working together, about three,three and a half months ago, she
had to take time off, work notevery month, but most months.

(02:08):
So use that, take that asinspiration to know that you too
can have easier periods withless pain.
Let's talk about what isnormally causing pain with our
periods, and that is the releaseof prostaglandins by our body
to help signal to our uterus hey, dog, it's time to start
shedding the uterine lining getthis period going.

(02:31):
So our body releasesprostaglandins and that is
what's causing this kind of mildcramping in the lower abdomen
as well as in the lower back.
But when there is additionalinflammation, maybe infection,
maybe there is some type ofallergy that you have going on
that can also exacerbate it.

(02:52):
So this is the first categoryof like okay, what, in addition
to the normal prostaglandinrelease, could be impacting your
pain?
So is there any additionalinflammation that needs to be
addressed in your body?
Is there some sort ofadditional infection or just
knowing that when you haveallergies and you have that

(03:14):
higher histamine release, well,histamines can act kind of like
prostaglandins which could leadto stronger, longer, worse
cramps.
Now, aside from these, moving onto this next subcategory, here
there is the conversation ofendometriosis and adenomyosis,
right?
So those are situations whereyour endometrial tissue is

(03:37):
growing in other parts of yourbody maybe of your pelvic cavity
for the most part and it'sgrowing in the wrong spot and
that can be causing pain whenit's time for your period to
come around, because thosetissues are still being
influenced by the prostaglandinsthat are released Now for folks
who have endometriosis oradenomyosis, that are released

(03:59):
Now for folks who haveendometriosis or adenomyosis.
This is a longer like normallyyears long kind of pain
situation and unfortunately itis something that over time gets
worse.
So I say that to say let meclarify for kind of normal
period pain that you mightexperience, or if you think back
to when you were in high school, that's a time when often, as

(04:21):
your hormones are getting kindof balanced out, you'll have a
little bit more of this normalperiod pain and that tapers down
as we get a bit older.
On the other side of the coin,what I mentioned a second ago is
that if endometriosis oradenomyosis is a part of your
picture, oftentimes over timethat pain, those patterns, could

(04:43):
get worse and be exacerbated.
So just one other clue to thinkokay, how has this pain changed
over time, if at all, to helpclue you into what to do next.
A couple of other suggestions Iwant to make here could be about
pelvic floor pain.
Is this more of a muscularthing?
Could there be a cyst like acyst on your ovaries that's

(05:03):
causing pain?
Considering if there's anothertype of infection.
So whether that's a pelvicinfection or otherwise.
And then, last but not least,if you have a little bit of pain
in between your periods in themiddle of your cycle.
That could be a signal thatyou're ovulating.
So a couple of context clues tobe aware of there.

(05:26):
Next, I want to jump into whatyou should know, where you
should start if you have periodpain and what you can consider.
So, first things first, if youhave period pain, I want you to
consider minimizing your intakeof processed food, sugar and
alcohol.
I know that this is not rocketscience, this isn't crazy and
intricate, but it can make ahuge difference.

(05:46):
And why is that?
Because if you are consuming ahigh amount of processed food,
sugars and alcohol, those canall be creating additional
inflammation in your digestivesystem.
They can all be creatingadditional inflammation in your
digestive system.
They can all be creating morework essentially for your liver,
when your liver has thisimportant work already to do of
helping to detoxify the hormonesfrom your body.

(06:09):
Specifically, I'm thinking ofestrogen here.
So eliminate, minimizeprocessed food, sugars and
alcohol.
And the best starting point forthis step, too, is to take a
little survey of where are younow.
So if you're listening to thisand you're thinking, okay, yeah,
I can do a little bit of abetter job at that, take the

(06:30):
next two days, three days, towrite down in a note on your
phone or maybe another areawhere you can track what you are
consuming and do this in a realjudgment-free kind of way.
But just make a note of okay,what am I consuming, what is my
normal breakfast, lunch, dinner,snack situation?

(06:52):
Because if you know where youare now, then that makes it a
hell of a lot easier to seethose changes through and
understand how your period painmight be changing as you make
those shifts.
The second thing I want you tobe considering is what can you
do to better support your liver.
A couple of quick suggestionswould be incorporating more

(07:14):
cruciferous veggies into yourdiet.
So broccoli, cauliflower,broccoli sprouts and kale are at
the top of my list, at leastfor cruciferous veggies.
You could also find a liverdetox tea that's probably at a
store near you.
Or, if you are a supplementkind of gal, then there are
definitely going to be a lot ofdetox or normally like a liver

(07:38):
support supplement.
Of course, making sure that youare picking a brand that is
reputable and of high quality.
So liver support superimportant for overall hormone
balance and definitely can helpto move the needle when it comes
to period pain.
The third recommendation that Ihave for you is to avoid cow

(07:59):
dairy.
Just see if this is somethingthat helps to restore normal
periods for you.
Cow dairy can be inflammatory.
For some people it's certainlymore inflammatory than others.
But spending at least maybefour weeks to eliminate cow
dairy entirely, see how is yournext period, were there any

(08:22):
changes, and just get into thatobservation detective mode, this
could be something that reallymoves the needle.
When it comes to recommendationsfor supplements, I know I
mentioned something for liversupport, but overall, it's worth
mentioning that if you havesomething, you're in it right
now.
Right, you're like I haveperiod cramps right now.

(08:44):
So what should we be doing Then?
You could considerincorporating magnesium
glycinate.
Magnesium is going to be reallygood for many facets of your
health, but also magnesiumglycinate can be supportive of
period pain, and also zinc.
Maybe you get zinc through amultimanual that you take, but
that's going to be one that canalso be supportive of normal

(09:09):
period pain levels.
That can also be supportive ofnormal period pain levels, and
so, of course, it's ideal to behey, let's plan ahead, let's
plan to avoid these things.
I would say that's the best planto go in with, or that's the
best mindset to go in with, buta couple of more acute things
that you can incorporate.
If you're sitting there andyou're like, hey, I got cramps

(09:31):
right now, girl, what am Isupposed to do?
So I hope that this miniepisode was helpful for you in
sharing a couple of ideas, somecontext about what can
contribute to period pain andalso where you can start with
minimizing processed food, sugarand alcohol.
Giving your love, giving yourlove a little bit extra love to
your liver.
That's going to be a greatfirst starting point, as well as

(09:54):
avoiding cow dairy and justconsidering, hey, is there a
supplement that might be rightfor me to incorporate?
Now?
That's all I've got for youtoday.
I hope that you enjoyed thisepisode.
If you have any thoughts,questions or you want to hear me
talk about anything specific inthe future, connect with me on
instagram at.
I'm a hormonal and I'll lookforward to connecting with you

(10:16):
there.
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As always, I need to give youmy reminder that the information
I share with you here is foreducational purposes only, and
it should not be used as areplacement for medical advice

(10:38):
or diagnosis.
Now, if you are, on the otherhand, in the market for some
one-on-one support, then I wouldlove for you to take me up on
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