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How quickly can food affect cramps?
Started
by Sarah Noel
on May 11, 2010
Does anyone know, from what you've read or experienced in yourself, how quickly what you eat shows up in your body and how you feel? Last month was my first month being vegan, so while I was finishing up the milk and cheese in my fridge, I was eating almost superhero otherwise - a LOT of brown rice and steamed greens! For pretty much every dinner. It was new, and exciting, so I wasn't tired of it yet. Well, I normally get really bad cramps the first 1-2 days of my period. So bad I have to take extra strength Tylenol (or other brand) every 5-6 hours just to be able to get through the day. And I'm not a pain weenie either! It hurt THAT bad! Well, I was THRILLED when last month my cramps were almost nonexistent! Still slight, but I didn't need ANY pain meds! I hardly noticed the start of my period. So now we're at month #2. The cramps ARE BACK! Sun. night and Mon. were awful! Do you think what I ate on Sat. would affect it THAT much?? Sat. I had a couple cheese squares and I think there was cheese on a sandwich I had. I also had a couple bites of a doughnut. I didn't think that was THAT much, so I was surprised I felt as bad as I did with the cramps! Any thoughts or similar experiences?
my cramps for my first period after a full month of being vegan were almost non existent too! I was so surprised that what I ate was contributing to my cramps(which used to be pretty bad). I haven't had my second one yet though so I can't help you there. I hope they don't come back. What you ate could have affected it, did you drink alcohol? sometimes that makes then worse.
I didn't drink alcohol, that I can think of. I only occasionally have a glass of wine at home, but that's it. It probably was the food. I started out all gung-ho, but let myself slack a little. I'm back with a vengeance, now that I've experienced first-hand the effects of what I eat on my body and how I feel. I'll be interested to see how the cramps are next month. I hope yours are non-existent again in month 2! Good luck!
So funny, I just got on here to search for the same thing. My first period since going vegan and my cramps and other PMS symptoms (back pain, frenzy of activity, etc.) were almost nonexistant as well. I'm interested to hear anyone else's experience who has been at this longer. Thanks!
Hi Sarah, well I hate to say this but I had my second period since going vegan and it started off fine but a few hours into it I had bad cramps again, I don't get it! I was sooo looking forward to minimal cramps and I definitely didn't eat anything wierd. oh well.
I went vegan a couple of years ago, and I can't say for sure which month exactly that I started experiencing fewer cramps and pms, but in general, my cramps, pms and breakouts are much better than they used to be. So, I guess my point is, it may take you all longer than a month or two before you experience that. For me also every month can be a little bit different - some worse than others.
thank you, I hope they get better!
I get incredibly painful cramps too. I take 800-1000 milligrams of ibruprofen every 4-6 hours for the first day and a half. Like you I don't have any other issues and feel I have a high pain tolerance. My cramps are worse than the pain I had from a root canal for comparison. I find that food does affect my cramps. I'm a sugar addict and I have to try and completely eliminate it beforehand. Sometimes that isn't enough. So I feel there are other factors or even foods that trigger the pain. I haven't figured all of that out for myself yet. For me just slipping and eating one sweet will definetely ensure I have painful cramps and it doesn't seem to matter how much of it I ate. The only good thing about the cramps is I have a feeling a day or so before that I'm getting my period which can help me to really watch my diet those couple of days before. I hope this helps. Good luck!
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