Ow la la!

Fancy dinner parties.  The people you have to be courteous to.  The fancy-schmancy courses of food, the pristine white napkins and gleaming china and silverware... and you're on your period and cramping like mad.  All you probably want to do is scream and cry, but that wouldn't go over well in a situation like this.  (Don't try this.  It wouldn't.)
So you can't scream and cry.  Curling up and whimpering is also out.  So is complaining to other people who get periods.  What do you do?
As always, the first thing is that you should have been prepared in the first place.  If you're allowed to take painkillers, take one before you go, or bring a couple with you.  If you can't, use a heatbag.  (See the post on this). 
What if you tried all this and it didn't work? You need to excuse yourself.  Fancy dinner parties will nearly always have a bathroom, so go.  Whimper all you want- and cry and curl up if you have to.  (But don't scream, they could hear you).  After you've done that, if you have a tampon in, and if it's possible given your specific situation, take.  It.  Out.  I promise you that this will help.  Cramps are caused by the muscles of your uterus working extremely hard, and if they're also working to hold in a tampon, this puts undue added work on your muscles.  (And causes more pain!)  Failing that, try to go to the bathroom.  I don't know why, but if I can, um, empty myself out a little it helps.  Maybe it's because I'm not as full and so my muscles have more room to work in?  Like I said, I don't know.  After that, stretch.  When you're exercising and you get a muscle cramp, what do you try to do to get rid of it?  Probably stretch, right?  This works the same way.  It'll hurt like crazy, but you should arch your lower back and bend your stomach back as far as you can, focusing on pushing your hips outward.  (Put your hands on the ground for support if you need to).
This might not get rid of your cramps completely, but it should at least help make them (and the fancy dinner party) a lot more bearable.

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Tips for dealing with cramps.

Hey, I'm Corina and I’m here to help you with perhaps the most unpleasant aspect of periods- the cramps. Now, some of you lucky people don’t experience these cramps. But trust me they hurt. For those of you who are unlucky enough to be crippled from pain once a month, below are some tips for reducing the cramping.

Pay attention to what you eat while on your period. 
Yes, it might be extremely tempting to whatever the heck you want and stuff yourself with comfort foods in order to get over this horrible time, but in the long run it’s important to watch what you’re putting into your body. Try to consciously choose fruits and vegetables over salty or fatty foods. For many people, cutting dairy intake can help reduce your pain as well. Drink lots of water.
Eat chocolate.
Yes, chocolate can help with cramping. While most chocolate does contain sugar, which is something you should stay way from whilst on your period, it also contains magnesium. Magnesium is a nutrient that gets greatly depleted during this time of the month and thus it's important you replenish your supply. So go ahead, eat some chocolate. Just be careful with how much sugar you're taking in and also the amount of dairy contained in the kind of chocolate you're having. Try to stick to dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.
Utilize pain killers.
If you are lucky enough to have access to pain killers, use them! When you feel the discomfort coming on, take a pill. However, pay attention to the serving amounts on the package and also the way your body reacts tot the medicine. If you don't have access to pain killers (like me), well then I sympathize with you.
Sleep.
Sleeping will not only take your mind off the cramps, it will relax your body so they go away. Sometimes drifting off to sleep while pain pulses in your stomach is hard, but most of the time you'll wake up feeling much better.
Exercise.
Yeah, dragging yourself off your bed and going for a jog around your neighborhood is the last thing you feel like doing when you feel your thighs start aching with pain. But walking or doing yoga can greatly reduce your cramps and make you feel a lot better. Getting exercise will also help you to drift off to sleep while you have cramps because you'll be more tired.
Use heating pads.
As was said in an earlier post, heating pads are a great resource. If you don't have a heating pad, trying using a hot water bottle instead. Even pressing a warm cup of tea against the area can help. I usually curl up around my mom if she's sitting on her bed reading and use her as a heating pad. Hey, it works. I also sometimes use a laptop as a heating pad. If you have nothing else, dipping a wash cloth in hot water and laying on your bare stomach can help.
Take a hot bath or shower.
Taking a hot bath or shower can relax and calm your body and thus reduce cramping. When you take a bath, tampons can be a good idea as you don't want to be sitting in a pool of your own blood. Try filling up a bath tub until your abdominal area is just submerged and then laying a towel on top of it. This can traps the heat and feels nice and soothing.
Wear loose clothing.
Wearing clothing that doesn't put pressure on your abdominal area can help. Don't wear something with a tight waist band or belt. Dresses can help in this aspect.
Utilize your pet if you possess one.
Cats or other small animals can help reduce cramping. Having them sit across the area where you have cramps, making sure their calm. A cat's purr will relax your muscles and the heat from their body will help rid of the cramps.
Drink tea.
Hot tea is a great way to rid yourself of cramps. Raspberry leaf tea is a period experiencing human's best friend and I mean it. That stuff is amazing. Brew yourself a cup and sip it slowly.
Most important, relax.
Just relax. Put on a pair of earphones and get lost in the music. Pick up a favorite book and revisit the story. Lay down and try to sleep. Don't stress over things and try to simplify even your most ordinary activities. Try to stick to doing what you enjoy and pampering your body for this week.

I hope this helps you with surviving that time of the month. Always remember: This too shall pass.

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Blood, sweat, and tears: How exercise affects your period

You've been exercising for weeks.  You feel good, and ready to take on the world (or, you know, the next game/meet.  Same thing).
...You're also set to start bleeding any day now.
If you've just recently started exercising, the truth in the matter is that you're probably going to notice a bigger difference in your cycle than someone who has always been active, simply because for the latter the type of cyclical changes exercise causes are routine, so I'll start there first.
You burn a lot of calories and energy exercising, and your body uses up a lot of nutrients.  In your period, you also lose nutrients.  If you don't compensate and eat more calories during the day, this can cause a condition called amenorrhea, where your period stops.  (Note: If you've just started your period in the past year or two, skipping a month here and there is normal.  I'm talking long term or skipping your period after it's been regular for awhile).  Thankfully, amenorrhea does not cause serious long-term effects if treated quickly and can be easily amended by increasing you caloric intake and decreasing the length or intensity of your exercise.
If you're exercising more, you're probably also drinking more water (or at least, you should be!).  This can help get rid of the acne caused by your hormones going nuts and can also help with cramps.  And, in my experience, the more water I drink, the shorter my period is- about 5-6 days instead of 7.  This isn't scientifically backed up by anything and even if it was I couldn't guarantee it'll work for you, but hey, the less blood the better!
Besides water, exercise itself can also help with cramps.  It increases the bloodflow to your uterus.  So grab that water bottle, lace up your shoes, and go take over the world your favorite sport!

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The Heatbag Post

It's the middle of Moon Day. You're cramping, you're nauseous, you can barely stand. You need something warm, something like a heatbag. Alas! You have no heatbag! You are doomed! DOOMED!

Sorry for the melodrama. A heatbag is my Number 1 Crampbuster. (If that wasn't a word, it is now.) I cannot live without it, so I was just sharing my biggest nightmare.
Seriously, though, what should you do if you have no heatbag? If you're cramping seriously bad and you need a heatbag RIGHT NOW, keep reading.
One: Find a sock. (Preferably a clean one. You probably don't want to have to smell your brother's sweaty feet when Auntie Flo is here. Actually, if you're like me, you don't want to have to smell your brother's sweaty feet whether Aunt Flo is here or not.)
Two: Find rice.
Three: Fill the sock with rice. (This is the point where you find that one tiny hole in the sock and make a huge mess. It's okay. We've all been there. You're allowed to cuss on Moon Day.)
Four: Tie up the end.
Five: Quickly put it in the microwave for two minutes, try not to collapse and then take it out. Now you can collapse with your makeshift heatbag.

Okey-dokey. But what if you want something a little nicer? Something that doesn't remind you of your brother or look like a sock. Something to help with your period. Well, I have a solution! (For the cramping ... not Moon Day. Unfortunately, you're stuck with it like the rest of us.)

You Will Need:

• A sewing machine (Unless you want to hand-stitch the whole freaking thing.)
• An iron
• Scissors (or a rotary cutter. Scissors work just fine.)
• Thread of any color (You won't be seeing it.)
• 2-3 pounds of rice (I say rice because it's cheap. However, you might want to use flaxseed. Flax releases oils when it heats, so it stays hot longer.)
• One yard of fabric (or two half-yards of two different fabrics)
• A funnel (If you don't have a funnel, try twisting a piece of cardstock into a cone and taping it. It works just as well.
• One hand-sewing needle
• A buttload of patience

Step One:

Iron your fabric and then cut it into 7 by 16 rectangles. (Here's a tip: when you're marking with chalk where to cut, start in the middle, and draw out. Go back to the middle and draw out to the other side. You can see what I mean in the picture to the right. Trust me, it helps.) You will need two of these. I used two different colors but it doesn't matter. I also used scissors - a rotary cutter will make a nicer edge, however, you aren't going to actually see that edge. Just make sure it's close to 7 by 16 when you're done. Iron them.

Step two:
Put right sides together. Line them up and pin them together. Now sew along the edges all the way on three sides, with about a quarter inch seam allowance. You may want to double stitch, I did. On the fourth side, leave about an inch or two in the corner.

Step three:
Flip what you just stitched inside out. I'm sorry, this will be incredibly difficult. But trust me, you'll be grateful when you're lying in bed cramping to death and snuggling your homemade heatbag. Try using some patience and a long pokey thing, such as a paintbrush. Your creation should now resemble a deflated pillow.

The deflated pillow.

Step four:
Put the funnel in the hole you left. Pour the rice into the funnel. Inevitably, you will create a huge mess - don't say I didn't warn you. When you feel like there's a decent amount of rice in there (and you've made a big enough mess), take needle and thread and stitch up the hole. Use small stitches. Once you finish stitching, you're done and ready to test your heatbag.

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