Home Remedies for Menstrual Cramps

Evening Primrose Oil

Posted by Healthy121314 (Dayton, Ohio) on 12/26/2015
★★★★★

I had menstrual cramps from the age of 14-26. I was told by my OB/GYN that I needed birth control to balance my body and stop the cramping. Well, Midway through year/age 26 I met my, now, husband. He shared with me primrose, as it was a supplement that he sold. Told me that I should try it.

I started taking it two weeks prior to the start of my cycle. I would take one a day (supplemental pill form). Before taking the supplements, I had the worse cramps. I would throw up. I would black out from pain. I would even have diarrhea (spelling?). Well, that first month I took it, I still had a tinge of a cramp but nothing as severe as I had previously, no diarrhea, no blackouts, and no vomiting.

Thereafter I took them once a day, one week prior, then two days before my cycle began I would take 4 (it allows up to 4 a day). MIRACLE, no feelings of cramps, no sleeping in, no calling off work, no blackouts, no vomiting, no NOTHING. I was completely healed, WITHOUT Birth Control.

I KNOW that this stuff works and for two years now, I've not had any cramps.

Blackstrap Molasses

Posted by Elli (Utah) on 09/05/2015
★★★★★

This is fantastic, I used to lay on the couch sweating with cramps, and even extra strength tylenol would only bring it under control. I would put a couple tablespoons of molasses straight down my throat and then sip on molasses tea for about an hour. and then once at lunch and once for dinner.

Made the pain chill, more manageable flow, everything was better.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 06/10/2014

Dear J from US,

I am so sorry you are having this trouble. Yes, large clots and bad cramping would be scary and uncomfortable!

Would you be able to enlist the help of your mother or grandmother in this situation? If you are having heavy bleeding, you could be anemic, which could lead to fainting or other problems. You really need to have someone older who knows you who can help you monitor your symptoms and make sure any remedies you try are suitable for you and are working for you.

If my daughter was dealing with this problem, the easiest thing to try would be Blackstrap Molasses. One Tablespoon a day, every day of the month, has helped many with cramps, heavy periods, clotting, and other period problems. Some people take it straight off the spoon (my children do.) I like it better mixed in some milk or in a mug of Dandy Blend, an herbal coffee substitute. It also helps with anemia from heavy periods.

Others have found that Evening Primrose Oil can help with cramps and period problems. You can read some stories about that here:

https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/home-remedies-for-menstrual-cramps3.html#eveningprimroseoil

Some other things I would have my daughter do in this situation would be to eat less animals products and soy products and more vegetables and fruits.

Please do let me know how you are doing! I hope you are feeling much better soon!

Love,

~Mama to Many~

Aloe Vera

Posted by Saab (Vancouver, Canada) on 08/07/2008
★★★★★

re: pure aloe vera gel for severe Menstrual cramps (dysmenohrea)... I have had extremely severe cramps for 20+ yrs. Have taken many prescription medication ibuprofen, and others (25 mg codeine Tylenol, every 4 hrs) for 4-5 during my periods; every month of the last 20 years. Tried ACV remedy , helped abt. 25%.after 6-8 mths. Tried pure Aloe Vera gel (lily of the valley) 1 tsp every morn, then as needed during day. helped 80% in the first time try.

Magnesium, Dietary Changes +

Posted by Cat (Austin) on 07/30/2018
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Menstrual Cramping:

This is what my daughter does: Takes a 400 mg capsule of magnesium bisglycinate and pain subsides until she can get apple cider vinegar tablets to eliminate pain -- both work excellently for her supremely painful menstrual cramps. She did notice that if she avoided eating high carb/sugar around her period and stuck to a Meat, veggie, berry-fruit regime 2 weeks before, her pain and cramping were at 5-20% compared to 80-100%. SUGAR IS A CURSE!

If you bleed a lot like I once did, take a grass fed capsule of desiccated liver at least twice a week -- you need the iron, minerals & B vitamins. BUT, most important for extreme heavy bleeders, especially those about to enter menopause? Stop eating HIGH CARB / HIGH SUGAR DIETS. High carb eating (over 70grams a day) with SUGAR is damaging to our feminine apparatus. Those with fertility problems should also research Black Seed Oil. Listen to your doctor and check out google and youtubes -- filled with people with your same problem who have found solutions.

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Clatterbuck (Beltsville, Md) on 11/17/2016
★★★★★

I used to have terrible monthly cramps. They were so bad I would walk around the house doubled over crying. I did some internet research started following this regime:

I take turmeric capsules starting the day before my period. I usually take about 4 capsules during the first two days.
I drink copious amounts of green tea during the day. Actually the green tea helps all by itself.
I snack on pistachio nuts during the day. I read about an Iranian study that showed they helped relieve menstrual cramps.
At night I drink a small glass of pomegranate juice. Pomegranate juice is an anti-inflammatory and it makes me sleepy.

These natural remedies have completely alleviated my cramps and I never need to take motrin or Tylenol now.

Tonic Water

Posted by Elaine (Edmond, Oklahoma, Usa) on 10/30/2014
★★★★★

A few years ago I was suffering from leg cramps at night. My doctor wrote me a prescription for a muscle relaxer. While I was filling the prescription the Pharmacist's tech recommended Tonic Water. He told me it had quinine in it which was good for leg cramps as well and was much cheaper not to mention fewer side effects. I did eventually try the Tonic Water and it worked. Not did it work for leg cramps, but it worked on stomach cramps due to the flu. Last night my daughter was suffering menstrual cramp. I suggested she drink a glass of Tonic Water. Within 15 minutes she was doing fine. Inexpensive and no problems with feeling sleepy, euphoric or any other side effect that we've found. You can find Tonic Water on the soft drink aisle of the super market. I would recommend anyone look up quinine for it's pros and cons. So far we've had great results with it.

Evening Primrose Oil

Posted by Sunny (Cal., US) on 01/29/2015
★★★★★

UP DATE: Still woking great! I have upgraded to NatureWay Evening Primrose 1300 mg bc it's a higher mg, It is cold pressed unrefined and non GMO. I buy at Amazon, but if you cannot afford then just buy the ones from walmart, etc., but you have to take more. You can take many right when you get pain, I take them w/ food. I have to take many at once, like 7, and it did not have any negative side effect, . You can also start taking them early, like a week before your period. This works because it has GLA

You have to try it!!! You have so much to gain! You liver will thank you too lol. If this works, drop by and leave me a comment. You're Welcome :) -Sunny

Blackstrap Molasses

Posted by Amy (Salt Lake City, Ut) on 07/28/2010
★★★★★

Happily amazed! Blackstrap molasses works for cramps. After a decade of 7 day periods with heavy clotting combined with 800 mg of ibuprofen every 4 hours to manage the pain, this last period I took absolutely no medication and experienced only mild discomfort. In addition, my period only lasted 4 days. One month ago I began taking one tablespoon of organic unsulphered blackstrap molasses (diluted with warm organic soy milk to taste), one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar mixed with a glass of water, and one small beet (canned in water). I did this approximately 5 out of 7 days a week. I usually did this in the morning and took each separately. After reading posts for cramps, fibroids, and ovarian cysts which often mentioned beets, acv, and bsm I decided to combine them all. It works.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Christy (Mechanicsburg, Pa) on 06/02/2010
★★★★★

Thanks for the heads up about diluting the vinager. I never thought about that!

I want to add my voice to the chorus of "YAY ACV!!" I had horrible horrible cramps - once so bad I went to the ER worrying something was very wrong. They did an examination AND and ultrasound and found nothing. I bled so much that I couldn't go to work because I'd be useless there. It was really horrible.

I saw all these sites about supplements and things and I am not one for the holistic approach. I took my advil or muscle relaxers anything really just to stop the pain - but of course they made me bleed worse.

So when I tried ACV I was astounded! I have often said - short of a miraculous healing, I have never ever eveeeeeer seen something work so well!

My bleeding all but stopped. My cramps went AWAY!!! I can't even begin to tell you of the relief!

They suggested mixing ACV with apple juice - I also do it in iced tea and sometimes v8 fruit juice. It doesn't taste the greatest but man oh man....It's a more than fair compromise for how effective it is.

I've been using ACV for about 7 months now and everytime I use it - it works like a charm. I need to make sure to start drinking it before my period, or I do have a day of groaning while I wait for it to take effect.

I usually took 1 tablespoon with an 8oz glass of water, juice, tea etc - but lately I've been adding it to a full sized bottle of tea or juice and kinda eyeballing it. Still works though I'm thinking I should probably start measuring again just to control the amount of acid going into my stomach.

Also drinking it through a straw may be a good idea. I notice my lips get a little chapped during the time I take it - probably from the acid in the vinager.

But I can't stress enough - even with the minor annoyances ACV is AMAZING. If you have a really horrible period and think nothing will help you - try ACV!! It's less than $1 and a total life saver!

Peppermint Oil

Posted by Claudia11 (Santa Clarita Ca) on 11/11/2022
★★★★★

I've been using peppermint oil on my lower abdomen over my uterus and it helps tremendously with menstrual cramps. I don't have sensitive skin so I don't dilute it but if you do have sensitive skin you might want to dilute it with a carrier oil. I've had terrible cramps since my teen years because of endometriosis and this is one of the few remedies that gives me relief.

Parsley

Posted by Anita (brooklyn, ny) on 11/08/2021
★★★★★

I'm glad to say that this is my second period with relative ease, no NSAIDS required, usually popped 5 pills per cycle to the chagrin of my GP. The only thing that I can attribute to this welcome change after decades of suffering is organic parsley! Recently, I started to add daily, about 1/4c of raw parsley to meals, washed and cut. I have been doing the Taoist deer exercise when not bleeding since the beginning of 2021. If you've tried a lot of different things with no luck, please try and let me know if the parsley works for you.

Magnesium

Posted by Kayla (Nashville, TN) on 03/26/2020
★★★★★

Magnesium body butter works for me!

After years of taking ibuprofen for a few days each month, I just this month discovered that this works! Magnesium chloride is the type of magnesium in this cream. I tried rubbing some directly on the part that hurt. 20-30 minutes later it started to ease up and went away. Ibuprofen took that long to work and I needed to stop taking ibuprofen because of digestive problems. Magnesium it is from here on out!

Turmeric, Green Tea, Pistachio, Pomegranate

Posted by Clatterbuck (Beltsville, Md) on 01/30/2017
★★★★★

I had horrible cramps for years. Ibuprofen barely made a dent in the pain. I felt like I was taking too many pills so I started looking for natural alternatives. The first thing I tried was turmeric capsules. They worked great, but if I took too many my pee turned really yellow and burned a little coming out so I researched some more and found out that green tea was used to alleviate cramps. I tried that and even though didn't like the taste of green tea I started drinking that every morning during my period. I also read an Iranian study that recommended eating pistachio nuts to keep away monthly cramps. I tried that and they seemed to help also. Another remedy I discovered was drinking pomegranatejuice.

So my first two days of my cycle go like this:

Take a turmeric capsule and drink green tea all morning.
Mid day through the after noon, take a couple of turmeric capsules and snack on pistachio nuts.
Evening, take a turmeric capsule and drink a glass of pomegranate juice.

Works better than ibuprofen.

Chamomile Tea

Posted by Greengirl (Atlanta, Georgia, Us) on 07/24/2013
★★★★★

I would like to add another "Yea" here for Chamomile Tea for menstrual cramping with the comment:

I almost always have bad cramps on the first day of my period. Because of a new diet protocol I can't take my usual ibuprofen, so I tried acetaminophen instead. An hour later, I still felt no relief. Because the diet is also sugar-free, I couldn't try the blackstrap molasses recommended by others on this site. I had read elsewhere about chamomile tea helping with menstrual pain, so I put a tablespoon of dried chamomile flowers into about 1 1/2 cups of hot water and let steep for 10 minutes. About 10 minutes after drinking the tea, my cramps had improved, and after 20 minutes, the cramps had almost completely subsided, as well as a good deal of my related neck and back pain. I will be using this remedy every month now!

Chamomile Tea

Posted by Sunny (Sg, Ca) on 05/01/2013
★★★★★

Chamomile Tea good for menstrual cramps (with no sugar). Take right when you get pain.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Amber84 (Houston, Tx, USA) on 01/31/2013

Hi. I registerd so my account name is diffrent. But I'd like to say that I took ACV four times a day for the first 2-3 days but then I dropped it down to once and day and I'm perfectly fine. I'm still in shocking that I'm healed. I need someone to pinch me and make sure I'm not dreaming.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Sarah (Melbourne, Australia) on 01/12/2011
★★★★★

ACV cured me of heavy bleeding and cramps

For the last three years I was victim of heavy bleeding and I had to feel embarrased infront of my coleagues for sometime when my flow was uncontrolable. For the last months I was feeling excruciating pain also before periods and only spotting occured for one day. Everytime I took it to pregnancy and didnot take any medicine for pains for fear of pregnancy. But later everytime got periods. Then I came to know about ACV. From the last two weeks I have started taking Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in water for three times. And today my period started without discomfort. I didnt have any PMS symptom this time. Felt energetic. Very less bleeding as I used to have earliar. I am so happy to have found the remedy. I always searched for remedies for heavy bleeding but didnot know about acv. Thanks earth clinic.

I must add that I have started little bit exercise past one week and also taking fish oil supplements.

will Apple Cider Vinegar also reduce my tumor on submandibular region?