DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or medical professional and none of the information below should be taken as medical advice or personal advice. These are the things that helped me personally, and I’ve linked some additional reference resources. Please always consult your doctor before introducing any new supplementation / dietary changes to make sure it is right for you.

UPDATE AS OF 1/2022: I was initally misdiagnosed with adenomyosis, and actually have endometriosis— so whenever I refer to adenomyosis in this blog post, I do mean my endometriosis.
They’re kind of like sister diseases and can sometimes both occur simultaneously too.

Do you have painful, heavy periods? Clotty periods? Irregular periods? Horrible cramps? PMS symptoms that feel out of control? Is this sounding like a 80’s tampon ad yet?🤣

So many of us women have been told that these things are just the “blessing” of owning a pair of ovaries and a uterus, and that our periods are supposed to be absolute misery 😒. I beg to differ! While there isn’t some magic “fix-all” to truly resolve these things and every woman experience is different, many of these symptoms for most women come out of less than optimal hormonal balance or condition (like my adenomyosis). While there are many Western approaches (i.e. hormonal contraceptives, ibuprofen) that I am not against when someone needs it, there are also many holistic methods to help address the ROOT of PMS symptoms and painful periods to create a healthier menstrual cycle.

For those of you new around here, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s about 6 years ago, and more recently diagnosed with Adenomyosis a few months ago. During the initial Hashimoto’s days, it was all about balancing my overall endocrine (hormonal) system to optimize my thyroid function, energy, and metabolism. Then it seems that once I learned the best ways to manage all of that for me, my body was like “okay, time for level 2: meet adenomyosis!” For those who don’t know what adenomyosis is and my blog pot on that is TLDR, think of it the main symptoms of the condition being like really horrible PMS… multiplied by 20. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but the pain from these cramps had me barely able to stand up during my period and it was so extreme that I was physically nauseated from the pain. Then as a bonus, my period had never been so heavy or clotty (the sight of the size of the clots alone blew my mind that my body produced that).

Through my own self-experimentation and deep research into medical studies alongside Eastern medicine over the last few months, I’ve been able to improve my symptoms to a truly shocking degree— so I only feel it’s fair to share what has helped me! As with all holistic health approaches, there is neither 1 magic “silver bullet” that will resolve everything nor instantaneous results; but rather, a combination of things that help your health on a macro level over time.

One last thing— as I always advise for any lifestyle / health changes, please do not feel that you have to do this whole list at once. Pick a few that feel most realistically attainable for you, do that, then when you’re ready to incorporate more, do it! Remember, some things done consistently will always be more effective than balls to the wall for 7 days and then stopping, ya feel me?

Foods to Incorporate

• BEVERAGES:

  • H20— Basic hydration is so important for keeping your endocrine system happy.

  • Raspberry Leaf tea— Often called “Women’s Health” or “Pregnancy” tea, raspberry leaf has historically been used for in eastern medicine and by herbalists support uterine health and ease cramps. I drink 1-2 cups per day in the few days leading up to my period, then 2-3 cups each day of my period, and I do find relief in my cramping— sometimes pretty quickly afterward!

  • Dandelion Root tea— I regularly have drank this 3-4x /week for the past several years to support my liver + kidney’s natural detoxification functions. The more optimally your body’s detoxification systems are running, the happier your hormones (aka estrogen balance!) will be.

• FOODS:

  • Food Cycling— I’ve been following this 4 week produce plan. While at first glance, it could seem overwhelming, it actually has made cooking at home easier! Instead of stressing / trying to figure out dishes to cook up healthy dinners, I just pick up lots of the produce listed for each week of my cycle and cook around that! It’s gotten me out of the rut of buying the same old veggies I know I like each week, and each week’s veggies are high in the nutrients that your body needs most that week for optimal estrogen + progesterone production.

  • Foods to Eat During Your Period— Seaweed + kelp are high in iron and potassium, and are great blood-builders, which is what you need; especially if you have heavy / clotty periods. I love eating Korean 미역국 (seaweed soup), as it has always been traditionally eaten post-partum or after any injury where you lose blood. Another great food to eat during your period is adzuki beans— rich in iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc, fiber, and B-vitamins, they’re good for digestion and improved digestion during your cycle = help with bloating and daily elimination.

Things to Reduce / Cut

• CAFFEINE

  • Guys. You know how much of a coffee nut I am, so trust me, this one is hard for me! Right now, I try to cut back to 1 cup of coffee or matcha a day (since I started at 2-3), but I try to skip it entirely on the days I feel like I won’t miss it. Caffeine not only is dehydrating, it affects your brain by stimulating the release of stress hormones, which then affects your blood sugar and metabolism (aka hormones!). Caffeine also depletes some essential micronutrients and minerals that our hormones need. No bueno for happy hormonal balance. This goes for any caffeine, not just coffee!

• PROCESSED FOODS + EXCESS SUGAR

  • This kind of goes without saying for your general health, but is definitely an impactful factor on your hormonal health. Highly processed foods, fried foods, and sugar all create inflammation in the body, which is precisely what we are trying to avoid. In addition, excess sugar can negatively impact your blood sugar and insulin sensitivity, which are key players in happy hormones.

• PROCESSED SOY

  • Steer clear of processed substitutes (soy milk, meats, cheese, etc.) and excess soybean oil— processed soy tend to exacerbate the estrogen dominance that many of us have. Healthier soy products like organic fermented miso, tamari, and tempeh though are not included in this!

• ALCOHOL

  • Women tend to metabolize alcohol slower than men— this means it is in our systems for that much longer. And how do our bodies metabolize alcohol? Our liver uses our body’s inventory of vitamin C and antioxidants to detox alcohol from our blood— that’s like dipping in your savings account of nutrients your body needs. Alcohol also has a negative effect on our blood sugars and estrogen levels.

Supplementation

• CBD

  • CBD has a host of benefits, but speaking specifically to benefits for PMS symptoms, I love it for it’s help with inflammation (big factor with cramps), mood, and sleep. My favorite that I always rely on is linked here. They also have topical creams that I like using directly on my abdomen during heavy cramps.

  • [READ MORE: Everything You’ve Wanted to Know About CBD]

• Magnesium

  • An amaaaazing mineral and supplement for menstrual health— it helps hormonal balance by helping calm the body’s nervous system (thus reducing stress hormone production), relaxes the muscle of the uterus, and reduces the prostaglandins that cause period pain (study linked here). I take this magnesium supplement before bed, as it also naturally aids with sleep!

• DIM + Chasteberry (Vitex)

  • I talked about this supplement a bit in my hormonal acne post, but DIM (Diindolylmethane) and Chasteberry (Vitex Agnus Castus) have been amazing for my hormonal balance and PMS symptoms. DIM is a compound that is found in cruciferous veggies like broccoli and kale, and has been used in functional medicine to aid estrogen metabolism. Vitex comes from the Agnus Castus (chasteberry) fruit, and has been proven to help relieve PMS symptoms. I take this combo supplement with both DIM and Vitex!

• Inositol

  • Inositol’s main benefit is aiding in insulin resistance for healthier blood sugar and metabolism, which is an integral factor in a healthy hormonal system. This in particular can be beneficial for those with PCOS. This is the one I have used for over 2 years now!

• Turmeric

  • For those of you who know me, I have sung the praises of turmeric since 2015 and even made a whole business + product around it— the anti-inflammatory powers of turmeric are just incredible! I use this turmeric supplement (use code MINNA20 for 20% off + free shipping)- it has the necessary black pepper for absorption and a high level of curcuminoids.

Physical Treatments

• Acupuncture

  • Acupuncture has so many purposes and benefits, but speaking from personal experience, it has really helped me with the bloating and discomfort of my adenomyosis. If you seek out acupuncture as a treatment, definitely communicate to your practitioner that you’d specifically like to focus on protocols that support hormonal health, menstrual cramps, and whatever other symptoms you’re hoping to address!

• Topical CBD

  • Sometimes those cramps are just so painful and all you want is immediate relief— this CBD relief balm is clutch for this!

• Heating Pad

  • Harry the Hippo! For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you will have seen Harry make an appearance every month 🤣Bless him, he is the best companion— filled with grains and lavender, he’s super cuddly and effective. It’s a little weird, popping a cute lil plushy animal in the microwave, but kind of hilarious to watch Harry spin round in the microwave— and Justin says he smells like oatmeal🤣They have a bunch of different kinds of animals (the panda and elephant are my other faves) too!

• TENS Unit

  • Now this is one I haven’t tried for my cramps, but from speaking to a bunch of people with endometriosis and adenomyosis (people with the worst cramps ever), the TENS unit has provided some relief when other methods haven’t been as effective for them. TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator, and it delivers low-voltage pulses to the skin to stimulate nerve fibers to effectively block the pain signal to your brain— I've used versions of this in physical therapy in my skating days, and it does help! This unit seems to be the best-reviewed and cost-effective unit I’ve found for this purpose.

I’d love to hear from you guys on your experiences with any of this, and what has worked for you!
Hope this provides some options to help support a healthier cycle for your body and less painful symptoms.