girls only please, unless you're that interested in my period

[big brown horse]

Find a place that sells "Boom Choco Boom" dark chocolate bars! Ingredients: evaporated cane juice and natural chocolate liquor and cocoa butter...5 carbs per square inch. And they taste exactly like sweet dark chocolate. YUM!

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

ha ha ha! it sounds yummy!
i tend to go for the 60 to 70% cocoa bars when i can find them. would that be okay since its mostly cocoa?

and i had a craving for tunafish...?
we didnt have any and i was gonna throw the canned food cupboard out the window... not because i was that mad or angry but because i wanted tuna...

and my sister drives me totally nuts and i seriously wanted to stab her in the pelvis. again, not because i was angry or mad but because she was there and i was having killer cramps...

which makes me think of something that happened years ago..... i was playing barbies with my little sisters and out of nowhere i just hit my one sister with a barbie and started crying hystarically. at first i thought i was laughing but then my face was soaked and i couldnt see and i was all chokey like when you cry... it was the weirdest thing ever...

 

[dragonlaurel]

I made my pads - with cloth that was around the house. Wanted to keep the expense down till I decided if I liked them. Worked out great- so I definitely recommend cloth pads. Most of mine are All in One type. With wings, so they can't flip into the toilet when you're pulling the panties down. Sewed a snap- or hook and eye, near the end of each wing. The material overlaps a bit so the fasteners don't even touch the skin.

Outside Layers-
Had a thick cotton t shirt that didn't fit, so it got cut up for the layers to go against my skin. (Flannel is also popular for this layer.)
Cut 2 layers of the material and sewed them most of the way around.

Absorbent Middle layers-
Ended up using a thick, thirsty, towel that had torn edges as my middle layers. It was extremely absorbent- so no complaints there. The only hard part was actually cutting since my scissors weren't sharp enough.
Most of the pads got 2 layers of the towel inside. I made a couple with three layers but they took longer in the dryer than I like. I'd rather make them with 2 towel layers and stack 2 pads if I was ever flooding that heavy.

Stuffed the towel layers inside the other part and finished closing it up. I like doing a line of stitching down the middle and near the edges to keep the liner from shifting. I never used a waterproof layer, but it didn't matter with the towel layers inside. Never had a leak.

Here's sites with patterns and instructions.
http://sites.google.com/site/shewhorunsintheforest/008
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/sanitarypads.htm

 

[chandasue]

Once you break the sugar addiction and you're eating a more balanced diet you won't have those cravings so much, or at least you'll recognize them for what they are and know that it'll pass. Typically if you're having cravings it means your body is lacking a crucial nutrient(s). I found my naturopath though lots of google searches within my state for natural doctors, homeopath, naturopath, etc. I found this link, maybe you'll find one in your area through here:
http://www.naturopathic.org/AF_MemberDirectory.asp?version=1

 

[tortoise]

PMDD? I don't know anything about it. But your violent-thought reaction made me think of it.

 

[chandasue]

I tend to be suspicious that PMDD is a way for Pharma to make more moola but it is just another symptom of nutritional/toxin problems. The worse the American diet and lifestyle get the more of these sorts of problems pop up. Coincidence? I think not. In addition to nutritional questions, ask a naturopath about chelation therapy or other detox programs.

 

[Neko-chan]

...

 

[MsPony]

Your chocolate cravings mean you need more magnesium, so drink that rasberry tea!

Re tampons, you may need to stretch yourself. It helps if you squat and pulls things apart (sorry, that's super graphic!) Then it goes in easier and sits in there just fine. Also play around with diff tampons, I ONLY use platex gentle glide super...anything else doesn't "fit". I dislike putting the chemical tampons in, but I'm a hard fit (thanks to riding horses...) The first part could go for a diva cup as well.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

I surely don't have all the answers, but I discovered a few things with my own cycle and it backs up what was posted here.

I used to have terrible craving for chocolate. I still like dark chocolate, and it makes the cramps better or makes me deal with it better. I really like chocolate with something though, and for a while bought cashews to go with it. Funny thing was, if I ate the cashews alone, I didn't need the chocolate.

It finally clicked. Magnesium. I also take a homeopathic magnesium phosphate for cramps. Nothing else works. Nothing.

But if I keep my magnesium up, the cramps aren't bad, I don't get cravings, and my mood is MUCH improved.

So I'd second that part of what was said here. I tend to make my own candy anyway with the darkest chocolate I can find, nuts, dried berries, coconut, etc. It ain't pretty but I like it. I'm sure it still has some sugar -- and that's what I really need to work on -- I drink a lot of sweet tea and I can't imagine giving it up! But I've got to cut down and maybe out.

I used to get the vicious urges as part of my cycle too. Didn't even keep a calendar cuz I was kind of irregular. But every so-many weeks I'd get the urge to KILL someone. And I knew my period would start in 36 hours. Thankfully that hasn't come back after I had my daughter.