A Question for the Ladies...
Alright, I have an interesting question for the ladies of Steepster. I find that some months, during my monthly visit from Aunt Flow, I can get worse cramping than other months. Unfortunately, this seems to be one of those times and I’m eager for any suggestions anyone might have for teas that help alleviate that tension.
Are there any that you have found to be particularly beneficial to you during this time? Or perhaps you have some other basic remedies to help?
Thanks! And sorry to anyone who reads this and feels awkward. At least you can choose whether or not to participate. ;)
I find that curling up into a ball and cursing mankind helps me… Is that not helpful?
I wish I could say I had found a tea/food/remedy that helps. Usually just curling up with ANY tea makes me feel better. But for the most part I just whine and suffer through it and take some motrin or something similar and hope it goes away soon.
Sorry I’m not more useful! Hope your pain goes away quickly! I know how awful it can be!!! <3
Ha! Curling into a ball is exactly what I want to do right now, but I’m stuck in the office for another 2 hours. Hence the attempted tea remedy!
Drinking a nice dark pu-erh right now, so at least it’s providing the nice warmth of the tea. :)
It’s sad when the idea of performing your own hysterectomy with blunt spoon seems more appealing than dealing with what you are dealing with. Contemplated it on many occasions. Would love to see if there are remedies out there!
Wait… Did I used to have class with you at Chico State? Did you start the Harry Potter Club?!!??!
Holy crap. Yes. That was me. I totally started the HP Club at Chico State!
I LOVE HOW SMALL THE WORLD CAN BE.
^ Wow, amazing. About suggestions, have none for tea, but in general: exercising helps more than curling up. Walking, stretching etc.
Thanks Cheryl. I’m definitely doing that as well. I appreciate any input at this point. Haha! I have some nice chrysanthemum herbal tea at home I’ll give a try when I’m out of the office, that might sit nicely, too.
Raspberry leaf tea is good. I don’t really care for the taste and will mix it with peppermint and green tea to make it easier to swallow.
I’ve been told that the Native Americans used to use it to ease menstruation symptoms and it’s supposed to help with pregnancy and delivery, but that’s hearsay, unless placebo works for you!
Thanks! That’s really interesting. It reminds me of the pamphlet for a new tea blend company in Arizona I have. They only make tisane blends, but they use natural Earth vortexes to enhance the tea…. Not sure how I feel about all that, but… it’s definitely an intriguing thought!
I’m with I.Z. on the red rasp leaf. It’s a uterine tonic, I took it when I was pregnant and after birth and after a miscarriage. I actually liked it but I know it’s an acquired taste. Try Traditional Medicinals brand. It also can work as an iced tea but hot or cold, try adding a little honey to make it more palatable. And like green tea, if you steep it too long it can be a little bitter, so try playing with the steeping time.
Caffeine is also known to aggravate menstrual symptoms so stay away from the black teas, chocolate and coffee. Are we allowed to say the “c” word on here?!
Not a woman, so take my suggestion with a grain of salt, but you can try rose blossoms and goji berries, steeped in boiling water.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2136/2065358616_46868835a0_z.jpg
Also, there are some good posts you can search for which show some other herbal remedies which might be of interest.
https://www.acufinder.com/Acupuncture+Information/Detail/Stop+Painful+Menstrual+Cramps+with+Chinese+Herbs
Thanks for the suggestions and the link! Definitely going to read through that more thoroughly when I have a chance.
Overall, I feel drinking hot tea helps because of the hot water (not sure of the effect of tea though…)
I would avoid green tea, white tea and sheng puerh because they are “cold-natured” tea in my mind. But people are different and this may not work for all the people.
I believe in camomile :-D No sure evidence for it. But many people say they release pain and stress, so I just choose to believe it.
But overall, to me, what works the best is frequent jogging. During the month when I have a lot of physical exercises, “Aunt Flow” feels like breeze! But too often I am too lazy and then wish I had exercised more :-(
Ginger works for me too but somehow I can’t bear with having too much ginger at one time.
Something else that always works well on me is black rice and/or black bean soup made in a slow cooker. Sometimes I throw in some red dates, longan (a dried fruit) and/or goji. It’s much easier than physical exercises :-p
These are some great suggestions, Gingko. Thanks! I knew that there were different natures considered (cold vs. hot), but I wasn’t aware yet of which types of tea were considered of which nature. This is definitely something I’m interested to learn more about.
Also may I recommend foot bath/spa, although it’s not tea anymore…
I love it and it’s very helpful for blood circulation.
Raspberry leaf, mint and peppermint, ginger and chamomile tea are all supposed to help.
Also, my family has great difficulty with this, and have found magnesium supplements to be a tremendous help, almost as good as NSAIDs – combine the two, and you can probably take fewer of the latter, which will be good for your gastrointestinal system in the long run. So, in the future, eating more magnesium-rich foods as you get closer to that part of your cycle should help as well!
I’ve heard about the raspberry leaf, and I’ve also heard that parsley tea is supposed to help you get it over with faster if that’s helpful. :) I don’t know if these things actually work.
I like to go into child’s pose (yoga) or convince my husband to rub my back. It’s not tooooo helpful, but better than nothing. :(
Ah, if but I had someone to rub my back. Ha! But it seems raspberry leaf is the theme of the thread! And I’ll keep the parsley idea in my mind as well. I don’t really like parsley in a general sense (it just tastes so green, if you know what i mean), but if it comes down to it…
I’m also not a fan of parsley. There are a few herbs that I used to hate but have now grown to enjoy, but parsley and I are still not friends.
Anyway, I’m really skeptical of the parsley. You can look it up on google and tons of sites will pop up and lots if women will swear by it, but it still seems sketchy to me. But I might just be a cynic.
I’ve also got to try the raspberry leaf next time I’m cramping up.
You NEED to try Monthly Comfort Tea by Earth Mama Angel Baby
http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/teas/monthly-comfort-tea.html
I find it very soothing and I love the taste!
Thanks for the recommendation! Definitely going to look into this. Interestingly enough, the ingredients listed seem to match up with a lot of the suggestions here. Raspberry leaf and ginger, in particular. There also are some nettles, which strikes a chord in the back of my mind that I may have heard that to be a good option here, too. This definitely looks like it should help and I’ll look to get some for my cupboard!
Raspberry leaf tea!! I swear by it. the stuff works better than any bath or midol remedy could hope for. I have some on hand, I can send you a sample if you’d like?
oh and I personally love the way it tastes. I think there is also a David’s tea with raspberry leaf in it, and mint.
Hmm, the raspberry black tea from Monterey Bay Spice Co actually has raspberry leaf in it… I will have to keep it in mind for next time! Do you drink the raspberry leaf you have straight or blended with other teas?
I mostly drink it straight… because I need it to be potent! but once in awhile I mix it with mint or chamomile. I haven’t branched out more than that. It’s kinda earthy, which I like. I’m not sure what else it’d go with.
Thanks, Indigobloom! I may take you up on a sample. It obviously won’t make a difference just now, but maybe next time! And definitely something I’d be interested in trying out either way! The flavor sounds interesting. I’m a fan of the more earthy flavored teas, so that could be fun!
ok let me know Dinohsaur. We have to be following each other in order to IM…
Dinosara, if you’d like a sample I can send one to you as well!
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