Ok, interesting.

Love that we compare notes. I do have bigtime cramps, so bad that within hours of my period, I have diarhea that just empties me out. Normally those severe cramps last 24-36 hours.

Wakes me up at night like someone kicked me. Always try to plan to be home when it starts so the bathroom and a heating pad are nearby.

Interesting.

I have not heard of catamenial seizures. What is that?

I think this article gives a good explanation of catamenial seizures.

http://professionals.epilepsy.com/wi/print_section.php?...=hormones_catamenial

Yeah, Sandy, it seems hysterical to me that a male dr. can even think that he knows better us about womanly things. They could learn so much more if they listened. Glad you no longer have the problem and glad there is progress to be seen in the medical realm.

hugs

Arizona girl---
First off congratulations on the non-spinning!

But hey, don't knock meaty diets! Some of us need our meat, particularly those low in L-Carnitine. Meat has a lot of arginine and taurine as well.

There are a lot of things out there that go on and on about fruits and veggies being the essentials. The fact of the matter is, if this were true, we'd be herbivores, not omnivores. Fruits & veggies and meats & dairy are all needed. And depending on what amino acids you are low on or depleted of vital protein-- you may benefit greatly from meats & dairy.

If the drink made you feel that great I'd definitely have your B6, B12, and Folic Acid tested.

dsdmom is correct--- garlic lowers bp so make sure to monitor yourself.

Suggestion:
Also try this combo--- raspberries, black berries, blue berries, one banana, and some strawberry/ banana kiefer (I get mine at whole foods), with a dropper of liquid Stevia or a couple table spoons of "Z Sweet".

Also a question:
Do you benefit greatly from loading up on fiber right before your period, easing cramps and pain? I used to get severe constipation followed by diarrhea, waking me up in the middle of the night. Oral contraceptives ease this.

I'd also suggest shredded wheat cereal or raisin bran at breakfast (and perhaps at lunch time) at least two days prior to your period. Cut out eating sugar as well. Use Stevia (slight aftertaste) or Z Sweet (which actually tastes just like sugar) instead.

500mg of Glutamine helps aid bloating and pain.

Hey nitekitty,

Yes, I agree with you! I love my meat. I am actually eating a pretty well rounded diet, but this right before this last period I was bad and had too much sugar. BAD CRAMPS & DIARRHEA.

I am going to eat better, and I luv your whole foods and combos. We also do stevia. Great for lemonade with real lemon juice and stevia and water!!

Thanks for the ideas!!!

p.s. - Not heard of Glutamine. What do you know about it and why does it help? I'll have to check that out! And the fiber ideas too!

quote:

Originally posted by nitekitty:
But hey, don't knock meaty diets!...
...There are a lot of things out there that go on and on about fruits and veggies being the essentials. The fact of the matter is, if this were true, we'd be herbivores, not omnivores. Fruits & veggies and meats & dairy are all needed. And depending on what amino acids you are low on or depleted of vital protein-- you may benefit greatly from meats & dairy.

I hope I didn't give the impression that meat-eating is a bad thing. I know for myself a veggie life is best, but for my family, once I began to look at portions, I discovered that the proportions of meat (large slab of whatever) to fruits and veggies was out of whack.

In fact, I still occasionally eat meat, but the with portions much smaller than before. I feel even better if I skip a day or two. Right now, everyone in my house besides myself still eats meat at every dinner, and I prepare it, making it as nutritious as possible (translate-little frying).

What I wanted to stress was increasing fruits and veggies since those portions are usually an afterthought and decreasing the half a plate of meat my husband thought was just right.

I am positive no one puts away meat like he does.

Judi

ArizonaGirl, I won't get into the meat or no debate, but will briefly share two personal experiences.

1) A few years ago before my dx, but while very ill, i agreed to go to a health resort in CA where all they gave us to eat were fruits, vegies, sprouts, "seed-cheese" a pate type substance made of fermented seeds, fermented juice of some sort and wheet grass. (Okay, I did cheat and made a run to a health food store and got some liquid aminos that taste like soy sauce...I HAD to have some salt!) I went to help a friend dying of brain cancer. My room was down a hill from the main buildings on the campus and when I first got there, I could barely manage to get from my room to the rest of the "resort." By about the 8th day or so, I began running (okay, jogging) around the entire campus and swimming laps for an hour ever day.
There was a point where I felt like I was going to die - in the early days of the trip and my friend's husband tested my glucose (he was diabetic)and it was dangerously low - so they pumped me full of orange juice. That may have been brought on by the fact that I could not stomach the "seed cheese" which was basically the only major protein source. Anyway, point being I could not believe how "WELL" I felt! Went home to AK and was completely ill again before a month was out. I didn't know if it was the food, the sun-shine, the ocean, just one of those "better" periods that we have from time to time??? but the difference was remarkable. Although, I don't think eating that way constantly is feasible. I lost 12 lbs in 3 weeks...and wasn't very big to begin with.

2)I know I need taurine. One of my most intolerable ("I can't live with this") symptoms has been a buzzing sensation in the back of my neck. It occurs other places in my body as well, but when it has been in my neck- well, its just torturous. I started supplementing with taurine at the suggestion on my naturopath for just the general hyper-adrenaline feeling and the buzzing stopped! It was a miracle.

Oops...one more note:

3) Arginine is great for the sex-life. I don't mean to be immodest here, and I may have posted about this before, but knowing that sex is a part of a healthy life and knowing how POTS has affected my intimate life well, lets just say that arginine is the main ingredient in "natural male enhancers" so I did an on-line study about its affect in women. It draws blood to the important "parts," enhancing lubrication and sensation.

Sooo... like I said not getting in on the meat debate- I don't eat alot of meat, as I don't like it much, but, obviously these amino's are very important! So, make sure you get them somewhere!

sheri

Sheri,

So cute. Loved your post. Made me laugh.

Funny about the arginine. We also supplement, more for our family heart history, but I always joke when I give it to my husband "and this one's for good wood!"

Funny!!

I'll have to remember that one, ArizonaGirl! That will give my hubby a laugh!

sheri

ArizonaGirl---

Research has shown Glutamine not only improves symptoms for IBS sufferers, but it aids in recovery after surgery. Look up on ww.wikipedia.org for some basic info. I've posted some stuff in the past on this site too.

Glutamine can turn into Glutamate (excitotoxin the body needs in certain quantities) or into Glutathione (which a lot of CFS sufferers are apparently deficient, and I theorize is probably low for dys patients as well).

I never seem to have a problem with the Glutamine. If you are worried for some reason you may have too high of glutamate levels and that the glutamine could potentially turn into that, you could take 500mg of GABA at night (and also 100mg of L-Theanine as a further add to upping GABA levels).
GABA and Glutamate are constantly doing a balancing act in the body. GABA being the inhibitory and Glutamate being the excitatory.

Anyway, Glutamine is easy to find at Whole Foods with the other amino acids.

The only down side to Glutamine is that if you're bloated, you have a lot of gas building up in your body, so when you take it, you're going to fart a bit! The gas has to come out somewhere right?!

If you take it prior to a meal though a lot of times there will be less gas because you're doing a preventative measure as opposed to trying to correct an already insanely bloated abdomen.

I find I usually only need one dose of 500mg per day. Although, since being on the methylation cycle improving supplements I rarely seem to need it at all. Used to take it every day. Now once a week or two.
--------

As far as the high fiber prior to your period-- I read an excerpt in my mom's Woman's World (or is it Woman's Day?) magazine back when I was like 14 or 15. It had I think four different types of menstrual issues. After taking the quiz I fit the profile of the woman who needs high fiber and low simple sugar just prior to her period in order to reduce the intensity of cramping and bloating. I had such bad cramps back then I figured I'd try anything! So I did. And low and behold it actually freakin worked.