“I hate my period!” The 3 Best Supplements to Help [According to a dietitian]
Just for Laughs! While writing this blog I took some notes with talk to text, but when I said “hormones” the computer typed “horror moans”and I laughed out loud. It’s not wrong!
Hate your period? There is a lot to hate. PMS, painful cramps, blood loss, fatigue, and more. We know what it’s like that “time of the month” curled on the couch in a fetal position clutching the heating pad to your stomach like a life saver, closing your eyes, trying to endure, hoping the pain pills kicks in soon, mind swimming thru the pain with everything you need to get done if only you could; frustrated, helpless, angry.
But wait, let’s imagine having your life free from that monthly drag, that monthly pain, free to get things done, enjoy the things you enjoy, not missing school or work, no longer getting behind and stressed. It’s possible and it may cost you only $10.
So, if you hate your period, read more to find out about the evidence-based nutrition supplements that can help you take control of your period and free up your life to live your life. Of course, as always, you should consult your own health care professionals for personalized help to see what is right for you and there are some medical conditions that impact your period that require additional intervention such as endometriosis.
Evidence Based Supplements for Period Relief
- Vitamin B1 to eliminate painful period cramps within 3 months
- Vitamin E just 5 days a month to reduce painful period cramps by over 50% and blood loss by 30% within 4 months
- Calcium and vitamin D twice a day to reduce PMS symptoms by half in 3 months
Sara Lee’s Super Simple Summary (more info later in posting if you want more)
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) 100 mg a day for 3 months eliminated painful period cramps for 87% and helped another 8% in one well done study of 556 females age 12-21. Thiamin is extremely safe even at high levels. Buy USP quality. No need to take every day forever, just buy another bottle and repeat thiamin treatment when cramps start coming back.
- Vitamin E 400 I.U. a day 2 days before period expected to start plus 3 days after it starts, after 4 months a well-done study found that pain was 55% less severe and the duration of pain was cut by over 90%, the women also lost 30% less blood. Buy USP quality. This amount of vitamin E is safe amount. Vitamin E may decrease miscarriage and increase fertility.
- Calcium with vitamin D, calcium pill twice a day and PMS symptoms are cut in half in 3 months. Make sure it includes vitamin D. 500 to 600 mg of calcium and up to 50% DV for vitamin D per pill. Buy USP quality. Cautions? If you are prescribed a new medication, especially antibiotics, ask your pharmacist if you should take it at the same time or a separate time from your calcium pills. It is safe for healthy people ages 1 and up to have up to 2,000 mg of calcium maximum a day. More than that may cause problems. Note: Foods naturally high in calcium like milk reduce risk of kidney stones but calcium pills may increase risk of kidney stones if not taken with meals.
I hate my painful period cramps!
Over half of teenage girls and many women suffer from dysmenorrhea (“dis-men-oh-ree-ah”) a medical term for severe cramps and pain during menstrual periods. This pain is bad and it is the leading cause of missing school and work for young women.
How bad are period cramps?
Painful period cramps are a combination of spasmodic pain and ischemic pain in the uterus when it is contracting its muscles to clear itself out for your monthly period.
Spasmodic pain is the pain you feel when your muscle spasms, like a leg cramp, a ‘charley-horse’ in the muscle. The uterus is made of strong muscles. These muscles are used to push out babies and periods. However, the muscles in the uterus are the kind that work mostly automatically, we don’t have conscious control over them.
Ischemic pain is felt when blood flow is restricted or cut off like the pain felt during a heart attack. The uterus has lots of blood vessels.
So there you have it. That’s period cramp for you—a ‘charley horse heart attack’ in the uterus. The pain is not only severe, the pain can also last most of the day. In one study, teens had period pain lasting for about 17 hours a day on average.
Vitamin B1 for painful period cramps
Vitamin B1 may quiet down the nerve inflammation and hypersensitivity that may underlie painful periods. Vitamin B1 is also necessary for energy metabolism and breakdown of lactic acid in the muscles. Local lactic acid buildup in muscles can cause local pain. The abdominal pain caused by acute vitamin B1 deficiency has even been known to lead to unnecessary gastrointestinal surgery in the hospital.
Vitamin B1 at 100 mg a day for 3 months eliminated painful cramps for 87% and reduced pain for another 8% of people in a very well-done study of 556 females age 12 to 21 who started out with moderate/severe period cramps.
The benefits were not instant but were strong and long lasting. Vitamin B1 took 2 to 3 months for full effect but then the cramps stayed away even when they checked on them 2 months after taking their last B1 pill! Personally, my painful cramps stayed gone for over a year before I needed to take vitamin B1 again.
Sounds like B1 is the one for me!
Let’s get right to it. Have $10? Buy a bottle of USP quality Vitamin B1 with 100 mg per pill and 100 pills in the bottle. Take one pill every day until the bottle is empty. After the bottle is empty, you will have an excellent chance, 9 out of 10, that you will no longer suffer from painful period cramps.
If you want to impress your doctor, tell them vitamin B1 had a Number Needed to Treat of only 2 in a randomized double blind placebo controlled trial of over 550 females with moderate to severe dysmennorhea. The lower the better for ’number needed to treat’ and 2 is usually the lowest you can go, even with a parachute!
What’s more, even after the bottle is empty, even after you stop taking B1, the cramps will stay away for months. One and done! Repeat when necessary. Thiamin (Vitamin B1) is extremely safe.
Always get USP quality vitamin B1 to make sure you’re getting a good quality vitamin.
What can I expect with vitamin B1?
You can expect that nothing much will change the first couple months, still get cramps, but be patient, keep going. It doesn’t kick in until around the 2nd or 3rd month, but when it does kick in, it kicks in big time—the painful cramps even disappeared for most.
The details? Over 550 teens and young women with dysmenorrhea were part of a placebo controlled trial of vitamin B1 supplements, 100mg a day for 90 days. The result? 87% eliminated their painful period cramps after just 3 months and another 8% had reduced pain. This means 95% reduced or eliminated their painful period cramps with vitamin B1!
Now imagine your life free from that monthly pain, free to get things done, enjoy the things you enjoy, not missing school or work, no longer getting behind and stressed. Instead, you’re free to live your life with less pain.
Any Cautions with taking Vitamin B1?
Vitamin B1 is extremely safe even in high amounts. The recommended daily value for vitamin B1 is less than 2 mg a day so 100 mg a day is plenty.
There are no negative drug interactions. People with diabetes, HIV, or who take diuretic water pills need more Vitamin B1. To learn more check out this Thiamin Fact Sheet from the National Institutes of Health.
Dysmennorhea is the medical term for painful period cramps. While supplements can be very helpful for the most common cases, there are some other reasons for pain, like endometriosis, that need further medical attention. So work with your health care provider to investigate and track down other solutions when needed.
The two best supplements for painful period cramps are Vitamin B1 and Vitamin E. Both are safe and work well. Vitamin B1 probably works the best but vitamin E has the advantage of also reducing blood loss about 30%, so if you have heavy periods that may be the better choice. Vitamin E can also improve fertility if you are low in vitamin E, so that’s one way to skip your period for 9 months! (Humor!) And it is true that many women report having fewer problems with painful period cramps after having a baby.
Vitamin B1 Summary:
How Much? 100mg Vitamin B1 a day for 3 months and you’re done! Look for “USP” quality mark on the label. Costs less than $10 for a bottle of 100 tablets. Just buy one bottle and take one pill a day until the bottle is empty. Repeat later on if the bad cramps start to come back.
Cautions? Vitamin B1 is very safe even at high levels. Vitamin B1 has no official Upper Limit (UL) set for it. Vitamin B1 has no known adverse drug interactions or side effects. Note that 5% were not helped at all by vitamin B1 and another 8% were helped but not completely cured. If thiamin doesn’t work for you, there is another supplement that might, vitamin E.
Hate Your Period Cramps and Excessive Bleeding? Vitamin E May Be The Supplement For You
Less pain and less bleeding was the result in another well done study when teens took vitamin E just 5 days a month versus placebo.
Results of taking vitamin E:
- The pain wasn’t as severe.
- The pain didn’t last as long.
- Fewer pain pills were needed.
- Less blood was lost.
What did they do?
The girls took 400 I.U. of vitamin E a day for two days before the expected start of their period and for three days after it started (a total of 400 IU a day for about 5 days). This is a safe amount to take.
After four months the pain was 55% less severe and didn’t last as long, only 1 hour 36 minutes instead of 17 hours of pain a day—that’s 91% less!
The girls taking the vitamin E didn’t need to take as much pain medicine either. Even though allowed to take ibuprofen as needed, only 4% of them still took ibuprofen in the vitamin E group compared to 89% of the placebo group.
The girls taking vitamin E also lost 30% less blood than before, a big bonus for those of us who bleed a lot during our period.
Summary of vitamin E for painful periods:
- It didn’t hurt as bad. 55% less severe period pain.
- It didn’t hurt as long. 91% less time spent in period pain. Group average went from 17 hours to about an hour and a half. That’s a drop from 1,020 to 96 minutes of pain a day!
- Fewer girls took pain pills, only 4% in vitamin E group versus 89% on placebo
- Didn’t bleed as much; Lost 30% less blood.
Any cautions for taking vitamin E? This amount of vitamin E is very safe to take. Depending on your family planning goals, the only caution with taking vitamin E is for birth control. Why? if you were previously low in vitamin E then getting more vitamin E can increase your fertility by increasing the likelihood that any fertilized egg will implant and stay around to become a full-term pregnancy.
Being low in vitamin E is not uncommon. About 30-40% of Americans had low blood levels of vitamin E in a large National survey. Three great sources of vitamin E are sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ. Smart swaps include whole grains instead of refined grains and dark green instead of light green lettuce.
Sidebar—Vitamin E and miscarriages
Miscarriages are not uncommon and occur when the egg, embryo or fetus is not viable for some reason so is biologically unable to stay and grow to term. Low vitamin E levels is one reason this may happen. This is because vitamin E is vital for conception, implantation and brain formation.
Low levels of vitamin E about double the rate of miscarriages; 10% vs 5% in one report. Vitamin E’s role in fertility is right in the scientific name for vitamin E “Tocopherol” which is Greek for “to bring forth” or “to give birth”. This was because they found that animals low in vitamin E could get pregnant but couldn’t carry to term and give birth without adequate vitamin E.
Calcium and vitamin D to reduce PMS by half
Well done research found that taking 1200 mg of calcium a day cut PMS symptoms in half! After 3 months women had less depression, mood swings, headache, pain, irritation, water retention, and food cravings than the women on the placebo pill.
Taking a 500 to 600 mg calcium pill two a times a day with food will get you to your goal with out going over the Upper Level for safety.
Make sure your calcium pill includes vitamin D3, 30 to 50% Daily Value (%DV) per pill.
Make your supplement is good quality—USP, NSF, or approved on consumerlab.com. Poor quality calcium supplements may not dissolve or may contain toxic minerals like lead.
Calcium is very important but easy to overdo with pills. Calcium has one of the narrowest range between “just right” “too much”. Too much can be as low as 154% of the recommended Daily Value for calcium. “Just right” ranges from 800 to 1500 mg total calcium a day. Many people already get around 600 mg in their food, add 3 calcium pills and they are over 2,000 mg a day. But one of the Upper Limits of 2,000 mg a day is only 154% of the Daily Value of 1300 mg a
This is why some studies find either no benefit or increase risks with adding calcium pills. The studies ignored basic nutrition. They gave people calcium and placebo pills without checking to see how much they were already getting in their diet so they get bad or useless results. In one study all the pregnant women were already eating enough, getting around 800 mg of calcium a day so they weren’t going to find a benefit of calcium pill versus placebo when both groups got enough. In another study of older adults, the scientist once again didn’t account for calcium people were already eating and when supplements added, the people who got the calcium pills went way over their safe Upper Limit. No surprise, they found risks in this group. No surprise, if you leave your lane you end up in the ditch or in in oncoming traffic. This is not a new discovery but a basic nutrition ignored! But they made the wrong conclusion, they said calcium was risky rather than too much calcium is risky…and we already knew this and they were the ones that gave it to them!
To summarize an ancient saying, “whether nutrition is cure or poison depends on the dose”
If you want to do it with food, make sure to get around 30 to 40%DV for calcium at each meal so you can get to over 90% Daily Value for the whole day (1200 mg calcium=92%DV)
- Calcium from food is best but supplements can help make it easier to reach 1,200 mg a day.
- Always look for the “USP” or “NSF” quality symbol on your calcium supplements. This means it is good quality and doesn’t have toxic contaminants like lead or mercury.
- Calcium carbonate works just fine and is cheaper and less bulky than calcium citrate. You may have read that calcium citrate is more easily absorbed. Kind of true, however there is really no advantage to calcium citrate unless you have low stomach acid due to bariatric/stomach surgery, taking heartburn medications, or you are over 65 years old.
- Make sure your calcium pill includes vitamin D. But remember more is not better, best to keep your grand total under 2,000 mg calcium a day, the total from all food and supplements.
- Get at least 800 IU but no more than 4,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day. That is 20 to 100 mcg a day. Don’t take more that maximum Upper Limit of 4,000 IU a day (100 mcg) unless your doctor is testing your blood levels and recommends more. Tip: You can divide International Units by 40 to find out how many mcg of vitamin D. Example 4,000 divided by 40 is 100 mcg (mcg is short for micrograms)
- Do calcium pills increase the risk of heart attacks? No, not unless they don’t have vitamin D in them or go over the safe Upper Limit. The Upper Limit is as low as 2,000 mg calcium a day for some age groups.
- Can calcium pills increase risk of kidney stones? Yes, if pills are not taken with a meal. Calcium from milk and yogurt actually decreases the risk of kidney stones.
- Always look for “USP” or other marks of quality on your dietary supplements like NSF or approved on Consumerlab.com.
- Thys-Jacobs S et al. Calcium Carbonate and the PMS effects on Premenstrual and Menstrual symptoms. Am J Obstet & Gynecol 179(2):444-452, Aug 1998
- Gokhale LB, Curative treatment of primary (spasmodic) dysmenorrhea. Indian J Med Res 103, April 1996, pp277-231.
- Ziaei S, et al. A randomised placebo-controlled trial to determine the effect of vitamin E in treatment of primary dysmenorrhea. BJOG 2001;108:1181-1183.
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