Eating when I'm due on my period - Endometriosis UK

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Eating when I'm due on my period

princess12 profile image
8 Replies

Hi everyone.

I suffer from endometriosis really bad and am due on my period. The question I have is each much I feel really sick around my period and exhausted. My body hates normal foods when I'm due on and makes me sick but I can eat things such as sweets and not be sick. The Dr says its just part of the disease and because I loose so much blood what do u all think?

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princess12 profile image
princess12
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8 Replies
Windwhisperer profile image
Windwhisperer

Hello!

I think periods in general mess around with our cravings, hormones and eating patterns. For example, I am not a chocolate eater normally but then my period comes and I want to devour everything chocolate.

I also think Endo could mess with our stomachs and digestive systems. If you are losing so much blood, should you not maybe increase your iron intake?

Kez83 profile image
Kez83

Same here. Out of interest do you crave anything sweet or something in particular? Usually I'm in too much pain to eat on the first few days of my period and feel I'd be sick if I did but this month (today actually) I'm craving sweets which I never eat. My period hasn't started yet but I think it will soon.I'm very irregular but can usually tell when it's close.Funny thing is I haven't craved sweets this much since being on a school trip when I was 16! I ate some that have been in the house since xmas! I've craved chocolate more recently but not sweets. I was told once (?) that your body knows it can get zinc from chocolate and so craves it, there's iron in it too so maybe if you crave that in particular, while you're loosing blood, it would make sense? I've read that the body can do that (lost fishermen eating fish eyes for certain nutrients (eww)). Don't know about you but some of my symptoms come and go? Shame it's the pain that doesn't!x

I tend to crave magnesium (ie: chocolate, almonds). I also want to eat everything in the kitchen that isn't nailed down. It isn't just an endo thing. My family and female friends are the same way.

Although I have thankfully no more periods due to a hysterectomy, I used to find that all I could eat was lightly buttered toast just before and the first couple of days of my period. I also remember that I couldn't be anywhere NEAR raw chicken so cooking was a nightmare! I also found that plain food was helpful such as boiled rice cooked in vegetable stock though chocolate was always nice! Other foods rich in iron and certain minerals were helpful such as (raw) spinach in salads, tomatoes (don't know why) and broccoli. Some pulses are good too (my mother used an old Greek recipe (she's from cyprus) cooking rice with black eyed peas or rice with lentils and again that used to take the nausea away for me and removed a few of the dizzy spells I always felt.

On the whole, though, I stuck with rice and toast for those few day......

Brownlow profile image
Brownlow

I think your doctor is saying your blood sugar levels drop. Sweets aren't the best way to correct this.

Craving chocolate is often a sign of magnesium deficiency. We need more magnesium around the time of our period I think but don't quote me on that. A better source of magnesium is to spray magnesium 'oil' on the skin after a shower...because it doesn't have sugar! Magnesium Chloride is best as it is more easily absorbed by the skin into your body than other forms of magnesium. Magnesium supplements are not well absorbed by the body but Magnesium Citrate is one of the forms that is absorbed more easily. The spray I use is Better You betteryou.com/magnesium-oil... I also bulk buy Mg Cl flakes (cheaper) and use in my baths.

Craving sweet things could also signify imbalance of intestinal flora and in particular overgrowth of Candida Albicans which is very common. It's often referred to as just having 'Candida' or Candidiasis. These organisms feed on sugar and will result in cravings. Plenty of dietary advice online.

Sugar is inflammatory and will ultimately make symptoms worse. It also can cause constipation which is not desirable.

There seems to be a craze for 'sugar free' at the moment but many recipes still use sugar albeit in different forms. Refined sugar is the real baddy to avoid. Maybe you could start by trying to reduce sugar consumption by eating fruit and forms of sugar that are less refined like raw honey, dates etc. I don't eat any refined sugar or sweets anymore apart from a rare treat. I put molasses in my morning porridge but used to use honey. Be careful of using too many sugar replacements. Honey is still sugar fir example. Avoid the commercial supermarket bought honeys.

This site is good for sweet treats that are slightly better for us deliciouslyella.com Click top right to access search facility and recipes. I made these over the weekend with raspberries and they were very good deliciouslyella.com/strawbe...

Also this site ohsheglows.com/categories/r...

I made these last night in a few minutes and they are really great dietitianwithoutborders.com... I prefer pecan nuts and don't bother with the sultanas.

This recipe for chocolate mousse fooled my nieces and nephews. They couldn't guess what was in it peacewithendo.com/2015/01/a... Her site is dedicated to endo and is truly fantastic as is her book available on Amazon and kindle.

So you see, you can get your sweet treats in healthier ways and many ingredients even have health benefits such as cacao, coconut, avocado, pecans.

I agree with the alternatives for sugar; I now use far less sugar than before (though I do have some chocolate and normally try to eat just one or two squares rather than a whole bar). I now eat nectarines which are very sweet, apples and satsumas as these also help reduce the constipation associated with painkillers which are codeine based.

Kez83 profile image
Kez83

Thanks for asking the question princess21! I've learned a lot there. Cooinsidently I have just had my internal flora checked on one of those electro magnetic intolerance tests and was told I need a pre biotic most likely as I'd just finished antibiotics so that all adds up.For more info on foody type issues a link so another useful site was posted the other day by arcadia 77 I think.x

Kez83 profile image
Kez83 in reply to Kez83

Sorry princess12 I meant!

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