Over 3 Months In

[Swandattur]

Yeah, I guess it's high estrogen that would cause problems with free glutamates in food, since those are excitotoxins. I read something about free glutamate causing calcium to get into the wrong places in the brain.

 

[charlie]

Have you ever found out what is making the urine foamy? I mean, how is estrogen affecting things in your body so that the end product is foamy urine? What is that a sign of (besides high estrogen), if you see what I mean?

It's the body trying to dump the stress hormones. The liver will attach a molecule to it so that it will excrete out through the kidneys, and Ray Peat said it's kinda like a soapy substance. Hence that's why the foam happens, because it's a soap like substance.

 

[Peata]

Yeah, I guess it's high estrogen that would cause problems with free glutamates in food, since those are excitotoxins. I read something about free glutamate causing calcium to get into the wrong places in the brain.

Was it this: Cellular excitation involves an increase of intracellular calcium and the activation of phosphorylating enzymes in cells. Some experiments suggest (Improta-Brears, et al., 1999) that the estrogen receptor mediates estrogen's ability to mobilize calcium (leading to the activation of cell division, mitosis). Whether or not it does, the recognition that estrogen activates calcium, leading to activation of the phosphorylation system, should "cause the demise of" the "classical estrogen receptor" doctrine, because the phosphorylation system alters the expression of genes, much as the estrogen receptor was supposed to do by its direct actions. But before it alters the expression of genes, it alters the activities of enzymes. When estrogen activates calcium and phosphorylation independently of the estrogen receptor, the situation is even worse for the Jensen dogma.

Progesterone's opposition to those early excitatory effects of estrogen are so basic, that there shouldn't be any difficulty in thinking of it as an antiestrogen, that stops cell division primarily by opposing the excitatory effects of estrogen and other mitogens. Progesterone's opposition to the calcium-activating and phosphorylating effects of estrogen affects everything in the cell, according to the cell's specific nature. - Ray Peat, http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/ca ... rone.shtml

 

[Swandattur]

Thanks for posting that. I read some different ones. One might have been a Ray Peat article. I wish I was more organized! I will look for the articles that I was thinking of.

 

[Swandattur]

This must be the Ray Peat article I was thinking of, which Hagendazendiane posted on her thread.
http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1 ... 3-p189.pdf
There was something else, too. I'll see if I can find it.

 

[Swandattur]

It was an abstract I read, but this Wikipedia article says something similar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitotoxicity Wish I understood all this stuff better than just vaguely. There may be stuff in this article that Ray Peat would disagree with. For that matter it is Wikipedia, so it may or may not be good. You may get better than the standard informtion or you may get worse. I wonder if Ray Peat ever contributes to Wikipedia.

 

[Peata]

Thanks, Swan. Yes, too much information to absorb.

 

[Swandattur]

That RP article that Hagendazendiane posted, and I reposted here is very interesting about alcohol addiction. It talks about it on page 193, mostly.

 

[Peata]

Holy bleep, been suffering some of the worst menstrual cramps in recent memory. Started a couple hours ago. I took another vitamin E, then finally broke out the aspirin and took one. Still in agony, took another. Waiting for it to work.

I'm not sure what more I can do. I get these awful cramps one night every month, but lately I've been doing even more to try to prevent problems (Vit. E, extra magnesium, B6, on top of the other Peat stuff & foods and maybe not so Peat but supposedly helpful stuff), and the cramps are WORSE tonight than ever. I can feel the pain going down my legs into my feet and toes. My uterus is like a fist in a continual clenched state.

 

[smuthie]

Holy bleep, been suffering some of the worst menstrual cramps in recent memory. Started a couple hours ago. I took another vitamin E, then finally broke out the aspirin and took one. Still in agony, took another. Waiting for it to work.

I'm not sure what more I can do. I get these awful cramps one night every month, but lately I've been doing even more to try to prevent problems (Vit. E, extra magnesium, B6, on top of the other Peat stuff & foods and maybe not so Peat but supposedly helpful stuff), and the cramps are WORSE tonight than ever. I can feel the pain going down my legs into my feet and toes. My uterus is like a fist in a continual clenched state.

Oh, I hope you feel better soon.

I was wondering about the estrogen=stress, histamine > uterine irritation, IF antihistamines might counteract that and help reduce menstrual cramps?

I get them really bad too. I am thinking about trying benadryl next period to see if it helps reduce cramps faster. I usually take aleve, and use a heating pad. Besides writhing and moaning (ha), and drinking tons of water. It seems like peeing makes them feel a bit better for a few minutes, so I try to pee as much as possible during the toughest couple of days/nights.

The other thing that helps me is the Lamaze breathing, hee-hee-hoo phase, during the worst phase. It's like controlled panting. It got me through labor and natural childbirth. But some of these danged cramps hurt twice as much as labor pains, it's ridiculous what our bodies do to us sometimes.

Can you get some grown man or other to rub your lower back pretty firmly? That can help, and I've heard that grown man pheromones in close proximity can reduce cramps within 30 minutes. I have no way to test this idea myself, though.

Feeling for you, hoping you feel better and can sleep soon.

Donna

 

[Peata]

Oh, I hope you feel better soon.

I was wondering about the estrogen=stress, histamine > uterine irritation, IF antihistamines might counteract that and help reduce menstrual cramps?

I get them really bad too. I am thinking about trying benadryl next period to see if it helps reduce cramps faster. I usually take aleve, and use a heating pad. Besides writhing and moaning (ha), and drinking tons of water. It seems like peeing makes them feel a bit better for a few minutes, so I try to pee as much as possible during the toughest couple of days/nights.

The other thing that helps me is the Lamaze breathing, hee-hee-hoo phase, during the worst phase. It's like controlled panting. It got me through labor and natural childbirth. But some of these danged cramps hurt twice as much as labor pains, it's ridiculous what our bodies do to us sometimes.

Can you get some grown man or other to rub your lower back pretty firmly? That can help, and I've heard that grown man pheromones in close proximity can reduce cramps within 30 minutes. I have no way to test this idea myself, though.

Feeling for you, hoping you feel better and can sleep soon.

Donna

Thank you, Smuthie. I understand about the writhing and moaning.

I did take Benadryl before bed, and usually do that each night anyway. That's what mystified me, is that I took extra magnesium, potassium, vitamin E, Benadryl, etc. and had those cramps.

The thing that seemed to help a lot was bag breathing, but when I realized I'd been doing it probably 10 minutes, I stopped out of fear it could be harmful...? Where I read RP talking about it, he always says do it for 2 or 3 minutes, and I've read elsewhere people saying it could cause kidney stones to overdo it.

About 20 minutes after I made the post last night, I started feeling better because the aspirin kicked in and I was able to sleep well through the night.

Thanks again for the suggestions and commiseration.

 

[Swandattur]

Hmm.. I've heard stuff like that about pheromones before. If it works, maybe guys could make a little extra money selling their unwashed T-shirts. :) I had cramps as a young woman. They made me sick to my stomach, but they were not nearly so bad as labor pains for me. On the other hand, during labor I only started throwing up during the worst pains. I have read that histamine plays a major role in menstrual cramps. So, antihistamines should help, and also eating a low histamine diet near the time of menstruation.

 

[Peata]

My DH was lying next to me the whole time, very close - side by side, we were touching at hip, shoulder, etc. I couldn't wake him to massage me that late at night when he has to get up early in the morning. But he did give me a foot massage earlier which felt wonderful, but didn't help uterine cramps. In the past, I've had him massage my belly some when cramping, and it only helped a little, about as much as when I do it. So for me, the pheromone idea doesn't work. What did work was C02 and then aspirin.

 

[Peata]

Perhaps I should have taken 2 Benadryl instead of one. But I also take small amounts of it throughout the day and have been doing that for a while now. I like that it knocks down the allergy trouble without making me drowsy.

There must be something to the fact that my worst cramps come at night. That has been happening for months now.

 

[charlie]

There must be something to the fact that my worst cramps come at night. That has been happening for months now.

At night usually between like 10pm and 2am is when my estrogen and stress hormones are the highest.

The hormones that are commonly said to prevent bone loss, estrogen and growth hormone, are high at night, rising along with cortisol.

Source

 

[charlie]

Another quote same article:

While estrogen is usually highest at night, progesterone is lowest during the night.

 

[leo]

Peata I sympathize....I had horrific cramping when young. Are you by chance in perimenopause? Things got very bad for me while approaching meno....I attribute it to lower progesterone, but am not sure.

What I used to do and my daughter does now is take some aspirin (although this may cause more flow) and get on a very hot heating pad. Usually within 20 min all cramps are gone.

You might also want to look into the infrared pads....they emit deeper heat without heating you up externally....this has been a godsend for my lower back pains....much more so than regular heating pads. They are very expensive but well worth it.

I know this doesn't solve the issue of why you have cramps in the first place, but it at least makes those unbearable nights, more bearable.

 

[Swandattur]

Leo's advice sounds good. I think if I had started taking aspirin before my cramps really started then it might have had a better effect. I think you can take even three at a time, can't you?

 

[Peata]

Peata I sympathize....I had horrific cramping when young. Are you by chance in perimenopause? Things got very bad for me while approaching meno....I attribute it to lower progesterone, but am not sure.

What I used to do and my daughter does now is take some aspirin (although this may cause more flow) and get on a very hot heating pad. Usually within 20 min all cramps are gone.

You might also want to look into the infrared pads....they emit deeper heat without heating you up externally....this has been a godsend for my lower back pains....much more so than regular heating pads. They are very expensive but well worth it.

I know this doesn't solve the issue of why you have cramps in the first place, but it at least makes those unbearable nights, more bearable.

Thanks, Leo. I assume it's peri - I mean I've always had ED symptoms pretty much my whole life, but these extra bad symptoms came on in my late 30s, so yeah I think that's what it is. I'm going to have to look into the infrared pads. I hadn't thought about shining my heat lamp on that area, but that might be soothing too.

 

[Peata]

Leo's advice sounds good. I think if I had started taking aspirin before my cramps really started then it might have had a better effect. I think you can take even three at a time, can't you?

Yeah, I should have taken them sooner than I did, but I thought the other things I took would keep it from getting so bad. I've always been conservative with the aspirin use since Peating, and then a couple weeks ago my stomach hurt from it, so I haven't been taking any for about a week until I popped 2 last night out of desperation. Today I started back taking it in small doses throughout the day, similar to how I do the Benadryl.