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#14 Turning Painful Periods Into Non-Eventful Cycles
30 Plays1 month ago
The Bean Talk - Episode 14: Turning Painful Periods Into Non-Eventful Cycles
In this episode, Rhiannon and Jeremy dive deep into the often misunderstood world of menstrual health. Rhiannon shares her expertise as a naturopath to help you understand the difference between what's common and what's normal when it comes to periods.
From painful cramps and mood swings to heavy bleeding, many women accept these symptoms as inevitable—but they don’t have to be. Learn about the root causes of painful periods, such as hormonal imbalances, inflammation, and nutrient deficiencies, and discover natural, effective ways to support your cycle.
This episode is packed with practical advice on dietary changes, supplements, and lifestyle adjustments to help transform your cycle into a non-eventful experience. Whether you’re dealing with debilitating periods or looking to support your daughters or loved ones, this episode is a must-listen.
Connect with us on Instagram at @mungbean_health, or visit mungbeanhealth.com for personalised menstrual health support.
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Transcript
Introduction & Concept of 'Little Bean' and 'Big Bean'
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to The Bean Talk with me, Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother, joined by my trusted partner in life and in the mission of Mung Bean Health,
00:00:25
Speaker
Hello and welcome to one another episode of The Bean Talk with Jeremy and Rhiannon. Hi guys, welcome back. So nice to have you here. We wanted to start to talk a little bit more about our little bean and big bean. You might've heard us chat about it on last week or the week before's episode. We want to share with you our little bean. So a small win, little bean for me would be getting out for a walk.
00:00:54
Speaker
yeah with the kids. Now daylight savings here, we've got much more time in the afternoon to go for a walk, family walk. So good. We are very lucky to live near a beautiful park and close to the beach. So we walk down there and we have the kids and sometimes it takes a long time, even though it's not far, to get the kids down there.
00:01:18
Speaker
Especially with Tady God, he just drags his feet sometimes, hey. And what about Big Bean? What's your Big Bean this week? The Big Bean win would be having the new girls in the warehouse. Yes, same. They're just giving some more time. Like freeing up some time. Definitely. And so helpful. They're amazing and so lovely to work with as well. I agree. I don't know
Period Stigmas and Misconceptions
00:01:40
Speaker
if you've seen this ad. You might not have taken much notice of it, but it's a Libra ad with the pads.
00:01:49
Speaker
They're currently doing it at the moment, but essentially it's this girl and she's sitting in my doctor's office and her male doctor um just looks at her and says, it's just your period. And she rolls her eyes and I can just feel the annoyance because every woman has a hundred percent experience this. So I am really excited for this week's topic.
00:02:15
Speaker
be Because as a female, I feel like from a young age, women are taught that when we start our periods, our lives are over. We expect to have a week out of every single month where our hormones make us absolutely insane. Our periods are painful and we're lethargic and we just feel like crap. Well, essentially we feel like we want to die. That's the way they make it out.
00:02:44
Speaker
This is just not the case and it doesn't have to be like this even if you are feeling like this right now. So today I want to talk about what is common versus normal, how you can support your hormones to have a period that doesn't impact your life and how you can support your overall cycle. What I like to say to my clients is that it should be non-eventful. We want it to just come and you'd be like, oh yeah, cool. Oh, got my period.
00:03:10
Speaker
And then it just goes, I don't want it to be like a week before or days before and you're like, oh gosh, my period's coming or you're feeling debilitated. What do you got to say
Understanding PMDD and Personal Experiences
00:03:20
Speaker
about that? Yeah, there's a lot of stigma, I guess, still around periods. Yeah, it's so crazy. And yeah, men don't really talk about it. Yeah, absolutely. So it's good to have you here to have your insight and Yeah. I guess it's just like a common thing, like here comes the grout. Stay clear, hide. Yes, absolutely. It is true.
00:03:43
Speaker
And very much so like that with our PMDD girls, the ones that have really bad cycle where the mood drops and their husbands or partners or whatever don't want to come near them, their kids don't come near them because they are just struggling with their mental health. It can honestly make you feel like you need to be checked into a loony bin. I've had clients, especially one PMDD client that I can think of that's so beautiful.
00:04:09
Speaker
who said she wanted to check herself into a mental asylum because she was feeling so crazy and just couldn't control her emotions essentially. I haven't had my cycle in ages now because obviously I've had pregnancies and breastfeeding and when I'm breastfeeding my cycle doesn't come back until usually I wean a little bit in the day. I think it was like 15 months with Evie and then with Tati it was around like 12 months-ish? Somewhere there. It's around the 12 month plus mark and then obviously it was Winnie after we lost her straight after I had a cycle. I bled for a little bit and then I had one cycle and then I fell pregnant again with Romy. So yeah and now
Medical Perspective on Menstrual Pain
00:04:50
Speaker
I'm have been pregnant with Rome and breastfeeding so it's been a while which is not complaining, not that my cycle is
00:04:58
Speaker
bad in any way because I do all the right things because I'm a good little naturopath and I really want that cycle to be non-eventful. But I know it's different for a lot of clients before they come to see us. So yes yeah, definitely around that sort of those symptoms that are common for women. Medically speaking, painful periods are called dysmenorrhea. I don't know if you knew that, but yeah yeah, that's one of the technical terms that us naturopaths use and doctors and everything. but essentially a dysmenorrhea. So some studies show that up to 90% of women experience period pain at some point in their life, especially in their teen and early 20s. So in those younger years, for some it's just mild cramping, but for others the pain can be so severe that it disrupts their daily life. So it's debilitating, they can be toppled over, vomiting, it can be terrible. My experience when my cycle started was
00:05:53
Speaker
quite good for me. I felt like I was one of the lucky ones that when they first came on, they weren't crazy. But my sister was not like that. I remember she would faint and have to lay on the ground and her periods would be so painful and she'd have the hot water bottle and take the Neurphin and Panadol. And yeah, it was like so bad for her, really bad for her.
00:06:17
Speaker
felt like I was lucky in that way that I didn't. And now obviously as I've got an older and got into naturopathy. I know there's so many things to do, but being a young teen, you're just like, oh, okay, this is what my body does.
00:06:28
Speaker
But I know from other girls, I remember some girls had so much pain that they would not be able to come to school. They would toppled over. It was not really a great time for them. And that happening every single month, maybe a week out of every month. So it's only every
Critique of Contraceptive Solutions
00:06:45
Speaker
three weeks that they feel normal for. The normal sort of medical approach is the contraceptive pill.
00:06:53
Speaker
which is not a fix but essentially a band-aid which I think we all know now that it's just masking the problem and essentially it's just stopping you from having those sometimes stopping you from having those negative ah symptoms but it all comes back at some point especially when you get off and usually when you want to have babies you're obviously going to get off it's definitely not the best approach the only thing that the contraceptive pill is good for is contraceptive of stopping you from falling pregnant or having an unwanted pregnancy. That is it. It's not good for our health. It's got one purpose and that's it. It's not designed to be a healthy medication. They quite often you should use it though as like ah a tool to try and stop all these other symptoms, but it's not going to the root cause. They're just like, you know, pure pains. Here's the pill. And sometimes the cycle will be so bad. They'll be like, let's get you on the pill to regulate the cycle, but it's not fixing anything.
00:07:45
Speaker
And usually when they get back off the pill, because they're like, okay, that's not working, then it's even worse. That's just from clinical experience. If you are on the pill managing your symptoms at the moment, there's so much we can do. We can actually help you transition off it. If that's what you want to do, it's totally up to you what you choose to do. We work with clients that are on the pill, some clients that just do not want to have babies at all, but they want support in other avenues. So we are happy to support you and meet you where you're at. Absolutely happy either way.
00:08:14
Speaker
But there's some beautiful ways we can manage your period pain without hormonal contraceptives. I guess a good question for you is like,
Normalizing Conversations about Menstruation
00:08:23
Speaker
when I was getting my monthly bleed, what was it like for you? What was your journey like? I think I was just used to it. My mom and sister were pretty open about having their cycle. So it was just a normal thing. Yeah. No one ever hid it from me. It's just a natural thing that happens. Yeah, it's good.
00:08:42
Speaker
just deal with it and i'll definitely be bringing up our boys like that because i remember i had one friend in high school and her boyfriend at the time she got her bleed and she was like in the toilet and she was like hey blah blah can you go get me a ah tampon and he was like no that's disgusting i'm not touching that like a clean tampon so immature but he's definitely not the only one there's so many and i'm sure there's still adults out there that are like don't want to know about it and it's it's just a normal process like doing a poop or burping or something like that. It's a normal bodily process. And in fact, it's so important because it actually helps us create these beautiful babies and helps with the next generation. So yeah,
Natural Management of Period Pain
00:09:23
Speaker
what about mood wise for me? he Pretty good. Like anybody can get angry sometimes and it's like a little bit enhanced, but i you weren't nothing serious. I remember being a bit irritable when I was a younger around my cycle, but yeah, pretty good overall. yeah Yeah. So some natural ways that we can manage period pain.
00:09:42
Speaker
without having to use hormonal contraceptives. So, essentially treating the cause. Look, as naturopathists, we're always trying to do, we're trying to treat the root cause to stop these symptoms from happening. So, if it's a skin issue issue, if you're breaking out and you've got really bad acne and you go to the doctor and they put you on the pill and it doesn't help anything, it's because you haven't gotten to the root cause. So, which hormone is causing the issue? is it Estrogen excess, is it testosterone excess? What's happening here? Let's find out what it is, testing and then treat that. A common one there is definitely like that estrogen excess or estrogen dominance you may have heard of it. It's caused by either poor metabolism of the clearance of the estrogen or overproduction or low progesterone levels. So it could be one of the three, so either you can't clear out
00:10:28
Speaker
The built up oestrogens and you can't get rid of it. um You're producing too much or your progesterone is too low. um So it could be one of those. Another thing is um high inflammation. It's another cause of um painful periods or dysmenorrhea. Poor detoxification pathways. So that gut and the liver. Higher BMI. So a higher BMI shows a 40% increase of painful menstruation.
00:10:58
Speaker
So that overweight obesity does contribute to inflammation and usually can be linked to excess estrogen can all increase 40% huge as well. So if you are overweight or have obesity issues, then that does increase the period pain. High stress is another
Diet and Lifestyle Influences on Period Pain
00:11:19
Speaker
one as well.
00:11:20
Speaker
So it impacts our hormone signaling. Stress is not good for anything though, let's be real. Increased prostaglandins, which are compounds that are released from the uterine lining um as it prepares to be shed. That's where that pain comes in. They are a necessary part of the process, yes, but in excess they cause a lot of pain. So we need some, but excess is no good. Another thing is nutrient deficiencies. Things like Amigas, B vitamins, zinc,
00:11:50
Speaker
magnesium, probiotics, certain bacterias, and antioxidants. But we can help. Although it sounds like it is a lot that can cause it and create worse period pain, that means that there is a lot of opportunity of things we can do. Dietary is always important for everything because we are essentially what we eat. Food can be medicine or detrimental to our health, really.
00:12:17
Speaker
So every food, every meal that you're choosing and every food that you're choosing could either be leading you to a healthier lifestyle or leading you into a more diseased state. It's crazy when you think about it like that. And look, 80, 20, 20%, you can have foods that are maybe a little bit more of a sometimes food and 80% of the time follow a healthy lifestyle. So some things that you can do is anti-inflammatory foods.
00:12:45
Speaker
So think of foods that naturally reduce inflammation in your body, leafy greens, berries, fatty fish like salmon. Do you have any other anti-inflammatory foods? Yeah. Ginger. Ginger. I love ginger. Uh, turmeric, but yeah like you can just add it in. Add to food. Yeah. You can even get the fresh or the powdered yeah and you can add it into food. You can have turmeric and ginger tea or as a warm drink.
00:13:14
Speaker
Like the turmeric milk. Yeah. Yeah. We're talking about with Debbie. I used to make it when we were in Sydney and you just get the pan or the, sorry, the saucepan and you put in the milk of your choice, coconut milk, but yum, or if you have a coffee machine, you can fluff it. And then you put in your turmeric powder or fresh turmeric, whatever you choose, but turmeric powder is super easy. And then add in some ginger if you like, and some honey.
00:13:41
Speaker
put the honey in afterwards after you've heated up the milk. And then yeah, just enjoy. It's really nice before bed. Yeah. Good for cycle times. Is that garlic? Yeah, garlic's well, not from an anti-inflammatory point of view, just an anti but just in a good, sort of good thing to have. Can't go wrong with garlic. It definitely won't hurt you, but yes. Magnesium rich foods, magnesium helps to relax all of our muscles, which can reduce cramping, So things like almonds, spinach, avocados, and some dark chocolate. Yes, you can have a little bit of chocky. Dark chocolate's a good source of magnesium. Do you have a favorite
Supplements and Herbal Remedies for Menstrual Pain
00:14:21
Speaker
dark chocolate? whitake is one whidtakekers The Whittaker's... The Panner. Do they do the Whittaker's one? Yeah, Panner, they do all those fudgy. Oh, okay. I don't know about Whittaker's. They do that really yummy, naughty, coconut rough one. Oh, okay. Does that Tony's brand? Oh, like yeah.
00:14:38
Speaker
They have it and there's another brand. But anyway, yeah, there's a lot of yummy ones out there. Amiga 3s is another important one because Amiga 3 fatty acids, they're great for reducing that side of inflammation and can be found in many different foods that you would eat normally. Things like walnuts, flax seeds, and fatty fish. Amiga 3s can actually help to reduce the severity of cramps by lowering the prostaglandin levels. Cool. Yeah, how good is that?
00:15:07
Speaker
So it works on an anti-inflammatory and pain relieving. So yes, omega-3 fatty acid, really good quality fish oil is something that I give to pretty much everybody, but it is really important for our gals that have painful periods. Also cutting back on sugars and processed foods and caffeine. Don't hate us coffee lovers, but just around that time especially, we wanna try and cut back because these can all increase inflammation and make period pain worse, too much sugar can cause blood sugar spikes and crashes, so ups and downs, and leave you feeling even more irritable and crampy. We want to maintain that beautiful energy throughout the day with our blood sugar. Caffeine itself can constrict blood vessels, which might increase pain, especially for people prone to headaches or bloating during their period. As you said, definitely that ginger, but also cinnamon as well.
00:16:02
Speaker
It's a nice one. And who doesn't love cinnamon? Cinnamon's the best. That can help reduce pelvic inflammation and increase circulation as well. Very good. Ginger's a really good one. Some supplements for period pain. Again, just a disclaimer, do not self-prescribe. We say see more issues, um more negative issues than beneficial ones. When people self-prescribe, they always come to us and they're like, I don't know. I've just been taking these things and it never ends well. So make sure you're getting the right advice, we can definitely help you with. A good quality magnesium supplement, a lot of us are magnesium deficient and especially a lot of the mums we talk to after pregnancies and postpartum and breastfeeding if they chose to, they're usually very depleted. It's really important to get a good quality one. Magnesium relaxes those muscles to the uterus so helping to
00:16:55
Speaker
ease that cramping when we've got enough magnesium. B6 is a beautiful vitamin that can actually help with PMS symptoms like mood swings and bloating, but it can also assist with reducing cramping. Zinc's so amazing. Zinc plays a role in hormonal balance and can help reduce inflammation. It may also lower prostaglandins, which can cause those cramps. And omega-3 supplements, as I just mentioned how amazing they are for reducing that inflammation.
00:17:25
Speaker
and helping with the pain. Omega 3, again, really want to make sure you're getting good quality practitioner only, which if you're one of our clients, you would already be getting some herbal remedies. So we have a whole array of beautiful herbs that we get to choose from for every single one of our clients. And we have some beautiful herbs that work really well on period cycles and the pain or dysmenorrhea. So ginger is definitely your number one there. Very spot on, Jeremy.
00:17:53
Speaker
working on anti-inflammatory properties and also reducing pain and it also tastes good. I love ginger. Yeah, it's a nice little addition there. Cramp bark is another lovely herb. I actually love the smell of cramp bark. If I had to pick one herb that I love the smell of most, it is cramp bark.
00:18:13
Speaker
and close second would be Hemidesmus. Which is your fave? Hemidesmus. Yeah, Hemidesmus. Smells like vanilla yeah extract. Yeah, it's so nice. But Crambark is beautiful. This herb has been traditionally used to treat uterine cramps. It helps relax the muscles in the uterus. Also, Chamomile, believe it or not, but Chamomile is so beautiful. You can use it in a tea or we use it in supercharged herbal tincture.
00:18:39
Speaker
but it can be calming and soothing for both your nerves and also your muscles. Plus it has a beautiful mild anti-inflammatory property. That's lovely. And lucky last night, do not self-prescribe this. This is so important. A lot of people are out there willy-nilly taking Vitex or Chase Tree.
00:18:57
Speaker
You shouldn't be because you can do way more harm than good and can make your symptoms way worse off if you're not using it beautifully. If you use it clinically for the right case with an experienced practitioner, it works amazingly. But it's not for everyone, even though they make it out to be in a lot of different formulas. Just be mindful of that. Vitex is often used to balance hormones and reduce ah PMS symptoms. It may take a few months to
Lifestyle Adjustments for Menstrual Comfort
00:19:22
Speaker
start to see results with any of these herbs.
00:19:25
Speaker
or nutrients you want to keep it running through your system for a good couple of months but many people do find it helpful when used in the right case for reducing overall menstrual discomfort and also working on cycle in general as well as different messenger hormones it's a beautiful herb but again only when used right so do not self-prescribe okay some lovely lifestyle adjustments what's a lifestyle adjustment you could recommend when someone's going through their cycle from a husband or partner point of view. Yeah, just don't stress your partner around, just be there for them and yeah. That's good. It's a pretty good foot massage. Yeah, run a bath for her. That's nice. Yeah, give them a back massage. Love. Yeah. How about without a cycle? Can we get it back muscle myself? Yeah, I don't know, it's gonna be tough. A couple of beautiful lifestyle things you can do
00:20:20
Speaker
heat therapy. So applying a heating pad or a hot water bottle or heat bag to your lower abdomen can help relax the muscles and ease cramping. Studies have shown that heat therapy can be just as effective as taking Panadol for period pain. Exercise is lovely, so gentle exercise. You want to make sure it's very gentle though. Yoga, walking, swimming, stretching, all increases blood flow and helps to Release endorphins, which are your body's natural painkillers. Even though it may feel like the last thing you want to do, exercise when you've got your cycle, it can be a really lovely way to support making you feel better, essentially. So it just has to be gentle, even if you do some floor stretches. Stress management. Mmm. It's a big one. Yeah. Because stress can make period pain so much worse, so finding ways to relax is key.
00:21:16
Speaker
techniques like deep breathing, meditation, massage again, getting a massage, booking a massage or asking your partner to give you a massage can really help with overall tension and pain and honestly putting on the TV and watching a movie or watching some trashy TV.
00:21:34
Speaker
The thing too, I forgot to mention about when it's that time of month with the periods, your iron drops because obviously you bleed in. Yes, absolutely. It's rich in iron. So true. Yes, miss that one. Thank you. Definitely iron. and Yeah, especially with the heavier your period is, the more blood and iron you're going to lose. And as women, we've always got a tough geek trying to get our iron back up or keeping it at at a happy, healthy level, especially when we throw babies in the mix there. So yes, absolutely testing.
00:22:03
Speaker
is important we do that with all of our clients to make sure that their levels are good and then also taking a really good quality iron the ones you find in the chemist and pharmacy but usually quite a poor absorbed form just don't work that well And they all get stuck in the gut and usually people experience nausea or constipation because it's just not working effectively and being absorbed properly. So if you've experienced that, know that there is other ions out there that won't cause constipation that actually work and make you feel better. And also sleep
Seeking Professional Help for Severe Pain
00:22:35
Speaker
is the other one. Sleep is really important. So making sure we're getting like seven to nine hours of good quality sleep, really hard obviously when you've got kids.
00:22:45
Speaker
but trying to make sure we've got that good quality because the lack of sleep can increase that inflammation and then worsen the period pain. So doing everything you can, back to basics, eating a good diet, doing the gentle movement and it's suitable for everyone, not just people with severe pain or really bad dysmenorrhea.
00:23:04
Speaker
but also people with just moderate or mild where it's just a bit uncomfortable. So yeah, you can absolutely include that in there. But if you are having severe or chronic period pain, you should be seeking help. We'd want to do testing overall, but definitely on hormones and finding that root cause. You don't have to live like that. A lot of people think that this is just me and my period should be painful and I should be moody, but you don't have to be like that, it should come non-eventful and not be impacting your life. She'd just be like, oh yeah, got my period again and let's get on with the day and then oh next month's come back and we can definitely get you there. So many success stories. I can think of one actually right now where she had been having really heavy periods after her baby. I think she'd had them all her life but then they got worse after she had her last baby. So painful and heavy where she wouldn't go out
00:24:00
Speaker
the first day, she would stay home. I think it was maybe the first one or two days, depending on the bleed, but she'd actually have to have pad on, super pad tampon, and she'd have a towel down because she would flood through. Even like watching a movie, she would gush out and that is not okay. So it was impacting her life. It was impacting her ah career as well, because when she was actually going to work, she was like, oh my gosh, I'm stressed. If she had to go and do something with the public,
00:24:30
Speaker
She was in quite a social role where she'd go to weddings and help out there and do things like that. And she used to really struggle with that mentally as well of, oh my gosh, am I going to show I can't wear white? Or if she got a period when she was already there, it would be like the end of the world. So yeah, you don't have to live like that. Definitely don't have to. And if you've got daughters that are young and struggling like this, so much we can do at any age. So if you need our help,
Conclusion and Call to Connect
00:24:57
Speaker
please reach out you know where to find us we are mungbean underscore health on instagram and website www.mungbeanhealth.com and amazing and yeah we'd love to help you yeah thanks for tuning in again bye
00:25:17
Speaker
And that's a wrap on today's dose of wellness. I'm Rhiannon, your fertility fairy godmother. Thank you for joining us. Stay connected with us on Instagram at mungbin underscore health.