Shark week started. I'm overdue, and I was hoping it would just not happen, but I guess two weeks on T isn't long enough to make it vanish. Mood swing, but not nearly as bad as usual; cramps, worse than usual; and fluid expelled, but not in one great big gross rush like usual.

I hope it stops soon.

I had a few before mine stopped completely. They came later than usual and were easier and lighter than usual. Yours may be similar.

This one was lighter than usual. Just the cramps were worse. Waaaaay worse. Still, half an apple is better than none.

My last visit from the Captain was pretty similar lots of cramping, but not as much fluid. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you cramp less than I did.

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Do any of you use painkillers to deal with the cramps while on T? Which painkillers do you use if so?

Personally I've found soluble codeine to work so well on these type of cramps as to pretty much shut them down for the day with one adult dose. The last few years just one dose has been effective in shutting them down for the entire shark week. Ibuprofen targets edema and inflammation which is why I suppose it never really worked on cramps for me - it's not so much inflammation/fluid that is causing the pain there but requires a muscle relaxing type analgesic.

Last time I had terrible cramping, I did a light workout. It may seem totally counterintuitive but exercise helps. I read something about your muscles not getting enough oxygen and hence the pain.

Quote from: T.K.G.W. on September 06, 2016, 09:00:56 AM
Do any of you use painkillers to deal with the cramps while on T? Which painkillers do you use if so?

Personally I've found soluble codeine to work so well on these type of cramps as to pretty much shut them down for the day with one adult dose. The last few years just one dose has been effective in shutting them down for the entire shark week. Ibuprofen targets edema and inflammation which is why I suppose it never really worked on cramps for me - it's not so much inflammation/fluid that is causing the pain there but requires a muscle relaxing type analgesic.

I've been using ibuprofen for a while. Haven't been on T for very long but I did have to take meds a while back, worked fine for me. I don't know about what you can buy where you live but over here, there's an NSAID that's ibuprofen based and it says on the package that it can be used for cramps from shark week.

That being said, it's not a good idea to take long term. First off, you build up a resistance and need more and more to get rid of the pain, and second off, if you take it for 3-4 days every month for a few years like me, you're going to end up with a messed up stomach. A really messed up stomach. I'm not sure what it is that I get every time but it's not good and extremely painful.

Quote from: November Fox on September 06, 2016, 01:09:13 PM
Last time I had terrible cramping, I did a light workout. It may seem totally counterintuitive but exercise helps. I read something about your muscles not getting enough oxygen and hence the pain.

I'm guessing that really depends on the person and probably the amount of pain. I used to be in so much pain I would be unable to move or even have a clear head until the medicine started working when I took my next tablet a bit late. In that kind of state, it's really impossible to get up (not even speaking of exercise). I have tried exercising when the meds weren't working well (meaning I was in some pain but not horrible amounts). If anything, moving around just made it worse.

I tried the exercise thing to see if it interfered with or helped those types of cramps, didn't help for me though.

Heat or cold helped it a bit, but since I no longer have a bath that's one method out. Heat pads don't seem to generate much effect for me.

Far as codeine goes, it's a hardcore painkiller and I'd advise only using it once or a couple of times per shark week. It's addictive, being an opiate-based one, so I only use it when I have un-ignorable pain for something and very sparingly. Ibuprofen is also not a good one to take too much of as it can cause internal bleeding of the stomach and so on. The good thing about the former I found is that one proper dose is usually enough to kill the first and worst cramps, but only provided you don't go and do something soon after to "awaken" the uterine muscle again.

Hmmm...
I seem to be having two shark weeks in a row.

Yeah obviously if you´re in crippling pain exercise might not help... it´s a matter of feeling what you are able to do within your limits... maybe you could exercise before it sets in, if you have any idea of that.

Quote from: T.K.G.W. on September 06, 2016, 09:00:56 AM
Do any of you use painkillers to deal with the cramps while on T? Which painkillers do you use if so?

Just regular old Advil. I haven't had cramping in over a year now that was period-related, but I used it for that then and I use it now for muscle cramps or soreness. Also, those activated heat patches they make that you can affix to the inside of your pants/underwear that sit on the pubic bone. Those are amazing. We had an extra box here last winter that I obviously didn't need anymore, so I used them inside my coat when it was blizzarding

Also - bananas, and water. Not mixed together (unless you like that?), but potassium is good for cramping and getting enough water generally improves most things. I don't think I ever managed to exercise my way out of cramps, though the endorphin high afterwards may have made them more manageable.

Quote from: November Fox on September 07, 2016, 08:21:03 AM
Yeah obviously if you´re in crippling pain exercise might not help... it´s a matter of feeling what you are able to do within your limits... maybe you could exercise before it sets in, if you have any idea of that.

I don't know about other people but that wouldn't work for me. The cramps and bleeding start literally at the same time and it gets bad real fast. I only ever know the approximate date of when it'll show up so it's not like I'd be able to exercise on the morning that it's supposed to show up. Plus I'm on T now so who knows when it's going to show up next. Which also means that it'll be slowly going away though, so hopefully I won't have to deal with the pain anymore soon. I've sort of hit the limit with ibuprofen anyways, my stomach is all messed up from it.