PSA: You Might Want to Stop Using Conventional Maxi Pads

All right, guys.  You might want to just close this window now.  I have something important to share with the ladies.  STOP USING YOUR CONVENTIONAL MAXI PADS.  They might be messing up your reproductive hormones.

My periods have become more and more like a gruesome murder scene over the years.  I thought it was because my body wanted me to have a baby.  After the baby, they were okay for one month, and then they got so much worse.  I read that bleeding 2-5 tablespoons in that week was in the range of normal for most women.  Normal for me was something like 5 quarts.  I don't really know how I'm still alive, but they say some women just bleed alot. 

Yesterday, I posted this on one of the crunchy mommy forums:

My periods have always been super heavy, but now that I've had a baby, they are worse.  It's not cysts or anything like that.  I don't have pain, not even really much cramping.  But, it's so heavy for a couple of days that it wakes me up in the middle of the night and I have to jump out of bed to prevent it from getting everywhere.  Sometimes, I wake up the baby, because my boob was in her mouth.

Do you have any tips for herbs or other ways to reduce menstrual flow?

The responses that I got back included: 

Do you use mama clotth or disposable pads,or tampons? I have read that even switching to a greener brand of disposable pads can help reduce flow and cramping for those that get cramps. Cloth is supposed to make a greater difference though. -Anna2007

And:

Mine was completely like that until I got off all commercial products. I use Mama cloth for night time and sea sponges during the day (hadn't found a cup that fit me well). Suddenly my period was down to just one day of heavy bleeding with cramping and pain then 4-5 days of moderate to light flow. Then I added liquid calcium/magnesium/D3 (BlueBonnet brand) to my nightly routine, and boy was I surprised. About half the time (as long as I'm faithful), I get slight cramps about 2 hours before I start, and my heavy day is now a day that I would have called moderate before. Then it's just 2-3 days of light bleeding (even turning brown by the 3rd day) and a day of spotting. -Sharims

And:

Yes, I found the same info from pps when I was looking before. Low on those minerals and vitamins, and changing to cloth pads.  Also found some great info in the book making babies, believe it or not.  Another thing that helped me even out (from the book, actually, as I was ttc) was drinking loose leaf green tea. Made such a difference! -oceanmel

Yes.  This is it.  It's the conventional pads.  I would have never figured it out.  I was researching herbs for decreasing flow.  But, it's the MFing pads.  I have been using the Always super in a box forever.  I use the natural pads when my flow slows.  And, I thought it was really odd that it was heavy for 5 days now, instead of the 2 or 3 before I gave birth.  Since it's going to be heavy, I put the Always pads on when I first start bleeding.  This is actually causing my bleeding and cramping to increase!!  Can you believe that?  My period started yesterday, and it was really light.  I got excited.  Put an Always pad on and BAM.  Murder scene.  I was drinking lots of water for two days, trying to balance my hormones, which actually sorta worked to decrease the bleeding.  In previous months, I thought the excess water was decreasing my milk supply, so I wasn't drinking that much.

After I read that feedback today, I pulled out one of the natural pads (you can find them at Whole Foods, another organic market, or online) and put it on even though I was bleeding like a water hose.  THE BLEEDING IMMEDIATELY SLOWED ALMOST TO A STOP.  My cramps stopped.  My area down there stopped aching like someone punched it.  I feel great. I even went to dinner on day 2 of my period and sat somewhere for 2 hours at dinner, didn't use the bathroom, and I hardly bled at all!  I associated all of this with being late in the week.  I would have never thought it was the pads.

And, I bled for 3.5 months after birth.  My midwife said it was hormonal.  I thought the stress in my life had jacked up my hormones.  But, it was those damn pads.  Ugh.

mama cloth

I was reading on how hormones play a role in how heavy your period is, and I'm thinking that something in those conventional pads blocks your hormones from telling your body to stop bleeding.  Sean and I were talking about it today, and we think that it might not have been intentional on the part of the conventional pad companies, but once they figured that out, they decided to keep it going because they could sell more pads.

I am going to look into mama cloth, which is reusable pads. 

Teas for Pregnancy

Baby daddy would love to open a shop where one of the features were healing teas to improve the quality of people's lives.  I didn't realize until I got pregnant just how healing herbal teas can be.  I'm now beginning to understand that like massage, tea is not a luxury, but a requirement to live our healthiest lives.  Just look at the benefits of a few cups of tea per day for you and baby, and then tell me if you could go through pregnancy without drinking them regularly.  And then, imagine what other herbal teas could do for your life.  Wow!

Red Raspberry leaves contains many vitamins and minerals beneficial for pregnancy, including vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin B, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and potassium.  In Wise Women's Herbal for the Childbearing Years (pages 18-19), Susun Weed talks about raspberry leaves extensively, and that made as a tea or infusion, it is said to have the following attributes:

• Increased fertility in men and women
• Gives tone to uterine muscles
• Prevents miscarriage and hemorrhage
• Reduces pain during labor and after birth
• Facilitates delivery of the placenta
• Assists in breast milk production
• Contains calcium in it's most absorbable form, especially in conjunction with other vitamins and minerals
• Relieves morning sickness
• Calms emotions
• Can aid in preventing hypertension
• According to What to Expect When You're Expecting, it may encourage labor to begin.
  
  

According to Wise Women's Herbal for the Childbearing Years, nettle leaves include "nearly every vitamin and mineral known to be necessary for human health and growth," which includes "vitamins A, C, D, and K, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and sulphur" (pages 20-21).  Made as a tea or infusion, the attributes of nettle leaves include:

• Increases fertility in men and women
• Aids the kidneys, even when they are in disrepair or have stones
• And help protects against bladder infections
• Nourishes mother and baby
• Eases leg cramps and spasms
• Lessens pain after birth
• Prevents postpartum hemorrhage
• Reduces hemorrhoids, 
• Improves breast milk quality
• Helps alleviate varicose veins
• Guards against hypertension

Wise Woman's Herbal recommends drinking 2 to 4 cups of these teas per day..  The book mentions that you could drink raspberry tea one week and nettle tea the next week. Or, it suggests to stick with raspberry leaves until the end and then switch to nettle to prepare for labor.  I've found a few different "pregnancy teas" that combine raspberry leaf, nettle leaf, and a few other herbs.  I like these blends for just mixing up my options.  Traditional Medicinals makes a version that's I've been drinking.  My birth center sells an organic brew that is made for them.  And, I just bought a red raspberry brew that is mixed with nettles, peppermint, and alfalfa from the Bulk Herb Store, which is family-run.  I also just purchased red raspberry leaves and nettle leaves from the Bulk Herb Store.

Peppermint tea and ginger tea have booth been recommended to sooth morning sickness.

Raw Honey: Secret Acne Weapon

For some women, the hormonal changes of pregnancy come with unwanted breakouts.   I've been using raw honey on my face this week, which has drastically improved it's quality.  Raw honey has antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties and contains enzymes that make it effective for some folks.  They sell this brand of local (to DC), raw honey from Baltimore at Whole Foods, though you have to get through the honey comb at the top to get to the fluid honey:

I didn't have acne until I went away to college.  A combination of stress, a horrible water supply, and unhealthy food likely contributed to the problem.  I started washing my face with harsh cleansers, which would work for a few months, but then I'd have to find something else that worked.  A couple of years ago, I read an article about over-washing your face.  I realized that I washed my face two to three times per day, which was likely irritating my skin and stripping my it of natural oils that it needed to create a healthy balance. So, I stopped washing my face so much, aiming to only wash my face to get the makeup off at night or in the morning.  My acne immediately went away and I only broke out in conjunction with my menstrual cycle before I got pregnant.

So, I was disappointed when I started to breakout again, as I can imagine anyone would be.  Sean mentioned that peeing a lot is good, because every time I drink water and pee, it balances my hormones.  My first acne remedy was to then drink as much water as possible in hopes that it would balance my hormones and relieve some acne.  I was already drinking 80 ounces of fluid per day, mostly water, so I bumped it up to 100 ounces of fluids per day, and I really can't make myself drink anymore. And while things were starting to even out, I was still breaking out.

Two weeks ago, Sean told me the story of his coworker who started putting raw honey on her face to get rid of her acne, and that it was working for her.  I sat on that a couple of days.  We were out of raw honey and needed to order some.  I put it off and put it off, until I finally picked up a small jar of local, raw honey from Whole Foods.  Again, I put off using the honey again and again.  There just wasn't enough time to sit around with honey on my face.  But, last Saturday, I had a fancy dress party to go through and there was a huge zit on my temple, so I grabbed the raw honey and slathered it all over my face for 5 to 10 minutes.  When I washed it off, my face looked clearer and the big zit on my temple wasn't so scary.

My friend, Cortney, had come over to get ready for the fancy dress party, and she mentioned that she's a fan of this gal on youtube who has been using honey on her face for awhile.  She had really bad acne under the skin, and after trying everything with nothing working, she put raw honey on her face.  Voila!  Her face is now acne-free and baby-smooth.  I asked Cortney how long she leaves it on her face, and she said a couple of times per day as long as she can, sometimes having more time than others.

Every since I started to use it, my face has been clearer and smoother.  It's so soft! So, I'm definitely going to keep working with the raw honey as a possible natural remedy for these pregnancy breakouts.