1. Cramps and Other Sensations
Women can experience a variety of sensations before, during or after their menses. Common complaints include backache, pain in the inner thighs, bloating, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, headaches, breast tenderness, irritability, and other mood changes. Women also experience positive sensations such as relief, release, euphoria, connection with nature, creative energy, increased sex drive and more intense orgasms.

2. Uterine cramping is one of the most common uncomfortable sensations women may have during menstruation. There are two kinds of cramping. Spasmodic cramping is probably caused by prostaglandins, chemicals that affect muscle tension. Some prostaglandins cause relaxation, and some cause constriction. A diet high in linoleic and liblenic acids, found in vegetables and fish, increases the prostaglandins for aiding muscle relaxation.

3. Congestive cramping causes the body to retain fluids and salt
Congestive cramping causes the body to retain fluids and salt. To counter congestive cramping, avoid wheat and dairy products, alcohol, caffeine, and refined sugar.

4. Natural options to alleviate cramping:
Increase exercise. This will improve blood and oxygen circulation throughout the body, including the pelvis.
Try not using tampons. Many women find tampons increase cramping. Don't select an IUD (intrauterine device) as your birth control method.
Avoid red meat, refined sugars, milk, and fatty foods.
Eat lots of fresh vegetables, whole grains (especially if you experience constipation or indigestion), nuts, seeds and fruit.
Avoid caffeine. It constricts blood vessels and increases tension.
Meditate, get a massage.
Have an orgasm (alone or with a partner).
Drink ginger root tea (especially if you experience fatigue).
Put cayenne pepper on food. It is a vasodilator and improves circulation.

5. Breathe deeply, relax, notice where you hold tension in your body and let it go.
Ovarian Kung Fu alleviates or even eliminates menstrual cramps and PMS, it also ensures smooth transition through menopause
Take time for yourself!
-Anecdotal information suggests eliminating Nutra-Sweet from the diet will significantly relieve menstrual cramps. If you drink sugar-free sodas or other forms of Nutra-Sweet, try eliminating them completely for two months and see what happens.

6. The hormones in our bodies are especially sensitive to diet and nutrition. PMS and menstrual cramping are not diseases, but rather, symptoms of poor nutrition.

7. Premenstrual Syndrome or PMS
-PMS has been known by women for many years. However, within the past 30 or so years, pharmaceutical companies have targeted and created a market to treat this normal part of a woman's cycle as a disease. These companies then benefit from the sale of drugs and treatments.
-Premenstrual syndrome refers to the collection of symptoms or sensations women experience as a result of high hormone levels before, and sometimes during, their periods.

8. -One type of PMS is characterized by anxiety, irritability and mood swings. These feelings are usually relieved with the onset of bleeding. Most likely, this type relates to the balance between estrogen and progesterone. If estrogen predominates, anxiety occurs. If there's more progesterone, depression may be a complaint.

9. -Sugar craving, fatigue and headaches signify a different type of PMS
-Sugar craving, fatigue and headaches signify a different type of PMS. In addition to sugar, women may crave chocolate, white bread, white rice, pastries, and noodles. These food cravings may be caused by the increased responsiveness to insulin related to increased hormone levels before menstruation. In this circumstance, women may experience symptoms of low blood sugar; their brains are signaling a need for fuel. A consistent diet that includes complex carbohydrates will provide a steady flow of energy to the brain and counter the ups and downs of blood sugar variations.

10. -Fertility Awareness
 is a birth control method where women monitor their cycles daily to identify ovulation. They are learning to predict ovulation to prevent or encourage pregnancy. It requires training and diligent record keeping.
From our work providing abortion services, we know that some women can be pregnant and continue to have periods at the same time. We also know of cases where women have gotten pregnant during their menstrual period.

11. Common Menstrual Problems
-Most issues teens confront when they start menstruating are completely normal. In fact, many girls and women have had to deal with one or more of them at one time or another:

12. Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)-
PMS includes both physical and emotional symptoms that many females get right before their periods, such as:
acne
bloating
fatigue
backaches
breasts tenderness.
headaches
constipation
diarrhea
food cravings
depression or feeling blue
irritability
difficulty concentrating
difficulty handling stress

13. -Different girls may have some or all of these symptoms in varying combinations. PMS is usually at its worst during the 7 days before the period starts and disappears soon after it begins. But girls usually don't develop symptoms associated with PMS until several years after menstruation starts — if ever.

14. -Although the exact cause of PMS is unknown, it seems to occur because of changing hormone levels, and their effect on chemicals in the brain. During the second half of the menstrual cycle, the amount of progesterone in the body increases. Then, about 7 days before the period starts, levels of both progesterone and estrogen drop.

15. Some girls' bodies seem to be more sensitive to these hormone changes than others. Talk to your daughter's doctor if her symptoms are severe or interfere with her normal activities.

16. Cramps:
-Many girls experience abdominal cramps during the first few days of their periods. They're caused by prostaglandin, a chemical in the body that makes the smooth muscle in the uterus contract. These involuntary contractions can be either dull or sharp and intense.
-The good news is that cramps usually only last a few days. But call your daughter's doctor if she has severe cramps that keep her home from school or from doing stuff with her friends.

17. Irregular Periods
-It can take 2 to 3 years from a girl's first period for her body to develop a regular cycle. During that time, the body is essentially adjusting to the influx of hormones unleashed by puberty. And what's "regular" varies from person to person. The typical cycle of an adult female is 28 days, although some are as short as 21 days and others are as long as 45.

18. -Changing hormone levels might make a girl's period last a short time during one month (just a few days) and a long time the next (up to a week). She may skip months, get two periods almost right after each other, or alternate between heavy and light bleeding from one month to another.

19. -But any girl who's sexually active and skips a period should see a doctor to make sure she's not pregnant. And if your daughter's period still hasn't settled into a relatively predictable pattern after 3 years, or if she has four or five regular periods and then skips her period or becomes irregular, make an appointment with her doctor to check for possible problems. Also let your daughter's doctor know if her cycle is less than 21 days or more than 45 days, or if she doesn't get a period for 3 months at any time after first beginning to menstruate.

20. Delayed Menarche
-Girls go through puberty at different rates. Some reach menarche (the medical term for the first period or the beginning of menstruation) as early as 9 or 10 years old and others don't have their first periods until they're well into their teen years. So, if your daughter is a "late bloomer," it doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong with her.

21. -When girls get their periods actually depends a lot on genetics
-When girls get their periods actually depends a lot on genetics. Girls often start menstruating at approximately the same age their mothers or grandmothers did. Also, certain ethnic groups, on average, go through puberty earlier than others. For instance, African-American girls, on average, start puberty and get their periods before Caucasian girls do.

22. -Let your daughter's doctor know if she hasn't gotten her period by age 15, or by 3 years after starting puberty.

23. Problems That May Be Cause for Concern
-Although most period problems are harmless, a few conditions can be more serious and require medical attention:

24. Amenorrhea (the Absence of Periods)
Girls who haven't started their periods by the time they're 16 years old or 3 years after they've shown the first signs of puberty have primary amenorrhea, which is usually caused by a genetic abnormality, a hormone imbalance, or a structural problem. Hormones are also often responsible for secondary amenorrhea, which is when a girl who had normal periods suddenly stops menstruating for more than 6 months or three of her usual cycles.

25. -Since pregnancy is the most common cause of secondary amenorrhea, it should always be ruled out when a girl skips periods. In addition to hormone imbalances, other things that can cause both primary and secondary amenorrhea include:

26. stress
significant weight loss or gain
anorexia (amenorrhea can be a sign that a girl is losing too much weight and may have anorexia)
stopping birth control pills
thyroid conditions
ovarian cysts
other conditions that can affect hormone levels

27. -Something that can also cause primary and secondary amenorrhea is excessive exercising (often distance running ) combined with a poor diet, which usually results in inappropriate weight loss or failure to gain weight during growth. But this doesn't include the usual gym class or school sports team, even those that practice often. To exercise so much that she delays her period, a girl would have to train vigorously for several hours a day, most days of the week, and not get enough calories, vitamins, and minerals.

28. Menorrhagia: (Extremely Heavy, Prolonged Periods)
-It's normal for a girl's period to be heavier on some days than others. But signs of menorrhagia (excessively heavy or long periods) can include soaking through at least one sanitary (pad) an hour for several hours in a row or periods that last longer than 7 days. Girls with menorrhagia sometimes stay home from school or social functions because they're worried they won't be able to control the bleeding in public.

29. -The most frequent cause of menorrhagia is an imbalance between the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the body, which allows the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) to keep building up. When the endometrium is finally shed during menstruation, the resulting bleeding is particularly heavy.

30. -Because many adolescents have slight hormone imbalances during puberty, menorrhagia isn't uncommon in teens. But in some cases, heavy menstrual bleeding can be caused by problems such as:
fibroids (benign growths) or polyps in the uterus
thyroid conditions
clotting disorders
inflammation or infection in the vagina or cervix
-If your daughter has heavy periods, or periods that last longer than 7 days, talk to her doctor.

31. Dysmenorrhea (Painful Periods)
-There are two types of dysmenorrhea, which is severely painful menstruation that can interfere with a girl's ability to attend school, study, or sleep:

32. Primary dysmenorrheal:
- is very common in teens and is not caused by a disease or other condition. Instead, the culprit is prostaglandin, the same chemical behind cramps. Large amounts of prostaglandin can lead to nausea, vomiting, headaches, backaches, diarrhea, and severe cramps. Fortunately, these symptoms usually last for only a day or two.

33. Secondary dysmenorrhea :
-is pain caused by some physical condition like polyps or fibroids in the uterus, endometriosis, pelvic, or adenomyosis (uterine tissue growing into the muscular wall of the uterus).
-Having cramps for a day or two each month is common, but if your daughter has symptoms severe enough to keep her from her normal activities, discuss it with her doctor.