Chow'n'Nibble

And the apps are so not legitimate!! They do not track real time signs. I’m so sick of women hyping up the cycles app and similar when it’s literally just a predictive algorithm. Our bodies are fluid and changing, but if you learn to track what’s happening in real time it is MORE effective than hormonal birth control. That doesn’t mean nobody will ever get pregnant using it but people get pregnant on birth control all the time. Look up a qualified instructor who will teach you and answer questions about your charts and you have 98-99% effective method. natural family planning method needs E for effort .

At chow'n'nibble,we offer you a 100% support on tracking your cycle .

For birth control methods that work after childbirth,Breastfeeding is absolutely not an even remotely reliable form of birth control. I know many people who have both had their cycles return, and also accidentally gotten pregnant while exclusively breastfeeding.yes Not all cycles immediately preceding menstruation will be ovulatory or non ovulatory, and amenorrhea may generally persists past the 6 month window even when one isn't exclusively breastfeeding, so the absence of no me**es doesn't mean ,one isn't ovulating yet. it’s not something I would ever rely on myself and if someone is considering it they should discuss with their partner or practitioner . However there is also a fair bit of misinformation about the method since it isn’t taught responsibly or accurately, I consider it a cool quirk of our bodies and not something I would ever risk using.

those who suffer from PMS, PMDD and dysmenorrhea: READ THIS

I know this is long, but I honestly would have killed for this information ,found this nice piece on the internet and decided to share .this might not be a solution for everyone but I do hope this will be a solution for some

**tl;dr: take calcium and vitamin d for menstrual symptoms**

I was never one to really get PMS symptoms. Maybe a little breast tenderness and soft stools on the first day, cramping on the first day but nothing Advil couldnt fix. Consistent, predictable periods

Last year my body went completely haywire. I don't even know how to begin explaining to you how sick I felt, like clockwork at ovulation, my body and my mind completely fell apart. It felt like no system was left untouched. I felt so bad I truly genuinely thought I was dying for months

All of the symptoms I experienced (many were just related to a vitamin deficiency and not my menstrual cycle specifically)

* gallbladder problems
* kidney problems
* heartburn, stomach acid washing back into my lungs
* chronic, random hives
* allergic reactions to things I had never reacted to before
* fevers
* diarrhea, sometimes 15x a day during ovulation
* constipation
* extreme loss of appetite. nausea/vomiting/gagging upon putting anything in my mouth
* muscle weakness and this really gross general body sensation I can only describe as 'puke colored and gooey'
* insane, out-of-control, burning up jet fuel kind of anxiety. beyond anything ive experienced before and ive lived with anxiety and anxiety attacks for years
* jet fueled insomnia
* extreme fatigue
* hallucinations
* vision problems, worse visual snow and sometimes feeling like I was processing my visual field like it was a simulation or something
* feeling like my eyes were bugging out of my head
* rapid accelerations or deceleration in BPM
* postural hypotension
* a burning sensation all over my body/neuropathy
* all kinds of different rashes
* blood pooling in my extremities when standing
* fainting
* headaches
* sudden, severe mood swings. feeling ok one minute and within minutes sinking into the deepest, most suicidal, hopeless depression I've ever experienced
* irregular periods
* periods that were lighter/thinner than normal but stretched over a longer period of time
* PAINFUL AWFUL cramps. like sweating, fetal position, cant get off the bathroom floor all week cramps
* chronic pelvic and low back pain
* a sensation of growing pains in my bones that I've actually had since I was 17 but no doctor knew anything about. but during this whole thing I realized they also happen around ovulation

It took a few months but I started to realize certain, and the most severe, symptoms occurred at ovulation, and a bit into the luteal phase but they seemed to level out some before my period. During ovulation I felt like my body was burning up jet fuel and then after I crashed and just felt really tired, weak and sluggish for a few days.

I saw a family doctor, 2 gastroenterologists, countless urgent care docs, a cardiologist, and finally, when I realized my symptoms were cyclical, 2 endocrinologists.

The first endocrinologists ran a bunch of tests and basically just found I was really low in vitamin D. 'Whatever' I thought "Everyone's deficient in vitamin D'. So she gave me some mega doses of vitamin D for 2 weeks and then a maintenance dose. I felt better so, so quickly. Even symptoms I had for years but didn't think were necessarily linked, like the pelvic pain and bone pain and hives/new allergies, went away. My mental health, which I've struggled with since I was 12 when I saw my first therapist, has improved dramatically.

I could not believe that the most sick I've felt in my life was due to a single nutritional deficiency. At my follow up I tried to ask for an explanation; about the connections between vitamin D and the menstrual cycle, and my doctor didn't really know, she just knew a lack of vitamin D could make you feel really bad.

That wasn't good enough for me. I hated that no doctor could really tell me *why* I was going to hell and back every month so I wasn't feeling confident it couldn't happen again. I started doing my own research (which, tbh, I'm very good at. I'm a recovering hypochondriac and my doctors who know me well often encourage me to consider med school. It's hard for me to praise myself, but I am good at this stuff.) Basically I found some, but not a ton, of research basically linking vitamin D, calcium, the parathyroid glands and the menstrual cycle. I didn't know if the relative lack of research was just because the science was still in its infancy, if the medical community just doesn't care about women's issues enough, or if it was bad science.

But in all of these papers I check the authors and if they're still working. One of them luckily, is working and coincidentally, was also in a hospital system I was previously a part of (Mount Sinai). I scheduled an appointment with her and I'm so glad I did. She was the first doctor who could finally, *finally* tell me what was going on with my body because PMS is what she's spent her career studying.

We all know calcium and estrogen are linked right? We know post menopausal women are at increased risk for osteoporosis. We also know women who experienced PMS/PMDD are more likely to have osteoporosis. Why? Estrogen helps the body absorb calcium. We also know vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption. Without enough vitamin D, your body can't get enough calcium. After a long time without vitamin D, your body will start leeching calcium from your bones in an effort to maintain homeostasis. Calcium isn't just an essential nutrient for bones, it's also an electrolyte. Electrolytes regulate nerve and muscle function as well as balance water and acid.

During ovulation when estrogen peaks, the parathyroid glands along with estrogen leech calcium from the bones because they body isn't able to get it anywhere else, causing bone weakening and a sudden surge in calcium in the blood stream in a condition called hypercaleceima. Though hypercalecemia caused by vitamin d deficiency are usually less severe than hypercalecemia caused by parathyroid tumors. When estrogen drops, so too does calcium in the bloodstream, leading to hypocalecemia

Electrolyte imbalances are serious; my mom almost died from one. At a low level they're not critical, but they're going to make you feel sick -- possibly monthly. If the nerves in all of your organs aren't being regulated properly by proper electrolyte balance, of course that's going to cause some issues. Further, dysregulated muscles and nerves are going to cause PAIN, including more painful cramps then necessary

Again, it's amazing to me that the most sick I've felt could be so easily cured with some supplements. But calcium isn't just a mineral, its an electrolyte. And vitamin d isn't really a vitamin (since we can make it ourselves), it's a pre-hormone and acts more like a steroid in the body. Neither me or my doctor know why my symptoms got so severe all of a sudden, but we think COVID probably had a hand in that. I also was taking omeprazole, a strong antacid, for a few months when I was first having my GI symptoms. With less stomach acid, my body was less able to break down food and get the necessary nutrients out of it, so I was exasperating my problem further.

Again, I know this is long but I hope the few of you that read the whole thing feel empowered to take control of your menstrual cycle; that you don't have to suffer this way every month. I can confidently say, at least for me, I am no longer experiencing any of the symptoms above. And they were resolved so so quickly. I've also been taking vitamin B12 and a B complex vitamin. Which brings me to my other point; **this probably isn't going to be a solution for you if you're not deficient in these vitamins.** But if you live in an industrialized country, if you have darker skin, if you wear sunscreen religiously, or if you don't go outside much, there's a good chance youre deficient in D. And if you don't really eat meat, and aren't diligent about replacing meat-specific nutrients, you're probably low in B12.

Ok, I'm getting off my soap box. I just really, really don't want anyone to have to suffer like I did especially when the solution is so easy, but also easily missed.

Tuesday tummy ;your meal plan is ready
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nutrition plays a vital role when it comes to having a healthy body and reproductive system. The building blocks for hormones are found in the foods we eat. Antioxidants, which help to protect the egg and s***m from free radicals, are found in the foods that we eat.