Disease Index Homeopathy Papers

Menstrual Cramps

Written by Elaine Lewis

Homeopathy for Menstrual Cramps

Who hasn’t had menstrual cramps?  Hopefully, you have a home remedy kit!  I hear Dana Ullman is selling Emergency Kits, go to his website: www.homeopathic.com. 

And now…without further ado…. here are your remedies for painful menses:

Belladonna–Throbbing pains, violent pains, worse on the right side.  Sudden onset.  Bright red, clotted, hot, profuse bleeding.  Congested/full feeling in uterus.  Bearing down sensation.  Irritable with maddening pains.  Better lying down but propped up; thirst for cold water or no thirst at all, desire for lemons or lemonade, worse motion, worse from being jarred, worse light and noise.

Chamomilla–The mentals will be the guiding factors here.  The person may be hypersensitive and intolerant to pain–very irritable, easily angered and inconsolable.  Intense pains extending down inner thighs.  The blood may be black with large clots with gushing of bright red blood.  The person desires cold drinks, is worse lying down, better cold applications, which is very unusual.

Colocynthis–This one looks a lot like Mag-phos.  There’s a bit more emphasis on the amelioration from hard pressure with Colocynth, though.  With Mag-phos, there’s more of an emphasis on “better heat” (Colocynth is better heat too).  You might find the Colocynth patient in the “bending double” position.  Thirsty.  Irritable, indignant.  Anger aggravates.

Ipecac– When nausea is the prominent feature of the case.

Kali carb– Sharp pains.  Cramps felt in the back, extending down to the thighs.  Swollen breasts, water retention.

Lac Caninum–Painful swelling of the breasts before the period.  Flow in gushes.  Pains may alternate from side to side.

Lachesis–PMS-irritable, jealous, depressed, headache, flushes of heat all ameliorated with the onset of the flow.  Severe cramps, worse from pressure of the clothing, ameliorated with the onset of the flow.  Flow may be black, scanty, lumpy; the less the flow, the more the cramps.  Better from open air, cold drinks, talking, worse from sleep, heat, hot drinks.

Magnesia Phosphorica (Mag-phos)–This is the main one!  If you’re not sure what to do, give Mag-phos.  This is the typical picture of a woman with her period, doubled over with hot water bottles or a heating pad pressed firmly against her abdomen.  The flow is dark.  She wants to be nurtured; better hot baths, better pressure, worse lying on the right side.  Thirst for cold drinks.

Nux Vomica–Pain in lower back with constant urging to stool.  Patient may be chilly and very irritable, impatient and angry.  Better rest, lying down, worse pressure–even pressure of clothing. Desire for fats and spicy foods.

Pulsatilla–The menses are easily suppressed (stopped), for instance, by getting the feet wet or by bathing or swimming. Menses are irregular and the flow is irregular–changeable.  The mentals will be a tip-off here.  The Pulsatilla patient is weepy, sad, changeable, shy, dependent, wants nurturing, love and attention; she is thirstless; she craves creamy things–whipped cream, ice cream; she is warm, worse in warm rooms, better in open air, walking slowly in cool crisp weather.

Sabina–Severe cramps extend from low back to pubis; also, pain extends from uterus to thighs. Blood is bright red or bright red mixed with dark clots. Shooting pain up the vagina.  Better lying flat on the back with limbs extended.

Secale–Continuous discharge of watery black blood until the next period.

Sepia–Weak uterus, bearing down sensation as if all the organs would fall out, she feels that she must cross her legs; menses late, scanty, irregular or early and profuse.  Violent stitches upward in the vagina.  Low sex drive.  Patient may be angry, tired, chilly, irritable and over-worked.  She may desire sour foods like pickles and lemons, but also may desire chocolate.  She may be much improved by exercise, worse from cold, better warmth.  Fainting from menses.

Veratrum Album–Heavy periods, severe cramps often associated with diarrhea and vomiting. Chilliness with cold sweat, especially on the forehead, and weakness/exhaustion, feels faint; may desire ice water.

Viburnum– Viburnum is Cramp Bark.  Cramps extend to thighs.  Bearing down sensation.  Severe pains in lower abdomen.  Aching in the rectum.  Lying down ameliorates, worse movement.  Feel free to use Cramp Bark tincture as well.

How to take your remedy:

Tap one, two or three 30C pellets into the cap of the remedy bottle and pop them into your mouth. Allow them to melt on your tongue.

If subsequent doses are needed, tap a few pellets into a half-filled bottle of water, shake the bottle and take a sip as often as the severity of the condition seems to warrant.  However, don’t repeat if you’re improving from the previous dose because you could cause an antidote that way!  Always remember to shake the bottle before each dose.  Don’t be surprised if 30C isn’t strong enough to stop the cramps and you need the 200C, and it’s even possible that you might need a 1M.  (“1M” is our abbreviation for 1,000C.)

How often to take the remedy depends on how much or how little you’re improving since the first dose.  If at any time there is a striking or noticeable improvement, there is no reason to keep taking the remedy unless the improvement stops.

If the improvement is advancing only slowly, a general rule is take the remedy 3 or 4 times a day and as you improve, take less and less often.

The idea is to take the remedy often enough to ensure a steady improvement, but not so often that you cause an aggravation or accidental antidote.  In fact, if at any time you think you’re getting worse, stop the remedy.  Again, if the improvement slows down or stops, repeat the dose.  In general, if there has been no improvement after an hour go to the next higher potency, and if still no improvement, consider a different remedy.

If you are helped by one of these remedies but find that the symptoms keep coming back every month just the same, you might want to consider seeing a homeopath for constitutional treatment, which means prescribing for the whole person, so that you can be free of painful menses once and for all.

Regarding potency, you can start with a 30C but don’t be surprised if you actually need a 200C or a 1M to get rid of cramps; you might want to consider ordering these higher potencies online in advance if you don’t live near a homeopathic pharmacy or a health food store that sells the higher potencies.  I hope this helps!

_________________

Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.

Elaine takes online cases! Write to her at [email protected]

Visit her website: elaineLewis.hpathy.com

About the author

Elaine Lewis

Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.
Elaine is a passionate homeopath, helping people offline as well as online. Contact her at [email protected]
Elaine is a graduate of Robin Murphy's Hahnemann Academy of North America and author of many articles on homeopathy including her monthly feature in the Hpathy ezine, "The Quiz". Visit her website at:
https://elainelewis.hpathy.com/ and TheSilhouettes.org

8 Comments

  • I often give Cramp bark – Viburnum in herbal tincture especially if they are on a constitutional remedy that I don’t want to mix another remedy with. I can’t say I can remember a failure with this.

  • I prescribe 1/2 to 1 teaspoon in a little water at the start of any pain. It rarely has to be repeated and by the next menses hopefully the constitutional will have kicked in and the Cramp bark won’t be needed.

  • Interesting Elaine as I phoned Helios once and was told that their MTs were a 1x. Since you always have a herbal tincture in water I suppose they are not much different except in the price!! Herbal is a lot cheaper and you can easily make a 1x yourself if you really want.
    Thinking again of a MT you wouldn’t give 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon on a MT like you would with a Herbal tincture. But no reason why they both wouldn’t work .

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