PMS: Tell it Like It Is. Your cravings, Babe (Part 1)

[maggiethecat]

a pint of healthy choice fudge and caramel ice cream....for breakfast

You totally rock.

Indulge, relax, who cares?

[gingerly]

black sesame works wonders-but then we'd have to think of other excuses

[Verjuice]

Cream-top yogurt. Ten cups of it (that's two and a half cartons). With blackberries, raspberries, peaches, granola... and a gallon of Grade B maple syrup.

Scooped up with giant, floppy Kashmiri sweet naan stuffed with dried cherries and pistachios.

My tummy hurts all over .

[Pickles]

Cream-top yogurt. Ten cups of it (that's two and a half cartons).

All at once!!? Why must this "TOM" be regarded as a time men must fear, and a time women can chow their faces off? Get a grip, ladies, please! This is NOT attractive.

Edited July 24, 2004 by Pickles (log)

[Verjuice]

Why must this "TOM" be regarded as a time men must fear, and a time women can chow their faces off? Get a grip, ladies, please! This is NOT attractive.

And that simply does not matter. It's not that I binge because I'm famished and finicky around this time of the month; I'm just too tired and worn out to come up with excuses not to eat as much as I like. I give myself a break by granting my body permission to abandon my more typical forms of restraint.

[JumpinJude]

I am another of the group that doesn't seem to have cravings related to my cycle... not that I can tell, anyway.

My step-Mom always craved the bloody, creaming, mooing steaks... And my best friend is a chocofiend.

But it was Thai spicy fried rice, nectarines, Breyer's Vanilla (which I had never eaten in my life), and bread that called to me while preggers.

[cakewalk]

I give myself a break by granting my body permission to abandon my more typical forms of restraint.

Beautifully and eloquently stated.

Now can you please pass that pint of Ben and Jerry's? Don't bother with a bowl, I've got a spoon.

[yushoe]

yesterday i ate 4 pieces of toasts drenched in grade A maple syrup and two pickles for lunch....

[FL Heat]

A couple of weeks ago I drove to the store, bought a package of Nestle chocolate chips, drove home, put them in the freezer, waited an hour, then pulled them out and ate half the bag

Then ate the other half the next day.

Diana

(who feels better after confessing)

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Best PMS meal ever for me: last time around, going to a Vietnamese place, ordering a bowl of hot and spicy beef noodle soup, and finding that it came with not only beef but pig's feet and cubes of pig's blood. Soooooo perfect, the iron hit was just what the doctor called for.

Also, I want to thank whoever it was in this thread who suggested taking more calcium for cramps. It really works! I got chewable calcium tablets and have one or two of those a day, perhaps three during High Tide, and my cramps have almost disappeared. Yay!

Pat

[sanguinella]

About several days prior to the funeral of another ovum I have this need to snack on salty things, be they crackers, cheetos, pretzels (with or without liquid refreshment) and toasty gooey cheese sandwiches, mayo and mustard (yes, I have actually just spread mayo and mustard on a slice of toast and eaten the slice without any other meat or cheese or veggie), hot dogs, slices of pastrami,salami, capicollo, prosciutto etc... During this time I have not noted the same urge to snack on sweets, but I have heard of, and witnessed it in other girls. Fortunately my appetite resets itself during the actual period, in fact from overdrive it coasts into neutral, or I would be extremely well prepared to face the cold of Antartica.

[klc14]

Best PMS meal ever for me: last time around, going to a Vietnamese place, ordering a bowl of hot and spicy beef noodle soup, and finding that it came with not only beef but pig's feet and cubes of pig's blood. Soooooo perfect, the iron hit was just what the doctor called for.

Also, I want to thank whoever it was in this thread who suggested taking more calcium for cramps. It really works! I got chewable calcium tablets and have one or two of those a day, perhaps three during High Tide, and my cramps have almost disappeared. Yay!

Pat

Congratulations!!!

Pickles: love the little blue smiley/shrieky. But really, some months at this TOM (love the acronym) I just don't give a damn about attractive.

Hmmm...

"feeling low?"

"Yeah, TOM's back in town..."

"Oh, I know what you mean. Have some chips. Here, take the bag!"

[AmyDaniel]

What a fabulous, fabulous thread!

Cheese. At least a week before the little friend arrives. Cheese, cheese, cheese. Cheddar, please.

My sister (PumpkinLover) mentioned chicken katsu curry long ago - kinda funny, b/c I'll also crave curry rice, this thing that Columbia came up with: sticky rice, bulgogi, and shrimp tempura, all covered with Japanese curry. Too bad we graduated and now would have to actually pay real money for that...omg, mmmmm...

Amy

[jess mebane]

My sister (PumpkinLover) mentioned chicken katsu curry long ago - kinda funny, b/c I'll also crave curry rice............

wow, that totally has me jonesin' for the liquidy rice at the bottom of a good chicken panang bowl, which is what we're looking for in bulk quantities during teabag week....think there's a homeopathic link of some kind between curry and PMS?

[megaira]

Part I: yea but...

This is NOT attractive.

During PMS, my face is broken out, I weigh 10 pounds more with all the bloating and therefore I not only do I look fat, but none of my clothing fits comfortably... I think "attractiveness" is pretty low on the scale of priorities.

Just getting through the week in one piece is usually accomplishment enough.

Part II: opinion

I noticed talking a couple pages back on ssri's and pms, seretonin, etc.

I had read somewhere something about PMS and anxiety getting worse, and was going to write it all out -scattered and badly cited, needing plenty of salt that it was - but luckily found a page I can cite that's much easier to read than I am. ;)

estrogen, neurotransmitters and PMS

I have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder and I've noticed that the symptoms get considerably worse during PMS and considerably better the day my period ends. In fact, I'd say I'm at my best a day or two after my period. That's when I get all the bills done, the house cleaned, meals cooked, the dog's claws clipped and all that little crap that I space out on the rest of the month.

One of the treatments for ADD-AD/HD is a stimulant, which triggers dopamine... which according to the cite above, helps regulate seretonin and other neurotransmitters that are, apparantly, flooding the brain during PMS. So this all makes sense to me, in a roundabout way.

What I don't understand, and is completely unrelated (aka, feel free to ignore) is that one of the treatments for ADD is strattera, which, from my understanding, works primarily as a reuptake inhibitor for norepinephrine...which causes the brain to basically soak in the stuff. At one point, the doc suggested adderall (stimulant/dopamine) and strattera (RI/norepinephrine) together...which seems like it would cancel itself out. So I'm just confused about that and I'll have to pester them. Anyhoo!

Point being: the hormones do effect your brain juice and all the wacky crap and cravings are indeed valid and it is certianly not a character defect that this crap goes on every month. Just saying.

This may be, as an aside, why that Dr. Christine Northrup pushes soy so much - soy is apparantly (I have not seen any medical cites for it, because i haven't been looking, to be honest) supposed to glob onto hormones and balance them out so that there isn't too much estrogen, or testosterone, etc. If this is a valid claim, then it seems it would be because the soy would help the body not produce too much estrogen and too little progesterone during pms, and therefore not cause the neurotransmitter traffic snarl in the brain.

And now for more readings from the Dr. Bronner's magic soap label...

PART III: kvetching

I griped back in November about the pill causing PMS cravings all the time. It was otherwise making me crazy & nuked my sex drive (heh, irony) anyway, so I went off in December...and felt the cravings recede to a pleasant murmer during the "off" weeks: "oh, would you like some ice cream? bad time? ok, we'll wait a day or two..."

Then I started Strattera for the ADD, and it killed them.

It killed my entire appetite, actually.

It was like the bug bomb you set off for ants one summer, and you don't even see a house spider for 2 years afterwards. I haven't browsed here much between then and now, because I couldn't interest myself in food. I was in a state of delayed buyer's remorse and semi-misery, looking at stacks of cookbooks, racks of pots & pans, the boos cutting board and nice knife set I'd just bought at Christmas... all useless and unappealing. We have been eating junkfood and crap takeout for the last few months, with the odd meal here and there.

I finally stopped the strattera in June and had a period (pardon the pun) where I felt like my appetite was coming back. We bought an ice cream maker for our anniversary, and went on an ice cream making spree. I made carrot cake ice cream...with a chili pepper...and it tasted like carrot cake with redhots in it...it was delicious. I was happy... my appetite was not ruling me, but I was thinking about food in a creative way again. I thought at the time I'd like a steamer...

Then they plunked me on adderall...which is...well, pardon the lack of pc'ness... speed...and so by the time I got around to buying the steamer, my interest in food had gone flaccid. The steamer is sitting there in the box, unopened, and probably going back. We're back to take out junk, my appetite has faded and I don't care what I eat, as long as it makes my stomach stop growling.

I really liked food -being obsessed with it stunk, but not caring about it anymore stunk too. *watches ray of sunshine darken and go out*

I jokingly thought to myself I should mix the pill and adderall to balance things out, but then I'd have an weak appetite and no sex drive.

Edited August 4, 2004 by megaira (log)

[klc14]

Part I: yea but...

During PMS, my face is broken out, I weigh 10 pounds more with all the bloating and therefore I not only do I look fat, but none of my clothing fits comfortably...  I think "attractiveness" is pretty low on the scale of priorities. 

Just getting through the week in one piece is usually accomplishment enough.

Part II: opinion

I noticed talking a couple pages back on ssri's and pms, seretonin, etc. 

I have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder and I've noticed that the symptoms get considerably worse during PMS and considerably better the day my period ends.  In fact, I'd say I'm at my best a day or two after my period.  That's when I get all the bills done, the house cleaned, meals cooked, the dog's claws clipped and all that little crap that I space out on the rest of the month.

I second your point on attractiveness.

Wow. You've been through a lot with this. I feel much less burdened by my own PMS now. Although I never tried prescription meds to handle it. Some bummer side effects there. (All your appetites gone--where's the fun in life then?)

If you happen to think of it, you might post that carrot cake with red pepper ice cream recipe in Recipe Gullet. Although I'm not sure you'd have the energy, so we'll all understand if you don't get around to it.

I often remembered a certain scattiness in myself about that time, such as you describe but never had a diagnosis of ADD. I just figured I was too tired that week.

Hope you and the docs get this ironed out for you!

[megaira]

(All your appetites gone--where's the fun in life then?)

I suppose I'll have to replace my lust for food and sex with a lust for power, then devote my time to elaborate plots to take over the world.

If you happen to think of it, you might post that carrot cake with red pepper ice cream recipe in Recipe Gullet. Although I'm not sure you'd have the energy, so we'll all understand if you don't get around to it.

I can give you the gist of it... I saw a recipe for carrot chili ice cream in Sunset magazine... and went from there...added brown sugar, the pumpkin pie-ish spices, vanilla and pineapple (which I like...if you wanted to be more purist, you could substitute fine grated carrot...I'd up the brown sugar a touch, though)

It needs tuning, as we just threw everything in, added this and that until it tasted like I wanted it to & tossed it in the machine. The frozen result was a bit icy due to either my sheer laziness or the higher ratio of carrot juice to cream, so maybe someone here will tackle ironing out the wrinkles (if you do, pm me and let me know). If I make it again, I'll probably use more egg yolks and maybe more cream to juice.

The notes I'd posted in my blog that day:

2.5 cups carrot juice (recipe in the magazine boiled it, I did, but I assume that's for fresh, non pasturized juice vs. stuff like Odwalla)

.75 cups whipping cream

.75 cups sugar

.25 cups brown sugar

2 eggs, lightly scrambled

.25 tsp nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon (allspice? I forget)

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup crushed pineapple (or a bit more)

1 little red chili pepper.

If you boil the juice, temper the eggs before you add them. 

Otherwise, mix everything but pineapple and chili and over medium-low cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.

Granted, I skipped that step. I said "the hell with spoon coating" because I'm lazy.  I waited until it looked reasonably thick - cooled it and tossed the stuff in the machine. So change whatever you want.

When the mix starts thickening up a bit, toss in the chili and forget about it (until you go to eat the ice cream, then it's a good time to remember there's a chili in there).

Cool the mix, dump in the machine and wait 25 minutes. Toss in the pineapple towards the end.  It's good, it's like red hot cinnamon carrot cake ice cream. All it needs is the cream cheese frosting.

Swirling in cream cheese frosting just seems like it'd be tasty.

I often remembered a certain scattiness in myself about that time, such as you describe but never had a diagnosis of ADD. I just figured I was too tired that week.

Hope you and the docs get this ironed out for you!

:) Thanks.

Edited August 5, 2004 by megaira (log)

[KatieM]

I need a brownie today - BADLY. I mean, so badly that it hurts. I've been craving a brownie for several days, and I haven't had one yet. And it's not even just a chocolate craving necessarily. I have chocolate cake in the freezer (leftover from my chocolate cake experiments a while back). Didn't work. There's fudge in the house because my parents were in town last weekend and we went to Ocean City. That also didn't work. I tried just eating some plain chocolate. That didn't work. I ate some brownie scraps from the batch I made at work on Saturday (2nd job at bakery). They sucked. Had to use the owner's stupid "secret" recipe that sucks. I didn't even want to eat any scraps. The owner made me. So that didn't work.

I'm very pissy today as well. I feel like crying for no good reason. Well, actually I do have a good reason, since I'm trying to work on my stupid resume and plan a move and try to figure out how not to get fired from the job I have before I have the new job nailed down. Sob.

THAT'S IT!!! I AM MAKING BROWNIES TONIGHT!!!

I will most likely consume the whole pan. Maybe my roommate will help. She's awesome.

Edited to say that I am making the Best Ever Brownies from Baking With Julia, in case anyone was wondering

Edited August 17, 2004 by KatieM (log)

[Ling]

I am making the Best Ever Brownies from Baking With Julia, in case anyone was wondering

That's my favorite brownie recipe. They're soooo delicious I can eat the whole pan too!

[hillvalley]

Okay, now I want brownie batter

I have eaten more carbs today than you low carb'ers could ever dream of.

Breakfast was powdered donugts and dry Cheerios (my favorite)

Lunch was a big bowl of Udon soup with shrimp tempura

Dinner was half a box of rotini with homade tomato sauce

After dinner snack was a package of Salad flavored Poky

I just realized I have to be in a bathing suit in three days. grrrrrrrrrrr

I'm off to find some chocolate

[KatieM]

That is an impressive list, Hillvalley!

MUCH better today. Made the brownies last night, and they were PERFECT!!! Woohoo! Fixed me right up. I also made a blistering hot salsa, because I had some nice tomatoes and chiles laying around, and for some reason I needed it to be hot. So hot it hurt. So hot that I was coughing from the fumes while I was chopping. Whew! I'm going to have to add an extra tomato to it today, but last night it was just what I needed. Not sure why I had that craving last night. I usually can't handle spicy stuff, and I'm a complete wuss about it. But last night I needed it. You know what? I think I found my new favorite "that time" food! I swear the heat actually helped my cramps. Well, and the salt from the chips felt good too.

Ok, so here's what I did last night -

Came home from work, started brownies. Licked the spoon, bowl, beaters. Put brownies in oven. Started on salsa.

While brownies were baking, I ate -

At least half a bag of Tostitos Scoops chips (which fit salsa in them so nicely). Probably a third of the batch of salsa, even though it was way too hot for me and was burning me inside and out.

Since I seed the tomatoes when I make salsa, I poured all that lovely goop on a plate and sprinkled with salt. I ate this with a spoon.

Kept checking the brownies. Every time I did, I stuck the knife in, and when the brownie batter stuck to it, I licked this off ( I washed the knife in between checks, but only because my roommate would be having some of the brownies too)

Ate more salsa. Started sweating and wheezing. Geez that stuff was hot. Brownies finally came out of the oven. I restrained myself from eating them immediately. I cleaned up the kitchen and watched the Olympics.

Ate the first brownie straight up. It was a corner piece. Had to check them, you know? Ate the rest of the tomato goop while watching the mens' swimming relay.

Ate two big brownies with a hefty scoop of vanilla ice cream(my own brand of very custardy vanilla). Sighed with pleasure. Brownies were still very warm. I LOVE these brownies. They are crispity on the top and gooshity inside. Plus they are a little bit salty (this is a good thing). I am all better now.

Watched womens' gymnastics team finals. Nearly had a heart attack several times. Needed another brownie at midnight. With a big glass of milk to help with the residual capasin still clinging to my gullet. Went to bed a very happy girl.

This morning I needed a gallon of water, but that did not stop me from eating another brownie for breakfast (or from packing one in my lunch). Finished my resume this morning before work. Smoothed a few things over with my current boss. All is right with the world again!

See? Now I'm just going to make brownies whenever I get the urgent NEED to make them.

[suzilightning]

chocolate and tomato poop and salsa - veryyyy impressive

yesterday it was lasagna. luckily a local restaurant has a lunch special - 9.95 for entree and salad. very good lasagna with a fresh tomato sauce. i did restrain myself from licking the plate...

two weeks to go <SIGH>

[saskanuck]

Let's see. The first thing I need at that time of the month is salt, preferably Miss Vickie's Lime and Black Pepper potato chips.

Then I'll need something chocolate to cut the salt, like fudgy brownies or good chocolate.

Then I'll go to the salty side once more to cut the sweetness. Olives or pickles will do the trick.

And so it goes, until I'm happy and more bloated than ever.

[saskanuck]

Let's see. The first thing I need at that time of the month is salt, preferably Miss Vickie's Lime and Black Pepper potato chips.

Then I'll need something chocolate to cut the salt, like fudgy brownies or good chocolate.

Then I'll go to the salty side once more to cut the sweetness. Olives or pickles will do the trick.

And so it goes, until I'm happy and more bloated than ever.

[StudentChefEclipse]

Dried fruit. Dried mango is good, dried Montmorency cherries are better. Trader Joe's is heaven.

Chocolate, because a good cliche is that way for a reason. Though since I've discovered Valrhona, it's a bit pricey... though the 75% and above cocoa solids stuff will give me a gentle buzz, so ok.

Ice cream - Dreamery's CherryChipBaDaBing. Sweet pickles, and "blue" steaks.

Egads! Or eGads!