Dreaded PMS

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I just got over a horrible bout of PMS last week! Poor Andy had to put up with mean complaining Ellie. I don't normally get PMS, but when I do, I feel like it is bad, I mean BAD! Like I am the chosen woman to bring down the wrath upon men, bad. It comes out of nowhere too. One moment I'll be content and happy, while the next I am a raging bitch in search of the nearest persons head to tear off. I don't know how it happens or where it comes from... Dammed these woman hormones!

Along with PMS I got cramps. They seem to go hand in hand. Normally my awesome birth control takes care of the cramps and pms, but this time something was amiss. (Makes me wonder...did I miss a pill, drop a pill, take too many pills??) The cramps were agonizing. I felt as if I should be in labor or something. I can't be going through this for nothing! Oh and the bloating, I won't even speak of the bloating and the inches it added to my uncomfortable waist.

The cravings were pretty bad too. Sweets, sugar, white flour, chocolate, just roll it all into a ball and let me feed on it. That's all I could think about, the thoughts and cravings took over my brain. When I wasn't bothered by the imperfections of everything and everyone around me, I was consumed with thoughts of pies and cakes and cookies. Which does not help, especially since I am trying to lose a few pounds.

So I was a miserable mess last week. Balled up on the floor from painful cramps being annoyed at the world while thinking about the most decant sweets and desserts I could conjure up in my head. (Imagine: a chocolate cake filled with cookies and chocolate bars, doused with hot fudge, and smothered in about 5 kinds of ice-cream, with a handful of cherries on top.) It was not fun. Why is being a woman so hard and complicated sometimes?

I will say though, through this horrible PMS I did find some things that helped:

• Tea with honey vs. coffee (coffee somehow makes cramps worse)
• Hot water bottle for the ovary region of the abdomen
• NO Yogurt (Yogurt and dairy are also said to make cramps worse) I stopped eating my daily yogurt and my cramps almost all magically went away.
• Eat bananas (they help with cramping)
• Apologize to husband in advance so he could be prepared (worked wonders!)
• Watch Downton Abbey to take the mind off things

Do you have any go-to remedies for PMS? I'd love to hear them and stockpile for the next time this happens. I am hoping that I've got another good 6 months before the crazy comes out again.