In every woman’s life, pregnancy comes with a great joy and also brings lots of misconceptions, confusions, conflicting theories and what not all! To relieve yourself from all this, you must read different books on pregnancy, refer informative websites on the related topics and feel free to ask questions. The topic of menstruation after pregnancy can also create many questions in your mind. Many of you are eager to know when you would be getting your first period after pregnancy, when you would be able to conceive again, and many more of such questions. This article should help you in guiding you about menstruation after pregnancy.
How Does Menstrual Cycle Works?
First, let us understand the way your menstrual cycle works each month. Menstruation is the term given to the periodic discharge of blood, tissue, fluid, and mucus from the reproductive organs of females. The flow usually lasts from 3-6 days each month and is caused by a sudden reduction in the hormones, estrogen, and progesterone. These hormones govern the menstruation process. Also, remember that these hormones are usually only present in small amounts, but the relationship between the levels of the hormones is critical. When the balance between the two is upset, some menstrual disturbances can occur.
In case of menstruation after pregnancy, it is common to get a delayed period after pregnancy. It is quite different in case of every woman. Some women may get their periods right away, while for others, it may take more time. Roughly, you should wait during breastfeeding and six months after that. Of those women who do not breastfeed, about 75 – 80% of them resume menstrual cycle after pregnancy by ten weeks. Breastfeeding can delay menstruation and ovulation for around 20 weeks or more however, cases may vary. Every woman is unique with her hormone levels, so it is difficult to say when period after pregnancy will resume.
You must also keep in mind that the first period after pregnancy is going to be heavy and might even be more painful. Do not worry, things will improve later. Resumption of menstruation after pregnancy is also a sign that your body is getting back to normal and it also means that you can conceive. So protect yourself for unwanted pregnancies. One important fact to remember that, ovulation, and menstruation does not exclusively happen together – you may have your period without ovulation or you may ovulate and then get your first period. The chance that you will ovulate in the first six weeks after childbirth is quite low. When a baby breastfeeds, the sucking sends signals to the pituitary to release prolactin. If you breastfeed frequently enough, so that there are high levels of prolactin, ovulation can be suppressed. Exactly when you start ovulating is hard to estimate. For some women, they may not ovulate until they stop breastfeeding completely.
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There are different ways to treat acid reflux symptoms, regardless of the cause. While some treatments involve the use of medications, other treatments take a more natural approach such as the acid reflux banana treatment.
Aside from being a really tasty and nutritious fruit high in vitamins and minerals, bananas contain virtually no fat, sodium, or cholesterol. For this reason, bananas are not only an integral part of a healthy diet, they can be used as a natural remedy to treat and prevent a number of health issues including, insomnia, depression, anemia, hypertension, and heartburn.
How exactly can a banana help with heartburn? Bananas have a natural antacid effect on the body. They primarily suppress acid secretion in the stomach by coating and protecting the stomach from acid, which helps against the formation of stomach ulcers and ulcer damage.
There are two ways in which the antacid property of a banana helps suppress acid:
Firstly, bananas contain a substance that encourages the activation of the cells that make up the lining of the stomach. As a result, a thicker mucus barrier is formed to provide the stomach with more protection against acid.
Secondly, bananas feature compounds called “protease inhibitors”, which help to eliminate certain bacteria within the stomach that have been found to contribute to the development of stomach ulcers.
How can I add bananas to my diet? If you would like to help prevent heartburn by incorporating bananas, try eating a banana a half-hour before a meal, or directly after a meal. Some GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) sufferers also find eating a banana during a meal or half a banana before and after a meal beneficial. It’s also a good idea to eat a banana when heartburn symptoms appear.
If the idea of eating a plain banana doesn’t thrill you, there are more fun and tasty ways you can add bananas to your diet. The following are some suggestions:
Eat dried banana or mashed banana as a snack
Cut up a fresh banana or use dried banana pieces and add it to cereal, yogurt, and salads
Make a banana smoothie with live cultured yoghurt
Banana shake (if you are allergic to milk and milk products, substitute with soy milk)
Banana split – go easy on the ice cream
Banana bread
Banana muffins
Banana cake
Fruit bowl (excluding citrus fruits)
Banana sandwich with cinnamon
Here are a few other facts to keep in mind when making banana recipes:
Bananas with green tips are best used for cooking or should be left to ripen before eating.
Bananas with yellow tips are best for eating
Bananas that are browning or have dark brown or black specks are ideal for baking (Note: the more ripe the banana, the sweeter it will be because the starch has turned to sugar, making it better for baking)
Bananas are the most popular fruit in America, are available all year round, and are low in cost, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to make acid reflux banana remedies part of your regular diet. However, it is important that you eat bananas according to your lifestyle requirement. Keep in mind that Bananas are high in sugar. Thus, if you are eating more than one banana per day, you do need to burn off the energy you are providing your body to maintain a healthy body weight. Also, refrain from eating bananas close to bedtime because acid reflux can still occur when you are sleeping as the lower esophagus sphincter relaxes.
Allergies in dogs seem to have become more and more common over the years. Whether this is just because we are getting better at diagnosing them is debatable, but certainly the pet food manufacturers have had an important role to play in dealing with this phenomenon. Although a food allergy is thought to be non curable, the good news is that with proper diagnosis and management it can be well controlled in virtually 100% of cases.
What is a food allergy?
A more appropriate term for a food allergy is an adverse food reaction. It is where ingestion of a certain ingredient in the diet causes itchiness anywhere on the body and recurring skin or ear infections with Malassezia yeast and bacteria. Food allergies can also cause digestive tract signs too, such as fecal mucus, blood in the stools and increased frequency of defecation. They have also been associated with increased flatulence.
The root cause of these adverse food reactions is unknown, but research points towards an increase in permeability of the gut wall, or a failure of the gut associated immune system. Though it has never been proven that certain breeds are affected worse than others, some breeds do seem to be over represented. The age of onset can range from a few months to 12 years old.
What are the ingredients that dogs are most commonly allergic to?
There are 7 ingredients that are frequently responsible for adverse food reactions:
1. Beef
2. Milk
3. Eggs
4. Chicken
5. Soy
6. Wheat
7. Corn
Statistically, beef and soy are the biggest offenders. Many dogs will be allergic to more than one of these ingredients, and may also be allergic to things in their environment, such as pollen, certain grasses or fleas.
How can a food allergy be diagnosed?
If a dog has had general itchiness that does not lessen in the winter months, recurrent skin and ear infections or intermittent soft stools, it is worth investigating for a food allergy.
There are 3 recognised diagnostic methods:
1. A blood test to measure antibodies to various ingredients.
2. An intradermal skin test where allergens are injected at various points on the skin and the reaction is measured.
3. An elimination diet.
The intradermal skin test is thought to be very inaccurate, and the jury is still out on the blood test. The elimination diet is seen as the most reliable, and the cheapest of the three options. It does however require a motivated and disciplined owner in order to achieve meaningful results.
Elimination Diet
There are three basic elimination diet choices:
1. Home cooked food
This is not generally recommended as it is time consuming for the owner and can also provide an unnatural and nutritionally unbalanced diet. However, if the dog is incredibly fussy and the owner cannot bear to force it to eat a commercial diet, the best ingredients are one of either lamb, fish, duck or turkey, plus one of either rice or potatoes. The two ingredients selected (the former high in protein, the latter a carbohydrate source) should be ones that the dog has preferably never eaten before.
2. A commercial, limited antigen diet
If one of these diets is to be recommended, suitable ingredients would be venison, rabbit or oatmeal. Remember, we are looking for ingredients that your dog has never eaten before, so cannot possibly already be allergic to.
3. A commercial, hydrolysed protein hypoallergenic diet
These contain proteins that have been broken down to the extent that they are no longer capable of causing an allergic reaction. They are often referred to as prescription diets because they are usually purchased via a veterinarian, although they can be obtained over the counter without a prescription. They are significantly more expensive than limited antigen diets, so it is wiser to try a limited antigen diet first as if the elimination diet is successful, the dog will remain on that food for life.
The elimination diet must be given for a minimum of 6 weeks, and possibly up to 10, in order to observe the maximum response. Owners must not give their dog ANYTHING else during the trial period, meaning no titbits, treats or vitamin supplements. For example, many owners do not realize that rawhide chews are made from cow derivatives and that with beef being the most common culprit in allergies, these chews could be the root of the problem. During the trial period, nothing must enter the dogs mouth apart from the chosen diet and water.
If the symptoms in question are intense itchiness, many vets will prescribe antihistamines or steroids during the first few weeks of the trial in order to make the dog more comfortable. If the dog gets better as the trial goes on, and the initial drugs to provide temporary comfort have worn off, then it is suggestive of a food allergy. If this occurs, the dog is then challenged with its former diet to see if the symptoms return and therefore confirm the diagnosis. It usually takes between 3 and 7 days for the symptoms to return after initiating the challenge.
If there is a partial improvement in the dogs condition, it is likely that the dog indeed has a food allergy but also has other allergies at the same time. The dog will then be kept on the elimination diet while other potential allergies are investigated, such as flea bite sensitivity and atopy. These can be checked for via intradermal testing or blood tests.
If a food allergy is confirmed, the owner can either continue to feed the same food given during the elimination trial indefinitely, or can persevere with dietary trials by introducing the 7 most common allergic ingredients (see above) one by one until it is ascertained exactly what the dog is allergic to.