1. Heating pad

Get on this. Lying with a heating pad on your stomach is such a lovely bit of comfort during this painful time. It soothes your cramps — and bonus, if it’s cold outside, it makes the rest of you toasty and warm. If you don’t have a heating pad for your cramps, you are not treating yourself right.

You can get one on Amazon for like, 15 bucks.

2. Tampon/Chocolate delivery service

This is what I call my boyfriend — heyoooo, jk jk. I just found out about this new service called Le Parcel that delivers tampons (whatever brand you want), pads, chocolate and a gift every month at the right time. You can choose a delivery date and Le Parcel will bring it right to your door. (I wonder if they have an alternative for people who use the DivaCup? I didn’t see any, but if someone knows, comment below!)

This is some classy-ass period week shiz. If you’re already getting this package, I bow to you. You really know how to pamper yourself.

Depending on what you get, the parcels aren’t that expensive. I requested 30 tampons and it only cost 15 dollars. Surprisingly cheap for a package to keep you from being surprised by an untimely period.

3. Vitamin B-12

Get on that Vitamin B-12. It helps raise your mood and keep your energy up. When you’re on your period, you can be grumpy and sleepy, but B-12 can help ease that pain. A B-12 deficiency can lead to fatigue and gastrointestinal problems, which are BIG problems during your period. It also helps to replace the nutrients you’re losing.

Taking B-12 can help you get through a day when you have to work but you’d prefer to be asleep in a pile of comforters and pillows.

4. Raspberry Tea

For the week of your period, as hard as it is, I suggest dumping your old friend coffee and switching to tea. Red raspberry tea is especially good for you during your period and it’s not super expensive (like, 3 dollars) depending.

Red raspberry tea helps ease pain in the uterus and soothes cramps. It also strengthens your muscles and has high levels of calcium. No matter the flavor, tea is relaxing anyway and it might ease your menstrual stress to sit down with a hot cup.

5. MyDays iPhone app

I use this app and it’s really helped me not be taken by surprise (and yep, ruin my nice underwear). It’s an app that lets you track exactly when your period is going to come and also when you’re ovulating. It allows me to know when I have to be especially nice to my skin (the week before) so I don’t get crazy acne, and when I should avoid wearing white pants.

This app helps me actually know when my moods will be down or when I’ll be especially irritated. I mark down my mood swings, my skin fluctuations, and my crampiest days. I used to just let my period do it’s thing without me having any control and that led to a lot of weird makeshift pads and throwing out underwear and feeling totally stressed. Now my phone tells me what’s gonna happen when so I can tame that monthly monster. Download this app! (Or just do this on a calendar.) It’s so worth it.