This is *actually* how most women deal with period cramps

“If your lady has period cramps, just give her some chocolate and walk away” is what my health teacher said to the 15 or so boys in the room. We were learning about menstruation that day and, sadly, that was the highlight of the lesson. It’s a memory that sticks with me to this day because – aside from excluding same-sex couples – my teacher perpetuated a rampant stereotype.

Plus, my teacher was blatantly wrong. Secret-sharing site Whisper surveyed over 50,000 of its users and found that chocolate isn’t the go-to period cramps remedy for most women. In other words: A woman’s partner shouldn’t just throw some chocolate at her when she’s menstruating and call it a day.

34% of the surveyed women said that they prefer to sleep when dealing with period cramps. 33% like to treat themselves to a bit of junk food. 23% look to Netflix for comfort. As for a mere 10%, they do enjoy looking to wine and chocolate for assistance.

Though the above sources are always there for us, experts say there are other ways for us to cope with cramps. Dr. Felice Gersh told us that a healthy diet, getting the right amount of sleep every night, exercise, and stress management can all help with period cramps. Dr. Mark Werner adds that using anti-inflammatories like Advil and Aleve (in prescribed dosages, of course) can help as well. 

The Whisper poll also found out other tidbits of interesting information. According to Teen Vogue, they discovered that women are most likely to talk about their periods on Thursdays and on the 20th day of the month. People in Wisconsin talk about their periods the most and, overall, “time of the month” is the most popular nickname for menstruation.

No matter what you call your period or how you deal with period cramps, it’s important to remember that there’s no shame in the game. Do what makes you (and your uterus) happy.