What is Pre-Menstrual-Syndrome?

WHAT IS PRE-MENSTRUAL-SYNDROME?Pre-menstrual-syndrome is surprisingly common and surprisingly variable. About 50% of women in the reproductive years will notice unpleasant mental and physical changes in themselves sometimes in the two weeks before the menstrual bleeding begins. Pre-menstrual-syndrome is the medical term used to describe the collection of different mental and physical problems that may occur during the second half of the menstrual cycle. There are many different problems and symptoms related to Pre-menstrual-syndrome.

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS OF PRE-MENSTRUAL-SYNDROME?MENTAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL -Depression, anxiety, irritability, sudden mood changes, aggression, hostility, alcholic bouts, drug abuse, panic attacks, insomnia, fatigue, sleepiness, confusion, low self-esteem, paranoia, reduced concentration, exhaustion, changes in libido. Some of the more curious symptoms include creative urges or feelings "spaced out".

PHYSICALHeadaches, breast swelling and tenderness, fluid retention, bloating, low blood sugar, food cravings, sugar binges, dramatic changes in weight, clumsiness, poor co-ordination, fainting, acne, general aches and pains, bachaches, muscle tension and spasm, constipation and pelvic pain.Problems such as allergies, mouth ulcers, genital herpes, candida, asthma, epilepsy, schizophrenia, arthritis, etc, may become worse during the pre-menstrual weeks.

WHAT CAUSES PRE-MENSTRUAL-SYNDROME?It is after ovulation in pre-menstrual-syndrome sufferers that the fire works begin. In a woman without pre-menstrual-syndrome, the levels of oestrogen and progesterone remain in sufficient and balanced amounts between ovulation and menstrual bleeding. In a woman with pre-menstrual-syndrome, the levels of oestgrogen and progesterone are out of balance, with insufficient oestrogen and/or progesterone between ovulation and bleeding.Some researchers believe that it is the ratio of oestrogen to progesterone that is more important than the absolute amounts of these hormones. They have found that women who have too much oestrogen compared to progesterone have anxiety, while women with too little oestrogen compared to progesterone complain of depression during the pre-menstrual phase. Either there is a build-up of too much oestrogen which does not get correctly metabolised, or there is too little progesterone produced during the latter part of the cycle.

In an attempt to unravel the cause of pre-menstrual-syndrome. Doctors developed four major sub-groups of symptoms. This is an artificial but useful classification of the different symptoms that can occur in Pre-menstrual-syndrome. The majority of women with pre-menstrual-syndrome experience symptoms from more than one sub-group.

Pre-menstrual-syndrome A (anxiety)This is the most common sub-group. Symptoms are recorded in about 80% of sufferers. The symptoms in this group are:

Nervous tension.Mood swings.Irritability.Anxiety.

Pre-menstrual-syndrome H (hydration)This is the second sub-group. It is estimated, that symptoms occur in 60% of sufferers. The symptoms in the sub-group are as follows:

Weight gain.Swelling of extremities.Breast tenderness.Abdominal bloating.

Pre-menstrual-syndrome C (craving)This is the third sub-group. Symptoms probably occur in 40% of sufferers. There are six symptoms in this sub-group:

Headache.Craving for sweets.Increased appetite.Heart pounding.Fatigue.Dizziness or fainting.

Pre-menstrual-syndrome D (depression)Of all four sub-groups, this is the one least commonly found on its own. Perhaps 20% of sufferers have pre-menstrual-syndrome D. There are five symptoms in this category:

Depression.Forgetfulness.Crying.Confusion.Insomnia.

Each group seems to have different factors involved, except that inadequate diet and stress can be common to all of them. Although some women only suffer with one sub-group of symptoms, it is just as common to be suffering from any combination of sub-groups at the same time. Many severe sufferers seem to have symptoms in all four sub-groups initially.

Pre-menstrual-syndrome knows no geographical, social, racial or economic boundaries; its sufferings and tragedies are spread evenly throughout our society. For many it is sufficient reassurance to know that other normal women also experience the same monthly feelings, while the knowledge that there is a satisfactory answer provides them with hope for the future.

Relief is possible for women with pre-menstrual-syndrome, however, first it is necessary for them to realize the association between their symptoms and menstruation, which means it depends either on the patient herself recognizing it, or her husband, mother or close friend, or her doctor. Once the problem is recognized, treatment is available.

It has been said "Man is born to suffer, but woman is born to suffer more" and sometimes it seems that no efforts are being made to ease woman's sufferings. Consider this list of excuses:

"It's not fatal and doesn't last long"-

"She'll get over it" -

"Cool it, lady, you're neurotic" -

"Things will be easier when you're married"..."or had children"...."or the children have grown up" -

"Learn to live with it and take more exercise" -

"Accept the symptoms - you're not going mad - and learn to relax" -

"Only because you've not enough to do" (three children, all under school age) -

"You're working too hard" (one child at school) -

"You're only trying to jump on the bandwagon like 90% of other women"

And so the excuses go on with the adoption of an ostrich-like attitude to once-a-month problems and no effects made to solve them.

The problems associated with menstruation are obviously not new, they represent the eternal mystery of women. What is new is the changing attitude of the medical profession which now contains a few doctors, far too few, who have interested themselves in these problems and have shown that they can be successfully treated, and treated without witchcraft. These doctors see this shamefully neglected subject of menstruation, with its complexity of symptoms which can change a woman from Jekyll to Hyde within minutes, as a challenge to be met.

PHASES OF THE MENSTRUAL CYCLEMenstrual cycles vary considerably in length in different women, so that ovulation does not necessarily occur precisely on day 14, but for the purpose of understanding the changes in the menstrual cycle it is convenient to divide it up into seven phases of four day each, which assumes the woman has a precise cycle of twenty-eight days. It will be noticed that in the seven phases there are no two phases which have the same levels of hormones circulating in the blood.

Psychologists object to the use of the word "curse" claiming that it conditions women to expect trouble with menstruation. On the other hand women have as many menstrual problems in Nigeria and Jamaica where the word "flowers" is used. There is no doubt that psychological factors do play a part in menstrual problems, but this is only secondary to the hormonal effects.

Click on the Home Page on the nav bar at the left to preview all my website pages.

Fill out the form below and subscribe to a FREE NEWSLETTER on how nutritional supplements can help overcome any symptoms of pre-menstrual-syndrome or any health problems and receive a free sample of Marine Phytoplankton.

Click here to e-mail me for more information on how to overcome pre-menstrual-syndrome with Marine Phytoplankton "The All Natural Whole Food Tonic"