Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) also sometimes known as “Premenstrual Tension”, is a collection or group of symptoms that is linked to a woman’s monthly cycle or period. But these symptoms usually disappear after before or after a woman starts are monthly period. Symptoms of PMS vary for every woman but PMS stops when a woman reaches menopause.

The causes of PMS are not really known, but PMS has been linked to changing hormones during the monthly menstruation cycle. Studies have shown that stress or emotional problems do not cause PMS but can make PMS worse!

Symptoms Of Premenstrual Syndrome

•    Mood swings

•    Acne

•    Abdominal bloating

•    Insomnia (trouble sleeping)

•    Headache

•    Tenderness of the breasts

•    Food cravings

•    Anxiety or feelings of depression

•    Fatigue

•    Joint or pain in the muscles

•    Loss of concentration

•    Abdominal cramps

•    Easily irritated, crying spells or tension

What are the risk factors?

Risk factors include:

•    Age

•    Excessive caffeine consumption

•    Smoking or tobacco use

•    Stress factors

•    Dietary factors (insufficient intake of certain minerals and vitamins)

•    History of depression

•    Family history (genetic factors)

How To Treat Pms

PMS maybe treated using the following methods:

1.    Diet

Try to eat foods rich in nutrients, foods such as fruits and vegetables, breads, protein and dairy products. Eating foods that are good for your health can help you feel better and give you extra energy to keep you going. You can improve your diet in order to keep PMS symptoms at bay by following the instructions below.

•    Do not gorge on processed foods because most fast foods and processed foods are packed with fat! Try as much as possible to avoid these foods, but if you must eat them, order for lean meats because lean meat have little (or no) fat in them.

•    Avoid foods that contain a lot of salt (sodium) because eating less salt can help you reduce body swelling.

•    Fiber power! Eat a lot of fiber rich foods, like fruits, whole grains and vegetables

•    Take a lot of calcium rich food and drinks, i.e. salmon, broccoli, milk, nuts etc

•    Go easy on the sugar, if you have a sweet tooth and can’t seem to keep your hands off sugary stuff, eat foods that are sweet and healthy; for example. Wheat breads, cereals, potatoes and pasta (yum!)

•    Avoid foods that could make you feel moody or nervous. Caffeine is known to increase nervousness and mood swings, stay away from foods that contain caffeine, and that includes: Coffee, chocolate and soda.

•    Stay away from alcohol (for at least a week) before you start your monthly cycle.

2.    Physical Activity

Engage in regular exercises for at least 2 or 3 times a week. Exercise is great for reducing stress and PMS symptoms. You can also do yoga exercises, which is a very good relaxation exercise.

3.    Rest

Try to get enough rest; in order to achieve this, avoid alcoholic or caffeinated drinks and quit smoking. The human body needs 6 to 8 hours of sleep in order to function properly.

Her behavior is erratic and unpredictable. One moment she is agreeable, the next she is argumentative. Is premenstrual syndrome (PMS) causing such mood changes?

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is the name of a group of symptoms that start 7 to 14 days before your period (menstruation). The symptoms usually stop soon after your period begins. Most women who have menstrual periods experience some premenstrual symptoms. About 40 percent of menstruating women have premenstrual syndrome, and 10 percent have severe symptoms.

Most women feel some discomfort before their periods. But if you have PMS, you may feel so anxious, depressed or uncomfortable that you can’t cope at home or at work. Your symptoms may be worse some months and better others.

According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, “cyclic occurrences of symptoms that are of sufficient severity to interfere with some aspects of life, prior to menses, is PMS. Although definitions differ, some 150 symptoms may be associated with PMS.

Therefore, the most likely explanation for PMS is that many women are sensitive to the hormonal shifts that occur in the second half of the menstrual cycle.

The debated cause may range from hormonal imbalance to psychological and social factors. Patient Care, in reporting on the causes of PMS, states that “no clear cut differences have been found in the patterns, ratios, amounts, or timing of gonadal hormones in women with or without severe PMS.”

How is PMS treated?

There is no cure for PMS, but eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and taking medicine may help. Your doctor will talk to you about whether you need to change your diet and exercise habits. He or she may also prescribe medicine for you, depending on what your symptoms are.

You may need to try more than one medicine to find the treatment that works for you. Many medicines are available over-the-counter, but some require a doctor’s prescription. Medicines that can be prescribed include diuretics, antidepressants and birth control pills. Other medicines for PMS are being studied.

The more a woman understands PMS, the more can be done.

Written by David Slade author of Mandarin English XL at

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The premenstrual syndrome (in short PMS) can be defined as a condition wherein certain symptoms trouble the woman every month before she has a period. Premenstrual syndrome is oftentimes called as premenstrual tension (PMT), however, increased tension might not be the only troubling thing! Women report many different symptoms during premenstrual syndrome. The most common are mentioned below but the woman suffering from PMS might have just one, two or many of them:-

·    Psychological (mental) symptoms are: feelings of aggression or anger, low mood, tension, loss of confidence, irritability, exhausted, anxiety, feeling emotional. The woman might have a change in her sleep pattern, sexual thoughts, and even in hunger. Relationships might turn strained due to such symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.

·    Physical symptoms are: swollen ******* with or without tenderness, abdominal bloating, swollen feet or hands, unusual weight gain, intensified headaches. If the woman has epilepsy, bronchial asthma, episodes of headache (including due to migraine) or cold sores, she finds that such symptoms turn worse just before her menses.

Who suffers from premenstrual syndrome?

· The ratio says that approximately 1 in 20 women suffer from a ‘true’ PMS. This is where the symptoms turn worse enough to disturb her normal functioning and gratification. Day-to-day routine and schedule performances could get affected. It may cause tension in woman and also in her family.

· A woman with unhygienic condition may suffer from premenstrual syndrome.

· A woman suffering from some infections especially related to uro-genital tract or system may also suffer from PMS.

How to treat premenstrual syndrome

The best thing is to be conscious enough. Let you be a business tycoon, you must spend some time to study and evaluate what all is happening to your body. You should notice even a bit of change and then get careful. Learning early about PMS may help you relieving some of the anxiety about symptoms.

It may be helpful to keep a chart or diary and remember the days those made you irritable and peevish. Also note down the days when you have had stress, mood swings just before your menses were started. Carefully study the lifestyle you have had before that. This may help you knowing some common factors that contribute to your premenstrual syndrome.

The next thing is to talk straightforwardly. Discuss the problem of premenstrual syndrome with your family, friends and partner. It might help them understanding how you feel. It might be best to do this once the menses is over and when there is a calming phase.

Exercises are good for premenstrual syndrome. You should try doing some regular exercise a few times a week to keep body in harmony. 

The diet also plays significant role in healing PMS. Some health care providers favor that alcohol or caffeine (found in tea, coffee, cola, etc) surely makes the symptoms of PMS worse. Many herbal health care practitioners believe that herbal extracts may help in relieving symptoms. One can get a single herb or can go for some formula.

As we mentioned in previous article, Premenstrual syndrome effects over 70% to 90% of women before menopause in the US and less for women in Southeast Asia because of their difference in living style and social structure. The occurrence of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) have more than doubled over the past 50 years due to the acceptance of it as a medical condition that is caused by unhealthy diet with high in saturated food. Premenstrual syndrome is defined as faulty function of the ovaries related to the women’s menstrual cycle, it effects a women’s physical and emotional state, and sometimes interferes with daily activities as a result of hormone fluctuation. The syndrome occurs one to two weeks before menstruation and then declines when the period starts. There are over 150 known symptoms and they can be classified in 2 types.

1. Emotional symptoms

a) Unhealthy diet

Since we all know that our diet contains high amount of saturated and trans fat, unbalance of levels of essential fatty acids causes inability of liver in secreting bile into the digestive system and in fat and protein metabolism that causes nervous tension resulting in increasing the emotional symptoms of PMS such as stress, anxiety, tiredness, insomnia, etc.

b) Vitamins and minerals deficiency

It is unknown why women with PMS are found to have low levels of vitamin B complex and magnesium. These may be caused by low levels of stomach acid or inability of digestive system in absorbing vital nutrients before period resulting in increasing nervous tension and emotional and physical symptoms.

c) Hormone imbalance

Researchers found that women with PMS always have unbalance of levels of estrogen and progesterone before menstruation. It may be caused abnormal function of some glands in the body including the pituitary, thyroid gland.

Remember over or under production of certain hormones such as serotonin, estrogen, progesterone, prolactin, adrenaline increases the nervous disorder resulting in symptoms of PMS.

d) Thyroid gland

Women with PMS are found to have low thyroid function resulting in increasing the risk of depression, stress, fatigue, tiredness, insomnia, etc

2. Physical symptoms

a) Foods and sugar craving

Strong liver is important for women with PMS. Unfortunately, most women with PMS are found to have sluggish liver function before menstruation caused by abnormal function of liver in carbohydrate synthesis and insulin regulating resulting in foods and sugar craving.

b) ****** tenderness and water retention

For what ever reasons, researchers show that some women with PMS are found to have high levels of prolactin and low levels of potassium as resulting in abnormal function of pituitary gland and lymphatic function resulting in ****** tenderness and water retention accordingly.

c) Palpitation

Some women with PMS might experience heart palpitation, it is caused by malfunction of thyroid gland, unbalance of estrogen and progesterone and inability of liver in secreting bile into digestive system.

d) Nervous tension

Our nervous system needs the strong liver in fat and protein metabolism to function normally and the right levels of estrogen and progesterone to transmit information between cells. Sluggish liver and unbalance of estrogen and progesterone cause nervous tension resulting in symptoms of PMS.

c) Menstrual cramps

Some women may experience menstrual cramps which will disappear as soon as period start. It may be caused by irregular function of ovaries or essential fatty acids deficiency resulting in estrogen and progesterone imbalance and over production of certain hormone in the prostaglandins family.

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