As I am exposed to more and more women, more and more stories, I understand that medicine doesn't really understand the female body and our health. For so many years, actually decades, women have complained about pains and various symptoms, especially during the second half of the cycle (after ovulation), and the usual response was: "It's normal," "It's okay," "Pills will fix it," "If you're done having children, you can just remove the uterus," and the new thing is: "Let's burn your uterine lining if you suffer from heavy bleeding." This procedure is called "ablation."
Most research has been done on the male body. Moreover, women were often excluded from research because of concerns that the varying hormones throughout the cycle would skew the research results, which would require extending the study duration, more funding, etc. We're just 51% of the population. Why would they need to do a bit of research on us? Useless, right?
Our body is amazing. It tells us if everything is okay and also if there's a problem. We just need to pay attention and listen to it. PMS is the body's way of telling us that something is not right. It's our body's way of saying that we need to focus our attention, go a bit deeper, and check the root of the problem.
We live in a culture that often prefers to put a band-aid on instead of looking deeper and maybe making some lifestyle changes. I understand that, sometimes it's easier to take a pill rather than change things we're accustomed to doing in a certain way. The problem with the band-aid solution is that it doesn't fix anything. It doesn't solve anything; we're just ignoring the problem.
What usually happens in such situations? The problem grows and grows until we can no longer ignore it.
What is PMS?
PMS is premenstrual syndrome. There's another condition called PMDD which is more severe, but I'm not going to talk about that in this blog. Although it's called premenstrual, it can start immediately after ovulation until the period plus the first few days of the cycle.
How can it manifest? It varies from woman to woman, and some of the symptoms are: bloating, feeling anxious, irritability or depression, mood swings, acne, breast tenderness, back pain, fatigue, headaches or migraines, contractions, emotional feelings, and cravings.
What could be the cause of PMS?
After ovulation, there's a change in our hormones, and while in the first part of our cycle, estrogen was the main hormone, after ovulation the corpus luteum secretes progesterone in high levels and continues to secrete estrogen at lower levels. If the hormones are balanced, we're not supposed to feel these symptoms, but if they're unbalanced, like lower levels of progesterone, or too high levels of estrogen, we might suffer from some symptoms.
Nutritional deficiencies can also cause PMS since it can also interfere with our hormones and cause an imbalance. For example, low levels of magnesium might contribute to PMS, as well as a deficiency in Vitamin D and more. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3208934/
Many times, doctors will prescribe taking a contraceptive pill or another hormonal contraceptive to "treat" the symptoms of PMS. When we take the pill, we don't ovulate, and this can cause other problems. You're invited to search my blog on why we need to ovulate.
Stress is chronic tension. We're all so busy all the time! Studies show that there's a connection between an aggravation in PMS and stress.
Systemic inflammation occurs when our body is too inflamed due to the environment and unhealthy eating habits. Prostaglandins are hormone-like substances that fight inflammation in the body, and too much of them can contribute to PMS.
Sugar is another big one. It causes inflammation in the body which brings us back to inflammation.
Smoking is not good for our health but also people who smoke have more potential to increase their PMS.
Alcohol consumption of more than 4 glasses a week causes inflammation. It damages gut bacteria, impairs the liver's ability to cleanse toxins in the liver, and depletes us of an important protein called glutathione, which is a strong antioxidant molecule and regulates the immune system. Its main role is to fight free radicals and eliminate toxins. This information comes from "Repair Your Period" by Lara Briden. Also, check out my blog post on alcohol and fertility.
Coffee was a real struggle for me! It raises prostaglandins and we know how that ends. It also depletes your body of micronutrients such as magnesium which can contribute to the imbalance.
Not being synchronized with our body and ignoring the signs of what it needs.
What can we do about it?
There are many things.
Our hormones are affected by what we eat and our lifestyle. Working on these things can help a lot.
Reduce inflammation in our body by eating foods that help reduce it, such as cruciferous vegetables, reducing or even quitting sugar, coffee, and alcohol, and if you smoke, it's worth considering that too.
Choose organic. This is one of the hard ones for me because it's so expensive. Honestly, I can't afford to buy everything organic but I can grow things and I make a list of vegetables and fruits that are important to consume organically (look up DIRTY DOZEN).
Physical activity also reduces both stress and inflammation.
Try stopping dairy products for a certain period and see if it affects your PMS.
It's worth supplementing with magnesium and zinc.
Finally, track your cycles using fertility awareness and try to live in sync with your cycle.
Do you need more information and guidance?
Let's talk.