When it comes to ‘that time of the month’ women get labelled as hormonal emotional monsters. From experiencing acne, mood swing, bloating, anxiety, depression, difficulty in concentration, fluid retention, cravings, headaches, hot flushes, irritability, insomnia or breast tenderness, no wonder we can seem like a three-headed dragon looking to breath fire on someone.
Females tend to see this as ‘normal’, just because many experience something, doesn’t mean that it is normal, nor is it something that you should have to endure.
PMS or Pre-menstrual syndrome are a collection of symptoms described above that are experienced by women in their second half of the menstruation, the luteal phase (days 15-28), prior to their period. Unfortunately, there currently isn’t one particular reason that certain individuals experience PMS more than another, it looks to be multifactorial, meaning there has been many different events to occur before the one big explosion which is PMS.
Current suggestions of possible influences include:
- Hormonal imbalance, particularly when it comes to the hormones oestrogen and progesterone. When these are not in balance whether too much oestrogen or too low progesterone for example, we are more likely to see PMS symptoms to occur.
- Other hormonal imbalances such as prolactin
- High inflammatory processes
- Dysregulation of the hypothalamic- pituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis
- Issues with the hormones signalling for cells.
- Neurotransmitter imbalances such as serotonin, noradrenaline, opioids and GABA
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Blood sugar dysregulation
- Environmental factors such as: chronic stress, lack of physical activity, high chemical exposures
Figuring out what potential influences are effecting each individual is key to reducing the severity of PMS symptoms. Naturopaths, in conjunction with other health professionals, can help in this area by providing specific diet and lifestyle changes, along with an individualised herbal and or nutritional supplement protocol.
If you are experiencing PMS and you want some guidance going forward, naturopathic medicine can help dive further into what the possible triggers are for you.