Premenstrual syndrome is a group of symptoms that can occur during the menstrual cycle of many women. Most women experience these symptoms during the postovulatory phase (luteal phase) that occurs during the week or so preceding one’s period. The range of these PMS-related symptoms can range vary wildly, from the mild to the debilitating, and are most often seen in women over 25 years of, with eventual worsening as one gets older. Premenstrual syndrome is a chronic ailment which recurs from month to month. In extreme cases, premenstrual syndrome and both its emotional and physical effects can be incapacitating. Toni Weschler, MPH, author of Taking Charge of Your Fertility, notes that as many as 90 percent of all women experience at least one or two of the symptoms of PMS.
The physical symptoms associated with PMS can include bouts of pain, including back or joint pain, breast tenderness, migraine headaches, and neck stiffness. Other incapacitating effects of PMS include hot flashes, sweats, and dizziness. The onset of these symptoms is often very sudden, and occurs inconveniently, regardless of day, night, business, or social situation. Fluid retention is another of the more common physical effects associated with PMS. Fluid retention is responsible for many of the most annoying symptoms of PMS, such as hand or foot swelling, bloating, water weight gain, and fullness of the breasts.
Premenstrual syndrome has also been associated with various behavioral changes, which are as unpredictable as they are sudden of onset. PMS causes many women to experience severe irritability, and/or anxiety to the point of tears during the week before their period’s actual onset. Other women may experience depression, ranging from mild to severe. Because pharmaceutical antidepressants do not address the underlying causes of PMS depressions, which are still unknown, they are not recommended for treating them.
Unfortunately, there is still substantial debate in medical circles over the specific causes of premenstrual syndrome. However, one avenue of exploration that has borne some fruit is the theory that PMS is caused by vitamin deficiencies due to the hormonal changes that occur before, and the blood loss that occurs during, menstruation.
There are a number of PMS-targeted natural supplements available today that have brought real relief from PMS-related symptoms to women. Using an herbal treatment remedy, such as Period Vitamin, is a safe, risk-free, healthy alternative to standard medications for the treatment of symptoms associated with PMS. Including powerful botanicals such as white willow bark, damiana, chasteberry, wild yam, black cohosh, and red raspberry leaf, along with vitamins and minerals needed by the body at this time, these supplements can provide a degree of menstrual pain relief unobtainable with NSAIDs and SSRIs.
One thing that all professionals agree upon, though: Consuming a healthy diet, with special emphasis on fruits and vegetables, getting sufficient amounts of exercise, and seven to eight hours of sleep at night are also important components of supporting the body in combating PMS-related symptoms. Recognizing these symptoms, and familiarizing oneself with appropriate treatment options for the particular symptoms she is experiencing, should be part of every woman’s arsenal for battling premenstrual syndrome.
If there is one thing that a woman will always be worried about then that thing will always turn out to be the size of her body. A woman knows that she has curves and she wants those curves to be seen so that she can also feel like a part of the feminine kind but maybe they should open their eyes a little bit wider. There is