Getting the better of PMS
Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) has many symptoms – at the last count, at least 150 were recognised as being due to PMS – and millions of women cope every month, for an average of 40 years, with one, two, or multiple symptoms. That’s an average of 480 ‘copings’ in a lifespan!
Like the majority of women out there I have been, for many years, a sufferer from the dreaded PMS and some of its wondrous symptoms, such as: irrational anger; being teary at the simplest of things; crippling pain; water retention… to list but a few. However, I found help at my fingertips by sheer fluke.
One day I decided that enough was enough with my bloated stomach and poor digestion, so I started using a whey product and, as I’m lactose intolerant I chose A.Vogel’s Molkosan Original. What, I hear you say, has that got to do with PMS? Well, when I realised that my PMS had improved as well as my digestion, I went hunting for the reason and it turned out that there is a connection: the liver.
The liver helps to break down oestrogen, and if it doesn’t make a good job of this your oestrogen levels rise. Many common PMS symptoms are linked to high oestrogen, and mine obviously were! By improving my gut function, my liver was less bothered by toxins from my gut and could concentrate on my oestrogen. Better digestion and better periods – definitely a result.
My mood swings and period pains are both far less severe, which is a relief. I have also implemented other lifestyle changes, which I’ll tell you about in later blogs, which have helped me greatly. It’s good to know there are simple things that make such a difference.
The reason it took years before I found some relief was the simplest of all – I believed that this was just what we women of childbearing age had to put up with. Every woman I spoke to, with the exception of the odd one or two whom I envied greatly, appeared to have at least one monthly PMS symptom.
It makes sense to assume that the hormonal changes within the menstrual cycle affect PMS, so why shouldn’t it make sense to assume also that our day-to-day routines could also have an effect?
So, what can we do to help ourselves at this time? Well, we can look at the vast number of things from diet and exercise to stress triggers and supplements, some of which are so simple and straightforward that you may kick yourself for not having looked at them sooner!
The most important piece of advice I can give is: don’t just accept that PMS is part and parcel of female life and that we women are hopelessly stuck with it!
Next time I will be looking at A.Vogel’s Agnus castus, and some of the other methods I’ve used to smooth my path through the month.
