Researchers estimate that between 50 and 80 percent of women suffer from symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. Those symptoms can range from physical, psychological and emotional symptoms that can negatively affect a woman\’s life for 2 weeks each month.
Symptoms can include breast tenderness, weight gain, bloatedness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, anger, depression, anxiety, emotional instability, tension and irritability, and headaches. In other words, all of the symptoms of early pregnancy!
Women who experience the symptoms of PMS may find that they change each month and can also change in intensity as well. Treatments for PMS usually involve changes in lifestyle choices, improved diet, exercise 3-4 times weekly and removing the use of tobacco, alcohol and caffeine from consumption.
One big problem that women who suffer from PMS face is the additional emotional burden at the end of their menstrual cycle when they are awaiting the possiblity that they may be pregnant. This is especially difficult for women who have difficulty becoming pregnant but suffer from similar symptoms of early pregnancy at the end of each month.
However, because of the serious side effects associated with many of the medications prescribed today for treatment of PMS, women who suffer from these symptoms must stop treatment while they are trying to get pregnant. Women who suffer from PMS should look for alternative methods of treating their symptoms that won\’t endanger a potentially developing baby.
Options that are available to women should not include medications or natural herbal alternatives because, although we would like to believe that natural herbal alternatives are completely safe they are in fact, medications. Drugs which are manufactured in the laboratory often have more side effects, will have preservatives, and will engender the application of more medication to deal with the side effects of the first. On the other hand, most medications are derivatives of natural herbal supplements. But, since pharmaceutical companies can\’t trademark or patent medications that can be purchased in the health food store they increase the number of ingredients and make them in the lab.
Therefore, women should first use lifestyle changes, diet, exercise and removal of harmful substances from their intake before considering any alternative medications. Understand that these lifestyle choice changes may take several months to see results and that these changes will also improve your overall health, ability to become pregnant and carry the child full term.
By addressing important health needs before you become pregnant you increase your chances of having a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby.
RESOURCES
What to Expect: PMS or Pregnancy
Parenting: How do you know if you are pregnant or its just pms?
Christiane Northrup: Premenstrual Syndrome