PMS and Menstruation

Women who cry at silly television ads, are happy one minute but angry the next, complain of being bloated, headachy and tired may be suffering from premenstrual syndrome. Symptoms of premenstrual syndrome include both physical and emotional factors that happen around the time of your period. Some of those other symptoms include anxiety, depression, fatigue, breast tenderness, weight gain and food cravings.

Even though premenstrual syndrome affects millions of women each year researchers are still unsure of the exact cause of this condition. There are theories that it is the result of changing hormone levels in women who are more hypersensitive to those changes or may have some link to neurotransmitters in the brain.

While PMS affects millions of women and has no identifiable cause, doctors are aware of several methods of treatment that help women to decrease their symptoms. These treatment protocols involve changes in lifestyle, quitting smoking, eating a low-fat diets and getting plenty of exercise. Some women do respond well to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (a class of antidepressants) because the medication inhibits the action of serotonin in the brain which affects mood, appetite and anxiety.

Premenstrual syndrome causes symptoms that affects many different aspects of a woman\’s life and can wreak havoc on their relationships. In some studies there have been over 150 symptoms identified that are associated with premenstrual syndrome. Most women have just a handful of symptoms but some experience up to a dozen or more at one time.

While premenstrual syndrome may have been thought to be an entirely a woman\’s issue in the past, recent research has identified Irritable Male Syndrome or IMS which is also believed to be linked to hormonal changes in a man. Approximately 30 to 50% of men experience the symptoms related to Irritable Male Syndrome which include depression, fatigue, irritability, headaches and back pain. Physicians believe that this condition is brought on by episodes of stress and high fat diets in conjunction with their fluctuating hormones during the month.

Premenstrual syndrome is a condition in women which resolves itself at the time of menstruation. This means that for approximately 2 weeks prior to a woman\’s. She may experience the symptoms of PMS but they will results for the week of her period and the week following her period. Men who suffer from Irritable Male Syndrome don\’t have a specific events that this identifies the beginning or closure of a monthly cycle. And unfortunately for them, beer particular symptoms may not be as cyclical as women\’s.

RESOURCES

Epigee Womens Health: Premenstrual Health

MedlinePlus: Premenstrual Syndrome

WomensHealth.gov: Premenstrual Syndrome Fact Sheet