PMS/PMDD
Article #3 in a Women’s Fertility and Menstrual Health Series from Nourish & Breathe
PMS/PMDD
Do you experience premenstrual syndrome (PMS) every month that causes excessive levels of pain or debilitating moods such that your day-to-day life is impacted? Crazy moods, low moods, anxiety, menstrual spotting, cravings…?
What is PMS?
The cyclical and recurrent physical, emotional and behavioural changes occurring after ovulation (the luteal phase).
What can this look like for you:
Premenstrual spotting, short luteal phase, infertility, miscarriage
Breast tenderness, fluid retention, carbohydrate cravings, weight gain
Anxiety, depression, extreme changes in mood
Experiencing premenstrual symptoms can be the first sign that your hormones are out of balance, or may be deficient or excessive in themselves. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is experiencing heightened level of symptoms and predominantly relates to mood changes which typically last for a longer period of time.
Your Hormones - oestrogen & progesterone
The time directly before you bleed your female hormone levels drop, signalling that pregnancy has not occurred. The lining of your uterus, which has been building since ovulation for possible implantation of a fertilised egg, will now shed and your flow will begin. It is a magical and complex orchestration of different hormones that all interplay with each other, and are influenced by your daily diet, lifestyle and general health (especially digestion and liver health).
It is well understood that oestrogen affects our menstrual health and overall well-being, but there is another major female hormone that influences the level of PMS experienced, and that is progesterone. Progesterone is released from the corpus luteum, the little sac where your egg once sat, and its secretion is stimulated by luteinising hormones (LH) released from the brain. And this LH secretion is influenced by other factors, including stress, diet and lifestyle.
Xenoestrogens - oestrogens from the environment around you; and, phytoestrogens - oestrogens from plant foods such as soy, can impact your internal oestrogen levels. Constant exposure to xenoestrogens will affect the secretion of your own hormones and your levels, usually in a negative way. Phytoestrogens can be modulating, working to both assist your oestrogen levels if they are low, and reduce the impact of excess oestrogen if occurring.
So, there are a number of factors that influence the levels of hormones and hence your PMS or PMDD you may experience, including:
Stress and cortisol impacts of the hormones secreted from the brain
Liver health and detoxification capacity to clear hormones for excretion
Digestion and bowel health for excretion of hormones
Exposure to xeno- and phyto- oestrogens
PMDD
A little bit of extra information about PMDD.
An official diagnosis of this debilitating condition requires 5 of the following symptoms that resolve when your period starts and prevent your normal everyday functioning i.e. require days off work, or avoidance of going out and socialising and generally feeling a complete change of mood.
Irritability and anger
Depressed mood, feelings of hopelessness
Anxiety
Sense of being overwhelmed or out of control
Lethargy
Hypersomnia or insomnia
Breast enlargement, bloating, weight gain
Marked food cravings and weight gain
I often find in treatment of PMDD it is more than just balancing of hormones, as I have seen hormone blood panels that have shown relatively normal levels, so at this point I look to the nervous system as it appears there is an extra sensitivity of the nervous system to the normal changes of female hormones.
It is a journey to understand your unique menstrual health picture. I strongly believe that no-one should be experiencing monthly menstrual symptoms that drastically affects their daily lives. Of course, you must also realise that it is very normal to feel both some discomfort as the muscles of your uterus contract in preparation to shed its lining and that you will experience different energies throughout the month. The 2 weeks after your period you will generally have greater outgoing energy as you are under the influence of oestrogen, and then after ovulation progesterone dominates, our feel good hormone that brings out a different energy for us, but perhaps not as outgoing. But we are all beautiful, unique individuals and we will all experience this time in our own unique way.
In naturopathic clinic we will investigate all layers and levels of your unique health picture. It may be necessary to undertake Hormone Blood Testing (read more about that here), assess your exposure to xenoestrogens, your digestive and bowel health, diet and lifestyle and stress.
Relief and balance can be found naturally and you can connect with your unique rhythms.
If you are interested in starting a journey toward menstrual wellness, please reach out and ask any questions or book in for a naturopathic consult so we can continue to get to know each other better.
