PMS seems to be less problematic

The last many months PMS has been mostly fine.  Such a huge relief.

I get those awful PMS symptoms at a much reduced rate and for a shorter duration each month. It's much calmer in my head most month and that is such a relief.

There was a month earlier this year where my periods were late and I had more severe PMS symptoms during the extra few days during which I was waiting for my periods to arrive. It was like the old days when I used to get PMS really severely, where my head felt like it was being squeezed from the inside. This wasn't a literal feeling, but rather an emotional squeeze. I survived, as usual. But I am thankful that this was an anomaly, not the usual way for me these days. The severe PMS and late periods was most likely due to me feeling really stressed about things in my life. I don't think I was doing enough in terms of the vitamins, minerals, supplements and stress relief. And that has changed.

I am back to doing what I normally do to reduce my PMS symptoms:

• Good quality omega 3 fatty acids in the right ratio
• Protein at each meal, like boiled or fried eggs for breakfast, sometimes a protein shake when I am in a hurry (which had been too much previously)
• Lots of leafy green vegetables - organic
• Lots of berries - organic
• Different assortment of nuts each day - organic
• Vitamin C and zinc supplement
• Magnesium and other mineral supplement in micro levels
• Exercise every day for about an hour - a mixture of strengthening, cardio, flexibility and toning exercises on different days
• Some meditation for at least 10-15 minutes most days of the week

Organic foods are my preference, because when you have PMS or really any condition, the less chemicals you put in your body, the less you're stressing it.

And for those who think this isn't enough for PMDD - well it is. I had severe PMDD and I treated it with food, supplements, exercise and meditation and it worked. Medication isn't the answer. It only masks the symptoms while your body continues in its dysfunction.

Enjoy a PMS-free month!

Exercise and Supplements Help Reduce PMS

Husmorsgymnastik - Nycop, Carl-Adam: 75 år Sverige. Höganäs, 1976

Since my unfortunate experience with the Anna's Wild Yam Cream (not recommended), I have gone back to my regular regime in terms of how I manage my PMS and period pain.
Now I am using vitamins and other supplements - quercetin, omega-3 fish oil, a multi supplement (with the B vitamins) and also stomach digestives with fibre, as the fibre helps to remove excess eostrogen from the body.

Excessive eostrogen is thought to be part of the reason why PMS symptoms occur in many women. The fibre binds with the excessive eostrogen and this enables it to be processed and removed out of the body. The fibre I use is in the form of a supplemental powder that is mixed with water (all natural ingredients, non-GMO).

I have also upped my exercise again. I am exercising for 30-45 minutes every day, varying the type of exercise I do - from walking to strength training, to cardio, to pilates to resistance training. Every bit helps to tone up the body, tone up the heart muscle and to help reduce PMS symptoms.

Exercise is an excellent stress reliever and is an excellent way to tone down those emotional PMS symptoms.

Exercise helps to improve PMS-PMDD symptoms

A number of studies recommend exercise as a way to relieve PMS symptoms.

Exercise is a great way to not only increase aerobic conditioning of the body (especially the lungs) and improve muscle tone, it is also a beneficial technique to use to help alleviate PMS symptoms, prevent worsening of symptoms and reduce likelihood of severe symptoms in the future.

Studies evaluated whether strength training (or resistance training) vs aerobic training exercises for women with PMS and while both types of exercise are very beneficial and improve symptoms of PMS, it seems that aerobic exercise helps to improve symptoms a lot more than strength training alone.

One study also evaluated whether a high intensity training regime or lower intensity one was more beneficial for reducing PMS and managing mood and other symptoms of PMS. The study found that low impact training was better for managing the mood problems of PMS, whereas high intensity training made mood problems associated with PMS worse.

One study which reviewed previous studies on the efficacy of exercise on PMS symptoms found that while exercise did help to reduce PMS symptoms, more stringent and larger studies needed to be done in order to confirm the studies results. While this is a good idea, it does seem, from the studies conducted so far, that exercise, especially regular aerobic is necessary to ensure PMS symptoms are reduced.

Resources

• Cockerill IM, Nevill AM, Byrne NC. Mood, mileage and the menstrual cycle. Br J Sports Med. 1992 Sep;26(3):145-50. Accessed 26 July 2010
• Daley A. Exercise and premenstrual symptomatology: a comprehensive review. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2009 Jun;18(6):895-9
• Daley A. The role of exercise in the treatment of menstrual disorders: the evidence. Br J Gen Pract. 2009 Apr;59(561):241-2. Accessed 26 July 2010
• Dickerson LM, Mazyck PJ, Hunter MH. Premenstrual syndrome. Am Fam Physician. 2003 Apr 15;67(8):1743-52. Accessed 26 July 2010
• Steege JF, Blumenthal JA. The effects of aerobic exercise on premenstrual symptoms in middle-aged women: A preliminary study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Volume 37, Issue 2, February 1993, Pages 127-133

Have some mild PMS symptoms at the moment

I am at day 26 of my cycle.

This means PMS is back!

This month, it is again, not too severe. The only aspect which is more pronounced is the fluid retention and weight gain, especially in my stomach and breasts (as usual). But at least I don't have major pain.

The other major symptoms I have had this month are: food cravings for sweet foods (especially my favourite chocolate) and some emotional lows.

I haven't done much about the food cravings (I give into them), but I have been able to prevent my emotions from escalating, by telling myself, "It's only PMS and not a real emotion" a few times, after which my mental status comes back to normal. It just takes a few seconds of repeating this to myself to stop the false mood swing to negativity. Thank goodness!

I have found that the more I exercise, the more fluid I pass through my urine and the better my fluid retention symptoms get. Exercise increases circulation and also helps the lymphatic system remove any excess fluids.

I'll keep doing the exercises every day (about 35-45 minutes) and that should help a lot.

Major and unrelenting stress can make PMS much worse

When you have a lot of stress in your life, when it's unrelenting and of a major kind and it is something that is rather beyond your control, this can be a major contributing factor in worse PMS symptoms so that they resemble PMDD, which is the more severe form of PMS.

For the last few months, I have been under a great deal of stress due to a very uncomfortable situation that I have been exposed to. I am trying really hard to extricate myself, but in the meantime, it means that the stress, frustration, anger and other negative emotions that I have been feeling, are contributing to my more exaggerated PMS symptoms this month, which I haven't felt in a very long time.

The one consolation I can give myself is that because I know any intense emotions I get are due to PMS, so this means I can use my little mind trick, where I tell myself, "It's only PMS. It's not real," and this brings my feelings back down to a more normal level pretty quickly.

But, as I am not yet right in the day or two before I menstruate, it still mean it could get much worse, but I hope not. I have done a lot of hard work to get my body to react more normally during PMS over the past few years and I never want to have those intense and crazy emotions that I used to get in the past, where I felt like my head felt like it had this intense pressure inside that I couldn't seem to release and was seemingly coming from nowhere. It was almost like I was going insane with all these intense, crazy emotions that had nothing to do with me, for 2-3 days almost every month and it was the most awful feeling as I could not control it.

Now, after several years of eating properly, exercising, doing meditation, taking certain supplements and massaging my body regularly, I don't feel that way any more. Yep, all without any medication, which was recommended to me, but I declined, preferring to do it the natural way, as I wholeheartedly believe the body can heal itself if you provide the right food, supplements and tools.

Just goes to show, how even if you implement everything properly, except in one area (not reducing stress) it can have a debilitating effect on your health and some of us are more susceptible than others.

PMS has started early for this month, already

PMS has started already this month, early.

I think because I have been rather inactive these past three weeks and have had to deal with a very stressful situation (which I am trying to extricate myself  from), that's most likely causing PMS to start early.

I haven't been active or doing much exercise these past three weeks, because I have been really sick with the flu from just before the start of my previous months' periods and I am only now just starting to get better! It's been a very virulent flu virus that got me and I am still coughing and have sinusitis as well as feel very lethargic and tired.

At the moment, it's just my breasts that feel rather full and heavier than normal and my stomach is bloated out, it juts out when I sit down and that's not normal for me when I don't have PMS.

I don't mind having full, heavy and even painful breasts and the fluid retention that goes on in the rest of my body, but I do not want the emotional symptoms - the anger, irrational thinking, depression, anxiety and everything else that goes with it, to a varying degree, for those days before my periods start.

Last night I did about 15 minutes of exercise - not much, but I didn't have much energy to do more. Today, I did 30 minutes of exercise, so I hope that, combined with eating more fruits and vegetables and taking all my vitamins/minerals, can help to prevent the worst of the fluid retention and other PMS symptoms.  I probably also need to do some meditation too. Maybe I will do some tonight, before I go to sleep, which will be very soon.

More exercise and massage every day

I have been massaging my legs quite diligently the last two days (since my periods ended), for about five minutes each leg, about twice a day. The massage I have been giving my legs has been over my clothes and it's more of a rub-down, vibrational one, where I do a motion with the sides of my palms vertically down on my legs, all over. This has the effect of stimulating the circulatory and lymphatic systems to function better.

I have also been doing quite a lot of leg exercises and leg stretches, but I have also been doing other exercises and stretches for other parts of the body too, because any exercise program should include your whole body (or at least certain parts on certain days, but all the body to be exercised throughout the week).

I have been trying to make sure I massage my legs as they seem to feel the worst effects of the fluid retention when I get my periods and also prior during PMS, so I'll have to monitor my progress when I get into PMS mode and when menstruation starts to see if this has any effect.

PMS is over

Menstruation arrived today just after lunch and the intense emotions have also gone (for the most part). 

Interestingly, my periods came 4 weeks and 1/2 a day since last month. So obviously by not buying into the irrational thoughts of PMS must have normalised my hormones in some way and not extended PMS/PMDD (like it would have in the dark horrible past) and so my periods have come in a regular manner. 

See, mind control works! If we can control ourselves, then we can achieve so much.

No wonder I was feeling so horrible and my emotions felt totally out of control yesterday. Lucky for me I was just feeling that way, but not letting it take over, so I was able to remain calmer than I normally would feel on such an irrational day.

This month. I am going to diligently do the following to get back to having wonderful periods and no PMS again:

• Daily self-massage of my legs mainly, but also other parts of my body that I can manage myself
• Daily exercise for at least 30 minutes
• Eating more regularly every day (I eat really healthily, just had not been eating regularly lately)
• Meditation every night before I go to sleep, which will help me sleep, but will also clear and refresh my mind and make me feel calmer all month

Come back to see how I fare next month.

Pretty bad PMS

I am close to menstruation, so it means PMS is pretty bad again.

Yesterday, I was having a discussion with a family member and when they said something totally outrageous, I could literally feel the anger rising inside my head threatening to take over. It was a weird feeling, because I was calmly eating one second and the next, this intense anger just rose inside and I literally couldn't "see" anything other than the anger, which was like this wave of intense emotion , a tide of irrational and intense emotion that just grew so huge and threatened to engulf me, just all of a sudden. It was quite surreal as I was almost observing it from the outside (and thank goodness that I was), but it wasn't the observation that was real, it was the actual feelings, how quickly they formed and how badly it affected my mind.

This sudden surge of emotions was extremely difficult to control, but I did manage it. I didn't let it take over. I took a deep breath, told my family member they should look at themselves first before laughing at other people (in a rather calm manner), all without getting getting out of control. In the past such a thing may have culminated in an angry outburst, but not this time.

Because it is so close to menstruation, PMS is at its worst, so that is why a comment such as the one my female relative made got me irrationally upset. But, I can congratulate myself, because I did not allow the extreme emotions consume me and cause me to get really angry, be totally irrational, have a huge argument and feel bad about everything. After writing the previous posts, I have told myself that I need to control my PMS/PMDD because if I cannot it will literally be hell for me, like the past times when I have had bad PMS/PMDD. I will not allow myself to experience those awful feelings again!

So today, I feel a little tired, a little deflated but not angry. And every time I get any excessive emotions that come out of nowhere, I tell myself: "it is only PMS" and those emotions do go away because that is all they are - unreal, exaggerated and irrational - totally of no use to me. Because this month's PMS is entirely my fault for not doing what I should have been doing - meditation, exercise, self-massage and regularly healthy eating - I don't feel like it has come out of nowhere: I know that it is due to me.

I know some may say that you should not need to have to do all these things to get better and relieve the PMS, but the thing is, because I used to get PMS/PMDD so bad before, I need to continue the treatment (meditation, exercise, self-massage and regularly healthy eating) for at least one year (I think) before I can expect to have any major relief, where, if I am neglecting myself one month, it wont cause any bad PMS/PMDD like it did this month.My PMS/PMDD has been happening for over 10 years - I know I cannot expect a magic cure in one month. And anyway, the treatment I am proposing, is going to help me in every area of health, not just for this.

So any women reading this - seriously, if I can do it, you can too. And I have had the more serious and worse form of PMS - PMDD and I have done it without medication of any type. So that means you can too!

PMS and PMDD - How I am coping today

Well I have been saying: "It's only PMS" every time I feel like crying about some silly thing or other and the feeling immediately dissipates. That's how I really know that it's not a real feeling, because when I am really upset about something then no matter what I say the feeling doesn't immediately go away. Plus, when I don't have PMS, I do not tend to get so irrational and overly emotional like now. 

It's rather interesting how I can influence my mind so much as to dissipate (and cut off before they manifest too badly) those negative emotions with just those 3 simple words - "It's only PMS". It's rather comforting to know that it is just PMS making me feel like that and not something else, because it's almost like I wave those excessive emotions away with my hand when I say, "its only PMS". 

It is really interesting how I can be feeling normal emotions one second and then I feel like crying the next second and as soon as I say those words, I go back to feeling normal again. It truly is an amazing shift and it's interesting to observe that shift of emotions and generally within a few seconds: normal -> irrational -> normal. Oh and I have stopped sighing so much today. I think it is entirely due to the fact that I have been feeling more on an even emotional level today (compared to yesterday).

And my menstruation is supposed to start in a few days, so no wonder I am getting such strong PMS now - it is so close to the start of my cycle. And I described in my previous post why it was my fault that I am experiencing rather bad PMS (probably the worst in quite a while).

So, ladies, if I can do it, so can you. It is more of a challenge to do the natural way for some women, but it does work. I have to just get back to exercising, meditation, eating more regularly and I will be fine. I think I will do a little bit of dancing today - release some of those hormones.

Healthy Foods to Help Reduce PMS/PMDD Symptoms

This evening I made quite a gourmet meal for myself and the family. The food was extremely filling and totally sumptuous (if I do say so myself).

I am following the diet strategies I have laid out on this site.

I made the following:

• Baked organic chicken with herbs
• Organic brown rice - boiled
• Chickpea, kidney bean, tomato and red onion salad (all organic) - with some olive oil, tiny bit of balsamic vinegar and sweet paprika as the dressing
• Organic garden salad - with cos lettuce, mignonette lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes (from our garden)
• Onion, okra and gourmet mushroom sauce - made with wholemeal spelt flour, water, oil, herbs and salt

Sounds like a lot of food, but when you eat just a little of each food, the meal is just perfect. I had a few pecans and a few small pieces of pineapple (both organic) about an hour later.

Now, first let me say that this meal was so unbelievably delicious. It's probably because I made it with organic ingredients, which always have more flavour and partly because I was absolutely starving by the time we ate. None of the above were from any recipe books - I came up with each item myself. Nothing was very difficult to make anyway.

The interesting thing to note, is that again my teeth felt whiter after the meal and I had a lot more energy after the meal. Even though it felt like a lot of food, I don't feel bloated and full after the meal. I shall try to incorporate more legumes into my meals, more times in the week and also mushrooms too, as they have a lot of essential nutrients and antioxidant properties. Very good to eat at any time.

In regards to PMS
I am officially in PMS mode at the moment, as my ability to not get so easily irritated is just a tiny bit compromised.

But, because I am eating much better (very little processed food, mostly natural food), exercising, massaging my legs and meditating, I have found that I feel okay. So this is quite nice.

On a side note, I am not even taking any herbs, vitamins or other supplements at the moment, so to feel okay without taking anything is pretty good. It's very indicative of what a good diet, exercise, fresh air and less stress can do for a person - makes PMS better.

Since this is working so well for me, I shall continue doing it for the foreseeable future.

PMS and PMDD Causes - Part 3: Lack of Exercise

Researchers state that there is no real known reason why PMS (or PMDD) occurs in some women and not in others. Let me tell you what I think why PMS (and PMDD) occurs (part 3):

3. Lack of Exercise
The body is made to move. All the muscles in the body need to be conditioned on a daily basis. If you do not move, the muscles do not work properly and the body becomes sluggish and unable to function effectively. This is fact.

In order to ensure circulation is working properly, the body needs to be conditioned by exercise each day. The lymphatic system and circulatory system are very dependent on movement. If there is no movement, there is stagnation. If there is stagnation in the body, certain areas are not working properly and this means the hormones are not circulated correctly, the nutrients are not absorbed properly and stress levels increase.

A few preliminary studies have found that regular exercise can ease some of the pain and stress due to PMS. In one trial, researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver had eight previously sedentary women work up to running 12 miles per week over six months. At the end of the study, the runners reported less breast tenderness, bloating, and moodiness before their periods.

At this stage, no studies have been done to determine if exercise helps with PMDD, but I assert that if exercise is part of a whole change in diet, lifestyle and stress reduction, it will dramatically reduce PMDD. I hope to be proved right (and vindicated) by some clinical studies in this area.

Exercise is an excellent way to relieve stress. Exercise releases endorphins (feel good hormones) which lighten you mood and reduce levels of stress hormones.

PMS and PMDD Causes - Part 1: Nutritional Deficiencies

Researchers state that there is no real known reason why PMS (or PMDD) occurs in some women and not in others. Let me tell you what I think why PMS (and PMDD) occurs (part 1):

1. Nutritional deficiencies
Diet is fundamental to good health. That is the bottom line. If you do not get enough of natural, unprocessed foods, you are doing yourself a total disservice in terms of your health.

If your diet is basically composed of a great deal of processed foods (anything you buy from a store that you do no cook yourself) and you have a lack of fresh vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, seeds, nuts, oily fish such as salmon, trout, then your diet will be deficient in many vital nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids). No amount of supplements will correct this - on one hand you are effectively ensuring your body becomes inflamed and deficient from various nutrients and on the other hand, you try to balance this with supplements, when you need the whole foods for your health.

You need to eat the following foods to maintain good health and to help your body get back to optimal health:

• Vegetables - 7 servings each day and at least 3 of these servings should be dark, green or dark red leafy vegetables (different types of lettuce, kale, spinach, sorrel, broccoli, watercress)
• Fruit - 5 servings each day and try to make sure you eat lots of brightly coloured or dark coloured fruits, such as blueberries, raspberries, dark purple grapes, acai berries, cherries
• Wholegrains - 3-5 servings each day and this means not just bread, but cereals, pasta and noodles too (just make sure they are not saturated with sugar)
  
• Legumes - 1-2 servings each day, this means all types of beans, such as lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
  
• Fish - 3-4 servings per week of the oily variety, such as salmon, trout, sardines, mackerel, but just make sure you buy the fish labelled as "wild" or "deep ocean" because these fish will have the most nutrients and are less likely to be tainted by heavy metals such as mercury and lead
• Meat - 3 servings per week and only organic, because the non-organic varieties have various chemicals and hormones injected into them, which interfere with your own hormone production and can exacerbate PMS and PMDD
• Nuts & seeds - 2-3 servings per day and try to use organic, raw nuts, unsalted as they provide the most nutrients

You need to eliminate the following foods (or at least severely restrict them):

• Alcohol - too much alcohol has a detrimental effect on the body and is not useful when you have PMS or PMDD
  
• Sugar - many women with PMS and PMDD experience variations in their blood glucose levels and an excess of sugar will make the blood sugar levels spike quickly and fall dramatically, which has a detrimental effect on insulin levels, which are pumped out at great levels to reduce blood glucose levels - eating less foods high in sugar and more natural foods will keep blood sugar levels on an even level and this means that there will be less of an issue prior to menstruation, including a curbing of sugar cravings, which many women also experience at PMS time
  
• Processed foods - any type of food that comes in a packet (other than raw nuts and seeds)
• Take-away foods - any type of meal you buy from a take-away store
• Salt - try to decrease it in your meal, use herbs and spices instead and try to use organic sea salt, which has more minerals in it than normal processed salt

The essential fatty acids in oily fish as well as the nuts and seeds are vital for women suffering from PMS and PMDD. Studies have shown that this essential nutrients is necessary as they are precursors of prostaglandins, which are hormone-like substances that affect women when they have PMS and PMDD. The B vitamins, which are abundant in good quality meat and wholegrains are necessary for women suffering this condition, as they help to reduce symptoms. The magnesium found in many whole foods is a natural muscle relaxant.

PMS Update

It has been over a year since I have posted anything to this blog and that is because I have been busy! No excuse, but that's what it is.

In regards to PMS, I have discovered that a combination of vitamins, nutrients and lots of exercise does help.

In addition this, stress-relief is mandatory. I try to do about 15minutes of meditation each night. This is really great, as it helps to improve my stress levels in general, which in turn help me to feel better and lessen the hold that PMS may have on me.

Lately I have been exercising for about 1 hour each day - this includes a lot of fat burning exercises, plus some toning and stretching. I have started this diligent exercise plan since my last menstruation ended and it should be interesting to note how it affects my PMS next month.

Exercise really helps

I have really discovered that exercise is really helping me combat PMS.

I have started jogging again and going to the beach too - even though it's still officially winter here, it's really quite warm and nice during the day.

I usually go for a walk along the beach walks either early in the morning or late in the day most weekends and sometimes during the week. Because the beach isn't so close to me, I have to take a short bus ride there, but the effort is worth it because I feel good afterwards.

I also started going for a jog (combined with walking) a few days ago and even though I have only done it twice now, today I seemed to be able to jog longer and further and I just felt really good afterwards - I think it was because I have been exercising lately, so my fitness levels just improved really quickly.

It was amazing, how much better I felt after the jog today - my face was pink and I was just full of energy. It was also good that it was late evening when I went, although I didn't mean to go that late because I jog in a park and although there are people around, I will try to go earlier in the day next time, before it gets dark.

I feel so vital and healthy. If I continue this way, exercising like this, I shall not only beat PMS, but I will lose weight and get healthy.

The good thing is, because I am pretty much a fit person (although not to my optimum levels) anyway, this regular exercising will just help me so much.

I cannot recommend it more!