05 February 2008

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.

02 February 2008

Severe PMS Could Mean a Depressed Nervous System

New findings published by the BioPsychoSocial Medicine journal suggests that not only is PMS tied to decreased nerve activity each month, but also that those with extreme symptoms may have a permanently depressed nervous system.

A team of Japanese researchers investigated if the autonomic nervous system (which plays a vital role in equilibrium within the human body), changed during the menstrual cycle. The team measured variations in heart rate and hormone levels and used questionnaires to evaluate physical, emotional and behavioural symptoms of 62 women's menstrual cycles. A control group who experienced little or no PMS was used to compare the results.

The findings of the research discovered that the women with PMS had significantly decreased autonomic and parasympathetic nerve activity in the week before menstruation and the women with the most severe PMS (known as PMDD - premenstrual dysphoric disorder) has the most reduced rates of nerve activity than any women in the PMS or control groups.

The lead researcher, Dr Tamaki Matsumoto from the International Buddhist University in Osaka said, "Our findings indicate that the occurrence of premenstrual symptomatology could be attributable to an altered functioning of the autonomic nervous system in the symptomatic late luteal phase." For women with PMDD, findings indicate that sympathovagal activity was altered even in the follicular phase. Matsumoto asked: "Does this imply that women with lower autonomic function regardless of the menstrual cycle are vulnerable to more severe premenstrual disorders? At the moment, the underlying biomechanisms of PMS remain enigmatic."

PMS happens in the days before menstruation (but can last as much as two weeks or longer, from ovulation until menstruation) and basically most women will experience some form of PMS at some point in their reproductive life.


References
BioMed Central (2007, December 20). Bad PMS May Mean A Depressed Nervous System. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 2, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/12/071219202940.htm

29 January 2008

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.

20 August 2006

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!

05 May 2006

Helping to Reduce Symptoms - New Diet and Lifestyle Changes

I have started to change my diet and incorporate more exercise in my routine, instead of just sitting at a computer all day.

I have modified my diet, to include more vegetables, more protein and less sugar, so that I can try to balance my sugar levels, which can cause me havoc in the week prior to menstruation. I am especially having more low fat protein every day - from having stir fried vegetables with some type of meat, to pasta with feta cheese and eggs, to vegetables and beans in a tomato based sauce with rice.

I make sure I have some type of low fat protein in my breakfast - from eggs, to yoghurt, to cheese - just to make sure that I am starting the day well. Of course I have some carbohydrates, either in the form of bread and juice or stir friend vegetables.

Plus I bought some supplements to take:
  • St John's Wort - for the anxiety, mood swings, nervous tension and irritability I feel in the week before my periods. I bought a liquid supplement, so I can adjust the amount I need, depending on the level of negative feelings I have. I usually can take a small amount, just a few drops, much less than the recommended dose, to gain the benefits
  • Evening Primrose Oil - for the bloating effect that seems to take hold from about two weeks prior to PMS

I have also added more exercise into my day - from working out on my fitball to going for power walks. I haven't done as much as I should, but I am doing some. My stomach area is a little sore today from doing some intense stomach crunches on my fitball (or gymball) yesterday. But it's that good pain, which makes you realise you know you have worked it out.

I am also continuing with the vitamin B supplement - it contains all the B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12), plus the co-factors (biotin, choline, folic acid and inositol) as well as vitamin C.

    Biotin, choline, folic acid and inositol are vitamin B co-factors - they help the B vitamins to work more effectively and should always be included in a vitamins B supplement (and also in a multi-vitamin). The supplement I take has good levels of all the vitamins and I only need to take one a day and I like it as it is natural without any preservatives or other additives.

    By doing all this, I have found that the symptoms of PMS I am experiencing has decreased, especially the blood sugar fluctuations, anxiety and bloating. I am not so likely to feel as emotional and have more mental clarity. I also have more energy and don't feel so overwhelmed by the PMS symptoms I usually get. Now, the symptoms just get a little bad the day or two prior to menstruation.

    12 March 2006

    Understanding PMS - Blood Sugar level Problems Subsided


    I have just realised why my blood sugar problems have became worse recently.

    I took a B-complex vitamin and a high vitamin C with bioflavonoids on Thursday and one of each again on Friday. It was on Thursday that I had the worst of the blood sugar problems and even though I ate a lot on Friday, I still didn't feel that well. Whereas on Saturday, I decided not to take any vitamins to see if that made a difference to my symptoms - and man did it make a huge difference. I didn't have the blood sugar problems at all. Very strange.

    In the past, when I have taken evening primrose oil or tyrosine or even the herbs angnes vitex and dong quai in the few days before (anywhere up to a week before) my periods, I noticed that instead of making me feel better, they actually made me feel worse - in particular, my feelings of anxiety, nervous tension, mental confusion, insomnia, irritability and irrational thoughts, many of which were not present before I took the vitamins / supplement / herbs, suddenly presented themselves with intensity. And not only did those symptoms present themselves, but actually got worse a few hours after I took the supplements!

    This was really odd. Even still, I couldn't quite believe the negative effects the supplements were having on me, as they helped me in the past and are well known to be beneficial supplement that help relieve PMS. So I tried them again and again, at different times of the month as I thought that maybe so close to menstruation, my hormones were not at the right levels to accept any supplementation. I didn't know why this was so, but that is how it appeared to be.

    When I tried to supplements at the start of the month, just after I completed menstruation, they appeared to help me and not produce the devastating symptoms before, but I was still experiencing side effects.

    I think now, with the advantage of hindsight, that because I may have been experiencing another medical condition, that could have been the impetus for my inability to get normal relief from the usual PMS supplements. I had a slight thyroid problem, but which presented very acutely initially - I think as sub-acute thyroiditis, but the doctors couldn't diagnose me properly, even though I could feel my thyroid was swollen, as I felt the swelling at the back of my throat, like I had swallowed something that was stuck there - it caused a whole host of problems. Apparently I have two little lumps on my thyroid, which may or may not be causing me problems - which were viewed on an ultrasound when this whole thyroid problem started. I insisted on the ultrasound as I was having pains in the left side of the middle of my throat (which is exactly where the lumps are) and I felt like I couldn't swallow properly at the time and had a pain on the left side when I swallowed. I need to have these lumps monitored to ensure they stay the same size, don't grow and don't cause any problems. I am hoping they will shrink one day and go away! They're only small (only a few centimetres - less than an inch each), so it shouldn't be an issue for them to go away! The thyroid problem happened in 2003.

    As I have bee under a lot of stress lately, it feels like my thyroid issues have resurfaced a little, as it feels like the left side of my throat is somewhat swollen, which always happens when I am really stressed.

    The function of the thyroid is to regulate metabolism. The thyroid uses iodine and tyrosine to make the thyroid hormones. When I took tyrosine in 2003 (when my thyroid wasn't functioning particularly normally), it gave me symptoms of high anxiety and nervous tension - symptoms of hyperthyroidism, which was really odd, because when I took tyrosine years before (for PMS), it actually relaxed me (which is what it is supposed to do).

    The thyroid is closely tied to the hypothalamus (which is the master gland and controls all the hormone glands in the body). If one gland is not working properly, all the rest may have issues. Interestingly, a thyroid that is not working properly can have symptoms similar to PMS, so some cases of PMS can be really be caused by thyroid problems and vice versa. Doctors are aware of this and will usually test all the hormones to work out what is causing the problems. The tests may not reveal everything that is going on, especially if these hormone studies are done when you have a problem, they could show to be within the normal range (even though they may be at the higher or lower end of the scale), the doctors will tell you everything is fine. But, if no hormone studies have been done when you were well, there is nothing to compare them with. That's why my doctor maybe realised with me, even though my test results showed as normal, maybe for me it wasn't totally normal and that's why he made the comment that my test results should not be given the most credence, that it should be my symptoms that should be given higher priority.

    I still believe that I had a thyroid problem, albeit a relatively mild one (even though it did not feel very mild to me at the time) and although it has healed up for the most part, my thyroid is still something I should always be aware about and try to ensure it stays healed!

    So maybe what happened in the past and what happened recently are related to my thyroid playing up. It seems to follow a very clear pattern.

    The last time I had this problem, it was actually very severe and problematic and took me a long time to recover from it. I am definitely not having the same thyroid symptoms as before, so that is positive for me, but I as I am experiencing a lot of stress right now, it makes me more aware of my thyroid and makes it feel a little swollen, but not painful.

    I think some yoga and exercise may be what I need right now, to calm my mind and bring some distressing to my body, which in turn will make me feel better and experience less PMS.