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Identifying Premenstrual Syndrome and Learning How To Deal With It

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects women in the weeks before their monthly menstruation flow. The symptoms of PMS can be both physical and emotional and occur between the time of ovulation and the first day of menstruation. There are many symptoms of PMS but the more common ones are crying episodes, depression, irritability, over sensitivity, and also mood swings. There are many things that women can do to control the symptoms of PMS including dietary changes, exercise, and lifestyle changes. It helps to have a support system from family and friends that you can turn to for understanding.

It helps in the identifying or diagnosing stage if you keep a journal of all of your suspected PMS symptoms. Write down the date, what symptom(s) you experience, the intensity of the symptom, and whether or not the symptom prevented you from functioning at work, school or home. Record in your journal when your period started and stopped for that month. Take this journal to your gynecologist or medical doctor so that the journal can help determine if your symptoms are indicative of PMS or not.

PMS symptoms differ from woman to woman and can be severe one month and mild the next. The symptoms may vary in duration from cycle to cycle. There are many symptoms that have been attributed to PMS including mood-related symptoms such as anger, anxiety, crying, depression, exaggerated mood swings, over sensitivity, and tension. The physical symptoms of PMS include acne, appetite changes or food cravings, bloating as a result of fluid retention, breast tenderness, fatigue, and sleep disturbances that include either sleeping too much or experiencing insomnia.

Once a woman understands that it is not normal to experience all of these symptoms to the point that she is miserable in the week or two before her period is due, she can take not of the symptoms she experiences and share this information with her doctor. The first step in identifying PMS is understanding that there is a problem. Some women may have been feeling that way for so long that it becomes "normal" to feel this way and it takes a caring spouse or friend to bring up the subject that these symptoms occur each month and perhaps should be investigated.

Other conditions can have the same symptoms as some of the symptoms of PMS like the conditions - depression, chronic fatigue, hypothyroidism, and irritable bowel syndrome. This is why it is so important to see your doctor if you are experiencing symptoms so that a diagnosis can be made and treatment prescribed and begun in order to bring about relief.

There are many treatments that can be designed by your doctor. Not all treatments will have an impact on reducing your symptoms so you may have to try some to see what works best for you. Some of the more common treatment approaches are to make dietary changes, to make a point to exercise at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 20 minuets each time, to quit smoking, and to reduce alcohol intake. The dietary changes include reducing salt intake, reduce the intake of caffeine, and to reduce the use of refined sugars in cooking, baking and on or in foods. Some doctors recommend taking a vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, and magnesium supplements in order to reduce symptoms.