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PMS Symptoms and WHO WHEN and WHY do We Get Them?

PMS symptoms are what a woman experiences days or even two weeks before her monthly menstruation is due to appear. Typically the symptoms disappear after the blood begins to flow. Any menstruating woman of any age can experience PMS symptoms. When menopause starts, PMS symptoms will disappear for good.

It is not clear what causes the symptoms to occur each month. Researchers believe that the symptoms are linked somehow to the changing hormones during the menstrual cycle. It is a theory that stress and emotional issues may intensify the PMS symptoms, but they do not cause them. Women experience different symptoms and may even have different intensities of symptoms from one month to the next.

A doctor will diagnosis a woman with PMS based on her history of symptoms, when the symptoms occur and how the symptoms affect her life.

The symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) include acne, appetite changes or food cravings, anxiety, backaches, breast swelling and tenderness, constipation, crying spells, depression, diarrhea, difficulty concentrating or remembering things, feeling fatigued, headaches, joint or muscle pain, mood swings, tension or irritability, and trouble sleeping.

Something that may help your doctor to diagnosis you are to keep a symptom journal for a few months. Record what symptoms you have, the dates you have them, how intense they are, if they stop you from functioning at work, school or at home, and also record your menstrual period start day and stop day each month.

Approximately 85% of women who are menstruating have had at least one PMS symptom each month according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The majority of these women have mild symptoms and do not require treatment but approximately 3% to 8% of menstruating women have symptoms that are so severe that they qualify for the diagnosis of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) for these women the symptoms are so severe that they are debilitating and cause depression or severe mood disorders.

Those women who have PMDD may experience feelings of extreme sadness even suicidal thoughts, may have feelings of anxiety or tension, experience panic attacks, mood swings or crying spells, have a long-term period of irritability or anger that affects those around them, are not interested in activities or relations, have difficulty thinking or focusing, have a low energy level or feel fatigued, experience food cravings or may participate in binge eating and also may have trouble sleeping, or feel like they are out of control. Women who have PMDD may have physical symptoms such as bloating, breast tenderness, headaches, and also joint or muscle pain. In order to be diagnosed with PMDD the woman must have five or more of the above PMDD symptoms, and the symptoms must occur a week before the period occurs and goes away after the bleeding starts.

PMS occurs more often in women who are between the ages of 20 and early 40s, have had at least one child, have a family history of depression, and have had a post medical history of postpartum depression or a mood disorder.