This is a study to all men and beloved women by one woman. By writing this review I want to make readers more intimate with one of women’s’ many secrets that, except from long being almost “tabu” and neglected from much of contemporary medical research, can be a devastating phenomenon in your personal life, couple relations, in job relations and for the general well-being of women. There have been cases where people have committed suicide because of this so why not pay a little more attention to it?
In contrast to some of nature’s clever inventions, this diagnosed state of mind does not seem to have a prominent function or benefiting anyone but someone with maybe a slightly masochistic nature. To me this phenomenon causes a lot of unnecessary pain and has most likely given birth to the boring and shopworn connotation of women as being “moody, unpredictable, cantankerous and hysterical”, sometimes in a slenderly charming, unintelligent or not so genus friendly way. You don’t have to be a feminist to see that. There are countless of authors and poets, movies and songwriters that not seldom makes it so wearyingly evident. When I think about it bugs me that women so often are seen as helpless, hypermanic and temperament swinging little creatures and that the female definition is so “by-God” given and general like a sort of natural characteristic that belong to all the general gender discussion on the “incomprehensible” and hot-blooded female specie.
Isn’t it time for a bit of realism? Come on, we live in the 21st century and the more we theorize on human behaviour the less we seem to understand about our own nature. Still, in 2010 most part of the hard-hit are untreated and the probable amount of women that need help are thousands of thousands.
PMS: “Pre-Menstrual Syndrome“. Let’s now make it an established and generic notion for BOTH men and women. Ok?
First of all, the menstrual cycle is NOT a “biologic normality”. Women that are pregnant or breastfeed don’t have menstruation. In the old rustic society, the woman had several children and experienced menses only a few times in a lifetime. Only recently, neither the doctors nor general public took the evidences on PMS seriously. Today it is reasoned to be generally accepted as a medical condition but to me there seems to be a lack of intelligence among women who might suffer from it and especially men and other family members who can be quite targeted by it. Among the thousands of women in for example Sweden, that suffers from PMS, 5 % of them is known to suffer from PMDD – a “Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder”, the most severe PMS-form.
The term PMS covers both physical and emotional symptoms that may occur on a monthly basis before menstruation. With PMS these symptoms may be very uncomfortable and hard to handle. With PMDD they may even be disastrous and almost like a handicap. According to WHO of UN, an illness that strikes at least 2% of the population is a national or widespread disease. PMS meets this definition with a vengeance, even if only taking the most severe form PMDD into account. PMS so far seems to be one of our most underdiagnosed national illnesses. Up to 150 different symptoms of PMS have been noted but the exact explanation to its existence has not yet been found. However there seem to be a growing consensus among scientists that it is caused by an over-sensitivity of normal levels of the hormone progesterone and its decomposition products in the brain during the menstruation cycle. The symptom normally starts some time after the ovulation when the level of progesterone starts rising, but is reasoned to be most evident 3-10 days before menstruation. The first time of PMS experience usually cooccurs with a period of large hormone changes, such as puberty, after childbirth, when starting taking contraceptives etc.
It is mostly the psychologic symptoms that dominates. The state of mind usually varies from minor dysphoria to instability and severe depression. Between 3-5 % of all women are so affected by the hormones before the menstruation that their symptom can be seen as a virtual depression. These are the most common psychological and physical PMS symptoms:
PSYCHOLOGICAL: Worrying, irritation, feeling of “not having control”, tearfulness, depression, forgetfulness, exhaustion, aggression or anger, panic disorder or changes in sleeping patterns, sexlust and appetite.
PHYSICAL: Headache/migraine, soreness in abdomen area, weight gain, sore breasts, belly pain, swollen hands and/or feet, pain in back and joints, nausea, epilepsy, asthma, migraine and herpes may considerably worsen.
There are cases when women have committed crimes during periods of PMS. Commonly they have not been judged as sane while committing these crimes. Some women may find the symptom disappearing as soon as the menses begins while others need to wait all through the period. There are also evidences when women with the most severe form of PMDD have inaccurately been diagnosed as depressed or manic-depressive due to ignorance within the field. My view is that the amount misdiagnosed may be far greater than earlier expected.
I have eagerly struggled myself through endless days, weeks and months of heavy physical belly-,abdomen-, and headaches. Even minor depressions and panic attacks and various degrees of insomnia just before menses. I took me a great deal of time to notice that these occurrences were largely concentrated to a determined time of the month. I started realizing it when remembering or documenting certain events in a calendar, such as large quarrels, sadness, stress-attacks, hyper-activity, persistent infections etc. Some of my closest relations have during these periods been seriously strained. Mainly due to the increased depression-like state of mind mixed with a growing aggressivity and confrontativeness that not even a woman from Mars could entirely understand. Is there a coincidence that the information about these problems that now has been known for almost a century – or actually already in ancient Rome – has never reached the bigger mass and no well-known medical preparations or auxiliary means have been promoted like other medications or treatments? Not even merchandized, in this profit-making and commercial-loving world always looking for new fields and target groups to be addressed or exploited? It is with an oppressive emphasis I enunciate these words: “Oh my, Oh my”.
HOW TO HANDLE PMS
Before taking medicine you should ask yourself how or if the symptoms affect you, your family, colleagues and friends. Start taking notes, like me, so you can easily which symptoms starts when. If you are more clear over your situation it is possible that you can plan your life in a way that makes you take control over these hormone changes. Your personal awareness makes it possibly easier for the people around you to handle the situation during this time of the month. Try to parallelly cut all kinds of stress. I was in the end more or less forced to start practicing different forms of meditation techniques, yoga and to increase exercising. Exercise is always believed to help since it stimulates all parts of your body and nervous system. My personal experience is also that not eating regularly with bevers between the meals, or skipping some meals can be devastating since the state is already before temperamental. Those who are more sensitive to caffeine and alcohol should definitely try to reduce input if they feel “moody”. Some argue that the same can be true for chocolate, too much salt and fat. These sort of dietary is of course highly individual.
HOW TO HANDLE PMDD
Almost all obtainable medicines can have side-effects and so far there is no treatment that works for every woman. Heavy temperament, depression and aggression can make the normal life almost impossible. PMDD is considered refractory. It is presently treated with antidepressants or usage of hormones. Antidepressives, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s), are usually the first-choice medicine for treating PMDD. Sufficient serotonin levels may control temperament swinging and psychological disorder. Serotonin is a signal substance and progesterone is thought to lower the serotonin levels in the brain. SSRI’s may have side-effects on some women but are known to treat severe PMS and PMDD symptoms. According to the Independent, Prozac has been known to work for PMS and PMDD for long but it was proven scientifically only recently in a three-year study on lab rats at the Birmingham University. Thelma Lovick, who headed the study, says that small levels of Prozac is efficient against all PMS and PMDD symptoms.
Estrogenprofiled contraceptive pills. These pills may help women with lighter problems. Most medical doctors proscribe contraceptive pills but these rarely have any effect in PMS and PMDD and can even by side-effects make she situation worse. According to the Swedish professor and pharmacologist Elias Eriksson ..”most doctors are not aware of this. Most women with these problems don’t get any treatment or they get contraceptives. This treatment only works on very few.”
The ignorance of doctors is due to the fact that SSRI medicines’ effects on PMDD is not recorded in FASS. Since the patent on SSRI’s were obsolete when this discovery was done, pharmaceutical companies had no economical incentive to seek the approval of the health authorities.(Läkemedelsverket)
It is also possible to treat individual symptoms with for example diuretic drug to reduce swelling and other symptoms. Ibuprofen is convenient to cramps in abdomen and other conditions of pain.
ALTERNATIVE WAY OF TREATMENT
There are some alternative ways to address PMS, some has shown more successful than others. There are some proofs of that Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxin) may help. B6 is a natural component in several foods but a dietary supplement that inherits between 50-600 mg has shown to mitigate PMS. One can eat B6 continuously or two weeks before expected menses. Calcium has also been proven to have some positive effects. Magnesium may help to reduce swollen. However, large amounts of vitamines over a long period may create injuries on the nervous system so before taking any dietary supplement it is wise to ask the doctor for advise.
By addressing hard PMS difficulties with anti-depressives it has been shown that nine of ten women can get rid of their hormone sensitivity forever. The pharmacologist Elias Eriksson at Gothenburg University figured it out already in the 90s. In a recent study he was able to show a result that was even better than first expected: all over 90% of all women were helped and the symptoms reduced by an average of 90%. What is even more joyous is that there has shown to be no need to eat these SSRI’s continuously since these preparations has an instant effect and can be taken as soon as one can feel or expect to have the symptom/s.
I do feel a bit sorry for some men, but foremost for the young girls whose doctors have given them the diagnosis of manic depression, or been told to eat different forms of contraceptive pills with sometimes even worse side-effects than PMS itself and total lack of sexlust or even “life”-lust. This may, have negative effects in all couple relationship which may bring a partner to the rack with sometimes diminishing self-esteem and lust in turn as a result. The secondary, thirdly side-effects and human relationships may be disastrously many and if any man anywhere or anytime would like to put his little interest and effort into this field of research he would not only prepare the happy life for his future wife but for around half of the planets anthropological population and lastly – but not leastly – for himself. It’s a striking win-win investment.
It makes me want to scream all over the world. LADIES UNITE! There is help to find out there!! Move your booty to the closest gynecologist and demand or rebel.
As Elias Eriksson simply puts it:
“To suffer from PMS nuisance that may affect life negatively is nothing that women of to today shall need cope with”.
I don’t know if you find this information relieving but the little I’ve learned and found on the subject so far has helped me a great deal. …and probably someone here and there in my close surrounding too.
LOVE TO YOU ALL, MYSTERIOUS WOMENKIND!. HAVE FAITH.
PS:
..: DS
Copyright E-M.
Others familiar with PMS:
Doctor, doctor: PMS and lethargy…
Elvira Madigan 