‘Just because you were told to ‘deal with it’ doesn’t mean you should’ – PMS.
At least 75% of women have PMS, known as premenstrual syndrome. It’s a combination of different symptoms occurring around your period. This usually affects women in child bearing ages however, some peri-menopausal women also get mild symptoms once a month regularly for a few years! Your PMS severity is dependent on hormonal imbalance, nutrition, diet and other lifestyle factors such as stress. You are also likely undiagnosed for some common conditions such as PCOS, Endometriosis, Fibroids, Thyroid Disorder etc.
Believe it or not, even though Premenstrual syndrome is common, it is NOT normal and it doesn’t mean that you should sit through the pain, feel miserable and swallow your pain pills.
Every woman experiences PMS in different ways, it’s important to remember that no two bodies are the same. However, some common symptoms are:
Water retention, pelvic pain, menstrual pain, headaches, migraines, acne, bowel changes such as constipation and diarrhea, fatigue, bloating, breast tenderness, mood swings, depression, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, poor memory and focus, food craving and appetite changes.
You want a qualified licensed health care practitioner such as a Naturopathic Doctor to do an in depth intake, map out your hormones and address your symptoms by digging deep in to the root cause of your PMS.
Dr. Tali does a comprehensive blood work in order to determine whether your hormones are out of balance, and helps diagnose whether you have true PMS – is it perhaps an under diagnosed hormonal pattern? An in depth questioning around your health, your past period and more recent period will help in diagnosing. If any serious conditioned suspected, Dr. Tali will communicate with your MD in order for you to get the proper diagnostic tests.
Causes of PMS are ‘unknown’. However, Naturopathic Medicine is great at figuring out the possible factors that can be contributing to your PMS. We look into every single system in your body to determine factors that can influence your hormonal imbalances, inflammation spectrum, etc.
Factors such as diet, lifestyle, stress, travel, nutrition status etc. can influence your PMS. Most often, it’s underlined conditions such as Endometriosis, PCOS, estrogen dominance, low progesterone, high testosterone etc.
Let’s get to the root cause of your PMS!
Naturopathic treatment is great for managing PMS. Dr Tali`s approach is to first get to the bottom of your PMS by testing for possible hormonal imbalances as well as doing an in depth intake questioning. A comprehensive hormone testing may be offered depending on your potential diagnosis and symptoms. The goal would be to treat the cause, address any imbalances and manage your symptoms. This will be done with a research based approach using botanical medicine, nutrition, supplements, acupuncture lifestyle and dietary changes. Treatment will be individualized depending on your needs, diagnosis, symptoms etc. remember, no two women are the same.
A note on conventional treatment – most use birth control to reduce and mask the symptoms of PMS. This doesn’t treat it nor address the reason why you have it in the first place. When you come off your birth control, if left untreated, most likely, PMS will resume. See Post- Birth Control Syndrome.
It’s important to understand how different pain killers and the frequency of use may be associated with under diagnosed conditions. This is something Dr. Tali pays close attention to during your intake.