All the women (and many men) will know that there a are a few days in a month when a women should not be messed with! She’s grumpy, irritable and most likely in pain. Here’s shedding some light on the infamous PMS.
Women and PMS
If you are a woman and you have started menstruating, you will likely have experienced some physical and emotional changes each month before your menstrual periods begin, which may impact your health and behaviour. Taken together, this collection of symptoms is known as premenstrual symptoms or premenstrual syndrome (PMS). The actual experience and intensity of symptoms may vary from woman to woman and some may not have symptoms at all. PMS may start a couple of days or even one or two weeks before menstruation starts.
Common symptoms of PMS
Some common physical symptoms include:
- cramping in the stomach or lower abdominal area
- headache or migraine
- body ache
- swollen or painful breasts
- tiredness and weakness
- bloating, particularly in the abdomen
- swelling
- sore throat
- fever
- vomiting
- dizziness or giddiness
Mentally, women may undergo various mood swings and can turn out angry, frustrated, confused and depressed. Some women may want to be isolated from family and friends. Some women may crave for food while others may be reluctant to eat anything during these days. Some of the foods you may crave may actually not make you feel better, so keep track of your body’s response to food in the time before and during your periods. Your periods are not an excuse to eat poorly.
The actual cause of PMS is still unknown to doctors but factors like hormonal changes inside the body, diet and hereditary or genetic factors can affect symptoms of PMS. Chances of severe PMS increase in those women whose mother also suffers from severe PMS. Because of this, it is important to talk to your mother about her experience with her periods and whether the doctor has ever given her advice about them.
Remember that your periods result when your body recognizes that it is not pregnant and sheds the blood-rich lining of the uterus so that it can start to grow again should you become pregnant in the next month. As such, many hormonal cycles change around the time of your periods, which can cause various emotional and behavioural changes.
For tips to manage your PMS better and ensure it’s smooth and pain-free, click here.
Photograph by Martin Walls, via sxc.hu
