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HEALTH

How bad do symptoms of PMS get?

Pre-menstrual syndrome, or PMS, is a word that is banded around a lot when you get your periods and throughout your life. A lot of women, and men, blame PMS for certain behaviours or symptoms that are experienced in the days or week leading up to the period.

  • Tired? PMS
  • Angry? PMS
  • Headaches?  PMS
  • Tender breasts? PMS

But what is normal PMS? And how much should we be putting up with?

Most people have ‘normal’ levels of PMS symptoms and they are manageable and disappear after their period starts. We can take some steps to reduce these even further by considering the following:

  • A balanced diet
  • Good sleep pattern
  • Exercise has been proven to help with PMS

Some people are also put on the contraceptive pill to help with PMS symptoms, although it is important to know this can make things worse as well as better.

There are also several things which can change the way your experience PMS:

  • Weight loss or weight gain
  • Over exercising
  • Extreme stress
  • Changes in medication
  • Thyroid disease

What is NOT normal PMS?

Extreme pain associated with your cycle is NOT normal. Please do not put up with it! You should not suffer in silence. It is extremely important this is looked into so we can ascertain if the pain is actually down to another hormonal medical condition such as PCOS or endometriosis, or unlinked to hormones. Either way, it needs investigating.

What is PMDD?

Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder, or PMDD is a debilitating form of PMS which is often underdiagnosed and poorly understood. Around 3-8% of women get PMDD rather than PMS and symptoms tend to be much more intense with high levels of suicidal thoughts or extreme hopelessness, panic attacks, extreme irritability amongst others.

There is a huge lack of research in this area, and some women are suffering with physical symptoms such as extreme pain, deep pelvic aching, cramping, extreme bleeding and clots, and emotional symptoms such as those above. Please do seek help. At The Bespoke Clinic we will take your concerns seriously and may be able to help balance your hormones to make these extreme symptoms more tolerable. If we feel you need further referral, we will organise this for you so you’re properly managed.

Is there a link between Hormones and Anxiety?

Hormones control all aspects of our health and wellbeing and are part of every single system in our body. They send chemical messages back and forth and are regulated by other hormones and neurotransmitters. If there is an abnormal hormone balance, it can have a massive impact on our mood, particularly on our anxiety levels.

These hormone fluctuations, are normal, for men and women. For men, these cycles are every 24 hours! For women they are monthly. However, sometimes people experience more extreme changes to their hormones, or their body’s response to the changes are heightened and this can lead to real problems which can often be mistaken for other issues.

In the first two weeks of a menstrual cycle, Oestrogen levels tend to be higher and this allows for increased production of Serotonin, our happy hormone.

In the second two weeks however, our Progesterone levels rise and this stimulates the part of our brain linked to the ‘fight or flight’ response, and this can make us feel anxious and depressed.

Different hormone and menstrual disorders can make us feel anxious and unwell. For example Endometriosis can have an impact on your Cortisol levels and this is our main stress hormone.

Cortisol balance is so important as it forms part of our steroid pathway, meaning that it can go into overdrive if allowed. When our stress levels are high, the cortisol production pathway is preferred by our body, and this leads to a reduced production of other important hormones. For example, it can lower our testosterone levels, and this can make us anxious too.

Symptoms of a high cortisol include:

  • Poor digestion
  • Poor sleep
  • Headaches
  • Brain fog
  • Fatigue

Even a thyroid imbalance can cause issues with anxiety, and as you can probably see, all these symptoms are interlinked and overlapped with other conditions making it confusing to know what is going on.

So what can be done?

Firstly, it is important to recognise that lifestyle measures, however many times you have heard about them, or tried them, are the baseline to good health. Looking after yourself the best you can is the best start. Good nutrition, good hydration, good sleep, exercise and mindfulness or yoga can really help. At The Bespoke Clinic, we take an integrative approach to our management plans and will consider and offer you these avenues of care as well as more conventional ones.

In addition, once we have a good understanding of your baseline and we agree on the changes we need to make to embrace the holistic approach, we will also be undertaking a full hormone consultation, which will include blood testing and discussion around Bioidentical hormone treatments, other conventional treatments and supplements – all to aid Hormonal Rebalancing. Each person is treated as an individual and will have a different patient journey.

Get in touch to book your initial consultation and let’s see what we can do to get your anxiety and hormones back in check.

Be Calm

 

 

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