Premenstrual Syndrome: Is PMS making your life a misery?
Do you dread the lead-up to your period
as you turn into that ‘other’ woman each month?
Do you suffer up to 2 weeks beforehand with a myriad of symptoms including?
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Tension, mood swings, anxiety, depression & irritability
Tearfulness
Angry outbursts and aggressiveness
Confusion, forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating
Insomnia
Abdominal bloating and fluid retention especially of hands, feet & face
Pelvic pain, lower back ache, joint or muscle tenderness, aching legs
Increased appetite and food cravings, especially for carbohydrates like
chocolate and other sweets
Intolerance to alcohol – become easily intoxicated
Increased tendency towards asthma, eczema & allergies
Increased tendency towards infections including herpes and Candida
Feeling of heart pounding and palpitations
Sore, swollen or lumpy breasts
Listlessness and fatigue
Excessive cyclical weight gain
Migraine headache or seeing spots
Constipation or diarrhoea
Dizziness or fainting
Nausea
Reduced or highly increased libido
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Bladder problems
Ovarian or other pelvic pain
Greasy hair and skin, pimples
Itchiness
Thirst
Spotting
Sore eyes
It never ceases to amaze me the number of women who suffer silently with
premenstrual syndrome, month in, month out, year after year, often even thinking that it’s
normal – ‘a woman’s lot in life!’ Many of these women don’t even recognise that they are
suffering from this condition – it’s just that their family members recognise changes in their
behaviour. Often the problem starts from the time of the first period and continues
throughout their reproductive life.
Usually the only treatments offered by the medical profession are contraceptive
drugs like the pill or perhaps HRT. Both have their down-sides and in many cases even
exacerbate the hormonal imbalance that causes the symptoms in the first place. Some
women may not even be able to tolerate the pill because it makes them feel worse. Often
after many years of suffering a hysterectomy is eventually performed and this may or may
not resolve some of the symptoms but not the underlying causes.
The list of symptoms above is by no means exhaustive. There at least 150 known
symptoms of PMS which you may experience on a cyclical basis and which can be related to
your menstrual cycle. To know if your symptoms are related to your menstrual cycle you
need to have had them every month for at least the last 3 months, they must never occur in
the 7 days after your period finishes, only occur after ovulation, and must cease once your
period starts.
Many of the causes of PMS are not fully understood but often appear to relate to
hormonal imbalances involving oestrogen, progesterone, aldosterone, prolactin, your
thyroid hormones and a blood protein called sex hormone binding globulin. The
relationship between these is very dynamic and intricate, making it harder to establish the
exact causes. Also, there are numerous possible external influences on your hormonal
balance. (I mentioned a number of these in the free report you received when you first
signed up). Your menstrual cycle is also a reflection of your health in general.
There is also a complex interplay between these hormones and your
neurotransmitters, the chemicals which control your nervous system function. Alterations
in your neurotransmitter levels can affect moods, memory, appetite, libido, ability to relax,
pain tolerance, other hormones and many other functions.
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Many PMS symptoms seem to be related to oestrogen dominance, or a relative
deficiency of progesterone to oestrogen, whether your oestrogen level is high, normal or
low, and will improve dramatically when this imbalance is corrected. It may also be that
your cells don’t respond properly to normal levels of progesterone and possibly even normal
levels of oestrogen. Many women (and their families) have noticed that they feel so much
better when pregnant. This is because during pregnancy your level of progesterone is 30 –
50 times higher than the normal peak that occurs about a week after you ovulate.
Most of your progesterone is normally made in your ovaries after ovulation. The
diagram below helps to illustrate the relationship between ovulation and your hormone
levels. Prior to ovulation as your egg (green colour) develops inside a follicle (mauve colour)
the follicle produces oestrogen, causing your oestrogen level to rise. Once your oestrogen
gets to a certain level it triggers ovulation to take place. The egg pops out of the follicle and
what is left is called a corpus luteum (yellow colour), which then proceeds to make
progesterone, causing the level to rise. If no pregnancy occurs, your corpus luteum shrivels
up causing your progesterone level to drop and your period to start.
Day 1 of cycle
-first day of period
Many things can interfere with the delicate balance between these hormones and
prevent you from ovulating or even if you do ovulate, depleting the progesterone that is
produced. If you take contraceptive or other drugs which prevent ovulation taking place
you will obviously not get this peak of progesterone occurring either and your level of
progesterone will be constantly very low as it is in the first half of your cycle.
Progesterone is extremely important for balancing out the effects of oestrogen.
While oestrogen has a cell-growth promoting effect, progesterone has a cell-maturation
effect. This is why being oestrogen dominant (a relative deficiency of progesterone) makes
you more prone to breast and other oestrogen-dependent cancers such as endometrial,
cervical, ovarian and possibly even colon cancer. There are many other important functions
of progesterone which include:
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It acts as a natural anti-depressant
It acts as natural diuretic – reduces bloating and fluid retention
It helps increase metabolism because it boosts your thyroid hormone levels
It normalises blood clotting - low progesterone causes heavier menstrual
bleeding with large clots
It helps normalise blood sugar levels – reduces sweet cravings and excess
appetite
It helps normalise zinc and copper levels – oestrogen dominance causes
copper accumulation which interferes with your ability to absorb and use
many other nutrients
It restores proper cell oxygen levels – important for energy
It helps build bone & protect against osteoporosis
As I discuss in my free report which you should already have received, stress can be
catastrophic to your hormonal balance. It can prevent you from ovulating. Just because you
may be having a regular period does not mean you are ovulating each cycle. A study of 18
women whose average age was 29 showed that 7 out of 18 did not ovulate in the cycle
studied.
Not only does stress interfere with ovulation
but it also causes you to become depleted of
progesterone. This is because how your body
responds to any stress is always the same – it is
always getting you ready for fight or flight. Making
cortisol takes precedence over all your other steroid
hormones. (Steroid hormones include your sex
hormones and aldosterone, which regulates your
blood pressure).
Because progesterone is a
precursor hormone for cortisol, it gets used up to
make cortisol, leaving you with little progesterone
to perform its normal functions. Hence stress is
one of the main causes of oestrogen dominance.
You will also have heard of adrenaline (epinephrine), another of your stress
hormones. It has also been found to prevent your progesterone from getting to the nuclei
inside your cells which results in the same effect as low progesterone.
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There are certain times during your reproductive life that you may not ovulate
because of temporary hormonal imbalances. This includes after giving birth or having a
miscarriage or termination, after stopping contraceptive drugs and during breastfeeding.
As you approach menopause your ovaries respond less frequently to the hormonal
messages from your brain which stimulate your eggs to develop inside follicles in your
ovaries each month. So once again, no ovulation, no peak of progesterone! This explains
why you may never have suffered from PMS till your mid-thirties. Added to that, it may
also be a time of greater stress if you are bringing up children, working and so forth.
Other things which can deplete you of progesterone include sterilisation. It seems
that after sterilisation less progesterone is produced by your ovaries. If you’ve had a
sterilisation procedure you may be like many other women who begin having worse PMS
symptoms and heavier periods with clotting afterwards. Some doctors strongly believe that
the surgery during sterilisation disturbs the blood flow to your ovaries, which may explain
the lower progesterone levels, worsening of PMS, heavier periods and possibly an earlier
menopause.
Oestrogen dominance may also occur because of not being able to clear oestrogen
from your body or oestrogen recycling in your gut. Your liver is the organ responsible for
getting rid of excess oestrogen. To do this it needs lots of different nutrients, so if your diet
is low in vitamins, minerals and amino acids, it won’t be able to process your excess
oestrogens for disposal via your gall bladder, into your gut. If your gut is not healthy and
you have a high level of ‘bad bacteria’ present, these bacteria will also undo the work done
by your liver. The oestrogen can then be absorbed back into your bloodstream and this is
known as oestrogen recycling.
Eating a lot of saturated fats encourages the growth of these bacteria. Foods you
should avoid or at least severely restrict are:
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Cooking fats such as lard, margarine (small amounts of organic butter are OK)
Fatty meats and meat products including bacon, salami, chicken & turkey skin
Full-fat milk, cheese and other dairy products
Chips, crisps and other deep-fried foods
Biscuits, cakes and pastries
Sweets and chocolate
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In my ‘3 Crucial Keys to Restoring Hormonal Balance Every Woman Must Know!’
report I also discuss why you should choose freshly prepared and organic foods.
Restoring your gut health is obviously something you should consider seriously and is
best supervised by an experienced practitioner. Simply taking shots of probiotic drinks,
which are incidentally chock full of sugar or other probiotics can improve some symptoms
but may not be effective enough since there may still be high levels of ‘bad’ bacteria or
other parasites which need to be eliminated first. This needs to be done under careful
supervision.
If you are overweight and carrying most of that
excess fat around your abdomen your fat cells will also
convert more of your male hormones into oestrogen,
once again causing you to be oestrogen dominant. You
will also tend to have a lower level of a protein carrier in
your blood which binds to oestrogen and makes it
‘unavailable’, leading to higher ‘available’ levels of
oestrogen. Adding to this is that your excess fat cells are
also making chemical messengers called cytokines which
promote inflammation, switch on your stress response,
promoting further weight gain and causing other
hormonal disturbances.
In my free report I also discuss toxic and hormone-disrupting chemicals in toiletries
and cosmetics. If you didn’t already check out Environmental Working Group’s website, you
may like to do that now. Click on the following link for their Skin Deep Cosmetic Database
A recent study (2008) by Environmental Working Group found an average of 13
hormone-disrupting chemicals in the blood of urine of 20 teenage girls tested. Each girl
used an average of 17 personal care and cosmetic products per day and exposed themselves
to an average of 174 chemicals.
Because your sex hormones are only present in very low amounts, as little as one
part per trillion, chemicals which disrupt hormonal balance can have devastating effects
especially in children and teenagers whose brains and reproductive systems have not yet
fully developed. However, even as an adult these chemicals can cause havoc with your
hormones. Many of them are fat soluble and are stored in your fat cells from where they
can be relased at a later time. Studies of people who are on weight loss diets have shown
that as stored fat is used as fuel these chemicals are released at a higher rate and may
interfere with thyroid hormones. This can cause your metabolism to slow right down,
resulting in greater difficulty losing weight.
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The following is a short list of other sources of toxic chemicals which you may be
using in and around your home and workplace. Being aware of this enables you to make
safer choices when buying products.
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Pesticides, herbicides and fungicides – natural options are available
Plastics and plastic packaging - never heat food in plastic containers or cling wraps as
this causes the chemicals to be released much faster
Polystyrene
Bleached tampons and sanitary pads – Natracare & Jolie are safe organic options
Carpet and underlay – tiles and floorboards are a better option
Upholstery and other fabrics – leather and hemp are safer options (unless organic,
cotton is treated with many pesticides as well as toxic bleaches and dyes)
Foam – contains fire retardants which are highly toxic – buy organic bedding
Lacquer and paint – give off fumes even when dry – use water-based non-toxic or
low VOC (volatile organic chemicals) paints – Solver makes low VOC paints
Vehicle exhaust and combustion fumes – don’t exercise along busy roads and get rid
of old-style gas unflued gas heaters
Spermicides and condom lubricants – check out the Natural Fertility Management
Contraception Kit for information on natural contraceptive methods and for a
natural lubricant try Sylk, made from Kiwifruit vine extract
Dental sealants and composites – visit a biological dentist for best advice
Cleaning products – various safe products are available – visit your local organic shop
or click here for information on Miessence cleaning products
Click on the following link to test your exposure to these chemicals Take the Body Burden
Test
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Overcoming PMS Naturally
While there are other websites out there freely offering information on herbs,
nutrients and hormones for treatment of PMS, from my experience helping many women
with the condition, I don’t believe in a one size fits all approach. The problem is that you are
an individual and your hormone levels won’t be the same as someone else’s, even though
you may have some of the same symptoms.
As I’ve discussed throughout this article, many of your PMS symptoms may be due to
oestrogen dominance and a relatively low progesterone level. The problem with much of
the advice offered elsewhere is that while it may help some of your symptoms, if you are
not addressing the other hormone imbalances which have developed at the same time, you
won’t get the desired or lasting results. To restore hormonal balance requires a holistic
approach which means finding and addressing all the factors that are contributing to those
imbalances.
Taking a quick-fix approach like just using the herb Chaste Tree, also known as Vitex
or using bio-identical progesterone will probably help improve your symptoms but won’t
address the causes of your hormonal imbalances, nor restore other hormonal imbalances.
So don’t be fooled by all the glowing reports for bio-identical or “natural’
progesterone or DHEA. While these hormones do have the same molecular structure as
your own hormones, there have never been any studies done to determine how safe they
actually are, when used for longer periods of time.
Some of the common side-effects you could experience when using bio-identical
progesterone include increased appetite and weight gain, fluid retention, mood swings,
depression and crying spells (where there has been no history of depression previously) and
interference with menstrual regularity which may take some time to return to normal.
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The Women’s Health Initiative which was terminated in 2002 and involved about 15
thousand women found that the use of synthetic oestrogen and progestins (synthetic
progesterone) actually increased the risk of developing breast cancer. Those women in the
study who took oestrogen only didn’t have an increased risk but when they did develop
breast cancer it was found to be much more aggressive than in those women in the trial
who did not take any hormones. Unfortunately the trial did not compare synthetic with bioidentical hormones so we don’t know how much safer bio-identical hormone use actually is.
When I first started in my profession as a radiation therapist just over 20 years ago,
most of the women I saw with breast cancer were in their late fifties, sixties or seventies.
Today it is not uncommon for women to develop breast cancer in their thirties and now
more commonly, even in their twenties. In Australia several celebrities in their twenties and
thirties with breast cancer including Belinda Emmett and Kylie Minogue have heightened
awareness of this. According to BreastCancer.org, one in 4 women today who develops
breast cancer is of reproductive age.
Progesterone is a precursor to other hormones like aldosterone which regulates your
blood pressure and cortisol, your stress hormone. The problem is you can’t predict how
your body will use it. If you don’t reduce your stress, much of any extra progesterone you
gain from taking Chaste Tree or bio-identical progesterone will simply be used up to make
more cortisol. It may also cause other hormonal imbalances since progesterone may also be
converted to testosterone and then into oestrogen. I have seen test results of a few women
who had been using only bio-identical progesterone whose testosterone levels were very
high but their progesterone levels were still low.
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Another major problem with simply taking HRT, whether “natural” or not, is that it
doesn’t have a lasting effect because it’s not actually addressing the cause of the problem.
When you stop taking it, the symptoms return and are sometimes worse than before.
So my question to you if you are considering using bio-identical hormones now,
before you’ve even hit menopause, is do you really know what the risks of long term use
are? If you’re already suffering from hormonal problems now, chances are once you get to
menopause, your hormonal problems will continue in some shape or form and you may end
up on HRT for years. Will you risk it and just continue taking HRT while ignoring the causes
or your hormonal imbalances?
What about all the other damage going on inside your body from a high cortisol level
for instance? Taking bio-identical hormones like progesterone will not help to reduce your
cortisol level if it is high or fix the damage caused by constantly high levels of cortisol. It
won’t help to reduce an excessive oestrogen level which could also be placing you at a
higher risk of certain cancers.
It may all seem so confusing, so what should you do? Visiting a naturopath who like
myself has a good understanding of hormonal imbalances and experience in treating these
naturally, without HRT will be an investment in your health you won’t regret.
Taking a thorough history and testing a broad range of your hormones with saliva
test and blood tests will help to determine causes of your hormonal imbalances and where
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your hormones are now. Based on this, I can tailor a plan using dietary and lifestyle changes
and incorporating specific nutrients and herbs specifically for your needs to restore your
health, happiness and sanity, so you can get on and enjoy life again without those
debilitating PMS symptoms every month.
Don’t let PMS spoil your life and relationships any longer! Imagine enjoying life again
with your husband and kids and not feeling guilty about shouting at them or worry about
your co-workers whispering about you behind your back after losing your cool at work!
If you live in Western Australia and haven’t already done so, book now for a
consultation. Phone Kris Kern now on 0414 247 155 or Book an Appointment online and
receive a bonus of your choice from either a Q2 Energy Spa or Cellular Health Analysis
If you are absolutely unable to attend in person for your first consult, you should
expect to attend as soon as possible. It is to your advantage to have a face-to-face
consultation especially to discuss results of your hormone and other tests. I am happy to
offer a FREE 10 minute phone consultation so you can assess if I’m the right person to help
you.
If you don’t live in Western Australia, keep an eye on my newsletter for news of my
e-books on hormonal balancing which are currently in the pipeline. You can also Register to
become a Hormone Help Now Community Member and be able to access more valuable
information on how you can help rebalance your hormones safely and naturally!
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