PMS

[misirena.livejournal.com]

Hey ladies... I'm a couple weeks away from being in the hut but PMS is going to sneak up on me before I know it, and I dread that more than almost anything else. I get crampy, moody, bitchy, and depressed-- my poor boy has to deal with me and I really feel bad for putting him through all this.

Does anyone else go through this? Also, what personally do you do to alleviate PMS symptoms? (I'll gladly welcome any suggestions!)

Comments

[iwillfearnoevil.livejournal.com]

Ok, I know three things that make it better, and I get extreme emotional disturbance myself during both ovulation and menses.

1. Excercise. I'm not talking taking a walk, tho anything will help. What I mean is strenuous excercise, enough to make you sweat. It works wonders for me; I guess the endorphins counteract the hormones, or maybe the excerise distracts my body from producing them. I still get PMS, but no where near as bad.

2. Yoga or meditation, probably best done in solitude. When I know it's time for my hormonal rollercoaster, I usually get up early those days and do yoga in the mornings. this helps, but not as much as strenuous excerise.

3. Ok, this is extreme and I DO NOT advocate it for everyone. However, if you are prone to chemical depression already, the chemical mood elevators (prozac, zoloft, wellbutrin SR, etc) make PMS much less noticable. I stress again - THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. However, if you really feel like just can't take it anymore and are at the end of your rope, seeing a therapist or your doctor and discussing the problem is a much better alternative than falling apart. A three month course of chemical therapy can give you a holiday from depression that will give you space to recharge and figure out how to cope better. I don't know if this is for you -even you and your doctor may not know. But it sounds like you truly dread this time, so I don't think talking to your doctor is a bad idea. And don't let her brush you off, this *is* a legitimate problem, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Also, don't drink. Avoid any downers, in fact; they make all emotional upsets worse and reduce your ability to deal with them.

[the-designdiva.livejournal.com]

yes, I wish I didn't get PMS either. I've found acupuncture and taking chinese herbs helped me out quite a bit. If you're into alternative medicines this is a great way to go!

Re:

[misirena.livejournal.com]

I don't know of anyone around here that does acupuncture-- but honestly I have not looked it up-- how much does it cost?
and which chinese herbs do you use, and how do you take them? Do you make tea with them, or buy capsules? (There's a "new age" bookstore here that's really cool and sells a LOT of herbs, so if it's making tea, I can SO do that.) It'd probably be something that's a combination of mild muscle relaxer/mood enhancer... I've got to admit I don't know much about herbalism... it's something I need to study. so... yeah. :-)

[paraphasiclotus.livejournal.com]

chocolate!
(studies have found that it actually truly helps - don't know which ones though)