Menstruation & PMS

Menstruation

If you are having problems or frustrations with your menstrual cycle, Naturopathic Medicine can help you get your periods back on track. Whether they are changing because you have reached menopause, you just had a baby, are coming off birth control or they just went weird on you. We can use many modalities to help. Once we get to the root of the problem, we can start to relieve your frustration.

What defines menstrual issues?

• Bleeding between periods
• Bleeding for more than five days
• Cycles that are irregular (really long or really short or really different each month)
• PMS (bloating, swelling, fatigue, breast tenderness, moodiness)
• Missing periods
• Really heavy bleeding that disrupts your life or causes anemia
What affects menses?
• Hormones (thyroid, cortisol, estrogen, progesterone)
• Nutrition
• Lifestyle (stress, exercise, sleep)
• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies

 

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)

Often, when asked about PMS, women say “oh, just the usual stuff. I manage.” Just because it’s common for women to experience PMS, does not mean that it’s normal and that you just have to deal with it.

A Naturopathic Doctor uses a number of modalities that can help alleviate PMS and PMDD by:

• Dealing with an estrogen imbalance
• Correcting vitamin deficiencies (the most common being vitamin B6)
• Correcting abnormalities in gut flora
• Supporting proper liver function
• Dietary modifications
• Establishing proper thyroid function
• Lifestyle modifications
• Managing serotonin deficiency

PMS is a syndrome that affects 30-40% of menstruating women. For most of these women, the symptoms are mild and tolerable. But for many, the symptoms of PMS interfere with their lives. PMDD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, is a much more severe condition that layers depression, irritability and severe mood swings on top of PMS symptoms.

Only one of the following symptoms needs to be present for a diagnosis of PMS to be made. The symptom(s) must happen in the last half of your cycle, peak close to your period and subside with flow or during menstruation. PMS symptoms include:

• Mild psychological discomfort: tension, irritability, depression
• Bloating and weight gain
• Breast tenderness, altered libido
• Swelling of hands and feet
• Various aches and pains (backache for example)
• Poor concentration, decreased energy
• Sleep disturbance
• Change in appetite

PMS is a complex issue that involves many systems in a woman’s body, including mental and emotional factors. A holistic treatment approach is therefore most effective.