PMS or Premenstrual syndrome is a common condition affecting most of the menstruating women nowadays. Usually PMS manifest itself in the form of abdominal cramps, bloating, headache, migraine & mood swings. In case you find one or more of these symptoms then you might be going through PMS. Globally, about half of the females of reproductive age are facing PMS. It may vary from mild symptoms to severe pains that may affect their daily life which is a subject of concern.

Generally, PMS is common among menstruating women but it is acceptable only to a point where the symptoms are bearable and don’t affect their routine life. You need to know everything about your body, its functions and especially your menstrual cycles. You can manage your PMS much better if you are aware of the triggering factors that aggravate your symptoms and the appropriate management to get rid of them.

Let us first throw some light on what PMS exactly is. Basically, it shows group of symptoms that often initiate a week before your menses. And these usually get over after few days of menstrual discharge, as this is the time when your hormonal levels begin to rise again.PMS being so common that 3 in 4 women experience 1 or more symptoms related to it.

There can be several triggering factors for PMS such as stressful life, age, family history, depression, lifestyle etc.

PMS can vary from one woman to other as few of them experience only physical symptoms; few manifest it as emotional symptoms, while some experience the both. You may also find that few of them experience none of the physical or emotional symptoms. Severity of symptoms also depend on the life situation of the women as at some point of time they experience PMS while at the other point of time they go on with their periods without any symptom.

Most common physical symptoms during PMS can be:

1. Breast tenderness/ swelling

2. Muscular/ Joint pains

3. Cramps

4. Constipation/ Diarrhoea

5. Bloating

6. Headache

7. Pimples

8. Certain food cravings

9. Awkwardness

Most common mental/emotional PMS symptoms that you can find are:

a) Irritation

b) Mood swings

c) Anxiety

d) Stress

e) Depression

f) Weeping

g) Insomnia

h) Loss of libido

How can you self diagnose that you are going through PMS? If you notice the following symptoms then for sure you are dealing with PMS:

1) Symptoms starting somewhere 5 days prior to your periods for 3 consecutive menstrual cycles.

2) Symptoms get over within 4 days after your menses have started.

3) Symptoms preventing you to perform you daily activities.

Managements and lifestyle changes that you can adapt to ease your PMS symptoms are:

1. Cardiac exercises like jogging, dancing etc. will remove your depression, fatigue&enhance your focus.

2. Restricting diet like intake of sugar, salt, caffeine, dairy products etc.

3. Include healthy carbs like oats in your diet which may improve your mood swings.

4. Enough sleep of 6 to 8 hours per day.

5. Stress management:You can go for yoga or meditation to ease your emotional upsets.

6. Quit smoking as it worsens your PMS symptoms

If you are still experiencing severe PMS symptoms after trying all the above managements, you can seek for professional help.Your doctor will suggest you the best advice and medications that you need, just be sure that you share every minute symptom with your doctor.

We hope now you are completely aware about the basic facts of PMS and dealing with them to lead a normal and productive life.

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