PMS Resource Center

Premenstrual Syndrome article syndicated from NWHIC
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a group of symptoms related to the menstrual cycle. PMS symptoms occur in the week or two weeks before your period (menstruation or monthly bleeding). The symptoms usually go away after your period starts. PMS may interfere with your normal activities at home, school, or work. Menopause, when monthly periods stop, brings an end to PMS.

Menstruation and the Menstrual Cycle article syndicated from NWHIC
Menstruation is a woman's monthly bleeding. It is also called menses, menstrual period, or period. When a woman has her period, she is menstruating. The menstrual blood is partly blood and partly tissue from the inside of the uterus (womb). It flows from the uterus through the small opening in the cervix, and passes out of the body through the vagina. Most menstrual periods last from three to five days.

Taming Menstrual Cramps by Ellen Hale
For many women "that time of the month" is one they'd rather forgo. More than half routinely experience some form of pain associated with menstruation, say doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and 1 in 10 suffers such severe dysmenorrhea--menstrual pain--she cannot function normally without taking medication.

Relieving PMS by Ellen Hale
Cramps aren't the only problem women suffer in their monthly cycles. For many, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can be just as bothersome. PMS occurs in the last 7 to 10 days of the menstrual cycle--called the luteal phase. The time at which these symptoms occur is very important because it's what allows doctors to track their cyclic nature and make a diagnosis.

On the Teen Scene: A Balanced Look at the Menstrual Cycle by Marian Segal
Some young women feel it coming days before they get it. Others are hardly aware they have it. Friends who compare notes about their periods will probably find that menstruation--the monthly shedding of the lining of the uterus, or womb-affects each of them a little differently, both physically and emotionally.

Premenstrual Stress Syndrome article syndicated from Wikipedia
Premenstrual stress syndrome (PMS, also called Premenstrual stress, Premenstrual tension, PMT) is stress which is a physical symptom prior to the onset of menstruation. PMS is exceedingly common, occurring in 75% of women of reproductive age during their lifetime. A more severe form of PMS is premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). This occurs in about 5% of women. Both are characterized by symptoms of mood swings, depression, anxiety and irritability that occur prior to menses, usually in the two week period between ovulation and menses. It is often accompanied by physical symptoms of abdominal bloating and cramping.

Hormones Trigger PMS Symptoms -- But Susceptibility Still a Mystery article syndicated from NIH
Premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, is an "abnormal response to normal hormonal changes," report National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) researchers David Rubinow, M.D., and Peter Schmidt, M.D., in the January 22 New England Journal of Medicine. "Women with PMS have a specific susceptibility for mood problems triggered by normal monthly cycles," said the researchers.

Reproductive Events article syndicated from NIMH
Women's reproductive events include the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, the postpregnancy period, infertility, menopause, and sometimes, the decision not to have children. These events bring fluctuations in mood that for some women include depression. Researchers have confirmed that hormones have an effect on the brain chemistry that controls emotions and mood; a specific biological mechanism explaining hormonal involvement is not known, however.

You Don't Have to Suffer With PMS by Dr. Loretta Lanphier
We now know that premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is experienced by 60% of all women. What causes PMS has been difficult for researchers to pin down because each woman experiences symptoms differently.

PMS, Menopause and Asthma: Is There A Connection?by Dr. Loretta Lanphier
According to some researchers patterns of development of asthma in the general public have indicated the possibility of some sort of hormonal role. Asthma involves inflammation that constricts muscles in the airways, causing attacks of wheezing and shortness of breath. An estimated 20 million Americans, including 14 million adults, are affected by asthma. The thought process is that the changes in estrogen and progesterone levels that occur during the menstrual cycle may cause constriction of the airways.

New Treatment Approved for Severe Premenstrual Symptoms article syndicated from FDA
The popular antidepressant Prozac now has another use and another name. FDA approved fluoxetine (Sarafem) in July for the treatment of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). Fluoxetine was approved in 1987 under the name of Prozac for treating depression, and has also been approved for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder and bulimia. The manufacturer, Eli Lilly, of Indianapolis, Ind., renamed the drug Sarafem for its new use to treat PMDD.

Ten Tips for Women with PMS by Susun S. Weed
Water retention, mood swings, sore breasts, and indigestion are problems experienced by many women in the week preceeding menstruation. Here are a few tips from Susun Weed's best-selling book, NEW Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way (Alternatives for Women 30- 90) to help ease these discomforts.

Prozac for PMS (PMDD)? by Dr. Joseph Mercola
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is promoting Sarafem as a miracle pill for women suffering from PMDD, a 'mental disorder' not yet proved to exist. What's more, Eli Lilly admits that Sarafem has the same active ingredient as Prozac, complete with the same dangerous side effects.

Vitamin B6 May Relieve PMS article syndicated from www.mercola.com
Taking low doses of vitamin B6 daily may be effective in relieving the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), including depression, according to British researchers. There is evidence to suggest that 50 milligrams daily of vitamin B6 is likely to be beneficial in treating premenstrual syndrome and, at this stage, there is no conclusive evidence of neurological side effects.

Reflexology: Taking a New Look by Christopher Shirley
It isn't surprising that many people have dismissed reflexology. After all, there just isn't any obvious reason why a simple massage of the feet would have any kind of important therapeutic benefit. Sure, we can all agree that it might be pleasurable - even very relaxing - but, that is about it, right? There is absolutely no precedent for the basic premise of reflexology that areas of the feet correspond to other parts of the body, and, that stimulation of these areas of the feet therapeutically relaxes the corresponding parts of the body!

Randomized Controlled Study of Premenstrual Symptoms Treated with Ear, Hand, and Foot Reflexology
by Terry Oleson, PhD and William Flocco - This study was designed to determine whether reflexology treatment can significantly reduce premenstrual symptoms compared to a placebo treatment. Thirty-five women who complained of previous distress with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) were randomly assigned to be treated by ear, hand and foot reflexology or to receive placebo reflexology.

Picture Yourself PMS-Free by Laurel Kallenbach
Visualization and positive thinking are beneficial tools for everybody - from a cancer patient who pictures his immune system attacking cancer cells to an athlete who rehearses her winning performance in her mind. The power of this mind/body technique is real. In fact, a study from the University of California, Davis, Medical Center suggests that patients controlled the amount of blood they lost during surgery by doing a pre-surgical visualization in which they directed blood away from their incision.

PMS and The Yeast Connection by Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D.
Pre-menstrual syndrome or PMS can make life miserable, momentarily or monthly, for 90 percent of American women. It's a mishmash of symptoms--bloating, cramping, tender breasts, irritability, food cravings and a dozen other symptoms--that can occur in the luteal phase of a woman's menstrual cycle (right after ovulation until the menstrual flow begins).

PMS - Premenstrual Syndrome by Lee Mellott
Millions of women experience symptoms of PMS every month. Crying spells, nervousness, anxiety, depression, bloating, headache, fatigue…The list goes on. Each woman is unique as to the degree of severity and discomfort she will experience and this will vary from month to month.

> Menopause Resource Center
> PMS Resource Center
> Progesterone Resource Center
> Subscribe to Menopause & PMS Tips Newsletter
> Recommended Products