PMS or premenstrual syndrome is also called PMT or premenstrual tension.  It's characterized by a wide range of psychological, emotional and physical symptoms which are in tune with the menstrual cycle amongst women.  It is estimated that at least eighty percent of all women who are in the childbearing years suffer from some degree with symptoms commonly associated with premenstrual syndrome. The severity of such symptoms vary from woman to woman, but often become severe enough cause trouble with performing the activities of daily life.

 

Typically, symptoms will begin one to two weeks before the beginning of the woman's period.  The symptoms usually get steadily worse up until the beginning of the menstrual flow or soon afterward.  At this point, the condition is gone for another 2-3 weeks.

 

A woman often suffers from several of these symptoms fairly commonly, but other symptoms may never appear.  If they do begin, it may be at only a very low level.  PMS can be found among women of every age from puberty to menopause, but the symptoms range in intensity from mild restlessness or bloating to debilitating depression and pain. The symptoms cease when the woman enters menopause.

 

Part of, or more correctly because of the menstrual cycle a woman's body is subject to variations in the levels of sexual hormones such as estrogen and progesterone.  The variations are cyclical in timing. Women are aware of the variations at some degree of knowledge, but it is when the psychological and physical changes rise to a level where they have taken over her life, making it impossible to function on anywhere near approaching a normal level, that they are known as premenstrual syndrome. The three components of a PMS diagnosis are its cyclical basis, the interference with normal functioning and finally that no organic basis for the symptoms exists.

 

Given that PMS is a complex issue and most of the adult female population has one or more of the symptoms, it is baffling that there is as yet no universally accepted method as to the best way to treat PMS.  There is still some level of disagreement on the fundamental cause of the condition.  All that is known with certainty is that it usually worsens during the years between 29 and 45 and the symptoms cease with hysterectomy or menopause, whichever comes sooner.

 

Up to 8 percent of woman a related disorder known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) may occur along with PMS.  PMDD manifests usually as extreme depression for the week prior to the onset of menses.

 

The severity of premenstrual syndrome symptoms are more often the result of body chemistry rather than personality traits.  For example, women who have had multiple pregnancies tend to have more severe symptoms.  There is also a genetic factor--daughter of women who have had PMS are more likely to suffer from the same condition. There is also a correlation between women who have experienced frequent depression and those who experience PMS.