Premenstrual syndrome (PMS), in medical terms, is a set of physical and psychological symptoms that women experience repeatedly every month, starting 7 to 10 days before their menstrual period, and making life difficult. premenstrual tension syndrome is called.
While a significant portion of women experience these complaints to a greater or lesser extent, for a certain group of women, these complaints can become a nightmare every month. Although PMS is said to have more than 150 symptoms, the most common of these are; Psychological symptoms such as insomnia, irritability, anxiety, depression, desire for social isolation, as well as water accumulation in the body, facial swelling in hands and feet, sensitivity in the chest, desire to eat sweets, joint pains, headaches, nausea, desire to eat sweets, etc. They can be listed as physical symptoms such as.
Premenstrual tension syndrome may be organic or psychological in nature and may also be affected by cultural differences. Research shows that different complaints may occur in women from different cultures. For example, while the most common problem in eastern women is headache, depression is more common in developed western societies.
Physical symptoms: Many women diagnosed with PMS experience breast tenderness and slight temporary weight gain. Apart from this, digestive system disorders, headache, rashes, muscle and joint pain, weakness, palpitations, balance disorders, hot flashes, extreme sensitivity to sounds and smells, anxiety and insomnia can be listed.
Emotional symptoms: Emotional fluctuations are also common in PMS. Many different psychological conditions may occur, from depression to anxiety and extreme irritability.
Some women may experience difficulty concentrating and even mild memory loss. Insomnia or excessive sleepiness, personality changes, anxiety (unreasonable anxiety), inability to concentrate, desire to cry and social isolation are the most notable symptoms.
Causes of Premenstrual Tension: The causes of PMS are actually not fully known. There are some theories to explain this issue. First of all, the culprits are unbalanced released hormones. The regression in PMS symptoms with the administration of some drugs that suppress ovulation supports this theory. However, the mechanism is still not fully known. In addition, there may be an imbalance of hormones and some substances called GABA and Serotonin, which play a role in nerve transmission in the brain.
Some researchers believe that an imbalance in calcium and magnesium causes PMS. It is said that the distribution imbalance of these two minerals in the body may cause the condition by affecting the communication between nerve cells. In addition, some vitamin deficiencies such as B1 and B6 and changes in glucose (sugar) metabolism are also blamed.
In whom is it more common? PMS is a condition encountered all over the world and in all cultures. As age increases, the severity of the complaints decreases, but the severity increases with the number of children. It is said that this syndrome, which is not generally seen frequently in adolescence, becomes more evident as age progresses and reaches its peak in the 30s.
Some studies show that PMS is more common in adolescents whose mothers have PMS. PMS can also increase the severity of some diseases. For example, in women with migraine, most of the attacks can be seen in the premenstrual period. Asthma attacks are also more common during this period, and many chronic diseases may flare up. During this period, the person's harmony with his/her environment is disrupted, and his/her relationships with the people he/she interacts with at work or at home and with his/her children may become disrupted. Eating disorders may also occur.
It has been proven by judicial reports that the tendency to commit crimes has also increased. It is even known that in one country, penalties are reduced by proving that a person has committed a crime during the PMS period.
Diagnosis: Three important criteria must be sought to diagnose PMS. First of all, the complaints appear in the pre-menstrual period and disappear at the latest after the menstrual period ends. In addition, a significant portion of these findings must be recurrent for at least 3 months and affect the person's individual and social life. As I mentioned before, although most of these complaints can be seen at a mild level in many women, the important thing is that they affect the person's life and social relationships and require treatment. In order to facilitate diagnosis, it is also useful to separate these complaints into physical and psychological, keep a record and share them with the doctor.
Treatment: Since the cause of PMS is not fully known, its treatment is not certain. There are many different treatment approaches in this regard.
1. Lifestyle Changes
Diet
There are reports that eating small and frequent meals reduces complaints. During the premenstrual period, it may be beneficial to consume fresh fruits and vegetables, avoid red meat and frozen oils, and avoid foods containing additives.
Likewise, it is recommended to reduce caffeine consumption. It is recommended to resist the urge to snack, include complex carbohydrates in the diet (pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, etc.), reduce the consumption of salty foods, turn to food sources containing magnesium (carrots, peanuts, spinach, etc.), choose foods with high B6 value (eggs, bananas, melons, green vegetables).
Lifestyle changes that will be recommended include limiting or not using alcohol during these periods as it disrupts the hormonal balance, and doing some kind of sport or exercise as it is important to keep the body's hormonal balance regular, and using some techniques for stress control (such as meditation / relaxation).
2. Drug Use
Treatment options include medications related to serotonin metabolism, different hormone medications, psychiatric medications such as antidepressants and anxiolytics for those with prominent emotional symptoms, and diuretics for those with prominent complaints of water retention in the body. However, their use must be under the supervision of a doctor.
Among these drugs, the ones reported to be most effective today are those related to serotonin metabolism.
3. Other treatment approaches include psychotherapy and acupuncture.