Attempts to avoid PMS symptoms .

Attempts to avoid PMS symptoms or at least reduce their severity include focusing on diet, nutrition, and exercise. Stress management may also be helpful. Sometimes when symptoms are moderate and most of the time when they are severe, doctors prescribe a PMS medication, usually an antidepressant or a synthetic hormone.

However, studies have shown that these are largely ineffective or undesirable due to side effects and risks associated with their use. Dietary supplements containing soy isoflavones and certain other herbs and botanicals can be effective alternatives to PMS medication.

Because research has shown that Japanese women suffer from significantly less moderate to severe PMS symptoms, some experts believe that trying to duplicate the typical Japanese diet could help American women avoid PMS symptoms. The modern Japanese diet does not differ from the American diet as much as it did at one time, but the traditional Japanese diet was quite different.


But, dietary changes could help women avoid PMS, particularly when the diet is high in meat and low in plant foods. Phytoestrogens are plant components that have an estrogen like effect on the body. Estrogen levels are particularly low in the week or two immediately preceding menstruation.


Even birth control pills are sometimes used as a PMS medication, because they contain synthetic hormones that prevent ovulation and keep hormonal levels relatively stable throughout the month. The thinking being that no change in hormonal levels could mean no withdrawal symptoms.

This treatment works for some women, but not for others. The medical community has known for quite some time that many women stop using birth control pills within the first three months. Recent studies looking for a reason found that one was sexual dysfunction. And since the use of synthetic hormones is believed to increase the risk of some forms of cancer, many women look for alternatives. Phytoestrogens are an alternative to synthetic hormones that may help women avoid PMS.

Soy isoflavones are one form of phytoestrogen. Soy is becoming a popular meat substitute. It seems that the amount of meat that Americans typically eat may be causing many health problems; cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and possibly PMS symptoms. Soy isoflavones can also be found in some dietary supplements.

Another good source of phytoestrogens is red clover, which is not typically eaten by humans, but is used in herbal supplements and can be purchased, in a dried form to use for tea. Red clover was used historically by Native American healers to treat hormonal imbalances, relieve headaches and for many other ailments.

Many researchers believe that mood swings and other symptoms of PMS are caused by low levels of serotonin circulating in the blood stream. Serotonin transmits signals between nerves in the brain and body helping to regulate mood, sleep cycles and appetite. Low levels of serotonin are found in people who suffer from depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and eating disorders.

In order to help women avoid PMS symptoms, doctors prescribe certain anti-depressants that prevent serotonin from breaking down so quickly. These are called Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors or SSRI and are probably the most commonly prescribed PMS medication. Lower levels of estrogen may play a role in the lower levels of serotonin. Laboratory studies have shown that estrogen prevents the rapid breakdown of serotonin, as well.

Women who take this type of PMS medication may experience the following symptoms: headache, sexual problems, drowsiness, pupil dilation leading to visual problems and in some cases, for unknown reasons, an increase in depression and anxiety. There are natural alternatives to this type of PMS medication, derived, once again from plants.