PMS Guide |

There is not a defined set of symptoms, appearing on a certain day of the month, that each PMS sufferer shares. Every woman with premenstrual syndrome has her own, personalized PMS profile that becomes apparent after she keeps her menstrual calendar and compiles her menstrual history.

Premenstrual syndrome is an extremely individualized condition. The only experiences common to all sufferers are that the symptoms become more intense during the time between ovulation and menstruation, and that there is a symptom-free interval during each menstrual cycle. A woman with PMS should not expect to find another woman with symptoms quite like hers.

Since the syndrome varies from woman to woman, and even from month to month in the same woman, a PMS sufferer can gain the best understanding of her condition when she forms a health partnership with a doctor or a counselor who cares. A woman’s symptoms should be evaluated by the woman herself in collaboration with her doctor. There is always a chance that a physical problem other than premenstrual syndrome may be causing her to feel out of sorts.

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Menopause, which comes from the Greek mens, meaning monthly, and pausa, meaning stop, is the time when a woman’s monthly menstrual period comes to a halt. When we speak about menopause, we are talking about the changes that occur in a woman after she stops menstruating.

Menopause can last anywhere from one year to several years, varying from one woman to another. It is the time when a woman may experience the well-known change-of-life symptoms such as hot flashes, hot flushes, dry skin, backaches, and other problems associated with declining estrogen levels. Some women, particularly women who have no obvious symptoms of menopause, might never know when menopause begins and ends because they are able to pass through this phase with little or only minimal discomfort.

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Endometriosis, just like menstrual cramps, may exist alone or in combination with premenstrual syndrome, or there is a third alternative—some women have endometriosis, menstrual cramps, and premenstrual syndrome together during every menstrual cycle. These women suffer terribly.

Endometriosis is a disease in which the tissue that forms the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, spreads to the organs outside the womb. During the last half of a woman’s menstrual cycle—the two weeks that begin with ovulation and end in menstruation—the lining of the uterus grows rich in glandular tissue and blood vessels. Steadily, naturally, an emerging vascular layer turns the endometrium into a soft, spongy nest, a bed for a fertilized egg.

At this point, the endometrium exists to nurture fertilization, so if an egg is not fertilized, the body has no reason to keep this enriched lining. The cycle comes to an end. A woman’s uterus begins rhythmic contractions that disturb the blood supply to the uterine lining and cause the unused endometrium to detach from the womb and leave the body as menstrual blood.

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