Premenstrual Syndrome – Prozac or making new Choices?

Many a conversation amongst women has been about Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS). PMS is fairly common although exact statistics are hard to find as some symptoms of PMS are unreported. Women’s Health Concern (1) state that “One in three women suffers discomforting symptoms in the days before their period. For one in 20 the symptoms are bad enough to more seriously affect their lives.” Premenstrual Syndrome can have various symptoms (2) including irritability, tiredness, depression, mood swings, night sweats, bloating, anxiety, breast pain.

An article in a number of newspapers in recent years stated that scientists say ‘premenstrual syndrome is like drug withdrawal and could be cured with Prozac’ (3) (4). They go on to say that Prozac could cure Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) for 4/5th’s of women. This caused me to reflect – would I take a drug to fix PMS or is there more to it than that?

I have had PMS, with symptoms including tiredness, grumpiness, and breast pain, grumbling aches in my ovaries. I tried many different herbal remedies, foods, supplements etc. to fix it, but nothing seemed to work and every month I would feel very unsettled for a few days before (and during) my period. During PMS, my work would be less focused, my capacity would be less, and I would be more argumentative at home with partners, family, and friends too. This went on for many years, and I never once considered the contributory factors. I just felt I was ‘cursed’ with having PMS so it never occurred to me that the way I was living my life was contributing to how I felt around the time of my period or that I had a role to play in it.

Common sense really when I look back, but at the time I was on the hamster wheel of doing doing doing and never really reflected on my life, I just did life.

That changed when, 13 years ago I was introduced to Serge Benhayon, Founder of Universal Medicine, and went to a presentation which literally pressed the ‘pause’ button on my life – as a result of the presentation I realised that something was not right about the way I was living, and that I had something to do with that. In fact, I realised that my life and the way I experienced it was entirely in my hands – I was the one who made the daily living choices I made, and my body was a reflection of those choices.

 

The PMS was telling me loud and clear that something about the way I was living life was not working. Not only was this a wake up call, I also felt empowered for the first time in a long time, as I could feel that if my health was in my hands, then I could make changes to the way I was living that may support my health – including my PMS (and my period pain).

A few years later I was introduced to the Esoteric Breast Massage, a Universal Medicine healing modality practiced only by women for women, which offered me a further opportunity to reflect on my life, and to realise just how responsible I was for the way my body felt. It was the first healing modality I had been offered where the focus was purely on me as a woman, and, where through the tenderness and care of the EBM practitioner, I began to reflect on myself as a woman and how I had been running my life, and treating my body as a woman.

For example, if I over ate there was no one to blame – it was my choice, if I pushed myself in the gym and ached, I was the one who had chosen to do that. From this I realised how many daily choices we have every day in our lives – and that we are the custodians of those choices and of our own body.

So if I could make choices that weren’t nourishing or supporting me as I had been doing, I could also make changes to the way I was living my life in a different way, by listening to my body, staying present and focused during my day and deepening my relationship with myself. This included experimenting with many things – everything from sleep, rest, food, exercise, hydration, supplements and nutrients, asking for support when I needed it, getting a check up regularly with my GP and so on.

As I experimented and made these changes something remarkable started to happen; my body started to change, as did the PMS symptoms.

The more I took care of myself, the more I chose to be honest about the things that did or didn’t support me, the more the PMS dissipated; when the PMS was worse I began to realise that the month I had just lived was a month where I was driven, pushing hard, striving and not giving myself a moment to rest, but, when I took greater care of me while I worked and lived, the PMS was less or not there at all, and through this I began to understand the relationship between the way I was living and the way my body felt, and that our daily living choices do affect our health.

So going back to my earlier question “would I take a drug to fix PMS or is there more to it than that?”

What I have learnt here is that my health is in my hands and that our body is a brilliant barometer of the way we are living our lives.

PMS was showing me that something about the way I was living was out of kilter.

In taking the time to observe this I learnt a lot about myself, and I felt empowered as I saw that when I made changes to the way I was living my own state of health and well-being changed. Whilst sometimes medical care and medication is needed (and I am not averse to taking medication), I have found for instance that there is much we can do to change our own lives, so much so that as in the case of PMS here, medication may not be needed.

By JK, UK

References:

1. Womens Health Concern – Premenstrual Syndrome – http://www.womens-health-concern.org/help-and-advice/factsheets/premenstrual-syndrome-pms/
2. NHS Choices – Premenstrual Syndrome. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Premenstrual-syndrome/Pages/Treatment.aspx
3. The Telegraph – Premenstrual Syndrome is like drug withdrawal and could be cured with Prozac, say scientists http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11280275/Premenstrual-Syndrome-is-like-drug-withdrawal-and-could-be-cured-with-Prozac-say-scientists.html
4. Mail Online – Could Prozac treat PMS? Scientists claim the antidepressant could ease monthly misery of irritability and mood swings  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2865751/Could-Prozac-treat-PMS-drug-ease-montly-misery-irritability-mood-swings-scientists-claim.html#ixzz4Tg1QG8v3
5. Breast Cancer Now – What can cause Breast Cancer – http://breastcancernow.org/about-breast-cancer/what-can-cause-breast-cancer/lifestyle

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