Reflexology chart
You Don't Have To Suffer With PMS by Dr. Loretta Lanphier, ND, CN, HHP
You Don’t Have to Suffer With PMS
By: Dr. Loretta Lanphier, ND, CN, HHP
We now know that premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is experienced by 60% of all women. What causes PMS has been difficult for researchers to pin down because each woman experiences symptoms differently.
PMS Symptoms
When making the diagnosis, the most important tool you can use is a chart of the cyclic nature in which they occur. If nothing is done to interrupt PMS, it often gets worse over time. You may begin by having symptoms just a few days before your period that stop abruptly as soon as your period begins. Later, the symptoms gradually begin to appear one to two weeks before the onset of menses. Over time, you may have only two or three days of the month that are symptom-free. Eventually no discernable pattern of good days and bad days can be detected. You feel as if you have PMS all of the time.
There are general symptoms that have been determined that include:
• Abdominal bloating
• Abdominal cramping
• Accident proneness, coordination difficulties
• Acne, hives
• Aggression, rage
• Alcohol intolerance
• Anxiety, irritability, suicidal thoughts
• Asthma
• Back pain
• Breast swelling and pain
• Bruising
• Confusion
• Depression, withdrawal from others, emotional liability
• Edema
• Exacerbation of preexisting conditions (lupus, arthritis, ulcers, herpes, etc.)
• Fatigue, lethargy
• Fainting
• Food binges, salt cravings, sweet cravings
• Headache, migraine
• Heart palpitations
• Insomnia
• Joint swelling and pain
• Nausea
• Seizures
• Sex drive changes
• Sinus problems
• Sore throat
• Urinary difficulties
Don’t confuse PMS with cramps occurring at the beginning of your period, which is a different condition.
Chart the Pattern
You don’t have to suffer. By keeping a chart of your symptoms, you can often begin to see a pattern emerge and predict when the symptoms will start. Keeping a daily symptom journal can be a valuable tool when trying to uncover your premenstrual symptom triggers and the issues associated with them. Many events and other factors can contribute to or trigger your PMS by resulting in hormonal changes in the body, including:
• Onset of menses
• Perimenopause
• Discontinuing birth control pills
• Amenorrhea
• Childbirth, or termination of pregnancy
• Toxemia during pregnancy
• Tubal ligation
• Unusual trauma
• Decreased light associated with autumn and winter
• Family history of alcoholism; parent or grandparent who is an alcoholic
• High consumption of dairy products
• Excessive consumption of caffeine (soft drinks, coffee, chocolate)
• High blood levels of estrogen
• Low blood levels of progesterone, either due to lack of production or excessive breakdown
• Diet that leads to increased levels of the hormone prostaglandin F2
• Excess body weight which can increase you levels of estrogen
• Low levels of vitamins B, C and/or E
• Selenium deficiency
• Magnesium deficiency causing chocolate cravings
End the Suffering
Many of the factors in this list you can control. For years allopathic (traditional) medicine has given symptomatic treatments for PMS that do not work. Most physicians do not know the latest research on hormone balancing. Some never had any training in PMS. Treating a woman’s bloating with diuretics, headaches with painkillers, and anxiety with Valium ignores the underlying imbalance that led to PMS. Many of the treatments prescribed often have side effects. Psychotherapy can provide insight about stress, but this bypasses the nutritional and biochemical aspects of this disorder.
Don’t give up! There are answers that can help you heal your PMS:
·Adopt a diet of fresh, in-season, organic fruits and vegetables.
• Review your dietary needs eliminating caffeine, sugar, dairy and excess soy.
• Take good organic multivitamin mineral supplements.
• Reduce stress.
• Consider participating in a 12-step program if alcoholism runs in your family.
• Get at least 20 minute of aerobic exercise five times per week.
• Try reflexology.
• Get more natural or full-spectrum light.
• Test hormone levels and apply natural progesterone.
For more suggestions go to www.menopause-pms-progesterone.org and www.oasisserene.com
At Oasis Advanced Wellness hormonal levels can be tested with a simple and inexpensive saliva test performed in the privacy of your own home. With these results and your symptom journal, you can determine your need for natural hormone replacement therapy (HRT). One product that is safe and non-toxic is natural progesterone. It helps to balance the effects of estrogen, and has a calming effect on the nervous system. The use of natural progesterone in combination with lifestyle changes often improves PMS symptoms. By reviewing your symptoms, we can evaluate your diet and exercise program, create a program and then monitor your progress.
You can find out more about the solutions in my e-Book, Balancing Your Hormones Without Drugs…You Can Feel Good Again.
About the Author
Dr. Loretta Lanphier, ND, CN, HHP is a Doctor of Naturopath, Clinical Nutritionist and Holistic Health Practitioner in the Houston, TX area and Founder / CEO of Oasis Advanced Wellness. Dr. Lanphier is Editor of the worldwide E-newsletter Advanced Health & Wellness. www.oasisadvancedwellness.com Be sure and visit our hormonal balancing site at www.menopause-pms-progesterone.org and www.oasisserene.com
Reflexology foot diagram
Get Busy on A Thoughtful Valentine Gift by Tracy Brant
This article may be freely published with the bylines. Please notify Dateable.com at articles@dateable.com when you decide to publish.
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Forget the overpriced flowers, cliché heart-shaped candy box, and predictable greeting cards. Show your significant other that you care enough to put serious thought into the gift. Nothing says "I love you" like paying attention.
Some of you just hate Valentine's Day as a commercialized artificial demand to demonstrate your affection by shopping… get over it. You don't have to spend a lot of money or observe the floral ritual, but can you really afford give the impression that you are the Curmudgeon of Romance? I think not. This is not the time to be an activist. If you must, do something special on February 13th to register your disgust with the system. But do something.
This requires you to spend some time thinking about the object of your affection. What do they like to do? Do they collect something? Is there something they keep meaning to do for themselves that you can do for them? An indulgence or small luxury you can treat them to?
Before you rush off to eBay to find a gift… there is a No-No List. For a woman, no matter how much she needs one, do NOT buy her a vacuum cleaner or a handy car emergency kit. "I just want to make your life easier, honey!" Time and place, dude… make her life easier with a new mulch shovel on Arbor Day, not The Big Romance Day. Same goes for men's gifts; even if they really want a riding mower, save it for a birthday. Certainly don't buy them the tools they need to fix YOUR car. Or a gift that reflects the job you want them to get, the clothes you think they should start wearing, or the healthy habit you think they should have.
Gifts should show that you spent time, and thought, not money. Sure, some people love expensive gifts, but more likely, it will look like you spent money to hide the fact that you couldn't think of something good. If you spend a bundle, do it because you tracked down something rare and wonderful. Never spend big money if money is a big issue in your relationship. Spend time, not cash.
So, what is on the Yes-Yes List?
GIFTS OF SERVICE. Give a weekend of your time fixing or cleaning everything that needs it, without making the person feel be-holdin' for it. Give a gift certificate for a meal you cook and clean-up after, especially if you never do that. Even if you can't cook, the effort will be both amusing and thoughtful. Do dishes for the first time in your life… find someone who knows how and ask them. The fact that you did that will be impressive. Give a weekend of your time waiting on her (or him) hand and foot. Fetch her purse, open every door, call her m'lady and focus on what she wants next. Ever painted someone's toenails? Be her loyal servant for a day or two (and see what you learn about her.)
GIFTS OF ORIGINALITY. Did you know that you can hire an artist for a reasonable sum and get custom art or illustration. Have a favorite poem illuminated buy a calligrapher. Make something with your own hands… jewelry, art, pottery, carving, or his portrait in tile mosaic… walk around an art store for ideas. Or have something with personal importance framed elaborately… a cocktail napkin you saved from your first date… the ticket stubs from the movie where you first whispered, "I love you."
GIFTS OF COLLECTABILITY. Do they love a particular author, actor, or movie? Track down a first edition book, a movie theater lobby poster, or an autographed item. Buy a sheet of uncut collector cards for sports teams, comic book heros, or fantasy games. Movie animation cells, rare recordings, and hard-to-get editions from other countries… all of these show you did some work to get them something they will love.
GIFTS OF ROMANCE. These are particularly special if you are normally not a sappy, gushing, romantic fool. Have trouble expressing your feeling in words? Spend time writing her a poem or an essay about what she means to you. Give the gift of attention… remove all the things that normally keep you from relaxing together. That can be tough for working families. Farm out the kids, put away the work, ignore the undone housework, and spent time reminiscing about why you love about each other. Make a lot of all the things you like about the other person and read it outloud. Make the list loooong and feed him/her a candy heart or peeled grape with each item. "Over the top" is the key. Be a fool for her/him.
GIFTS OF RELAXATION. Get a fancy hotel room in your own city, order in room service, and watch movies for a whole weekend. If your partner has kids, YOU arrange the babysitter (enlist a relative). Give her a certificate for a spa weekend or a women's retreat. Give him a afternoon at a men's spa for his first facial and massage. Get lightly-scented massage oil and set up a "spa" at home.. perhaps hire a professional massaage therapist to give you his-n-hers massage or foot reflexology.
Getting the idea? Put away your credit card and start brainstorming… Valentine's Day is just round the corner.
About the Author
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