At the end of the monthly cycle, 80 percent of women experience malaise, whose name is premenstrual syndrome. How to deal with it?
A syndrome in medicine is a combination of symptoms, in premenstrual there are more of them than in any other - about 150! Fortunately, all the symptoms at once in the same woman do not occur. Many manifestations of PMS are light, almost imperceptible, but it is necessary to deal with them, even if they do not bother too much. If you leave everything as it is, the discomfort before the menstruation will begin to feel stronger, and after 40 years the premenstrual syndrome can gradually develop into a menopausal syndrome, and then the monthly suffering will become daily!
Hormones
Female sex hormones - estrogen and progesterone - regulate about 300 different processes in the body. Fluctuations in hormone levels during the cycle or their imbalance are felt quite acutely by many women. Metabolism slows down, fluid lingers in tissues, appetite increases, weight increases, gases are intensely produced in the intestines, so the stomach swells. It seems that you gained at least 5 kg in a week, although in fact - no more than 1-1.5 kg (and those - due to the fluid retained in the body). The idea that this is a temporary phenomenon is not very comforting: you always want to look good! In some, on the eve of menstruation, migraine begins, the chest swells, becomes painful, and at night there are spasms of the calf muscles.
Often a signal of the approaching critical days is a runny nose and sore throat, as the body's defenses weaken and pass in front of viruses. Efficiency decreases, women become distracted, impatient, irritable. It’s time to take sick leave! However, with many unpleasant symptoms of PMS, you can cope on your own.
On the eve of your period, do not deny yourself pineapples. The bromelain enzyme contained in their pulp eliminates increased gas formation in the intestines and bloating, as well as headache, headache and other manifestations of PMS.
How to cope?
● Add positive. Increased emotionality and anxiety with sudden mood swings, when the transition from laughter to tears takes place in one second, are typical manifestations of PMS. Medicines (preferably plant-based) that the doctor advises will help relieve stress. But you can do without a first-aid kit: make yourself fragrant herbal tea, take a walk in the park, go to yoga classes and your condition will improve.
● Calm your intestines. A few days before the onset of menstruation, many begin to have problems with the intestines - stools become more frequent, gas formation intensifies, and stomach ache. Sensations, to put it mildly, are not pleasant. To reduce these symptoms, exclude carbonated drinks and sweets, dishes from beans, corn, and any cabbage from the diet. Other products can produce a “revolution” in the intestines: radishes, onions, spinach, sorrel, fried potatoes, nuts, fresh bread, raspberries, gooseberries, apricots, plums, grapes, raisins, dates.It is also advisable to abandon them for a while.
● Control sweating. On the eve and during menstruation, sweating increases - doctors call this phenomenon premenstrual hyperhidrosis. Palms, feet, armpits remain wet all the time, and the most unpleasant thing is that a specific smell appears. The fluctuations in the level of sex hormones, to which the body reacts inappropriately at the end of the cycle, are to blame. On such days, you need to get up for a shower more often, use more reliable deodorants, and also follow a diet - switch to cereals, vegetable and nonfat products, excluding oil, cheese of fatty varieties, cream, meat from the diet, which can contribute to the appearance of a pungent odor in sweat.
● Get rid of edema. They are a frequent PMS companion. In order not to contemplate in the morning a swollen face with bags under the eyes, do not have a tea party 1.5–2 hours before bedtime. Limit the use of salt, because it retains water in the tissues. Move more, drink kefir, eat apples that activate the kidneys, and brew diuretic herbs - bearberry, lingonberry leaf (1 teaspoon in a glass of water).
● Take vitamins and minerals. When premenstrual tension makes itself felt, B vitamins help, primarily thiamine (B1) and pyridoxine (B6). They cheer up, improve sleep, cause a surge of strength and relax muscles. Calcium also alleviates the emotional state and soothes pain. Well, and the brain needs magnesium to maintain the right level of the dopamine neurohormone that our internal psychotherapist works with - it drives off anxiety and irritability.To supply the body with all the elements at once, drink in the evening a glass of warm milk (it contains calcium) with a teaspoon of honey (it is rich in magnesium).
Text: Ivan Belokrylov. Photo: Fotolia.com
Material prepared by Julia Dekanova
