How Burnout Can Worsen Your PMS

Jun 9, 2021

Dr. Ashley Margeson, ND

Dr. Ashley Margeson, ND

NATUROPATHIC DOCTOR

Nope, your brain isn’t deceiving you. If you experience more stress in the two weeks before your period, your PMS symptoms could, in fact, be more severe.

Some of this original research was released in 2010, with a team with NIH showing that women who reported high levels of stress in the two weeks before they got their period were two to three times more likely to experience depression, sadness, and crying spells as well as physical PMS symptoms such as body aches, bloating, low back pain, cramps, and headache, compared to women who did not feel stressed early on in their cycles.

Your 60 hour work week really isn’t helping your PMS symptoms, friend.

What else have we learnt?

We know that stress early in the cycle is a risk factor for PMS, and combating stress with yoga, exercise, biofeedback, or meditation may help prevent PMS symptoms or make them much more manageable. We have also seen multiple papers back up this claim. A 2019 paper also showed that an increased in stress, or even perceived stress, can impact the outcomes of stress. This paper was very interesting because it showed that there was a prevalence of premenstrual symptoms, regardless of severity and number, among college students. It also suggested that negative subjective perceptions of health and stress may be related to the intensity of premenstrual symptomatology.

We also know that women who suffer PMS have been shown to have higher levels of stress hormones in their blood. This makes you feel less able to cope when giant bears in the form of deadlines or relationship problems come along during this time of the month. Symptoms of anxiety may follow as a result of this mental stress.

What does this mean for long term health?

Just some of these research papers show us that our body’s reactions to stress can depend on a variety of circumstances. This means that supporting our stress before our periods should also come from a variety of areas. Meditation, supplementation, medications, nutrition and exercise are all important factors to consider when it comes to supporting your PMS symptoms.

 

Research:

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/prior-stress-could-worsen-premenstrual-symptoms-nih-study-finds
https://bpsmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13030-019-0167-y

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