Female Balance

Health from the Sun Total EFA for PMS

Evening Primrose Oil

Vitex

Menstrual Blend

Chasteberry

PMS Forte

Estrotone

Soy Extract

Calcium & Osteoporosis | Diet & Weight Loss | Hair, Skin & Nails | Menopause | Miscellaneous | Multi-Vitamin | Prenatal Care | PMS

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PMS is a disorder that affects many women during the one to two weeks before menstruation begins. symptoms can include any or all of the following: abdominal bloating, acne, anxiety, backache, breast swelling, and tenderness, cramps, depression, food cravings, fainting spells, fatigue, headaches, insomnia, joint pain, nervousness, skin eruptions, water retention, and personality changes such as drastic mood swings, out-bursts of anger, violence, and thoughts of suicide.  

While there are no hard statistics, it is estimated that as many as 70-75% of all women experience some premenstrual symptoms at one time or another. Approximately 5% of women have symptoms so severe as to be incapacitating, and 30-40% report symptoms severe enough to interfere with their day-to-day lives.

For many years, PMS was dismissed as a purely psychological problem, and some women were even diagnosed as mentally ill. We now know that this is indeed a physically based problem. One of the causes of PMS is hormonal imbalance- excessive levels of estrogen and inadequate levels of progesterone. Hormonal fluctuations lead to fluid retention, which affects circulation, reducing the amount of oxygen reaching the uterus, ovaries, and brain. Eating read meat and dairy products may cause or contribute to such hormonal imbalance. Unstable blood sugar levels are an important factor as well. PMS has also been linked to food allergies, changes in carbohydrate metabolism, hypoglycemia, and malabsorption. Diet is an important contributing factor. Other suspected causes of PMS symptoms include erratic levels of beta-endorphin (a narcotic-like substance produced by the body), vitamin and/or mineral deficiencies, and clinical depression. When the workings of the brain's hormones are better understood, we may understand why this disorder can produce such a multitude of symptoms.

Herbs used for PMS

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