PMS: what it is, and how to start making sense of it
PMS is a pattern, not a single symptom: changes in mood, body or energy that show up in the second half of your cycle and ease once your period arrives. If that sounds familiar, you’re one of many, and it’s worth being taken seriously.
If you’ve ever felt like a different person for a week or two before your period, you know it’s more than a minor inconvenience. Mood swings, cramping, bloating and tiredness can touch your days, your relationships and your work.
What makes it PMS?
Timing is the clue. An international consensus group describes premenstrual disorders by when symptoms happen: during the premenstrual phase of the cycle, easing during or shortly after menstruation, with a clear symptom-free interval afterwards.1 A symptom that’s there all month is a different conversation from one that comes and goes with your cycle.
A good first step: track it
For a couple of cycles, jot down each day how you feel and where you are in your cycle. A plain notebook or a note on your phone works. Patterns that are hard to see in the moment often show up on paper, and it gives you and your care team something concrete to look at.
What a visit looks like
I take time to hear your whole story: your cycle, your symptoms, what else is going on in your life, and what you’d most like to feel different. Then we decide together where to look first. I work alongside your family doctor or other care team, and I won’t suggest anything without checking it suits your health history and any medications you take.
I’m not naming specific supplements or dosages here, because what’s suitable depends on you. If PMS, or the more severe PMDD, is part of your life, you can read more on the PMS and PMDD page, or book a visit to talk it through.
General information, not medical advice for you. Bring questions about your own health to a visit with any clinician you trust.