HOW CAN PMS BE RELIEVED: I’M IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE WITH
I'm a talkative, optimistic, outgoing twenty-five-year-old woman for two weeks out of every month. For the other ten days to two weeks my whole outlook on life changes. I become moody and sullen. I don't talk much but when I do I'm usually negative. I'm so irritable that even if someone at work offers to buy me a cup of coffee, I growl and hiss. Also, my skin breaks out during those weeks, I gain at least six pounds, and sleeping becomes my favorite thing to do. I can't stand it. I've seen four doctors already and they've suggested everything from valium to heroin, diuretics, and “the pill”. I’ve tried diuretics, but tranquilizers and "the pill" don't seem safe to me. One of the doctors told me to exercise but I'm too sick for that. Is there anything you could suggest? I'm impossible to live with, and I feel I owe it to myself, my family, and my future husband, whomever he may be, to find a cure for these horrible two weeks.
—D.B.
Terre Haute, Indiana
Please help me. Once a month I turn into a monster. I'm losing my husband and driving my children from home. I have seen my family doctor and all he does is give me nerve pills. There have been times I wanted to take the whole bottle. I'm in despair for someone to help me. All my family and my husband's family say I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. I know something is wrong but I don't know what to do about it. I have turned my world into something that no husband or children would want. Please help me.
—R.H.
Nashville, Tennessee
As I mentioned earlier, premenstrual syndrome is generally caused by an estrogen/progesterone imbalance which can turn a woman upside down. Estrogen binds salt and salt binds water, so a high estrogen level can lead to water retention throughout a woman's body. This waterlogged condition can create a sudden weight gain and pressure in the abdomen and bowels. The brain membrane swells along with everything else and a woman's head begins to throb.
If a woman cuts down on salt a few days before she expects her symptoms, then she may be able to eliminate some of the water tension in her body. (By marking her calendar on the days that symptoms occur, a woman will be giving herself a guideline for the onset of the next month's syndrome.) While she's reducing her salt, she should drink a lot of water to wash out the salt that is already present. If she doesn't notice any relief and she still feels bloated, then she might try diuretics, as D.B., the woman who wrote the first letter, did.
It's difficult to determine from the first letter whether the diuretics helped Ms. B., but if you do turn to a diuretic to eliminate surplus water, take it every other day and be careful of your potassium level. Some diuretics will cause a woman to excrete too much potassium, enough to change her metabolism, tire her, and sometimes slow her heartbeat. In order to prevent potassium depletion, it's a good idea to eat bananas and drink orange juice, both of which are natural sources of the substance, while you're on diuretics. If a woman still doesn't feel like herself, she may want to visit the doctor to have her potassium level checked. He will be able to prescribe the exact potassium-tablet dosage she needs.
Now if salt reduction and diuretics fail to make any alteration in the symptoms, the problem may stem from the amount of progesterone that appears after ovulation. The increase in progesterone may be causing the depression in both women letterwriters and giving Ms. B. her extreme fatigue and acne. It has been found that 100 to 500 milligrams of vitamin B6 (pyroxidine) a day can bring relief in this situation. Women who have taken vitamin B6 every day, or at least for the last two weeks of their cycles, have had less depression, more energy, and clearer skin.
Unfortunately, however, sometimes cutting down on salt and taking diuretics and extra vitamins does nothing to release a woman from the painful grip of her premenstrual syndrome. If the women who wrote these letters, or any women for that matter, try everything as outlined and still think they're impossible to live with, they might be helped by visiting a gynecologist or endocrinologist who can take blood tests to measure their progesterone levels. No woman should feel like she has a stranger living in her skin for half of every month, and if a blood test shows a progesterone imbalance, it can be corrected with progesterone suppositories.
Natural progesterone has only recently been recognized as an effective treatment for premenstrual syndrome and sometimes it is difficult to find. Dr. Katharina Dalton was one of the first physicians to suggest natural progesterone as a cure for premenstrual syndrome, and many women have been helped by this remedy; lives have been changed. However, many physicians continue to debate over whether this hormone is the best way to quell the monthly maelstrom.
Natural progesterone is not effective as an oral tablet because it is rapidly metabolized and excreted by the liver. The hormone needs time to be absorbed into the bloodstream and when used as a vaginal suppository or rectal insert, it gets that time and is most effective. Research is being done on progesterone implants and on a slow-release progesterone capsule, but at present the suppository is the only acknowledged natural progesterone treatment.
Suppositories can be used daily from midcycle to the onset of menstruation. Approximately twenty to thirty minutes after insertion, progesterone can be found in the bloodstream, although speed and duration of hormonal absorption is different for every woman. The progesterone level, after it rises, will drop rather rapidly in some women, and they might need two or three suppositories a day. Other women might only need one suppository a day because within their bodies, the progesterone is excreted so slowly that traces remain for twenty-four hours.
A woman has to sense her inner workings and gauge the dosage that helps her most. If one or two 50-milligram suppositories twice a day are not enough to relieve the symptoms, increase the dosage to one or two 50-milligram suppositories three or four times daily. A woman must listen to her body. Some women find relief on 50 milligrams daily, while others need more than that. Dr. Dalton believes that the lowest possible dosage to which PMS will respond is 200 milligrams of progesterone a day, and some patients even need 400 milligrams twice daily. Although it may sound complicated, understanding your dosage will not be difficult. The real accomplishment will be to find a suppository supplier.
Both your doctor and your local pharmacist may be unaware of the natural progesterone treatment for premenstrual syndrome since it is a relatively recent discovery. A woman who learns about progesterone therapy might discuss the possibility of using it with her doctor. If her pharmacy cannot locate a source for the medication, there are at least two possibilities: either your local pharmacy can custom-produce a suppository from progesterone powder in a combination Carbowax base, PEG 400 and PEG 8000, or a pharmacist may order Femlite natural progesterone suppositories from H&K Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 11 Main Street, Franklin, Massachusetts 02038. Suppositories with 25, 50, 200, and 400 milligrams of progesterone are available. It looks like at least one major American pharmaceutical company may follow H&K's lead and produce progesterone suppositories, so the future might bring easier access to relief.
Many a sufferer has been able to exorcise the syndrome by following the recommendations discussed. Discovery of methods of eliminating PMS might be considered major moves toward equality for women. No tranquilizer will correct the hormone imbalance that is causing the premenstrual syndrome and every woman must understand that tranquilizers and painkillers are avoiding the issue—they treat the symptoms, not the causes.
*28\333\2*
|
