premenstrual syndrome

But we also can think about other symptoms that can come to play here.

So this would be more along the lines of maybe the week before you're a little bit more PMS, moody, maybe spotting.

Your sleep falls apart that whole second half of your cycle in the luteal phase.

Your PMS, your periods have just gotten worse after 40.

And therefore, Again, if we look at what the research shows, after age 35, progesterone kind of takes the nosedive compared to estrogen.

Testosterone's already gone, unless you're supporting it, which I think you should be.

Today we are talking about five things that I was wrong about when it comes to balancing hormones, PMS mood swings, and improving periods and energy.

And I'm going to be honest, as a hormone expert, I'm not the only one who's been wrong about these things.

I think a lot of people are getting them wrong, including probably who you're listening to on the internet.

But I would look at how can my clients understand their bodies so much better so that they're not playing whack-a-mole with their hormones and feeling like they have to just run to progesterone and then birth control and HRT when we get to perimenopause, menopause years, because they understand the system that builds hormones in the first place and how, especially as women, we really have this innate sense of when things are okay and when things are not okay.

Even if everything's okay on paper, sometimes we know it really is not okay.

for us to have a stable libido or to be ready to get pregnant those type of things when our bodies are dysregulated and depleted we know it at a deep sense whether or not we know it on the surface so that is mistake number one that i made was just to assume that hormone balance was its own thing we could fix estrogen by fixing estrogen and that even these like hormone diagnoses were something in and of themselves like PCOS or now it's PMOS or painful periods or endometriosis or PMS, PMDD, that all of these diagnoses meant something separate versus that they really are coming from a root cause of dysfunction in the body as a whole that needs to be addressed in a very calm number one calm and regulated and steady manner to be able to create the foundations for those outcomes that we want like pain-free periods pms mood swings disappearing being able to get pregnant and stay pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy and postpartum all of those things are absolutely possible and available especially when we stop believing that the one little problem is the problem My number two mistake is that when I first started my practice, especially, this has been something that I've pulled away from for quite a few years now, but I used to believe that restriction was health.

Just sit with that for a minute.

If you're not there now, I know you've been there because that's what we were taught in the 2000s is that restriction was health.

And then one I've been focusing on a lot because I see a lot of gut health and women's health in my office is a lot of hormonal imbalances happening.

So women suffering from like PMS or really heavy menstrual cycles, we can look kind of take a step back, look at their diet, look at their overall lifestyle factors and see if we can address those.

And oftentimes if we can get the gut working a little bit better, all of those symptoms also follow suit.

That's amazing.

And so high beta glucuronidase levels have been associated with higher estrogen levels.

It's actually really fascinating.

So conditions, and I briefly mentioned this, but conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, PMS, breast cancer even, have all higher beta glucuronidase activity.

And so you can shift the amount of bacteria that produce estrogen and produce beta glucuronidase Similar to what we just spoke of, diet being the number one factor.

Number three is quick assessment of fertility markers.

These are going to be things, your hair, your skin, your nails, your moods and your cycles, okay? So if your period is showing up, and you're feeling really crazy, you've got wild PMS, you have PMDD, you feel like a crazy person, or your period shows up super heavy, very crampy, lots of pain, that right there is telling you what you need to fix to get your fertility in line.

That is literally telling you the key.

If your cycles have changed significantly since you've had one or two babies, that's also a piece of the puzzle.

It may not be.

And it's considered to be a severe form of premenstrual syndrome, PMS.

And it's considered to cause really significant physical, emotional and psychological symptoms.

And those symptoms occur during what's called the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.

And so many of us who had the education at school, well, actually, the education I had in school was probably more towards how not to get pregnant rather than understanding the different stages of the menstruation cycle.

But PMDD, this is one that you talk about a lot because more and more people feel that they're experiencing it.

So how is it different? Because many of us know the term PMS, premenstrual syndrome.

Many of us understand that.

Yes.

So in order to define PMDD, I'm also going to define PMS.

So PMS is premenstrual syndrome.

So that's where a lot of people will experience symptoms.

This is different for everyone, but the list is usually maybe a migraine or a headache, feeling achy in your body, maybe cramps, increased moodiness or like instability of emotions, feeling more tired, maybe depression symptoms might increase a little bit or anxiety symptoms.

And then it's just usually for a few days before the period.

That's PMS.

A lot of people experience PMS.

You know, some kids now are going through puberty at a much younger age.

And then you also have a lot of, you know, young women that are suffering from PMS, dysmenorrhea, you know, making these cycles.

We keep hearing about that lately.

Oh,