ReadingBody care

Dealing with PMS

When it starts and how to make it easier

When does it show up?

It usually starts 5 to 10 days before your period and eases off within a few days of it beginning. It lines up with the hormone rise and fall after ovulation.

Changes in your body

  • Breasts feeling firm or sore
  • Bloating and a puffy feeling
  • Headaches or lower back pain
  • Getting tired more easily than usual
  • Bigger appetite or craving particular foods

Changes in how you feel

  • More easily irritated than usual
  • Mood dropping for no clear reason
  • Feeling anxious or on edge
  • Trouble concentrating
  • Struggling to fall asleep, or feeling sleepy all day

Making it easier

Ease off the salt

Sodium makes your body hold on to water, which adds to bloating. Cutting back on salty and processed food for even the week before your period makes a noticeable difference for many people.

Move gently

This is a stretch where walking or stretching tends to suit you better than a hard workout. Moving at all usually takes some edge off the mood changes too.

Protect your sleep

Mood changes hit harder when you are short on sleep. For these few days, aim to get into bed 30 minutes earlier than usual.

Note when it is hardest

If the same symptoms arrive at the same point every month, you can plan around them. These notes are also the single most useful thing to bring to a doctor.

PMDD is different

If the depression, anxiety, or anger before your period is severe enough that daily life becomes hard to keep up, and it repeats every cycle, it may be PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder).

This is not something to power through — it responds to treatment. Logging two or three cycles and bringing that to an OB-GYN or a mental health professional makes the conversation far easier.

This is general information. If symptoms get suddenly worse, or something feels different from your normal, bringing your logs to a doctor is the most reliable next step.

Which symptoms you get, and how strongly, varies enormously. Some people barely notice; for others it is hard every month. Not feeling it does not mean anything is wrong.

Sources

← Back to all reads