Understanding PMDD

Who is Affected?

About 75% of women experience mild to moderate premenstrual symptoms. But up to 10% of menstruating women have premenstrual dysphoric disorder a sever sometimes disabling form of PMS.

Symptoms of PMDD?

PMDD is distinguished from PMS by the severity of its symptoms and its impact on the relationships and daily activities. Symptoms of PMDD which occur in the last week of the menstrual cycle and usually improve within a few days after menstruation begins, include:

Persistent sadness or depression

Anxiety being keyed up or on edge

Mood swings often marked by periods of crying.

Persistent anger or irritability

Fatigue, lethargy

Feelings of being overwhelmed or out of control

Flu like symptoms, muscle aches, head aches & joint pain

Breast tenderness

Changes in sleep patterns, problems falling and staying asleep.

Changes in appetite – overeating, lack of eating or specific food cravings.

The cause isn’t clear. Major depression is very common  with PMDD but it can also occur in woman who do not have a history of depression.

Treatment for PMDD

There is no cure for PMDD

Treatment of PMDD is directed at preventing or minimizing symptoms:

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s) such as Naproxen

Antidepressant (SSRI) reduces symptoms of fatigue, food cravings & sleep problems

Oral contraceptives stop ovulation & stabilize hormone fluctuations which reduce mood swings.

Consuming 1,000mg of Calcium will reduce the physical and emotional symptoms of PMDD B-6 + Magnesium also help

L-Tryptophan + Chasteberry reduce irritability, mood swings anger and head aches associated with PMDD

Diet and lifestyle changes will also help

Change your Mind Change your Life

At the core of personal development is change, and to make any life long positive change you have to address the problem from a subconscious level. So how do we do that, how do we change our habits from a subconscious level? We have to communicate to the subconscious which is a different process than communicating with the conscious mind. In this article I hope to give you a list of ways to communicate change to your subconscious mind.

• Surround yourself with positive people more importantly remove yourself from negative friends, family and acquaintances. I cannot stress this enough, birds of a feather flock together. If your goal is to be rich you cannot achieve this by surrounding yourself with bums, it defies law. Erin Pavlina wrote a feature article in Lightworker Magazine disusing removing toxic friends from your life that I think does a great job in explaining this.

• Visualize, yourself already having achieved your goals. Talk and act as though you are already experiencing the success you seek. The most important thing in this step is to add positive emotions. Feel what it would feel like to already have accomplished the goal. This will align you vibrationally with what it is you are wanting.

• Use affirmations, just before going to bed and just before getting out of bed are the best times for affirmations. Your subconscious mind is alert and attentive during these times.  You can find a list of affirmations and some information on how to use them at Wealth Affirmations.
  
• Write down your ideal future in present tense. Once a day write out how you want your future to be. Write it with all the feeling and emotions you would have if you had what you wanted or accomplished your goals. Do not let the simplicity of this technique fool you, it’s very powerful.

• Live in an attitude of gratitude. Be genuinely grateful for all that you have in your life. This technique will keep you in a vibration of having things and your subconscious will align everything needed to achieve your goals.

• Focus on one goal at a time. So many people try to do too many things at once and they get frustrated so they give up. You could create a list of things you want to accomplish in order of most to least importance. Then just work on one goal at a time. It’s very motivating to see your goals being checked off your list.

• Ask your subconscious good questions. Take several deep breaths through your nose and relax your mind and body. Ask your subconscious questions to help you with your goals. You could ask What is preventing me from accomplishing my goal? How can I is a really good question. How can I accomplish my goal? you will be surprised what your subconscious will reveal to you.
  

• Get sufficient amounts of sleep. Sleep is very important to proper brain function. Also sleep is when your body is repairing it self getting ready for the new day ahead. There is no scientific proof that we need 8 hours a night. Everyone is different and let’s face it you know when you have had enough sleep or not.
  

• Cardiovascular exercises. This will induce the production of neurotransmitters and other brain chemicals. You will be able to focus with greater ease. A 20min jog is all that is needed. A brisk walk, or a bike ride are all good way to pump up your heart.
  

There you have it, 9 simple things you can do to induce change on a subconscious level.

Leave a comment letting us know what your techniques are?

Calming your Stress Monsters

What are your stress monsters? Stress monsters are anything that can cause you stress throughout your day. Examples would be your spouse yelling at you, your boss expecting more from you, anything that will increase your stress level.

So how do you deal with these stress inducers? One of the first steps in addressing any aspect of your life is to acknowledge the problem.

*    Problem = “There are people and situations that arise on a daily basis causing me stress”.

Now that we know what the problem is we need a solution.
We all know that we can’t control anyone but ourselves. So trying to control others or situations will just add more stress to our lives.

*    We need to change the way we react to others and situations in our life. How do we do that?

Try the following for 30 days:

First assess you daily stress level. On a scale from 1 – 10 one being the least and ten being the most, rate your daily stress level. Record the date and your stress level. “Do This Step First”

In the morning when you wake, set your intention that you are not going to stress out today. Intend that your day will go smoothly, and you will be in a constant state of joy & peace.
Throughout your day be aware of everything in your life to be grateful for. Such as the beautiful sunny day, the fact that you are 10min ahead of schedule, how everyone is going out of there way to help you and so on. This is very powerful.

When you feel your self getting stressed just take a deep breath assess the problem and come up with a solution to solve the problem. For example in the case of a yelling spouse you can take a deep breath and say “I can tell this is really bothering you and I’m sorry” you can then present a solution or a compromise.

I know this sound too simple but most solutions are. If you do this for 30 days and then take an assessment of your stress level you will find that you have lowered your stress level just by implementing the above easy steps.

Dr. Wayne Dyer said it best when he said “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”