[Premenstrual Syndrome – Painful Menstruation]
Patsy (48y) suffered from PMS and severe menstrual cramps for over 30 years until she contacted me for Clinical Nutrition Testing and Therapy. Two months after starting therapy, she had her first pain-free cycle since starting menstruation in her teens.
Part 3 includes the symptoms of hormone imbalances labeled as Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and explains why choosing vitamin and mineral supplements based on these symptoms does not work.
Symptoms include one or more of the following: Skin problems, like acne or excessive facial hair in women; digestive dysfunctions, like bloating, gas, and abdominal pain; breast tenderness; menstrual cramps; swelling in feet/hands; headaches/migraines; fatigue; food cravings, especially sugar; emotional imbalances (irritation, mood swings, anger, anxiety, isolation, depression, crying phases); mental imbalances, such as brain fog (lack of focus, poor concentration, short-term memory loss, confusion, mental fatigue); changes in sexual desire, and altered sleeping patterns, to name the most frequent.
Hormone imbalances that produce the above symptoms are caused by either a deficiency and/or excessive amount of one or more of the following hormones: Estrogens (such as Estradiol, Estrone, and Estriol); Progesterone; and/or Testosterone. These are your primary female (and male) hormones. Yes, ladies, women have testosterone, too, and gentlemen, you also have estrogens and progesterone, in addition to testosterone.
Symptoms are also caused by a variety of combinations, like an excessive amount of one hormone relative to a deficiency in another, such as having an excessive amount of estradiol in relationship to a deficiency in progesterone.
Causes of these symptoms may also include deficiencies or excessive amounts of other hormones, such as those produced by the thyroid glands, adrenals and/or the brain, such as imbalances in the brain’s neuro-hormones, like Serotonin, Dopamine, etc. – all types of hormones produced by the body may have a role in female (and male) hormone balance.
A Clinical Nutrition Analysis of Saliva and Urine is required to effectively identify all of the above hormone levels. Saliva and urine testing identifies hormones at a cellular level, i.e., hormone levels may appear normal on a blood lab report, yet the same hormones may appear deficient or excessive on a saliva or urine hormone lab report. Why? Because the self-healing processes of the human body always try to maintain optimal blood values, even if it must sacrifice cellular levels.
Hormones are manufactured by the specific nutrients the body requires to produce them. This is why Clinical Nutrition Therapy, based on testing your biochemistry, is so effective in attaining and maintaining hormone balance because it identifies abnormal levels of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients affecting hormone production.
Self-treating these symptoms by taking over-the-counter (OTC) or online vitamin/mineral supplements may seem to help at first, however, in due time, you are back searching for different supplements, repeating the same end result… a cupboard full of unused supplements and still suffering.
Also, choosing supplements based solely on these symptoms is unreliable because whether one or more hormone is deficient or excessive, they produce the same symptoms. In other words, the symptoms caused by a deficient estrogen are the same symptoms caused by an excessive amount of that same estrogen; deficient-progesterone symptoms are the same as excessive-progesterone symptoms, and so on.
Self-treatment based on symptoms leads to worse and/or more hormone imbalances; instead, contact me for Clinical Nutrition Hormone testing to scientifically identify which hormones are out of balance.
In Part 4, I will be sharing information about menopause and female/male cancer prevention.
For a Clinical Nutrition Analysis of your hormone levels, please call me at (940) 761-4045. First Consultation Free!
Dr. Smith is the owner of ADVANCED CLINICAL NUTRITION (Est. 1981) in Wichita Falls, Texas, with clients residing in 37 U.S. states and seven international countries. Since opening her business, she has continued to hold a successful track record of over 90% in helping her clients improve their health, and she can help you, too, from wherever you live.
Information for Nutritional and Bioenergetic Education only and not for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition or disease.