Are there some days where you just can’t even deal? Do you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and the world just seems to be fighting against you? Are there moments in your life where you feel like everything you do is a failure and the day just feels so dreary, even if it’s bright and sunny outside?
Mood swings. We’ve all had them. But does PMS actually cause them?
In short, the answer is Yes, PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome) can certainly cause mood swings.
But first, what exactly is PMS?
PMS occurs the week or two before the period begins, when women start to feel different side effects because of the hormone changes taking place in their bodies.
The symptoms can occur about one or two weeks before bleeding and stops when the period begins. There are a number of different symptoms, they can range from the physical and the emotional, including mood swings, irritability, anxiety, stress, and gloominess. Other physical symptoms include breast tenderness, bloating, acne, and aches. Most pms symptoms will reoccur over time, and women all have different symptoms.
Some women may have severe emotional stresses or anxieties, or mood swings, during that time of the month, but others might just experience a craving for sugar. If it messes with your daily life, then this is considered premenstrual syndrome.
PMS can also change as you get older. The symptoms can shift as your body continues to change. One way to look at it is to ask if these changes cause problems with work or your family once a month, and do they affect you in the week before your period. Then, it’s PMS.
There are all kinds of emotional signs for PMS Mood Swings:
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Feeling gloomy
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Crying
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Anger
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Stressed out
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Feeling out of control
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Not wanting to be around friends or family
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Trouble sleeping
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Anxiety
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Irritability
So what exactly is a Mood Swing?
Do you feel like you’re riding an emotional rollercoaster? Is it up and down, and back up again?
This is how you might characterize a mood swing. It is literally the swinging from one emotion to the next, from the elated to the despondent, from the frustrated to the joyous.
Mood Swings are normal. Everyone feels happy and sad at different points in their lives. But the problematic mood swing is when it disrupts your life or the people around you. Mood swings help inform what is going on in your body, for instance, when you’re about to start your period.
How does PMS cause my Mood Swing?
Mood swings tend to occur during the Luteal (the last) phase of your menstrual cycle, which starts after ovulation and may be connected to the rise and fall of hormones, particularly of estrogen throughout the cycle.
Estrogen levels start to slowly rise after a women’s period ends and then it will peak two weeks later, dropping quickly during the Luteal phase. This then creates those literal peaks and valleys of estrogen which researchers believe propel mood swings.
So PMS is definitely causing mood swings, as the balance is off with the hormone levels in your body, but the good news is that science has ways to treat this!
How can I prevent these Mood Swings?
There are a number of different ways to help prevent Mood Swings; in recent years there have been so many more developments, especially in the area of Women’s Health.
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Exercise for at least 30 minutes everyday.
Exercising can have all kinds of other benefits to your health, but just starting to regularly exercise will help you elevate your mood as well!
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Eat healthy foods like vegetables and whole grains.
It may seem obvious, but it can be hard to do! Ultimately, when you eat well, you’ll feel better, and your mood will improve too!
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Avoid sugar, caffeine, and alcohol.
I know you can’t always avoid these vices, I know when I have a mood swing, all I want is a chocolate bar, but be careful with what you consume as these will also make it more difficult to get the best sleep possible.
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Try to get more sleep.
A good night’s sleep is important and when you don’t sleep your best, you end up feeling not so great.
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There’s science to help you!
Try taking the clinically supported supplement; Jubilance (oxaloacetate) once a day, every day of the month, it’s a new vitamin on the market aimed specifically at the mood swings inherent in PMS!
What’s the Bottom Line?
You need to keep in mind that mood swings can change depending on the person, and even in the same individual, the severity of each mood swing varies.
Everyone experiences mood swings at points in their lives, and you may have to readjust your lifestyle to get back to that feeling of normality.
Mood Swings and PMS go hand and hand. If you think that your mood swing ups and downs are severe and they’re not getting better, be sure to contact your doctor if you’ve been feeling out of sorts for an extended period of time.
Mood Swings are a part of life, but that doesn’t mean we have to give in to them. With so many new science break throughs and ways we can shift our own behavior, we have to acknowledge that as human beings we’ll have tons of feelings and emotions, but maybe we can find ways to manage them a little better.
