How to eliminate suffering from PMS in 5 simple steps...

Hi, this is Dr. Hyman. What if I told you that 75% of women were found to have a mutant gene that threatens their relationships, their work, and their well-being? Well, that's the headline we all unconsciously accept. We think women are defective, they're flawed, they're broken, and they're destined to suffer throughout their reproductive life from the curse of PMS or premenstrual syndrome. Is that just a normal part of being a woman? Is it like a defective gene or a mutant gene? Of course it isn't. The suffering is related to problems that are imbalances in the hormonal system. And they're unnecessary and they're not related to bad luck, but to bad habits, to environmental toxins and stress. Now, it's a very complicated condition for many women. It has a lot of symptoms, mood swings, irritability, bloating, depression, anxiety, fluid retention, breast tenderness, sugar cravings, headaches, sleep problems, and this affects 75% of women. In 20% it's so bad they need medical treatment and about 8% have this new condition we call PMDD, it's called premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Really it's just an excuse for drug companies to use medication in this condition. Now there's a lot of conventional treatments, they range from anti-inflammatories like Aleve or Advil, birth control pills, antidepressants like Prozac and there's big guns like Danazol which suppresses your hormones and ovulation, facial hair and acne and a man's voice, there's other newer drugs, diuretics and so on and so forth. So do women really need all that to feel good? I mean this is a lot. Now drug companies have actually created a new disease, this PMDD and a new drug indication for a drug whose patent was running out, namely Prozac. They call it now Seraphem, and they use it for this horrible new condition called premenstrual dysphoric disorder. And it's simply a great sleight of hand by the pharmaceutical industry, and they're skilled at producing new diseases to match their drugs. But what's wrong with this picture? It's based on the assumption that these symptoms are an inevitable part of being a woman, and that they require medical intervention with serious medications to correct. Now, I don't believe that. I mean, to think that 75% of women have a design flaw, that requires medical treatment just to live a normal life. It's just absurd. I'd like to tell you a story about a patient of mine who came to me with this PMDD. She was barely able to work her function and she was suffering for three weeks out of the month, not just a couple of days. She was 37. Now many women feel worse symptoms of PMS as they get older, but she was severely depressed. She was tired all the time, anxious, she had lots of food cravings and sugar cravings and she kept overeating and gaining weight. She also had joint pains and breast tenderness and heavy bleeding during her periods, hot flashes. Her skin was terrible with acne and dry skin. She had hair loss, she had memory troubles, she couldn't sleep and she had no sex drive. Now she didn't drink alcohol but she was a big coffee drinker. She all started the day with a bagel and cheese, had a cappuccino, lunch, chocolate in the afternoon, pretty good dinner but then she binged on ice cream and chips and Cheerios, sound familiar? and she also complained of a lot of gas and bloating and she ate so much dairy. Now this is a story I hear a lot. The good news is that there's a simple solution for her that didn't involve taking medication. We know that sugar and caffeine, alcohol, stress and lack of exercise all contribute to worsening PMS. It's also true that dairy consumption can worsen hormone balances because there's so many hormones in milk. Now, I had her change her diet, I had her take a few supplements and herbs, do a little exercise, and within one cycle, her life changed. All her symptoms went away, she lost weight, she dramatically increased her energy, her mood stabilized, her acne and her dry skin even went away. Now, this is the approach I take to this problem, and it's because I'm looking at the entire systems of the body. This is the overall approach I take. It's called systems or functional medicine. So what do I do? I define the imbalances, in this case severe hormonal imbalances. I address the causes first, namely diet and lifestyle. And then I help the body repair and regain balance. Then the body's natural intelligence simply takes care of the rest. So what is this underlying problem with PMS? How does it happen? Well, first the hormones become out of balance. Your estrogen levels go up and progesterone levels go down either relatively or absolutely. There's a lot of things that cause these imbalances. There's things like sugar in your diet, refined carbs, caffeine, stress, dairy foods. There's hormones in our food supply, particularly in dairy products and in meat. And there's also estrogen-like toxins that come from pesticides and pollution. There's a lot of also lack of exercise makes our hormones out of balance. Alcohol damages the liver and it actually prevents your estrogen from being metabolized and excreted. Being constipated and problems with gut function can also lead to reabsorption of the estrogen from your digestive tract and even after your liver has tried to get rid of it. So it's no wonder our hormones are out of balance. There are so many ways to get the hormones back in balance and it's by using diet, lifestyle, various supplements and herbs and it works. There's also very good research that supports this. Now what are the most important things to do if you're suffering from PMS? Now, there's a couple of things I suggest. They may seem severe, but I know you'll see the benefit in one or two cycles. You won't have to wait very long. First, just clean up your diet. Stop the refined flours, sugars and processed food. Get rid of caffeine. Stop drinking alcohol just for a few months. Balance your blood sugar and you can do that by eating protein for breakfast such as a protein shake or eggs or nut butters. Eat evenly throughout the day and don't skip meals. Second, make sure you fix your digestion by increasing fiber. Eat whole, real food, right? What I always talk about vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains, fruit, and also use two tablespoons of ground flax seeds, which are really great in correcting constipation and they also help balance your hormones. Increase your omega-3 fats, eat organic food, particularly animal products which help you avoid the environmental estrogens. And then you can use supplements. If you've cleaned up your diet and your lifestyle, you can use supplements to help. And there's also good research on this. Magnesium, calcium, B6, evening primrose oil, fish oil, taurine, and a multivitamin. These all can help you improve your hormone metabolism and reduce the symptoms of PMS. And of course, there's also some great herbs. Chaste berry, wild yam, dandelion, isoflavones from soy or red clover, and even flax seeds help to balance hormones through the ligands they contain. So if you've done all that and there's a few other things you want to do, there may be some other benefits from taking probiotics, which are healthy bacteria. And if I get stuck, I'll use bioidentical progesterone. This is natural progesterone that helps balance out hormones in the last half of the cycle. I would do this in conjunction with a doctor though. And I also encourage exercise, stress reduction, and sometimes alternative therapies. So the bottom line here is that women are not defective, but they're wonderfully designed, although they're a little sensitive beings that can thrive and really be healthy with attention to a few Natural Laws of Biology. You don't need drugs to survive. You can feel good and be healthy simply by improving your lifestyle. So thanks for joining me today. This is Dr. Hyman. I'll see you next week.