If you have premenstrual syndrome or PMS, you might experience symptoms such as abdominal cramping, bloating, breast tenderness, weight gain, headaches or migraines, backaches and swelling. Due to the hormonal changes that occur around your menstrual cycle, you might also experience emotional or psychological symptoms such as mood swings, irritability, depression, anxiety and difficulty concentrating. Many natural remedies could potentially help to relieve your PMS symptoms, but you should consult your doctor before using any herb or supplement.
Herbal Treatments
Taking certain herbs might help to relieve your PMS symptoms. They include chasteberry, black cohosh, dandelion, St. John’s wort and evening primrose oil, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. You might also take grass pollen, ginkgo, dong quai, peony or yarrow. Chasteberry, black cohosh, grass pollen and evening primrose oil might relieve a wide variety of PMS symptoms, while St. John’s wort may help to ease PMS-related depression and dandelion could relieve fluid retention. Ginkgo might help to relieve PMS symptoms such as emotional disturbances and breast tenderness, and evening primrose oil might be especially effective at easing breast pain, says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. No widely accepted medical research supports the use of any herbal remedy for treating PMS symptoms, however.
Natural Supplements
You might also take certain natural supplements to ease PMS symptoms, such as calcium, vitamin B-6, fish oil, magnesium, potassium gluconate, vitamin E, soy isoflavones, progesterone cream, fiber, vitamin A or vitamin B-complex supplements, according to the University of Michigan Health System. Vitamin D and melatonin might also help. If you suffer from PMS, you might have a magnesium deficiency, so taking this supplement could help to reduce your PMS symptoms like weight gain, swelling, breast tenderness, fluid retention and bloating. Soy isoflavones can relieve PMS-related swelling and cramping, while fish or krill oil may ease emotional symptoms and breast tenderness.
Homeopathic Treatments
Some homeopathic remedies are also sometimes effective for easing PMS symptoms, such as chamomilla, cimicifuga, colocynthis, ignatia, lachesis, lycopodium, magnesia phos, nux vomica, pulsatilla and sepia. Chamomilla and magnesia phos are typically used to relieve severe menstrual pain or cramps. Nux vomica, pulsatilla, lachesis, ignatia, colocynthis and cimicifuga are most often used for emotional and behavioral PMS symptoms such as irritability, mood swings and axiety. Sepia is best for relieving these emotional symptoms, as well as bloating, constipation and fatigue, while lycopodium relieves PMS-related gas, bloating and backaches. Very little medical research has investigated the use of homeopathic remedies for PMS, so you should consult your doctor and a professional homeopath about using these remedies.
Medical Evidence
A 2001 controlled study published in BMJ found that taking chasteberry extract tablets effectively reduced PMS symptoms such as irritability, breast tenderness, headaches and depression, says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Another 1993 double-blind study conducted in France found that taking 80 mg twice daily of ginkgo biloba extract eased emotional symptoms and breast pain related to PMS. After two menstrual cycles, a 1998 double-blind study in the Journal of Women’s Health found that magnesium supplements helped to substantially decrease PMS-related swelling, breast tenderness, bloating and weight gain. Women who took 1,200 mg of calcium daily experienced a 48 percent reduction in their PMS symptoms over the course of three cycles, according to a double-blind clinical trial published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1998. A 1985 double-blind clinical trial published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine discovered that taking evening primrose oil helped to reduce PMS symptoms, notes the University of Michigan Health System. Taking 68 mg of soy isoflavones daily might relieve PMS swelling and cramping, according to a double-blind study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2005. Also, a double-blind trial published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition in 1983 found that taking 300 IU of vitamin E each day could reduce PMS symptoms. Finally, a 2002 clinical trial published in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy discovered that taking a combination of soy isoflavones, black cohosh and dong quai helped to prevent and treat PMS-related migraines over the course of six months.
Warnings
All homeopathic remedies and herbal or natural supplements carry their own risks, side effects and possible drug interactions. That’s why you should talk with your physician before taking or using any of these remedies to relieve your PMS symptoms. For example, magnesium can interfere with the absorption of certain medications like tetracycline antibiotics and Macrodantin, and it can interfere with oral diabetes medications and Amiloride. Long-term use of vitamin A supplements, especially in high dosages, can cause serious side effects, and progesterone cream might increase your risk of breast cancer. Finally, taking calcium supplements could be dangerous for people with prostate cancer, kidney stones, chronic kidney disease or hyperparathyroidism.
