Bloating, headaches, crying spells, fatigue, mood swings, cramps and the list goes forever. One minute your eating a piece of pizza and the next your going off the deep end with tears and yelling because you feel bloated and hate the way you look. Each month like clockwork most women come down with a strange collection of symptoms’ which we call PMS.

The male population is quick to just call it “that time of the month.” But in the real world and in a woman’s mind it’s a whole lot more than that.

Today PMS is being recognized as a real medical condition with both physical and psychological symptoms. Premenstrual syndrome is a set of hormonal changes that develop both physical and emotional symptoms in women. The syndrome usually happens 7 to 14 days before the ladies actual “period” and then it completely disappears once her period starts. There is no hard fast rule as to when women suffer from PMS through the years.

95% of women suffer from some of over 150 symptoms directly associated with PMS. Bloating, cramps, breast tenderness and irritability are just a few. The severity of these symptoms can be from very minor to extremely unbearable to the point that it affects every day life. The symptoms can also change from cycle to cycle.

The normal psychological symptoms associated with PMS are mood changes, crying spells, depression, anxiety, anger, sadness and irritability. Of course there are many more and these are just a few.

There are no real tests to diagnose PMS so what doctors do is rule out everything else with the same symptoms to determine that the lady is suffering from PMS. However most women don’t need to see a doctor to diagnose her own PMS.

There are however many psychological conditions that are not associated with PMS. These are eating disorders, alcohol abuse, personality disorders and chronic fatigue syndrome. Oral contraceptive side effects should also be ruled out when considering PMS

PMS has been around a long time but is still one of the most mysterious phenomenons in the medical community. It is always the topic of research and while small things are always been found out about the illness there is still a long way to go.

Dale Mazurek

Dale has been married for twenty years and considers himself somewhat of an expert when it comes to relationship topics. You can check out his ever growing blog at http://relationshiptidbits.blogspot.com/ two more of his very popular blogs can be found at http://fishingtutor.blogspot.com/ and http://stcajo-readshortstories.blogspot.com/