2. Limit sweets. Though most women crave sweets can add to the jitters by dramatically raising blood sugar.
3. Eat small & often. Smaller, more frequent meals keep your blood sugars at a steady level. Also helps cut craving for sweets.
4.Have some pasta. PMS diet- heavy on complex carbohydrates like pasta and whole wheat bread, may help relieve food cravings and mood swings.
5.Vitamins & Minerals. try a daily supplement of 200mgs of magnesium, (for all symptoms) 1200mgs of calcium (headaches), 50 to 100 mgs daily of B6 (depression, irritability, and other symptoms).
6. Limit salt. Can alleviate bloating.
7. Exercise. Releases endorphins for a sense of well-being.
8. Brighten your mood. PMS depression may also be alleviated by the use of bright lights.
Limiting salt & caffeine and the B6 vitamin will all help eliminate the water build-up that causes some of the problems. The calcium will help muscle cramps but the St John's Wort will work on the emotional side of PMS which is usually the worst of it.
Dong Quai (not sure of the sp on the second word) is also recommended for PMS in all of the books I have and is also easily available and is reasonably priced. Good luck to you. Hope you get relief.
2. Raspberry leaf tea helps enormously, both with PMS & painful periods.
3. Aromatherapy can help - citrus is naturally uplifting, & helps put you in a good mood. Other oils that can help are carrot seed oil, camomile (both German & Roman), geranium, true lavender, sweet marjoram, & tarragon. You can blend a few drops in a tablespoon of vegetable oil & apply to wrists, throat, behind the ears, & to the temples, as well as putting them in a diffuser or putting the blended oil in the bath.
4. Other herbs, taken as tablets, decoctions, or infusions, can help: rosemary, valerian, & vervain; evening primrose oil is slightly sedative, but you shouldn't take it if you're epileptic.
5. Activity (even though it's the last thing you think you're capable of) helps by encouraging blood flow, & belting out the body's natural "fell good" drugs. Plus, it's cheaper than smack <Grin>
6. Sex IS good for you - arousal & orgasm not only put you
in a really good mood, it helps
encourage good blood flow through the reproductive organs, & make
you relax. Elicit as many orgasms as possible from your husband - he'll
feel Godlike, & you'll feel BETTER!
7. I found that developing a sense of reverence for my menstrual cycle helped - I'd thought of my period as The Curse since I was 9 years old; when my attitude shifted to seeing it as a time of personal & spiritual power, there was a distinct difference. I spent years literally incapacitated by my period, dosed up with painkillers, but I function very well nowadays.