Conventional treatments for PMDD involve anti-depressants and birth control pills, but there are some other things you can do to balance your hormones and relieve your symptoms:
Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine
Chinese Medicine views PMDD as an imbalance within the body, generally Qi (energy) stagnation within the Liver meridian. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine help to remove energy blockages and in turn stabilise hormonal fluctuations.
Nutrition
Your diet should be full of foods that support healthy hormone balance and reduce inflammation, such as organic vegetables, fruit, whole grains, seaweed, fish and hormone-free meats. Alcohol, processed foods, caffeine, sugar and commercial meats should be removed from the diet entirely.
Exercise
Exercise helps improve blood circulation, calms the nervous system and causes endorphin release – all of this helps to reduce pain and relieve emotional symptoms.
Stress Reduction
Stress can cause hormonal imbalances and worsen PMDD symptoms. Making time to de-stress and using stress reduction techniques that work for you can be helpful. Some great stress-reducing activities can include meditation, yoga, Qi Gong or bush-walking; find what works for you and make the time to make your health a priority.
As women, we are hormonal, cyclical beings. We need to work with our cycles not against them.
Our bodies have different needs and capabilities throughout each phase of the cycle.
During the pre-menstrual phase, we must honour our body’s need for rest and relaxation, in turn helping us to balance our hormones and reduce PMDD or PMS symptoms.
Sara Laharnar is the owner of Tree of Vida Acupuncture, a women’s health clinic on the Mid North Coast close to Forster & Taree. She is a passionate acupuncturist/herbalist dedicated to women’s health, fertility and pregnancy support. You can follow Sara on Instagram and Facebook.
