{"id":22475,"date":"2025-04-15T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalwomanhood.org\/?p=22475"},"modified":"2025-04-11T14:34:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T19:34:00","slug":"graficos-del-sindrome-premenstrual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalwomanhood.org\/es\/charting-pms\/","title":{"rendered":"El cuadro revelador: Patrones y s\u00edntomas que apuntan al s\u00edndrome premenstrual"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cFake pills ease PMS symptoms even when you know they\u2019re placebos,\u201d read the headline for a writeup of a recently released randomized controlled trial finding that knowingly taking placebo pills (pills with no active ingredient) still led to marked reductions in symptoms for premenstrual syndrome<\/a> sufferers [1]. On the surface, the study results confirmed the longstanding cultural trope that PMS, which an estimated 75% of women<\/a> experience,\u00a0 is \u201call in your head,\u201d aka \u201cmade up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not so fast, the researchers said. They pointed out that even anticipating the placebo effect, whether subconsciously or consciously, may lead to pain-relieving<\/a> endorphin release in the body. What\u2019s more, as noted by a professor in the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University of Freiburg, \u201cEnrolling in a study and completing these daily diaries may make you feel better or pay more notice to when symptoms get better, so they see benefits even without taking any pills [with active ingredients].\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common PMS symptoms include bloating before your period<\/a>, breast tenderness, carb cravings<\/a>, an increase in mental health issues like anxiety and depression, headaches, and fatigue. Whether collectively and\/or cumulatively, these symptoms can take a toll on women\u2019s day-to-day functioning. When is it time to get help for PMS (or its more extreme cousin, premenstrual dysphoric disorder<\/a>)? And how do you know whether it\u2019s PMS\u2014 meaning that the symptoms start during the luteal phase and resolve once your period starts\u2014 versus another physical or psychological condition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fertility awareness method charting helps women identify when it\u2019s time to get help for PMS<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) charting is one tool that can help you determine when it\u2019s time to seek outside help for PMS<\/a> or another physical or psychological condition such as clinical anxiety and\/or depression (which are constantly present, though they may worsen during the luteal phase, which are the days immediately preceding your period).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructors from NaPro, FEMM, Boston Crosscheck, Marquette, Billings, and Couple to Couple League were invited to submit written comments and\/or charts for this article describing signs of concerning PMS in their particular FAM methods. We have included all the input we received.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FEMM<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

FEMM stands for Fertility Education and Medical Management. I myself am a FEMM instructor, and while FEMM charting does include a family planning component, it is primarily focused on the menstrual cycle as a marker of health. When a woman charts with FEMM, she looks for changes in cervical mucus, objective menstruation measurements, and she uses urinary LH strips to test for her LH surge in order to more accurately identify ovulation. FEMM has an app <\/a>that can recognize irregular patterns in charting and direct its users to a FEMM instructor and medical management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FEMM encourages women to chart their PMS symptoms on a scale of 1-10 in the notes on the charting app. If multiple PMS symptoms are charted throughout the cycle in more than three cycles in a year or two cycles in a row, especially if the symptoms are rated above 5 on a 10 point scale, that warrants concern and referral to medical management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boston Cross Check<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Boston Cross Check teaches women how to chart cervical mucus, monitor hormonal levels, and monitor basal body temperature. The woman then has the option to choose which biomarkers to use to chart her cycles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Boston Cross Check instructor Mikayla Dalton of Fig Leaf Fertility<\/a>, \u201cThe other charted signs [besides cervical mucus, hormone levels, or BBT readings] aren’t normally considered fertility biomarkers for family planning purposes, but <\/em>can be helpful to note on our fertility charts (such as pain, bloating, constipation, etc.).\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dalton observed, \u201cNatural Womanhood published Christina’s story<\/a>, where her neurology care was assisted by her charting migraine incidents on her BCC charts, which enabled her doctor to determine her migraines were a non<\/em>-hormonally-triggered type, and that aided appropriate treatment. So patterns of such things can be extremely helpful for medical professionals in shaping diagnosis, alongside other signs, symptoms, tests, and imaging!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charting for PMS may reveal hormonal imbalance clues<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Dalton noted that PMS symptoms may reflect hormonal imbalances during the days leading up to menstruation, and these imbalances may show up in characteristic ways. \u201cWith PMS, women tend to have decreased levels of both estrogen and progesterone late in the luteal phase. So in regard to traditional charted signs, the lower progesterone levels mean we might see a shorter than usual luteal phase, a decrease in BBT after ovulation is confirmed, or a shallower temp rise.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dalton clarified that \u201cBCC’s cervical fluid approach has been simplified for use as a cross-check, rather than a long-term stand-alone sign, so I’d defer to a dedicated mucus method such as Billings or Creighton for estrogen-specific PMS signs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n