{"id":517,"date":"2015-02-01T04:10:58","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T09:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/natural-womanhood.local\/?p=517"},"modified":"2024-03-30T12:00:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T17:00:01","slug":"la-depression-larret-du-cycle-menstruel-sans-pilule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalwomanhood.org\/fr\/depressed-stop-pms-without-pill\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00cates-vous d\u00e9prim\u00e9e ? Stop au syndrome pr\u00e9menstruel sans pilule"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDebbie, are you ever depressed?\u201d The questions startled Debra Brock, a 44-year-old registered nurse from Virginia. Yes, she was. She had been for several years. More surprising even was who was asking. It wasn\u2019t a therapist, nor a psychiatrist. It was a nurse who was looking at Debra\u2019s blood tests results[i]<\/a>. “Your hormone levels are so very low,” the nurse told Debra.<\/p>\n

PMS or pre-menstrual syndrome happens to 13 to 18% to women in the United States[ii]<\/a>. Most of us know someone who suffers from it. Maybe it\u2019s you. At least 2% of women\u2015<\/strong>according to the American Psychological Association, 3 to 9% of women\u2015<\/strong>suffer from a more serious form of PMS\u00a0called PMDD, or pre-menstrual dysphoric dysfunction, which is so debilitating that women can\u2019t function. \u00a0\u201cPMDD is like supercharged PMS[iii]<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oral contraceptives are widely prescribed by doctors as a solution to PMS[iv]<\/a>. \u201cThe Pill can provide relief by steadying hormones, but different symptoms require different pills,\u201d says an article on WebMD. While the FDA approved Bayer’s combination birth control pill Yaz as a treatment for PMDD, Bayer ended up in a major lawsuit for false advertising that cost the company $1.4 billion, mainly because of the severe risks and side-effect caused by this drug[v]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taking the Pill to stop PMS is a little bit like taking steroids every day for years for a common cold.<\/h2>\n

You certainly change some of the symptoms, because you hijack your body\u2019s normal functioning with a chemical that acts on your brain and changes your hormonal balance. But hormonal contraceptives don\u2019t always help with the emotional symptoms: the depression, the anxiety and mood swings. Sometimes it makes them worse.<\/p>\n

Anti-depressants are the next line of combat. They do work and are sometimes necessary to help someone experiencing the severe effects of depression. I have worked in the psychiatric field for the past five years and I see that\u00a0anti-depressants\u00a0can be necessary and even life-saving in some cases. I also know that they come with a number of side-effects and risk being\u00a0prescribed too casually. Of US women age 40 to 59, 22% \u00a0are taking an anti-depressant and 9.2% of women ages 18-39[vi]<\/a>. The New York Times<\/em> called it \u201cA glut of anti-depressants[vii]<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

What if there were a way to treat PMS without the use of powerful chemicals like the Pill or anti-depressants?<\/h2>\n

There is.<\/p>\n

The first step is to acknowledge that PMS is a real illness with a real physical cause. Women are afraid of talking about PMS. They don\u2019t think they will be taken seriously, or they\u2019re afraid they will be put on a psychiatric drug. \u201cI didn\u2019t understand what was happening; I was afraid to tell my friends and family, which only worsened my anxiety. I was also afraid to discuss these symptoms with my OB\/GYN, because I was afraid he would prescribe an anti-depressant, and I didn’t want to go on medication,\u201d reported a patient to a doctor at the NYU Langone Medical Center[viii]<\/a>. A study showed that 45% of women had never discussed PMS with their doctors and 24% of respondents who described their symptoms as strong or severe felt their doctors would not take their complaints seriously[ix]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

PMS symptoms can be physical and\/or emotional.<\/h2>\n

To qualify for PMS, symptoms\u00a0occur at least 5 days before periods start[x]<\/a>.<\/p>\n