Premenopause

• Most healthy premenopausal women will enjoy regular menses with very mild or no discomforts. These so-called normal period symptoms – such as cramps, bloating, and breast tenderness – start a day or two before a period and last for a day or two into a period, without interfering with women’s daily functioning.
• It is also normal for women to experience mild ovulation symptoms roughly in the middle of the cycle, including slight pelvic or abdominal pain, breast tenderness, increased libido, and moodiness.

It is not uncommon for women to accept various, oftentimes debilitating, symptoms as a normal part of menstruation. While occasional irregularities are common, consistently severe discomforts are not normal and need to be evaluated.
There are three types of menstrual disorders that may happen during premenopause:
Irregular Periods:Throughout premenopause, women may experience occasional irregular periods that do not need treatment. It is because periods are driven by hormones, whose levels can be influenced by a variety of factors, including unhealthy lifestyle habits.
However, if they persist for longer than three months, they may be triggered by an underlying hormonal imbalance or other causes that will require prompt intervention. They include absent periods, light menses, irregular ovulation, and others.
Premenstrual Syndrome:Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is another menstrual disorder that is common during premenopause. It is said to affect about 75% of women of reproductive age.2
It causes a range of mild to moderate physical and emotional symptoms that can start one or two weeks before a woman’s period. They can include mood swings, acne, fatigue, headaches, and sleep problems.

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder:Between 3 to 8% of premenopausal women experience premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD.3 This more severe version of PMS is classified as a mental health disorder and is known to significantly disrupt women’s lives.
PMDD causes extreme psychological symptoms, including anger, irritability, depression, and apathy, that appear about a week before a period and last for a few days after it starts.

• Alternative options include supplements aimed at resolving nutritional deficiencies or balancing hormones. The latter comes in two types: short-term, phytoestrogen supplements, like chaste berry, or long-term, hormone-regulating supplements, like Macafem.
• Conventional options, on the other hand, may include a variety of medications as well as surgical interventions.

Premenopause extends from a woman’s very first period to when she begins experiencing symptoms of the subsequent stage, called perimenopause. Those 30+ years are the best time to get pregnant, if a woman chooses to do so. While premenopause does not come with specific symptoms on its own, it is common for women to experience a range of mild symptoms around their periods and ovulation. If they are severe and affect their daily functioning, they may signal an underlying menstrual disorder. In such cases, premenopausal women can choose from a variety of natural, alternative, and conventional treatments. Those with regular periods and fertility can easily maintain hormonal balance and menstrual patterns with wholesome lifestyle changes.