PMS affects women in different ways making us edgy, emotional, crampy or bloated.  Other symptoms include breast tenderness, headaches, backaches, impaired concentration and focus, and food cravings.  These usually subside once the period begins or shortly thereafter. 

PMS may be a response to declining levels of estrogen and progesterone that occur just prior to menstruation.  The exact role of the various hormones is not clear.  PMS could also be due to imbalance in magnesium and calcium levels in the body.  Other theories or related factors that could aggravate PMS are vitamin deficiencies, mineral deficiencies, endorphin malfunction (like depressive disorders) and multiple psychological disturbances.

It is important to keep balance of the vitamins and minerals in your body so that your body can function as it was made to function and to limit PMS symptoms each month.  Magnesium is one of the supplements you may need to consider taking around the time your PMS symptoms begin, or for some people it may need to be taken daily.  Magnesium supplementation can help alleviate many issues with PMS including cramps, irritability, fatigue, depression and water retention.   Magnesium citrate, gluconate, and lactate are better absorbed than magnesium oxide. Magnesium glycinate is a well-absorbed form with minimum laxative effects.

Vitamin B6 acts as a mild diuretic reducing symptoms like bloating, while vitamin E is thought to help counteract breast tenderness.  Vitamin B6 is a nutrient that is involved in the production of certain brain chemicals, such as serotonin, the "feel good hormone".  Vitamin B6 is most effective in women who experience anxiety, depression, irritability or fatigue.  It is also involved in the removal of excess estrogen through the liver.  Vitamin B-6 and vitamin E have both been shown effective in addressing symptoms of PMS such as negative mood, headache, water retention, fatigue, and breast tenderness. 

Calcium is important to include for reduction of your symptoms, but calcium from dairy is not always as helpful as the supplement because of sensitivity of some individuals to dairy products, or because the high protein content in milk, along with calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus, may decrease magnesium absorption. 

Individual nutrients have been found to directly influence PMS, but many of these can be found in a multi-vitamin, but should include sufficient quantities of magnesium (400mg), Vitamin B-6 (50mg) and Vitamin E (400IU).  Try to use a high quality of product when purchases vitamins and minerals as many are not well-absorbed into the body and end up not helping as much as they should.  Getting these and other vitamins and minerals balanced in your body can go a long way to relieving your symptoms and making you feel more like  you want to feel.

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