Most women are familiar with the emotional and physical symptoms a week before their period which define PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome). PMS is the source of many jokes, has been used as a defence in murder cases and has been discounted as hysterical nonsense. Over 150 symptoms are attributed to PMS and include common ones such as bloating, migraines, cramping and fatigue to weird ones like smelly farts and sore throats. Emotional symptoms can range from anxiety to homicidal rage. With such a broad symptom list and variable presentation even in the same woman from month to month, PMS has been hard to classify and…
The contraceptive pill- blessing or curse?
Is my Pill making me nuts? Easily half the ladies in my practice have horror stories of what has happened when they took the contraceptive Pill. Medical science has long minimised the mood effects of the Pill. It would argue that the patients in my practice are a skewed sample – they were already struggling with mood issues, which is why they came to see me in the first place. Taking the Pill was just another variable factor, not the underlying cause of their instability. Medicine has further held the line that you can’t accuse “the Pill” of causing depression…