Increasingly Bad PMS
Question
I have had increasingly bad premenstrual symptoms over the last year. It started with very bad headaches about a week before my periods, which don’t go away until I start bleeding- which usually lasts about five days. I also get a dull pain in my right calf. I have been to my GP who sent me to have an ultra sound scan on my calf which didn’t show up anything. I have a T copper coil. I also get some bleeds during sex, very bright red blood, which stops once I have stopped. (This doesn’t always happen.) I get really hot when I am due and whilst I’m on and I also get extremely agitated – which is a new thing as I never had PMS. I feel like the GP thinks I’m a bit crazy when explaining how I feel.
I would like to know if this is due to me getting a little older, I’m 31 and have two children. My health was fine until about three years ago when I had to have my gallbladder removed and also was informed of a white lesion on my liver, which the doctors said may have been due to having taken the contraceptive pill.
What can I do to help my symptoms without taking medication?
Silvia
Answer
Last Updated: May 8, 2022
You have what sounds like premenstrual tension syndrome and, possibly, menstrual migraine. The T copper coil IUD may contribute to irregular bleeding.
Also, you may not be aware that the IUD may cause early abortions as one of its mechanisms of action. My advice to you is to have the IUD removed and learn a safer, just as effective form of family planning that can help diagnose the cause of your premenstrual symptoms.
Natural family planning is easy to use and very effective for avoiding pregnancy. In your case, the Creighton Model of Fertility Care would be ideal because the information obtained would lay the ground work for a post-peak hormone profile. If the hormone profile reveals a low progesterone level, then you could take bioidentical (also called isomolecular) progesterone to supplement your own body’s progesterone. Taken in a cooperative fashion, this regimen can ease the symptoms of PMS.
In health,
George Delgado, M.D., F.A.A.F.P.
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