There has been much to do about PMS over the years. Everything from, “it is all in your heads” to “you are crazy! Women have been disbelieved, ridiculed and told they are crazy for complaining of the symptoms of PMS. In the last decade premenstrual syndrome (PMS) has been more widely accepted by the medical community and by society as a whole and the stigma of PMS has diminished.

Women have overcome the stigma of PMS by becoming more educated about what PMS really is and learning how to deal with the symptoms they experience. They have learned that improving diet, improving lifestyle and exercising more, getting plenty of sleep and getting social support can make a big difference when it comes to effectively treating PMS symptoms.

Women can find relief from PMS symptoms by making healthy lifestyle changes that include exercising on a regular basis, eating a healthy diet, and doing relaxation exercises such as yoga.

Women can also find relief from PMS by getting support from family members, medical personnel, others who suffer from PMS through support groups and from the community that they life in.

Women have also found relief when they take vitamin and mineral supplements such as calcium, magnesium, vitamin B-6, and vitamin E.

Women have also used medications to relieve pain such as aspirin, and acetaminophen. Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs such, as ibuprofen can also be effective against PMS-associated pain. Doctors to help them deal with the symptoms of PMS have also prescribed diuretics, antihistamines and antidepressants.

When women experience mood changes such as when they suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) they can suffer from major depression-like symptoms. She can switch from feeling anxiety to being depressed and these mood shifts can occur in other phases of her menstrual cycle. A woman with PMS can experience a worsening of symptoms of a psychotic disease if she has had one already diagnosed. First-line antidepressants used to treat these women include SSRIs like Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft. Mood stabilizers like Lithium, and Depakote can be used if she needs a mood stabilizer for her PMS symptoms.

Typically if the worse PMS symptoms a woman has are treated, she reports feeling less from her minor PMS symptoms.

Women can deal with PMS better if their family members are more understanding of what they are going through and they feel like they have real support at home. Women can also deal with PMS symptoms if they educate themselves and their families about PMS. Support groups are vital when it comes to dealing with PMS because in these support groups women can discover that they are not alone in dealing with PMS.